High school is pointless

Originally posted by crowpruitt
Man I wish I would have finished high school.Now I am 38 and I have spent the last 20 years making pizza.It pays the bills,but what am I gonna do once its time to retire?I'm screwed.

So high school sure does help in the long run.

Yes, on one side it would have helped you get a better job, but on the other, there are people who also started with slicing pizza, then made their own recipes, opened a restaurant and started selling franchises.

Yes that is very true bratok.You know when I first stated making pizzas I worked for an Italian man who was a very good guy.Anyhow he said he would buy me a pizza shop if I married his niece.That girl was so ugly that a chain of shops wouldn't have made me say yes.I have had other chances to better my life but alcohol killed those,but thats another story.its like you saib bratok,life is what you make of it.BTW congrats on your game man,that would be a cool job.

WE DONT NEED NO EDUCATION
WE DONT NEED NO THOUGHT CONTROL
NO DARK SARCASM IN THE CLASSROOM

HAY TEACHER
LEAVE THE KIDS ALONE

if the original poster put as much effort and attention towards his high school studies as he did toward this thread, he will go far in life.

education is essential. the things they teach you in high school might seem useless now and might seem useless later in life as well (we don't all use algebra, calculus etc in our lives but some do) but what you learn in high school is not only what you are being taught but also how to learn. Consider it preparation for college, where you get to pick what you want to study and then find yourself studying things in your major that you know you will never use but should have a rudimentary understanding of.

School isn't a magical path to success, and there are plenty of reasons to dislike. However, school is a government-subsidized learning environment, where you also meet a lot of people.

Laws and regulations also require certain academic qualifications for various professions like: accountants, doctors, lawyers, nurses, etc. Otherwise, you just need to be able to convince people to hire you, invest in you, and buy your products. In evaluating people, businessmen generally look at experience, accomplishments, education, and certifications.

If you want to run your business, you need to be able to convince people to buy from you, work for you, and invest in you. You also need to be able to be able convince to give you more money, than it costs to do so. If you think you should write up a plan. You need to determine who your customers, figure all expenses, and determine how you will turn a profit. You then need to research everything, and convince people to work with you.

If you are going to work someone, you can get any job you want if you can convince someone to hire you. The hardest is getting your first experience in a new area. You need to find companies working in that area, and work hard to convince them to give you a first job. If they say no, you need to be persistent.

I think a lot of high school is a waste, it should be more 3 years than 4. Also, they need to have more classes that teach kids real job skills, not just math, science etc.

High school isn't pointless.

The point is, to make people predictable, fearful, and break their souls slightly (even if people do not know it) to make them manageable in a society that's main controlling construct is to make money through wage slaving.

And I find that I see these brillant people who drop out. People who could have been the next Da Vinci...

THERE IS NOTHING WORSE.
It...it just kills me to think that we could have had a more advanced society...BUT GODFORSAKEN drugs destroy it.

Makes me just want to put a gun to my head...

But there would be no point...

Anyway, I may only be a freshman but I see what this guy/girl is getting at.

I constantly jump through hoops and there are...well...exploits that you can do to make sure your grade doesn't fall as fast.

I may only be a minor but I have been doing "studies" (For lack of a better word...) on my classmates. And myself. I found that my intelligence actually increased when I played...well..lol...Battlefield 2142. Very odd, I know. But I started making A's in all my classes and had an overall intelligence increase.

And not just playing Battlefield either, But flying Gunships. I had been playing for a while and I started playing in Gunships and you know the rest.

Also, when I study the people around me I see distinct things that pretty much anyone can see if you look in the right place. You must study conversations, facial expressions, and body language.

I'm sorry, I'm getting off topic again.

High School is just not all it's cracked up to be. The only major thing I'll keep from HS is what I am doing now...typing. lol.

So, yes, I find a problem with HS. We need to change the way we do things. To organize our resources so we can EDUCATE our children...

if you don't have a good education you can never succeed in life, and you will never do what job you want to do, this is all I have to say and this is all bulls%^$# what your speaking OP, so lighten up and get over it.

P.S- my mom is a f'in bitch who wont leave me alone!

"Success" is such a subjective thing.
Now, I dropped out of high school last year at age 17. Not due to laziness, but because of health problems mostly. Yet, I learned next to nothing in high school anyway. A few facts and figures, maybe. The rest I taught myself, either through reading or otherwise.
As for what I want to do? I don't want just one career. I hate the idea of limiting myself to one job, one place, one tidy and predictable lifestyle.

I don't think a piece of paper can measure success or intelligence. "Real world" this, real world that. Well, not everyone's idea of fulfillment involves slaving away in a job they don't particularly like for the sole purpose of having more money.. Only to retire and wait for death. Which leaves very little time to do what he/she truly loves, in most cases.

And honestly, when you're lying on your death bed, what difference will it make whether or not you have a high school diploma? Very little.

I remember reading this somewhere: "Within the notion of 'having to earn a living' is the assumption that you don’t automatically deserve to be alive. For some reason this tends to make people feel somewhat depressed."

Versci, what do you mean by health issues? =/

And what do you plan to do for work in the future without a high school diploma?

Originally posted by Johnmike
Versci, what do you mean by health issues? =/

And what do you plan to do for work in the future without a high school diploma?

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and fibromyalgia.. As well as some mental health issues (was hospitalized for a bit, which got me behind).

I do still plan to get a GED (even though it isn't as "good" as a diploma) and attend community college in the spring.
As for work, who knows. The point is, I don't think I should automatically be considered worthless, lazy or unintelligent just because I don't have a diploma.

[edit on 16-3-2007 by Versci]

High school is not pointless. High school has a very important point.


To teach you to obey your authorities figures no matter what unless you want to be severely punished.

They merely spread it over a few subjects so it's not so obvious. It's not like you're actually learning math, science and english (for most kids).

I remember VERY little from high school. I only remember 1 math formula and a little from chemistry. Every english teach I ever had taught me a new "correct" way to write papers.

It's essentially mass memorization. You're not actually learning the information, just how to memorize and temporarily partially understand it long enough to take the test.

They are basically preparing you to be a slave for the rest of your life in our wonderful capitalist economy.

You're free in American , free to go to work and make someone else rich for most of your life.

They could make high school into one class : OBEY

edit : sorry - i forgot the other point of high school was to indoctrinate you with your countries view of the world and romanticize the history of your country by drooling over "great leaders" of the past while ignoring their errors, crimes and downfalls.

[edit on 16-3-2007 by NoobieDoobieDo]

[edit on 16-3-2007 by NoobieDoobieDo]

Undoubtedly the education system has flaws; anyone who tells you differently is crazy, selling something, or both.

I should know... I am a Junior High Assistant Principal whose little sister dropped out of high school and is just now returning for her GED at the age of 26. She dropped out because she struggeld with a learning disability and didn't feel that she could be successful.

It would be easy to say that the system let her down, just as many of you have said that the system let you down ie... "high school is pointless".

Ah, but here's the rub..... life is choice. You can choose to be subject to the flaws of the system, or you can choose to use the system as a tool to get what you want. There are countless programs that exist within the current system that will allow students to excel within their own particular learning style or preferred pathway (including dealing with struggles such as learning disabilities)

(running start, home based learning, PLATO computer based learning, internet academies, work-to-learn, internships, externships, shortened day programs, home tutors, honor level programs, etc...)

The bottom line is this (in my humble opinion)... statements like "
They didn't teach me anything in high school" or "I don't know why they made me go to high school" are complete cop-outs.

You have (or had) the option to make the choice for yourself. Even my sister could (should) have made the choice to seek out other options for success rather than move in with her boyfriend and spend the next 10 years worying about her future.

In the end, I'm sure that the main stream pathway of the current system worked for some of you....that's great. I'm sure that some of you found the current system's flaws too much to deal with and found other ways to be successful...that's excellent. From what I've read of this thread I'm also sure that there are plenty of people who continue to blame the educational system for what it did to them, and how the system caused them to fail.

I would remind this last group that you still have a choice.....

reply to post by WINGxZERO


First, I would like to say one important thing, I HATE SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!I HATE SCHOOL I HATE SCHOOL I HATE SCHOOL. there that was good to get of my chest. Nwo to the point... So, I think that people who want to be a teacher should be in school. or somehting that is pointless and boring. Even if school was important( which it isn't) then why do they have us do speeches? Why don't they just teach it and shut the hell up? Blah blah blah blah..The only classes that are importnant is math and lunch!! they make us takegym,drama,typing,oh mayby enlish is good too.And they make us run the mile.. WTF. I dont c any point in that whatsoever............

Originally posted by Wildbob77
The purpose of high school is just to sort out the people who will succeed in college from those who won't. Personally, I think that there should be far more trade schools for those that know that college is not the route for them.

Then, where you graduate from a vocational school at least you'll be able to find a job that pays a decent wage.

When I read your post, I'm pretty much convinced that you need to study much harder. Your writing needs quite a bit of improvement. However, your ideas are valid.

When my kids were younger, we never stressed grades, we stressed effort. THis was for whatever they wanted to try, sports, music, FFA, 4H and school.

They ended up at the top of their high school class and are now gainfully employed. You might try applying yourself very hard for a couple of years and see how it feels. There is no better feeling, in my opinion, than trying very hard and being satisfied with the result.

true enough- i teach
i would say the reason for high school never was college and still is not.
high school was to give every citizen a base education to function as a contributing member of society and possibly find a trade (further vocational education) or military branch to go into a career afterwards.
This idea is not working in the world of the last 20 years I'd say.
College has supplanted high schools education by offering more which is needed to interact in a global community.
Getting advanced degrees is now more than merely academic it further separates and provided economic firepower for the individual. It is sad that High school has 'eroded' to such a low degree- Euro and euro style school systems are abbreviated compared to US and 'high school' isn't 4 years and neither is it so general. Specialization earlier happens and careers start earlier as well.
The real purpose of education now is constantly debated as to its current format and curricula The NCLB (no child left behind act) i feel is a disaster at losing one of the principle functions of Education and that is enculturation and learning how to behave in the future society of the soon to be contributor of the country or global economic system. Instead it is a list of things to know and no way teach how it is important or how it all ties in together
the students who figure this out- do very well in life.
that's why many people who are the successes with out high school (rare I would argue without college level education) have already figured out integration of many ideas and subjects and know how to relate well to people...
Education in US schools is more than simply testing there is more to learn but you have to be there to do it and pay attention- and if you can't keep up take notes and review

High-school is not pointless. Perhaps the reason why you weren't successful in high-school was because you didn't try hard enough, and, then you gave up. I bet that if you tried really hard to make friends and learn and be a good sport that you would realize that high-school isn't pointless.

Whoever in this thread that thinks that high-school is pointless is foolish. You develop skills in high-school that will last you throughout the rest of your life. I'm in 12th grade and I know that now that whatever I learn will be with me and will be a skill that I will have later in life. If you learn to have a negative attitude in high-school you will have a negative attitude later in life. If you have a positive attitude and think about how good learning is or how fun it is that will stay with you and you will be more willing to try new things.

Bottom line is, no matter how you look at it, you can't say high-school is pointless. Maybe you should rephrase the topic to say something else... but... it's just false to say that it's pointless. We teenagers need to go through one more kind of school so we can learn to control ourselves while we're going through puberty. Adults don't want to be around many people that are adolescents that won't ever grow up. High-school is important in character development and if you want to you can take classes about topics you want to learn about Now don't go telling me that they have no good electives in high-school... you can find plenty of electives... looking through your registration booklet that has all the classes the school offers in it.

I'm currently in high school and find it repetitive and boring. The regular classes consist of a teacher just yelling at the kids to pipe down and look productive. While the honors classes consist of a teacher just piling hour after hour of homework on the student so that they look like they're teaching them something. It really is a catch 22 in this case.

I do wish they would specialize our field of learning earlier on in our academic career. I know that I will have a job that has something to do with engineering and computers. The reason being that I live and breathe computers. Hell, I helped network our school of 300 computers together and setup a central administrator terminal. Whenever a computer stops working I usually end up being the one called upon to fix it. Whether it be a broken Windows install or corrupted BIOS I'm usually the one at my school who takes care of it. However, I digress...

It would be nice if they would shorten school by a few years. Making school start later would be nice as well. Starting class at 7:00 in the morning?? I mean COME ON!!! I see kids show up at school looking like zombies. First the teachers load us up with several hours of homework, while having no consideration for our own after-school activities, and then expect us to have their $hit done by tomorrow morning??? THAT'S INSANE!

I don't even know what the hell we're learning anymore. I don't even think the teachers know what the hell they're doing. I maintain straight A's, but that doesn't really mean much anymore does it?! I usually just sleep during class and pretend to take notes so my teachers will just stay the f*ck away. I just do the homework and go on my marry way hoping the teacher doesn't spot me dozing off.

BTW: I think there was someone here that said their English teachers kept re-teaching a new writing style. I'd just like the dude to know that he "ain't" alone. Every year we're told by a new English teacher that everything we thought we knew about writing is 100% ABSOF*CKINGLUTELY WRONG!!!!!!!
It's either her way or a nice big fat F on the next report card.

Since my parents think grades are the "Holy Grail" of academic prowess they hound me nonsensically if I have anything lower than an A until I either give them what they want or just tell them that I don't care (which worked surprisingly well the first time given the circumstances).

I never did well in high school until my last year when I finally got diagnosed with add, been great since, but my experience trying to get through high school wasn't very positive.

But now that I'm done, I'm glad I didn't give up like a lot of people do, I turned everything around and now I can see that it's not the content you get taught in school thats important, because its really not, most of it is useless. It's the various mental tools that you pick up through high school that you can then apply to infinite situations in life.

What I mean is like the old saying goes, "Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime."

High school teaches you how to learn, not individual bits and pieces that are necessarily valuable for you to know, besides things like basic math and English of course.

High school also functions as an introduction to social interaction, whether you'd like to admit it or not the situations that high school forces you into, though maybe sometimes unpleasant, are ultimately good for ya

reply to post by 1-Cent

I hear you loud and clear. I never really did well in high-school until my last year. Before then I would be antisocial around everyone, I didn't have good organization skills, and I could never finish work to the best of my ability. In my last year of high-school my attitude toward life changed completely. I was able to develop a lot of skills that I didn't have before. I learned how to study effectively, I learned that socializing is good and that it's not good to always be into nerdy things, and, I learned a lot about myself and a lot about how to interact around other people. I really changed how shy I was. I became more open around other people and I couldn't be happier right now. Now I'm going to have a chance to go to the college and university that I want after I transfer from a community college in two years. If I didn't goto high-school I would probably end up somewhere on the streets sitting with the rest of the homeless people in some homeless shelter and I wouldn't be even able to get an education.

High-school is a great place to learn and a great place to learn interaction skills. In a world filled with so many strangers one has to know how to interact around all of them. One must also learn how to behave in our society. One cannot do this by just staying home all day. You have to learn this on your own and high-school is the perfect place to learn.