I agree. But how often will you use it? You'll only use it if you get a job that involves mathematics. And in such a job you almost certainly won't need to know how to find the products of a chemical reaction. So why were you forced to learn it?
I feel that way about English class. How often am I gonna need to analyse boring literature and write essays? I have had much more fun designing and programming computer software, which occasionally involves algebra with pen and paper. These different topics are meant for different people, and I don't see a problem with that.
This is actually a good question. Will he ever use algebra? Why do we need to learn polynomial equations? Why don't we learn first aid? How to vote? How to get your own house? How to recognize common mental illnesses? Why are things that could save countless lives deemed unimportant?
I agree with learning about subjects. But I don't agree with forcing kids to take both history and chemistry and algebra and biology and so many others. We should introduce the topics and then let the child choose which one he wants to do. What? You say this would never work? Well, we call this choosing a major and is done by children all the time.
Chemistry is important. But if you are going to be a chemist then the middle name of the 19th president isn't important to you. Our time is wasted learning things that will never be used instead of being taught things that could literally save our lives.
I love education personally. I like being able to look at chemical equations and understand them. I love solving complex math equations and find history fascinating. But I would rather know how I should go about getting a job if it won't be important to my future career. I would rather know what to do if I walked onto a crime scene. I would rather have an actual sex education rather than just "sex bad, use condom. disease. aids. death."
We should be introduced to all topics until perhaps 9th grade or lower. At that point we should be allowed to pick two or so classes to specialize in. This would free up time for classes that I spoke of earlier. This isn't a perfect plan, of course, but it is a start.
I don’t know about other countries, but both the New Zealand and Australian education system has the first couple of years in HS doing basic level science, social studies etc, then advanced levels are allowed to be picked in later years if the kid has an interest in it.
You can pick what you learn when you get into college in the USA. But when we go to college we almost always are forced to move out from our parents by:
1.) Social pressures. If you are living with your parents then you are a bum to most people.
2.) College is too far for some people making it a 3-4 hour drive.
3.) An extension to #1. Having a relationship while living with your parents? Yea right.
By this time having knowledge of how to buy or rent a house would be very helpful. Knowing how to open a bank account would be helpful too. But it's too late to learn these in any decent manner so most are SOL. Shit out of luck.
Wow that seems way too late to learn these things, I and many people I know, were exposed to these skills through parents as teens, however some schools in NZ have practical classes that give you life skills and any accounting, or economics class always began with basic skills like how to balance accounts etc which is useful I guess. And occasionally we did compulsory one day things like first aid etc.
Some can get help from their parents, but most don't. Some get taught by their parents, but most don't. And anything that the parents can teach the kids, the school can teach better. Parents could also teach algebra, chemistry, and history. We have schools teach them because schools almost always teach this stuff better. Also, not everyone has parents that care about them or even parents at all.
I agree with learning about subjects. But I don't agree with forcing kids to take both history and chemistry and algebra and biology and so many others. We should introduce the topics and then let the child choose which one he wants to do. What? You say this would never work? Well, we call this choosing a major and is done by children all the time.
Chemistry is important. But if you are going to be a chemist then the middle name of the 19th president isn't important to you. Our time is wasted learning things that will never be used instead of being taught things that could literally save our lives.
We should be introduced to all topics until perhaps 9th grade or lower. At that point we should be allowed to pick two or so classes to specialize in. This would free up time for classes that I spoke of earlier. This isn't a perfect plan, of course, but it is a start.
1.) Social pressures. If you are living with your parents then you are a bum to most people.
2.) College is too far for some people making it a 3-4 hour drive.
3.) An extension to #1. Having a relationship while living with your parents? Yea right.
By this time having knowledge of how to buy or rent a house would be very helpful. Knowing how to open a bank account would be helpful too. But it's too late to learn these in any decent manner so most are SOL. Shit out of luck.