Why are we having so many problems in American public high schools ?

Question

I have my opinions but I would love to hear yours ! 10 points for the best answer.

Answer 1

Right now I am researching that very question since I am studying for a Master's degree in Science Education (Geology & Physics).

Firstly, the family structure of America has changed over the past century and the Schools haven't been able to keep up with it.
The American divorce rate is extremely high (above 65%) so you are getting more and more children in schools who don't have both their parents in the home and bring with them, feelings of depression, resentment, rage, etc. The dropout rates from High School and College have steadily increased (and are still increasing) among ALL RACES and BOTH GENDERS.

Also, you may want to take a look at President Bush's NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCLB
The problem with NCLB is that it puts almost all of its emphasis in testing and scientific based research. NCLB gives standardized tests so much power that if schools do not improve test scores within a set amount of time, the schools LOSE FUNDING, are forced to fire staff or are forced to hire scientific "experts" from the outside to help manage the classroom.
To tell the honest truth, President Bush tried his best to offer a solution to failing schools - trying to innovate the entire countrie's school system in ways that have never been trying in such a large act (NCLB act was over 1200 pages long )
but, NYC's board of education was allready doing this type of testing based assesment before NCLB.


Of course there are other factors that play a role in the failure rates of public schools. For example, you have drugs, guns, violence (such as gang membership), teen pregnancy, and truency.
The problem I see here is that students have been given the same rights adults have but do not have the responsibility to respect their rights. Teachers cannot punish students except with failing grades and the juvenile detention system is overcrowded due to America's influx of immigrants who are intent on acting up. Once again this is also in part due to the number of BROKEN AMERICAN FAMILIES which have lost parents to a number of factors.

The Public Education system is also extremely unequal.
I wrote a paper explaining why I think that having school funding based on PROPERTY TAX BRACKETS is unfair to children in the inner city and/or poorer communities.
Tax bracket based school funding only favors the richest and wealthiest while the rest of the schools suffer from poor and inadequate funding.

Spending per pupil however, has actually increased in most states with a few exceptions (Utah, Wyoming, Florida, etc) but, test scores have remained stagnant. It is very difficult for a teacher to cover all of the material required for a standardized test while also focusing on special needs students.

Children such as the severely mentally handicapped are in a state of PERPETUAL FAILURE that they will never break from. Some of them are merely passed along the system and others are simply held back.

To simplify the answer for you, American society has SO MANY SOCIAL STRESSORS right now that the American family and the schools have suffered greatly from them and have not worked out any solutions to the problems except to educate those children that are deemed educateable and leave the "uneducateable" for the criminal justice system or the military.

Answer 2

In short? No Child Left Behind. The whole idea of holding back those who are farther ahead so that the slow ones can feel better about themselves. Everything must be politically correct. Don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. That's crap. That isn't the real world. Kids are getting away with more and more because their parents don't know how to be parents. Parents used to hover over their children and make sure that they were doing their work: homework or otherwise. No longer. America is fat and lazy. Which is odd, because our media projects an image that is quite the opposite. They project this false image and in turn, make everyone feel worse. Quite a cycle. Make kids feel good in school and like crap elsewhere. Weird. Students are no longer held to a high standards. Punishments are minimal if even in existence. There are so many horrible things going on that police have to deal with, that there isn't room for "petty" theft in their day. Also, many children are being left to be raised by one parent. Usually the mother. A single mother can't do everything. A single mother can't teach her sons how to be men. How to take responsibility for their actions. How to be strong and moral and honest. That's the problem. Besides all of the budget stuff.

Answer 3

The problems didn't start with the kids and the solution will not either.

IT'S THE PARENTS. They are uninvolved, too busy making a living, incompetent, abdicating their God given responsibility for the upbringing of their children, blaming society, busy looking for the government nipple so they personally don't have to lift a finger, hedonistic, sorry people that place possessions, sports, women, cars, stereos, etc. above their children's future.

They have no standards and no expectations of their children except that they stay out of jail. By the way, I'm a parent of a high school son who does very well in school and is well on his way towards earning a full college scholarship.

Answer 4

Single parents, poverty, media, lack of supervison, internet, divorce, young parents, etc. its gets tougher to raise children, and wholesome children.

The media/internet/explicit music wasn't as prevalent years ago...now it is everywhere, in a world of instant gratification, money, sex, internet and lack of morals, children are set up to have increased problems growing up. Its tough enough being a kid.

Parenting is a big factor. All the counseling and school social workers efforts won't pay off as much if the children are in a home environment that promotes bad/destructive behavior.

Children have much more access to violence, and adult themes. How can it not affect their behavior?

By the time these kiddos are in high school, they've grown up with pressure to drink, have sex, be violent....it's nothing new to many by the time they reach high school. Parents are busier than ever with work and what not, so kids can hang out, or surf the internet unsupervised. Our entire society media is much more "laid back" than ever before.

Teachers may feel helpless or even fearful at times of the problems. Politics may play a role. Teachers have so many rules to follow. It gets tough to enforce good behavior. Parents may not even care what the teachers are concerned about. When I was a freshman at my private high school, a teacher asked another classmate, "are you going to smoke a cig now? is that why you always leave early" ? Well, he was 15 years old. He passed out on the football field three days later after doing some illegal drug. The teacher said to my class, "You always know the stoner kids...they wear their backpacks all day. What can you do?"

Answer 5

Several reasons one of which includes environmental circumstances. Teachers are underpaid and overworked. Society has created a new generation of adolescents that are all knowing, materialistic and lack many values that older generations were raised with. They lack respect for elders and authority and are very individualistic thinkers and doers- both of which leaves you with a double edge sword. Pop culture is another contributing factor along with peer pressure. We must remind ourselves that our future lies in the hands of these high school students. Another theory I have is that mothers are no longer stay-at-home mom's and both parents are now hard working (or if it's a single parent household they are working)... and there are consequences for that. Lacking parental guidance can have profound consequences which leave the child/teenager to parent themselves sometimes. Through this, many doors are wide open for them to explore such things as sex, drugs (crystal meth and ecstasy), and alcohol, among other things. Another consequence for lacking parental guidance is that when someone does show authority, typically this will be at school, the teenager is used to being on their own and therefore struggles with having to comply with rules and regulations, as these are not always there for them. With adolescents, anything is possible. It's much tougher to grow up in the new millennial than it ever has been before.

Answer 6

Because the average families out there are dysfunctional now. Family is becoming obselete. For those who can afford it and are more concerned about the moral well being of their children, they are taking them out and sending them to an alternative educational institution or are homeschooling their kids. For the rest, its public school.

Also, there are a lot of government cut backs in education that is really hurting the kids.

The whole public school system is deteriorating...

Answer 7

well..
1 dont say this
2 every school has the same problem
3 if u come to visit china.. you'll know what EDUCATION is.
4 what is ur problems anyway?
5 tell me the problems and then compare whether it's same with us in china.
6 u r just not satisfied with the current situation.. by the way where r from?
7 if u r from usa.. well in china it is said usa has the best teaching condition. if not worst.
8 if u r from britain.. maybe similaar to china. but i 'd say better than china
9 is it ok to reply like this?
10 well send me a reply if my answer is ok or at least u want to tell me something.. i'm intersted in this thing: my id: rainjapan or email to [e-mail]
thanks.

Answer 8

Plain and simple, the parents do not care anymore to take an interest in their kids lives. My mom was a single parent and had to work, but she still took time for us. If parents were more involved and punished their kids when needed be, they would act diffrently. In addition, laws favor the kids too much now, and they do not let the parents raised the kids the way they are supposed to be. Kids need to know who is in charge. I am 2000 miles away from my daughter and I still discipline her and let her know who is in charge, with the help of her mother.

Answer 9

i haven't heard of a shooting in many years.. i don't know..
maybe because kids are forced to be in school 8 hours a day for 13 years..Most don't take education seriously..And they teach you the same things over and over again. Throughout high-school in my classes they were still teaching kids every year what nouns and verbs were..Every year they would teach the same things. I realized i wasn't getting a real education, it was just the same crap every year.. It was sad...I think it was the biggest waste of time in my life.. It is basically a place for kids to go and get babysat.

Answer 10

because places has gotten so ghetto now a days that for some teachers it is a actual struggle to teach in schools. they probably only go to work for the pay but probably to them its not worth it coming to work with violent students, some dont even go to class, some dont listen, some are loaded on drugs. its difficult as i see it. it really wasnt the same when i was going to school. but im sure there is still a small group of people who still care for the kids and still believe that they are our future