Modern American Education: Why We Need to Go Back to the Basics

When schools compete against their neighboring schools, against the school systems in other states, and against other countries, the result is the way the school system currently is in the United States-- a few benefits, many drawbacks, and, above all, the newer generations who are well-educated, yet know nothing. Before thinking that to be a uniform dismissal of American youth, let's take a look at the facts, and how they fit into this problem.

For many years we have been told that the American educational system should have the goal of not only meeting but surpassing that of other nations around the globe. If those who hold this point of view are honest, and much one can read in the words of politicians and other decision-makers, it is about competition. It is about competition-- with little thought to the best interests of students, either during their school years or afterward. Trying to out-do other countries that hold high educational standards should not be the basis for how the American educational system operates; but it is becoming more and more to that point.

As for the the "What is wrong with that?" attitude, there are a number of things wrong with it. Although each individual school, school district, and state has its own standard of what they teach, how they teach, and requirements, in most areas the main focus is on getting as much "education" into students as possible. The first problem with this is that as standards for advancement continue to rise, the "basics" are being pushed aside. Not only the ever-increasing requirements, but the methods employed, are quickly shifting the focus off such basics. It may seem far-fetched, but it is not-- high school and even college students who are very intelligent lack the essential skills necessary to function in their personal and business lives. As an example, it seems odd indeed when students who do well with advanced mathematics courses, filling their notebooks with geometry and calculus, actually have difficulty figuring the percentages of sales tax. They are being pushed to "achieve" in the types of coursework which is generally irrelevant for most people in the adult world, and the basic arithmetic skills are forgotten or neglected. As we see mathematics creeping into the lower grades of elementary school, there is little emphasis on the basic aspects of arithmetic which they will need in their adult lives.

Second, with the ever-increasing standards resulting in ever-increasing requirements, there are too many students who are seen as "not college material." While there are certainly students whose preferences lean toward occupational skills, this should be solely a matter of personal choice. Students should not feel compelled to take vocational coursework solely because the requirements for "college prep" are too demanding. In other words, students who do opt for occupational training should be doing so because they wish to go into specific fields of work, not because they're told they're "not smart enough" and that occupational training is something they must "settle for."

The "school-to-work" programs in some states do not in any way benefit the youngsters who are involved in them. It is doing the new generation quite a disservice to mislead them into believing that they do not need formal education past high school. Those who have implemented such programs obviously are not considering what such "choices" will mean to the quality of these kids' lives ten or twenty years into the future-- or, as the kids later find out for themselves, the difficulties they will encounter in attempting to "pick up where they left off" with their educations.

This problem also figures in with the lack of uniform standards throughout the United States. Personally, having seen two kids through school systems in a number of different states, the lack of uniform standards is appalling. The school system in the state where we were originally from have continued to increase throughout the years; by comparison, the requirements in the system where we are currently located grants high school diplomas for less than it would have taken to graduate from elementary school.

The next basic which has been lost is the fact that all students in the United States need to learn English. Neglecting this takes a number of different forms, depending upon where one lives. States where the topic is most relevant have long whined about the "unnecessary cost" of bilingual education, failing to recognize its importance. Others, where the majority of the population consists of students whose native language is English, place far too much emphasis on the need for foreign languages. Worse yet are schools where the staff sees no reason for their foreign-born students to learn English at all, going as far as to conduct their routine communications with the students in their own native language. In order for a student to do well in his or her adult life, in both the personal and business realms, having the basic English skills is necessary.

The trend which began decades ago and has only worsened, is that of taking the school system's focus off academic education and focusing on everything which has no place in the school system at all. In some areas fewer and fewer college students are opting for careers in teaching, for teachers being "overworked and underpaid" is too much of a reality. The reason for this is that teachers are no longer in the school to teach academic basics, they are there to take on what used to be and should be the parental role. As more and more parents abdicate their parental responsibilities, it is left to the school system to teach everything from sex education to "character development." As more and more parents are choosing to hand their children over to "the system" at younger and younger ages, not only do they fail to instill these types of values in their children, but also neglect to teach them the basic life skills. Absurd as it is, a generation of kids who have graduated from high school and entered the adult world do not even know how to prepare a meal for themselves, manage money responsibly, or keep a home in decent condition, because teaching these life skills are in the scope of a parent's responsibility, and the parents simply are not "there." When you find young adults in their twenties who do not know how to fry an egg or wash their dishes, something is very wrong. And it can be based on the growing notion that all one must do to be a "parent" is to bring a child into the world-- and then allow "others" to raise the child. Not only is this a disservice to the youngsters themselves, putting schoolteachers into the role of stand-in parent accounts for fewer teachers being satisfied with their careers, as well as less and less time for them to teach the academics.

Another disturbing trend is that of allowing students, with or without parental consent, to drop out of high school at various ages. This is allegedly based on the concept of "choice." There are two main drawbacks to this policy. First, it is not in any way in the best interests of the teenagers to give them the message that everything in life is about "personal choice," and that they need never fulfill any obligations. This is a lousy message to give kids-- and it sets the stage for a lifetime of irresponsibility. Second, those who allow the continuation of this policy really do not care about the futures of these kids-- not only in terms of the economic disadvantages a drop-out will face, but their longterm self-esteem. Placing such a life-determining "choice" in the hands of sixteen-year-olds is careless and ignorant. It is a fact that teenagers-- and many adults as well-- do not have the foresight to realize the longterm implications of impulsive decisions.

With the exception of very rare extremes, attending school until one graduates from high school should be mandatory. Urging teenagers in the direction of a college education will do wonders for their self-esteem and for their future success both in the workforce and in their personal lives. But in order for this common sense to be most beneficial to the younger generation, two other factors must be seen for their significance. First, parents must regain the viewpoint that the word 'parent' is also a verb, and stop placing their responsibilities in the hands of the school system. Second, the school systems all across the United States should begin to become unified with the realization that a public (or private) school education should not be about competition but about educating students with the basic academic skills they will need to function well after they have completed their formal educations.