"Many have observed that a bachelor's degree is probably equal to what a high school diploma was 40 years ago. That's how much it's been dumbed down. "
BINGO!
I went to high school in the early 60's. It was a small public school in a small town, but it was in the age of accountability. There were real consequences for bad behavior. The teachers were probably better educated than what we have today. Parents weren't suing the school district because their little Johnny or Susie couldn't wear their t-shirts or because they felt "persecuted" in a game of dodge ball or whatever.
The dumbing down to the lowest common denominator has not served our schools well. I do believe that my high school education is the equivalent to a college degree today. I am amazed at the number of educated fools with alphabet soup after their names.
I think that Fr. Guido Sarducci had it right. Might as well go the "Five Minute University" route. :) Anyone remember that?
As far as skipping high school and going directly to college, I think it is a bad idea. Advanced courses, yes. But these are still children in the process of growing up and dealing with puberty. They are not emotionally ready for college, IMO. They still need to learn social interaction with their peers.
What is so great about graduating from college at 18 or 19? Childhood is so short. It is a long time that one is an adult and in the working world.
"But these are still children in the process of growing up and dealing with puberty. They are not emotionally ready for college, IMO. They still need to learn social interaction with their peers. "
***Boy, it probably HAS been a long time since you set foot on a high school campus. The social interaction kids "enjoy" today in high school is what the average navy sailor experiences the first time he crosses the equator: downright hazing. If you think that is a positive thing, something is truly misfiring upstairs. I found college to be a much more cordial environment than high school. I probably STILL am not "emotionally ready" to deal with high school, whatever that means.
That position is just plain wrongheaded. I think the kids should have their own choice.
“ But these are still children in the process of growing up and dealing with puberty. They are not emotionally ready for college, IMO. They still need to learn social interaction with their peers.
What is so great about graduating from college at 18 or 19? Childhood is so short. It is a long time that one is an adult and in the working world.”
OK, the feedback I have been getting is something along the lines of, “we all know you feel strongly about this, but what about the underlying issues? Parents really are concerned about this.” And that does appear to be true, judging from my interactions with others when I propose these courses of action. I think it stems from each individual’s own high school experience. If they had a wonderful time and met the man/woman of their dreams and made great friends and… on and on, then they think their own children should experience that fun time in life. But such a view actively neglects what the reality of high school is today, which is better represented by Columbine and Dangerous Minds than Room 222, the old TV series.
This inability to face reality becomes irrational, like a woman I knew once who was afraid of a snake that some kid had as a pet on his shoulder 200 yards away, even though there was no rational possibility that the snake would harm her. Parents irrationally retort, “But high school is supposed to be fun, supposed to be a time of self discovery, supposed to be a time to learn in a protected environment, supposed to be…this and supposed to be that. “ It's supposed to be a lot of things, but it isn't. For a great multitude of children, high school is no fun or even harmful, and in particular for the brighter and/or serious students it is a waste of valuable time. When you talk to a teenager about their future and say things like, “What about medical school? What about getting an MBA, or PhD? What about the military?” What you will often hear is reluctance to spend “so many years” on some goal. To a teenager, 4 years is a LOOOOONNGGGG TIIIIIIME. They inherently know that their time is valuable. By shaving off 3 or 4 years of their 10-12 year jaunt through the educational establishment (high school + college + whatever), you’re speaking their language.
If you’re a parent and you’re trying to find a way to help your kid escape a terrible high school, it may already be too late, damage has already been done. The child has been exposed to a caustic social environment, and their study habits are probably deteriorating quickly. Get them out of there FAST! If you’re a parent of a junior high student considering all this, read through the home schooling vs public schooling threads so that you know what environment you would be sending your kids to, and consider fast tracking. The thought would arise that your child won’t be mature enough emotionally & all that. But read through the success stories here, you’ll see that it does not become an issue. Your child is going to grow up anyways, so it might as well be around a challenging but cordial environment (the people WANT to be there) than a negative and hostile one.
There is one further subtle benefit I see in this kind of program. Parents are teaming up with their kids to plan out the educational future. There seems to be a lot less acrimony between these parents and their teens than the “norm”, probably because the teens know that their parents are proactively looking out for their best interest rather than just putting on the horse blinders.
What is so great about graduating from college at 18 or 19? It’s simple. It puts you ahead of your peers. And you escape that caustic joke social environment that is so useless. Let’s also look at a simple economic hypothetical for a kid who starts working professionally 4 years ahead of his peers. Assuming that both have the same starting wage, let’s say $40k with no raises, the one who starts younger ends up $160k ahead of his counterpart. Is it worth $160k for all that supposed beneficial social interaction? For that price a person could join the moose lodge, elks club, bowling club, nincompoops club and half a dozen others & still have $120k in the bank, and their social dance card would be full. The economics alone could be the deciding factor for many folks. It could also be the difference between having the ability to purchase a house and not having the ability.