Sunday, April 10, 2011

Kids Rule!

  Playgrounds.Games.Fun,If  someone came up to you one fine day to tell you about which age group does these terms fits and classifies under,which will you choose?Will it be kids,children and the young?Now, to come to the main topic, how do you regard a student-leaded school?Have you ever wondered how it will turn out,what it will be like?Of course,now in America and Europe,some testing of a similarly-inspired system,which seems to have worked out well so far.But to clarify at the start,should students be given FULL freedom to run the school?That should be our focus point.So back to the point,if you hear of such a school where students are able to decide whatever they want to learn and do in the school, what comes to your mind? A peaceful environment where beneficial learning takes place or rather,utter chaos?
  The definition is that students are independent enough to know what is good for them,but with the adults ruling the roost,the school curriculum is boring,lacking of freedom and so on.This may seem like a stupid and generic question to state my point,but have your parents ever asked you to eat your vegetables because they are good for you when you are young?Or not to talk to strangers because they might be "baddies" that will harm you?Adults have gone through childhood themselves and the harsh world of society.They have the experience and knowledge to know what is good for us,and even though they may not be the most interesting and fun choices every time,and consider it from this point of view. Teachers have had years of experience teaching and knowing what a student needs and requires to do well in life.What about us students who don't even have any experience whatsoever and some can't even decide and know what is good for them,how will a school that has student-planned curriculum ever reap as much benefits(if it does) as one as opposed to one by teachers?
  Then there is the question of maturity.Are students mature enough to know what is good for them and follow that path?I am not questioning the maturity of all the students and kids in this world,but as a student myself,I have to admit that to be able to follow our mind instead of of our heart is not as easy as it seems for kids.Students that can't control their desire to play computer games in school is not a student who is mature enough to decide what should we learn.What will a student-planned curriculum of poor-disciplined students cause?A Maple story class,a Xbox competition,a PS3 introductory lecture?Do you think a school run by students who have not yet grasped the full meaning of self-control be a conducive learning environment?
  A school is not a cage.You are there for five days of the week, half to 3 quarters of a day.A bit of "torture" for your well-being and future is certainly not a waste of time,To respond to the criticism that schools are too boring,too bland,school curriculum had evolved over the years to become a more relaxed and interesting time with lessons teaching IT(Information Technology),PE(Physical Education)  and Home Economics that still let us learn but make our time in the "cage",the "concentration camp" the "prison more colourful.
  Schools are a place to learn skills and knowledge.There is no appearance of the word"fun"in the definition of a school,schools were not in the past,is not now and most likely will not in the future be ever fully led by students.
 

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