Public vs. Private Schools

A good friend of mine works for the county school board. She said she will DEFINITELY be sending her kid to PRIVATE school, hehe...

Personally, I don't think it makes much difference. I went to both public and private schools while growing up. I did well in both, because my parents taught me to WANT to learn. I think the lack of doing this is what is to blame for the failures of schools. If parents can give their children a firm foundation, then it won't matter how bad the school is, as the child will likely teach his or her self.

Originally posted by Gazrok
����.Personally, I don't think it makes much difference. I went to both public and private schools while growing up. I did well in both, because my parents taught me to WANT to learn. I think the lack of doing this is what is to blame for the failures of schools. If parents can give their children a firm foundation, then it won't matter how bad the school is, as the child will likely teach his or her self.

I agree for the most part gazrok, I�m a big proponent of the dukey in dukey out theorem. However, I think that you�re missing the level of violence that is being played out in public schools across America every day�..I just don�t think that if you compare a war zone to a bad school, that the dukey in dukey out theorem holds. I also wanted to make a point about college entrance and your school and its curriculum directly affects that process. There are not many public schools that pack the prestige of private schooling, deservedly or not.


[edit on 28-9-2004 by keholmes]

I went to northern private schools my entire life, but a lot of my friends attended public school. There was no doubt that the level of school work, and teaching was far superior in the private schools as apposed to the public ones. At the time it did not seem so great, harder schools mean more work, but later in life I can see that it was definitely beneficial. The only thing that I can see wrong with private school, is that it can somewhat shelter you from the reality of the world. When you get out into the real world, and are around people of different levels of discipline and beliefs, it can be quite a shock, and an eye opener.

Originally posted by defcon5
I went to northern private schools my entire life, but a lot of my friends attended public school.

Did you see the film, "Rushmore." It's about a kid who gets kicked out of his exclusive private school and has to attend public school, among other things. A great film, an Owen Wilson/Wes Anderson collaboration, if you haven't seen it.

Never even heard of it before, bit I will take a look around and see if I can find a copy.

Does it hit the mark with the,� being sheltered�, statement?

Originally posted by defcon5
Does it hit the mark with the,� being sheltered�, statement?

The film brilliantly portrays the stark contrast between the the public and private school cultures.

Check out these sites.

www.rottentomatoes.com...

www.imdb.com...

www.imdb.com...

Avoid reading the user reviews at IMDB. The amateurs are more prone to revealing spoilers and that could be the kiss of death for this film

It has a very off beat style, but it is very funny, and the acting is very good by Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Olivia Williams and Seymore Cassel and large number of suporting cast.

Originally posted by Off_The_Street
The way I look at it, your parents got screwed twice:

First, they had to pay for the public government-monopoly school even though they didn't use it; and

Second, because the government schools are practically a monopoly, the only way freedom-of-choice schools like the one you went to can survive is to charge high rates.

Na - I got to go for free (more or less) because I could play football and could actually keep the grades up - LOL!

But I do agree on your point - it is wrong that people must pay for public schools and then have to pay thousands of dollars extra for a private school (and yeah - those prices can get very high - I believe the one I went to was over 20,000 a year for highschool!)

Imagine what it'd be like if there were private school vouchers! Parent's wouldn't have to pay for a school they didn't use; if they wanted to send their little Precious to a private, freedom-of-choice school, they would get a tax credit. That way, more parents and their kids would be able to choose the school that best fit them. For some it might be a single-sex school with uniforms, for others it might be a science and math school, for others a religious school, and so on.

Not only that, but the number of freedom-of-choice schools would be such that there'd be competition for good teachers and low rates, and the consumers (parents and kids) would benefit. Meanwhile, the government-monopoly schools would have to improve, too, or the freedom-of-choice schools would take their students away, and they'd go out of business.

You were lucky, and I. for one. am glad for you. I just wish all the kids had the same choices you did.

Ohh - I completely agree! You will not find anyone that agrees with school valtures more then I do, believe me.

All I am saying is that you can't make broad sweeping statements like "all private schools are better then all public schools" because a lot of the time it isn't the case depending on the student and the schools.

A lot of kids would not do well in a private school because they generally have things like uniforms and a lot of mandotory stuff that public schools don't have.

Originally posted by DeusEx
Well, i have to admit...I'm pretty young. I've only been free of highschool for two years.

My experiences are...*cough* a little checkered.

My first problem was that kids are DUMB. I mean, there are kids in there who would have trouble reasoning themselves out of a paper bag. I'm not even joking. there's an intellectual 'elite', then a bunch of mediocre students, then a base of large ones. Teachers pander to the middle group, so that bright kids like the sixteen year old in the article feel unchallenged. The only way that changes is exile into special classes. While I disagree with her comments about the books offered (Literature is literature is literature, doesn't matter where it comes form if it's quality writing), I do agree with the fact that reading and writing are taught pretty poorly. Shakespeare is merely interpretation of what's on the page. We had to do stuff like Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner and Wuthering Heights too, but most people probably would have prefered to lose a finger to having to read thsoe books and write something on them. In a nutshell, students aren't driven. Students don't care. If they do care, that's quickly crushed. Kids coem to class drunk and/or stoned on a regular basis.

The second problem is drugs. Weed is an epidemic in highschool. Drinking, not so much. However, now that drugs are so huge everywhere, that brings a certain measure of violence with it. Yesterday, I saw statistics that claimed that up to 86% of grade 12s had tried drugs in the past four years. I've seen girls thumb blotters of acid into their mouthes in class. Mushroom, MDMA and K use is also rising. This, of course, isn't great news.

The third problem is violence. There is a culture of violence in highschools, always have been. Before, there were rules. Now, tehre aren't. Kids are forced to carry knives for self defence. I've seen some pretty savage beatings.

The fourth and final problem is the reactionary attitude of the schools. Sometimes, I don't blame them. They don't hear much unless the bronze drags it up on their desk. But if your school is getting out fo control, you have to do something. Unfortunately, it's often misdirected or a simple knee jerk reaction against violators of the status quo.


High school is hell, period.

DE

100% agreed ! I believe this only applies to American high schools, I'm told that schools are much better in Europe.

Kids are the same everywhere, mate. I'm in Canada, and it's just as bad here. The only major difference between Canadian and American schoolchildren is that ours have a lower probability of stabbing each other in the face and neck. That aside, the kids are still lazy, apathetic, and usually on drugs.

DE

While I don't have much warm feelings for Mr. Bush, I can understand that many americans , watching the moral standards deteriorate in their country, say that something drastical needs to be done , Bush indeed seems like the man for that (if you are willing to take all the other sh*t that comes with the package), the situation at schools is a prime example of a free soceity without values or frustrated people seeking values.

At least with the more expensive private schools, the extra $$$$ can be used to have more security guards at that school and more teachers to give individual students more attention.

The thing is however is that America could be heading for the guatamala dictatorship model where a small ueberrich scholared elite rules the dumb dog-eat-dog masses.

It's a difficult fine line to walk, btw: how is the situation at Canadian schools?

[edit on 22-11-2004 by Countermeasures]

[edit on 22-11-2004 by Countermeasures]