School. My son is Failing some subjects. Should I worry?

I never understood the educational approach either, having to learn disjointed facts that one day are supposed to miraculously come together in one full smart student. First grade, looking at the second grader right next to me, but that book is censored for me. You must have grade clearance to get to the next level. Never mind that I watched the same TV my parents watched, tinkered at home with the same ideas my parents lived with, and was planning on growing up one day with the same challenges they had.

At the end, I think my educational system with 13 years stunted my intellectual growth. I had my mind set on graduating years earlier that traditional forecasts, but the teachers were adamant about keeping me entrained to be stupid, just in step with the status quo. Linear thinking is a killer: stand in line, wait your turn, regard teachers as gurus when they aren't. The material was not the challenge; the adults with the educational glass ceilings were the problem. I used to cry through school because the learning was so forced, and then as I got older, I suffered from depression from having meaningless lessons with the teachers taking their jobs for granted. Had they been advising anybody other than children -- an executive business person perhaps -- they would have been laid off or fired for unprofessionalism. Double standards on age discrimination, all across the country.

I remember a scene in high school, we were learning some pathetic sentence diagram or something at the front of the class, and a separate teacher was studying bar code scanning systems on TV in the back on his own time. I learned more that day from what the teachers thought were important to them than what they thought students had to be force fed that day.

The sooner your son learns this crap and gets it out of his way, the sooner he can grow up. It is old fashioned industrial size brainwashing. It is only there to employ teachers and keep people in-step with the rest of society, so that young geniuses do not intimidate the older middle class out of their jobs. If he can cram that information in, dead tyrants from another country, old names for triangles, and more, into one year where it takes another kid two, let him do it. Just do not foster your son's ignorance of American factoids by rejecting the challenge. Get a tutor, someone who will dump a pile of college-level stress on him to motivate him to advance. He can teach himself and upstage the teacher. Some days 50 minutes per lesson is too long, and only serves to pad the teacher's agenda, which is nothing, because teachers are trapped in boxes with kids year after year, and can't fathom what kids will be one day, and don't care. Ten years after the class, you go back to the teacher who bored you to tears, and look at where they went: not too far.

The grading is but a status symbol for many students. So just set the goal that other parents set: get straight As, nothing less. Find some success mentor in your community, an adult, for your kid to observe. Set some goals on what he is going to be when he grows up, not just wants to be, but something impossible. Tell him he is going to be an engineer when he gets older and hold him to it. Cut out the garbage in his life too: garbage food, garbage TV screens, garbage friends. High standards get high results.

Sounds like your child is a victim of the "no child left behind" debacle that Bush set up.

You should worry because you are posting this on a conspiracy website.

Originally posted by Pedro4077
So I just had a talk with my son about his dismal school report card.

He seems disinterested, and cannot understand why he needs to know certain subjects. I can see his point.

Why would my son need to know how to work out the area of an isosceles triangle, scince I left school I have never needed to know the formula.

Why does he need to know that Ghangis kahn was born in Mongolia around 1155. He married at age 16, but had many wives during his lifetime. Will this information help him in a Job Interview?

Should he stess out over a science test where he must remember the law of gravitation equasion.

Much of the stuff he learns seems pointless. Once you learn the three R's what is the point of all the useless information.

Should School take on a different approach? It's not the 1950's anymore.

edit on 4-9-2012 by Pedro4077 because: (no reason given)

Give the kid a break. Look what he's got to work with His parent hangs out here on a conspiracy forum

Sure He's gotta know that sh**t. I had to know that sh**t. He might actually need it. Doesn't seem like you are giving him a great deal of enthusiasm. Get him excited about his career path, his next job to pay for this knowledge

Hey that Khan thing might not work in an interview, but would come in handy at a party..

Stress, who needs it? Ignorance is bliss.

The three "R" s that's where it's at. We should be so lucky. The satire of readin,rightin, and rithmetic, has lost much of it's sting in the face of reality.

Let's face it, the time of enlightenment may be over. Teach the kid to be a brute. Yeah. Let him hang out with you for a while. Bond.

I am currently a student in California.

It is imperative that your son pass all of his classes with a minimum of a C or better. However, if you wish for him to gain entry at a finer university I highly suggest you stress the importance of grades to him.

In a down economy the number of students attending college ALWAYS increases as jobs are lost the market becomes far more competitive.

If you have any questions regarding his future academia please feel free to ask me! I will be happy to help!

If your son needs personal help you should refer him to "Khan Academy," they also have an iPhone app!

reply to post by Pedro4077


Well, does he already know what he's going to do later in life? If he decides after graduating from high school that he's interested in going into engineering, or take up carpentry, physics, or become a math teacher, he may find out its going to be useful. Not all kids know what they're going to do once they graduate from high school.

Although he may never use the formula for finding the area of an isosceles triangle, it will help him to improve on his analytical and problem solving skills. He's also learning how to follow step-by-step task (formula) to achieve a final outcome. Being well rounded, and understanding concepts other than the basics can be an advantage later in life. Nobody knows what the future holds.

The problem I see most often, is most high schools students lack the basics. Most don't know how to read a ruler, protractor, figure out angles, write a check, use proper grammar, lack problem solving skills and communication skills. I find some students get all the way to high school and they still can't do basic math.

'MERICA. Or should I say, 'STRALIA.

Seriously, I'm no fan of the public school system, but that OP was terrifying to me. If your child's report card is "dismal" there should be some serious concerns. There was stuff I didn't care about in school, but I was smart enough to fake my way through it and pass with a reasonably high grade. I'll give you the history/social studies class. When I was in school I always believed we should be learning about recent history and current events vs. ancient civilizations. I'll even grudgingly give you everything past basic science. But math? Come on. You're right, this isn't the 1950's anymore, counting on your fingers doesn't cut it in today's world.

Originally posted by rickymouse
Three feet times four feet is 12 feet times one foot deep is 12 cubic feet.

And when you pour that, you just flooded 6 cubic feet of cement on the flowers. Sorry, you are fired. I guess you forgot this was a triangle. There really is no reason to be so sarcastic. The OP stated he saw no reason why his son should learn how to calculate the area of a triangle. I was trying to give a real life practical example on usage of it.

Has the OP even responded to anything recent yet?

reply to post by Pedro4077


Good luck trying to change the school system lol. Personally, i think this is one of the most ignorant posts I have ever seen. Yes, it's important for your son to know these things if you ever want him to be cultured. Not to mention the fact that he truly doesn't have a choice. With the huge overwhelming global market we live in, your son is already far behind. If I were you I would invest in a tutor, or if you have the time, personally take initiative in your kids life instead of fighting the system and setting him farther back. Every second counts and by changing initiatives you could seriously change his life for the better. The later you wait, is the sooner things get worse.

Even though most of that stuff is pointless, the purpose is to leave an imprint in his mind so that he may take an interest in that field one day, even though he may not necessarily remember any of it later. Nobody wants to be left behind so do what you can and push him.

Keep him in school and make him learn But also teach him a lil more.

reply to post by Pedro4077


All things require the math and sciences. There is nothing in God's world where laws of geometry are not helpful or applied. History of ancient cultures only reminds us of this. Relate your kid's studies to life. Show him how learning geometry relates to carpentry, landscaping and all other manual work, then explain to him the difference between living how you want and barely making it is knowledge not manual labor. Good Luck

You can always send him over here to China.
7AM to 10PM, 6 days a week, REMEMBER, REMEMBER, REMEMBER. Got a question? Study more!
Students over here cannot think creatively at all, they already need something that's been done before or something everyone else is doing to follow, as you all know innovation isn't China's forte there's a good reason for that.

As the old saying goes in China "study study good day day up" Which makes absolutely no logical sense to me, but that's the Chinese for ya.

Maybe the powers that be here don't want people to think too hard.

In Australia when I was taught and then worked for the system we always did things in a creative manner, to expand our minds, break out of the square, ask questions.

Originally posted by Sandalphon
Linear thinking is a killer: stand in line, wait your turn, regard teachers as gurus when they aren't.

Some of the world's most successful people share this attitude. But for every Steve Jobs that has this attitude, there are dozens of losers that also have this attitude and have not been served well by this attitude.

Schools are supposed to train people to be responsible, productive members of society. Most productive members of society stand in line, wait their turn, punch in on time, etc. This may come across to you as "linear thinking" or slavelike, but it is also responsible. Most people need to be taught so that they, and society as a whole, can continue to thrive.

Most people will not have the talent of a Steve Jobs, and quite frankly most people never will. To teach most people to flagrantly disregard "linear thinking" is setting them and society as a whole up for failure. For the few special people that can thrive without "linear thinking" they are probably not harmed by the school system's conformist attitude anyway. Their talents will overshadow and overcome some second-rate teachers' silly rules and power trips.

Its much easier to dismiss the hard path as unnecessary.

All knowledge is important.

reply to post by crackerjack


I think there needs to be a good balance between encouraging creativity and instilling fundamentals.

We need creative people to make the world a better place. New technology will not come by having someone memorize the periodic table. Social problems will not be solved by having someone memorize all the capital cities in Asia.

However, creative people need to have sound fundamentals in order to do amazing things. I don't care how creative you are, you cannot be a good engineer unless you mastered the fundamentals of mathematics. I don't care how creative you are, you cannot solve social problems without having mastered the fundamentals of social sciences like economics and sociology. I don't care how creative you are, you cannot make good music unless you learn to play an instrument.

reply to post by hotpinkurinalmint


Yes, you are right. To a certain extent our teachers have to teach students to fit into society so that they can work alongside others and fit together as a nation. This is done in k-12 and is part of their job. Churches were the original teachers of this. Going to college has been implied to schoolkids by teachers as a necessity of getting a good job. You don't need a college degree to get a good job, it depends on your perception of what a good job is. Many good jobs utilize on the job training for advancement. Working in a mine, construction, the trades, factory jobs, Business owners, Salesmen, farming, butchers, or a thousand other jobs are all good respectable jobs. Teachers weren't teaching that these non college related jobs are respectable jobs.

Well I have recieved quite a beating here, but I suppose I haven't given enough background information about my son.

I know for a fact that he is way more advanced than his peers.

While the other kids are obsessed with Big Brother or the X Factor, he asks me about the creation of money.

While the other kids are being Internet Warriors and fighting on Facebook, he is watching a youtube video on the Egyptian Pyramids.

While the other kids couldn't even find Israel on a world map, he could point to it immediatly.

He has all the information in his head, but struggles to put it down on paper - which is required in school tests.

He loves the outdoors and would like to be a "Free-Range Worker" not a "Caged Worker".

The is no shame in getting your hands dirty, and getting a bit of sweat above your brow.

I have absolutely no fears about his future, he is on a differnt intellectual level to his peers, and he will succseed in anything he puts his mind to.

reply to post by Pedro4077


This is going to sound harsh----- I think your kids issues might revolve around you. Hear me out knowledge and the journey to gain it is what life is all about.


Your kid hears you saying things like you will never use that and I never needed it. You should be ashamed of yourself and that shame should help you change. You are bitter and jaded that is what your post implied to me. Why make your child bitter and jaded also? They are at the start of hopefully a long journey why saddle them with this you will not need this crap.

The education system is creating a communist type mindset where all the children think the same, eat the same, talk the same, act the same, and will want to be paid the same.

Well my son see's through this, maybe partly due to my infuence - (I have been his sole parent scince he was 16 months old), but also because of travel, he has been to every corner of Australia - while other kids his age hardly leave their State or Home Town. He has many mentors who have been succseful in life, and he has extremely active sporting life.

He is an individual free thinker - not one of the "Groupthink Drones".

reply to post by Pedro4077

Maybe he's bored with school. He has to learn to make it interesting somehow. School bored me, I made a game out of learning to gain interest. I created challenge in my mind.