I know that it is all too often that high school is referred to as a prison for teenagers, but I am still going to roll with that same analogy. If you walk onto any random high school campus in Los Angeles, or some other surrounding area, you are going to feel like you literally just stepped into the gates of a state penitentiary. Often times the school will be surrounded by gates and in some cases, students have to walk through metal detectors to even get inside. Are we serious? Is that really what it has come down to? Thanks to all of those special individuals who thought it would be exciting to play "Call of Duty Seven: High School War" in real life at their school. Anyways, I digress. Short from the orange jumpsuits, high school students are treated like cattle as they are ushered from class to class without even enough time to use the restroom in between. My experience from high school went like this:
7:09am- arrive at school
7:10am- bell rings, better hurry to class
7:15am- late bell rings, class is started
8:22am- first period ends, better start running
8:27am- late bell, second period starts
....
the classes went like this through four periods until lunch. now, notice the mere five minute break in between classes- this was supposed to be enough time for students to cross the entire campus AND use the restroom and do whatever they needed to before their next class starts. unfortunately, at my high school there was only like one bathroom with maybe 3 stalls on the entire campus open (they had to close all the other ones due to vandalism- thanks wannabe gangsters who are probably the reason for the prison-like state of high schools).
10:30am- bell rings, fourth period starts
10:47am- raise my hand me:"may i use the restroom?" teacher: "no, you should have done that before class" me:"there was a line out the door, i would have been late to class" teacher: "should have hurried faster to get there before there was a line" me:"i am going to pee all over the floor if you dont let me go, it is an emergency" teacher: "fine, go" (ok, now this scenario is a little exaggerated, i never actually threatened to pee on the floor, or anything like this, but it definitely was irritating) NOTE: I am pretty sure that inmates get to use the restroom whenever they want.
11:35am- bell rings, LUNCHTIME YAY!
...ok, so not really yay. lunch time was only like 25 minutes long and you had to stand under some tree to keep away from the swarm of seagulls who came at lunch to pick at all the garbage most kids were to lazy to throw in the garbage can that was sitting right next to them- anyways the tree was to keep you from getting pooped on- which didnt always work. i never actually got the poo on me, but i had a couple of friends who did, and it was hilarious. sucked to be them though. anyways- lunch was not that exciting and the food sucked.
**I feel like this story is also necessary to show how stupid the discipline system is in high schools. Let me set this up for you, It was like one month before graduation in my senior year of high school, i am a straight A student, and had never in my life needed any kind of disciplinary action. So i am walking back to class one day after lunch and i get stopped by one of the mom's who thinks she has an important job because she has a whistle and gets to scream at high school kids. She tells me i am in violation of the dress code because there is a hole in the knees of my jeans, which, i know is kinda lame, but everyone was wearing them. So anyways I am like busting up laughing because that is the most retarded thing i have ever heard of in my life, plus there was like at least 5 other girls standing around that i could see wearing jeans that were ripped in places that let their whole asses hang out, yet i was in trouble because there was a hole in my jeans. whatever, so i get taken to the office and they tell me i have two options- i can call my mom for a change of clothes (yea right, my mom is not going to come down and bring me some clothes) and two- i can go sit in detention for the rest of the day. i flip out! they are going to make me sit in detention and miss my ap physics class and lit class because i have holes in my jeans? THERE IS A PROBLEM HERE! so anyways, they got mad at me when i tried to tell them i am a straight A student and can't miss these classes- but they make me sit in detention anyways- while some idiot who is sitting out by the baseball field smoking weed gets to go to his under water basket weaving class. REALLY?
anyways, enough of my tirade about the indolence of the disciplinarians in high schools.
After lunch the day usually went pretty quickly and we all got to go home at like 2:15pm.
Now back to the prisoner part. We are all wearing orange jumpsuits and they decided it would be easier to assign us numbers instead of calling us by our names- its just easier that way. from day one in class all we hear about is the standardized tests at the end of the year and making sure everyone is up to the proper standards. no actual teaching is done. there is no personal touch from the teachers- just straight reading from books of standards. who really gives a flying shit about these tests anyways? certainly not the kids taking them, and why? they dont affect us in any way possible- why should we care? by the time the repercussions of low test scores come around, we will all be graduated, that is, those of us who dont decide to drop out to have our illegitimate child of become a gangster. THANK YOU MR.BUSH and NO Child Left Behind! Let's just keep teaching kids stupid standards, instead of something they will actually use. LOVE THE STATUS QUO!
The moral of this story is, let's make a change. Let's stop giving students numbers and give them names. Encourage them to succeed. Don't take away programs that allow them to develop their talents and passions. These programs keep them focused and motivated. Show them that they can do whatever they want. Teachers, If you take an interest in a student, they will automatically be more respectful and reverent of you. Let's make a change on the smallest levels, and then it can grow to much larger scale.
**I am not sure where I was actually going with this totally random escapade on high schools, but thanks for reading!
***Also, these stories come solely from my high school experience and I in no way claim that every high school is this way.
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It's funny, I had the exact same high school experience, and I'd have to say it's not uncommon. At least in public high schools. My favorite (or rather, least favorite) part is the part about standardized tests. We consider ourselves one of the most advanced nations in the world, but we cater to standardized tests in our high schools. Though there's merit in testing students to see if schools are doing their job, our country will never keep up with Europe and Japan if we continue to teach students how to fill in bubbles the proper way. In America today, we need critical thinkers and innovators who can think outside the box and keep us a step ahead of the competition. This doesn't happen when we cater to standardized tests. What happens is the poor students drag down the talented ones. All of them are treated the same. I'm not saying that certain students should be ignored, but those students who show a genuine interest in their education and want to become something should be placed in a more advanced, intellectual environment. We need to provide for this the way many other countries do. We need to make schools actually competitive. When students have to want to learn to succeed, then some students will want to learn. In our society, we breed underachievers. This has to change for us to remain an advanced society.
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