There should not be this many illiterate people, period. Especially not people who have graduated high school. Clearly our school systems are failing at their most basic duty. Yes, in fact out school systems should being doing a better job of educating our society, but we as the students are also responsible. From experience I know that a majority of students are lazy, especially in high school. And who can blame them. They are forced to take classes that they, to be frank, couldn’t give a shit about. They go to school early in the morning; eyes still half closed from sleep and are subjected to the drones of teachers in high school. (I know that is a sweeping generalization, but bear with me for this point.) All these factors cause these students to be lazy but in the end it is still their job to obtain the education required to thrive in our society. If students were more alert, attentive, and overall driven (as they should be) to learn the material presented. If students were to take this initiative then the literacy rates among our population would soar. After all the most powerful motivation is intrinsic.
I chose a rather short passage from one of my blogs to counter for the sake of simplicity. If I were to counter an entire post I may as well write my second essay. I chose this section of my blog to revise and counter because it boldly states a point a view. This point of view has an opposition that I would imagine is strongly backed by frustrated parents, teachers, and administrators. By offering an acceptance that the schools could probably do better I strengthen my opposing view because through acceptance we can affirm our views while still being respectful of the other side of the debate.
Nicely said Keegan. I really liked the fact you talked about about a shared responsibility and was not playing the blame game between educators and students. It's very true that teachers energize students and sometimes without that energy students just don't have a want to learn, though student learning should not be contingent on the attitude of the teacher.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you that students need to be more driven, but I don't think that it will ever happen. When you are young, you do what you are told to do. It is up to you whether to do the bare essentials or to take charge. That is the way it has always been, and I feel like that is the way it will always be.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you Keegan. I was one of those kids in high school that was especially unmotivated when it came to classes I had no interest in. If students were able to take classes that held their interest instead of "required classes", such as religion in catholic schools, I also believe that literacy rates would go up.
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