Why do schools push kids so hard these days?

Question

Why do they expect them to be so smart, they push subjects so fast, then a struggling kid falls behind, and right away they want them to be on medication, or hold them back! What is the rush, why can't they pace subjects so the kids have a fighting chance?

All really good answers, thanks but whatever happened to kids just being kids, they have a stressful future ahead of them, why stress them out now?

Answer 1

You people don't know how stressful it is because YOU grew up in simpler times where they just asked you what 4+3 is.

I will copy and paste my answer from a similar topic:

For you misguided souls... Keep in mind that an excess of anything is NOT good for you. Education isn't what it used to be when we grew up in simpler times. Kindergarteners have homework, first grade stuff is being taught in preschool, and fourth graders learn the stuff they shouldn't learn until middle school. That's ridiculous. And there comes the cutbacks on recess and PE(and expect the children to sit still for ever long hours-if they can't do that, they solve it by drugging them-and how dare they blame child obesity rates when they ARE part of the problem), and standardized testing for second graders.

A child does not grasp logical reasoning until the ages of at least 6-7 before they should be introduced to formal education. And numerous studies agree that in the years before that, play and sensory is most important in development to begin logical reasoning. Now it's seem this stage is skipped altogether. And standardized testing is virtually child abuse for second graders as a medium "of knowing whether they can read and do math" as a excuse for overzealous educators. Sure, they might be the best in filling in bubbles, but can they learn and if so, are the tests accurate in any way other than testing memorization. Because anyone can memorize a bunch of stuff, color in bubbles, without the slightest hint of what actually's going on. It's virtually child abuse because those who can't handle the stress face emotional suffering and the fear and disgrace of failure. And get this, the teacher's manual for testing second graders explain how to clean vomit(kids throw up from stress) from the scantrons so they are readable. And they feel nothing but apathy for the poor child.

One of the reasons for the radical change for the worse in education is the whole concept of why test scores and performance remains low. And to supplement this deficiency, there comes the half-assedly thrown in one-size-fits-all policy known as No Child Left Behind that addresses not one bit on how to improve education for everyone, how to reform issues(overcrowding, maintenance, order) and being able to conform to various learning styles for the kids. As a result, schools have to do anything possible under unreasonable pressure and circumstance to boost their percentages. And they do this by either dumbing down the standards or setting the bar too high and loading kids up with homework.

The second big reason apart from the idiotic No Child Left Behind law is an increasingly competitive world. Now this I especially hate. An increasingly competitve world equals a just as competitive society on the home front. Thus, people are obsessed with achievement and work and the economy. Is the frenetic pace for the better? Absolutely not. With what people expect out of kids today, the US is still falling behind in education. And other countries don't repress or overload their kids' learning the way it's taking place here. You can come up with as many tests and as many cool hi-tech gadgets and incentives you want, but the only way to make education any better is to fix the problems such as poor funding, overcrowding, crime, maintenance, then teach BETTER, not MORE in a lighter but more consistent manner. If kids aren't liking it, they probably aren't going do it or do well. And this can have implications later in life. We overprotect our children nowadays(and even THAT can be a bad thing in not setting up the kids for the future to be risktakers), but we are incapable of protecting their emotional well being.

For the worse, unreasonable policies followed by competitiveness is unhealthy. In doing so, people become blinded because the issue doesn't reach them. Childhood is simply being forgotten, since God knows the people are all about 'maturity' and 'discipline' without setting a reasonable standard for the children's needs and natural activeness. Some people devote their entire lives and still don't get the status they want. The people with 4.0 and over GPAs? They might not even get into a college of their choice? That's how hard it is nowadays.

If this keeps up, eventually the schools will be more and more like a prison than a learning environment. Children who faced mental torture and stress will grow up to hate school, drop out, not get anywhere with their lives, and face a variety of psychological problems associated with their stress etched into their memory forever.

Childhood is short. Maturity is forever. Kids are active, they need to go out an run and play to be happy. So how do you cope with these times? Sometimes it's best not to try to please everyone's expectations. Or, reorg the priorities(a radical change to cope with radical zeal). As soon as child comes home, he/she can have the day completely to herself to do whatever she pleases. But in the evening hours it's time to do that homework since she wouldn't be out playing at night.

Since society has to always label and repress the weak, being a child is hard. And it only gets harder and overwhelming once it gets to high school.

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Yes, the moronic No Child Left Behind law. Sure, no child may be left behind, but there sure are alot of them being dragged on the ground. And secondly, the rise of an increasingly modernized world, alot of developing countries=massive competition.

Answer 2

You have to think of it this way:

50 years ago all some one needed was a high-school deploma to get a good job

20 years ago an associates degree meant a good job

today an associates degree is just like having a high school diploma so today you need a BA just to get a good job

by the time our kids go to school they will need a masters or PHD to get a good job.

I think the schools are just trying to keep up with the demands of the world. I like the fact that they push our children, my daughter is 6 and in the 2nd grade and is working on math that was not taught until 5th or 6th grade when I was younger. I am talking fractions, and decimals!

You as the parent have to get involved even if it means no TV for you, you have to help them. What people forget is that school does not end when they leave the building, you as the parent have to work with them at home.

Answer 3

A lot of it has to with some new laws being into affect. But also parents or guardians need to pay attention to what is going on with there child and help them. It is hard sometimes. You may struggle with some things one year and different things another. Just keep trying ask for help and ask questions. Ask for it to be explained over and over and eventual you will get it. You will never learn it if you give up. You can do it. When my boys start to get frustrated I ask them to take a deep breath and empty there heads. Not to think about what they don't understand then we go over it again. To see if maybe the just missed something cause they were frustrated.

Answer 4

Amosunknown is correct we have taken the family out of the equation, not just school but everything. Which hurts the child, by not letting them have any support and teaching them that they have to carry the burden by themselves.. Not to mention teachers are being criticized one day for caring too much and the next day for not seeing the kid was in trouble, so that they become so numb that they just see the kids as dollar signs.

Answer 5

Of all the industrialized nations the US is one of the poorest in the field of education. Our children dont do nearly as much work, nore spend as many days each year in school, nor do they preform as well.

Thats pretty sad.

Our education system is suffering, but its part of a bigger problem. Equally, of all the industrialized nations, the US comes in at the bottom for family values and our nation is the only one that puts work and business before family.

You cant expect schools to raise or educate children when those kids will end up spending the bulk of their time with their parents. Or atleast they would if our society put home before work.

The whole system is messed up, and eventually it will be one of the bigger factors in our failure as a nation. No nation that ever failed to put children and home life first ever survived. Ever.

Answer 6

I am not certain about the guidelines where you live. In California the teachers bonuses and job security determines her pay.
I had a friend who would ask me to come and grade . She gave child's passing grades when it was obvious that the student did not catch on to what she was teaching. I think that this is wrong on so many levels. My daughter teaches 5Th grade and the hates it ( I am so uncool) if all her grades were good if all her students make passing grades then she has job security/

Answer 7

Many countries are far tougher. In the USA it's pretty simple. My kids NEVER had problems like what your talking about. My youngest is in fourth grade and I have a 17 year old in 12th grade. They both are doing fine and so are their classmates. They go to different school districts and it's easy. If a child is having problems then the PARENTS should help out the kid.

School isn't any more stressful now than it was before. And why wouldn't a school expect kids to be smart? What do you think they want you to go to school all those years just to grow up to be idiots? That's already happening enough.

The US is one of the worse school programs in the world. Yeah, it's real tough.

Answer 8

Some teachers descent from the state forced methods of indoctrinating rather than teaching, and then suffer ridicule. We need to get the government, and their partners, the corrupted teachers union, out of the public schools. Do you notice how they fight the idea of funding private education choice,and allow your kids to be bussed to distant schools, rather than the one nearby? Why is that, if their primary concern is for the "children" ?

Answer 9

Oh no!, they do not push hard enough, the rest of the world is advancing into the future, where greater demands will have to be made in training and applying skills. We remove the competition and tell kids to not feel the pain of defeat, it is ok to lose. It is true that after a line of failures, people will finally succeed, but that is because they have not accepted failure, or told it was ok to lose, which dampened their fire in their belly. Good counsel will redirect a persons talent, if they have gone beyond their limitations, after all life itself is a precarious balance.