| Think of the children |
[Aug. 17th, 2007|08:54 am] |
I never really say that much, because that phrase has a bad connotation with people who use children as a way to push their agenda for pure white world sterlization. I have no agenda, but I do think that too many people sling around kids and teens like they weren't people, but formless clay to sculpt and mold. Case in point:
New Jersey Schools Enforcing majors on High School Freshmen. "This fall, freshmen at Dwight Morrow High School in Bergen County must declare a major that will determine what electives they take for four years and be noted on their diplomas..." This isn't just one rogue school, either. "Starting this month, Florida districts will require every ninth grader to major in one of more than 400 state-approved subjects, ranging from world cultures to fashion design to family and consumer sciences. South Carolina enacted a similar law last year, designating 16 career clusters, including architecture, government and agriculture. In Mississippi, a $5 million pilot program in 14 districts this fall will have ninth graders following one of seven career paths, like construction and manufacturing or science, technology, engineering and math."
I started high school in September of 1983 at 14 years old. I was a psychological mess, suicidal, and was told I'd be best suited as an architect because I was good at math and "a loner" (really, I took some "Job O" test that said that in 8th grade). If someone asked me what my major was going to be, I would have said, "I dunno..." I went from wanting to be a paleontologist to a vet to cryptozoologist up until they said I would be a terrible vet because I'd have to work with people. When I graduated, I was sure I was going to be an astrophysicist. I even took college courses and AP credits so I could skip all the "101 courses" in college and go straight into my major, hitting the ground running so to speak. And we all see what happened to that idea.
I have known people in their second year of college who had no idea what they wanted to be. I just spoke with someone who graduated in a major they hated because "I might as well finish it." She's not doing her major, either. So how the hell to they expect a bunch of 13-14 year olds do say what they want to do?
The irony to this post is my son wanted to be a vet since he was 10. He's taking a vocational track at his school to be a vet tech, and we're looking at getting into Virginia Tech, one of the best Vet schools on the East Coast. And yet... if he turned out not to be a vet, it wouldn't surprise me at all. I know a lot of people who went to college "knowing" they were going to have a major is Subject A, graduates with a major in Subject B, and then ends up doing a job unrelated to either one. Most of the systems administrators I have worked with did not have a computer science major, if any at all.
Man, when can kids be kids these days? What happened to natural learning through play? This reminds me of medieval apprenticeships more than anything else. |
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| Comments: |
Part of why I ended up at SJC was because I kept switching majors, so SJC would just have the common curriculum (you can choose a preceptorial for half of 1 semester junior and senior years, and your senior essay can be on anything, and you take no classes during January to write it.)
It's like administrators looked at US test scores, looked at Europe's, and then decided to take the SINGLE WORST THING about european school systems (the too-early tracking), and then make it even worse.
I spend so long counseling my freshmen at UMBC that their major does NOT matter in the way they think -- they can always take a class or two later in life, and electives are great! I acknowledge most of my students are science-oriented if they chose this school, but we develop resumes in freshman comp so they realize they can spin LOTS of stuff into showing an employer they're hardworking, reliable, able to cope with annoying people or exact numbers, so hopefully they'll have freedom to change direction in life, even if their background doesn't precisely match what they think is needed. (It's partly about controlled BSing, but I'd rather hire a new employee who was a camp counselor for a long while rather than one who took extra courses in Human Resource Management, when trying to fill a people-oriented position. Plus the camp counselor one can probably tie some kick-ass knots, should the need develop -- and it always will.)
Have the NJ schools done studies on whether this is useful? I would think that since teens are at a certain level of cognitive development, that they're not in the best position to know yet their lifetime goals, even if a few are precocious with sports, music, or math. Maybe this is just taking "magnet schools" to an extreme?
I just hope that on career day, they bring in people who have switched jobs/directions every 5 years or so, to show that that's a perfectly fine option.
Horrible. I can't imagine. I mean, I never could figure out a major in college (go to design your own major program). Hell, one of my on going issues now at 38 is knowing what I really want to do. Jeez, being stuck on a track - well I certainly would have been more stressed and messed up than I was. *shudders*
From: (Anonymous)
2007-08-17 05:47 pm (UTC)
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I've been out of School for about 15 years now, and I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up.
Mike
When I took the "you're gonna be good at" test in 8th grade, it ghave me a 7 ot of 10 on both aircraft mechanic and career military. I'm a bicycle mechanic and ebay salesthingee. Close, but not really. Another guy in my class got a 10 out of 10 on 3 things - clergy, lawyer, and politician. When you think about it, they're all the same job - you are arguing/defending a point of view, the only difference is who signs the check (not to mention the bribes & job perks).
THat's terrible!
In freshman year I think I wanted to be Carl Sagan when I grew up, at least if you caught me on a less-depressed day. But I already knew I wouldn't be allowed to take bio II or physics or any of the science classes I wanted, because I sucked at algebra. And Astronomy? Astronomy was a Science for Morons class, not a "real" class - it was deigned for idiots who needed one more science credit to graduate, and they mostly slept in the back of the planetarium.
I believe that career test told me I should be an air traffic controller or maybe a pilot. This was about when Reagan was gutting the air traffic controllers' union, and anyway I believed that was a dumb idea because any year now they'd build proper radar systems and things and we wouldn't need air traffic controllers as much. Here we are in 2007 and still no national radar (that was promised me in 1965 by sci-fi writers talking about applications of existing technology. Anyway.) So I tried to take Aeronautics as an elective in soph year, and after two weeks I transferred out in disgust because the asshole teacher informed me that he didn't htink there was a place for women in the air industries except maybe as stewardesses. (Grr! WHy didn't I complain to somebody? Oh right, like who? My guidance counselor who couldn't even remember my name?)
I think I said I wanted to go into advertising after that, or find some job where I would be "writing" but actually get paid for that. Not that anybody told me about any such jobs.
Whatever happened to a sound general education? | |
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