Why do you get 10 hours of sleep?

Scientists say that teenagers need (should be getting) an average of at least 9.25 hours of sleep every night.

I never get that much, lol

Agreed on 3, 5, and 6 wholeheartedly. I can even jump on with 4, even though the computer/internet industry is an inflated bubble, and it *will* eventually burst. In the interim, PROPER computer literacy (and no, that does not include Facebook) is important.

1 and 2, however, I take issue with.

"History classes do not server much of a practical purpose in any kind of situation. The purpose of school is to train children to be future productive citizens. While I believe that it is important to understand our history, and I think that it is an important step in developing our patterns of thought, I do think that it is dwelt upon far too much."
^ History class do serve practical purposes; it's kind of silly that you wouldn't give History that kind of credit. You hit the nail on the head when you mentioned development of thought practices. You said patterns, but that terminology is troublesome. History classes and English classes are at the forefront of developing creative and critical thinking. Social Studies as a whole (which most students will have up until grade 9 or 10) focusses on many different areas besides History -- Economics, Geography, Sociology, Psychology, Cultural Studies, Civics, etc. -- which targets exactly what you said school is supposed to be doing: training students to be citizens. And your term, "productive", does not necessarily mean being economically productive, making a lot of money and paying too much of it back in taxes. Part of being a citizen is being informed, being critical of the world around you (not necessarily just looking at the world around you in a negative sense), and people seem to forget about that.

"Math and science need to be more aggressively pursued. There is a very small selection of available Math classes at my school. We have 2 Mathematics AP's versus about a dozen history AP's. The ironic thing is, way more kids will be needing advanced math in the workplace. Pretty much any white collar job, and a lot of blue collar jobs require good math skills."
^ Basic, 12th-grade mathematics has gotten me through high school, a university degree, and standardized American testing to the point that I am on my way to being certified to teach. Advanced mathematics in the workplace I don't feel is incredibly necessary unless you are working in a math-extensive vocation. You're not going to need to know calculus or discrete mathematics to work in Parcel Pickup at the Superstore. I mean, if you're talking about Advanced Placement math students, maybe there should be more classes, BUT, if there's no demand for it, they're not gonna be put in just for the hell of it. If there are a dozen AP history classes, are they all full? If so, there's obviously demand for it. Even to teach, if you're not going to teach math, the level you need to have of mathematics knowledge is pretty negligible.

I know what you mean about the computer/internet industry being bloated. I am a freelance flash programmer, and I can say that at times, it does seem over-done. It is really hard to read though, because there are still a great deal of investors entering the market, and there is a substantially large number of services and goods that the internet can provide us.

As I do believe you are somewhat correct, let me clarify my thinking. I am not so much interested in seeing children being educated in the area of software and development itself, as I am advocating general electronic literacy. I feel that in many cases, this should not involve the internet at all, and would be more geared towards developing software and hardware in practical applications. I am not sure if this is the correct description, but I think that I may be advocating the use of robots and mechanical technology, as I feel that in the future, many more blue collar job opportunities will be replaced by machines, especially in the areas of manufacturing and production.


I was specifically attacking History, not general Social Studies. I feel that many of the classes you mentioned are practical, and I would certainly encourage Psychology and Economics. I do realize that others may disagree with me, but I simply do not see the practical purpose of Art History, Colonial American History, or European History in todays society. Additionally, I feel that these classes should not be so localized as to focus on a particular nation. This is targeted specifically at American and European History. In todays global economy, nobody will care (except possibly Americans), about your knowledge of a particular nation's history, just in the same way that no Americans would care if I knew the complete history of Argentina.


To respond to your stance on mathematics:
Well, not all of us can be teachers now

All jokes aside, while high-school math is often enough to get by, it is necessary in almost the entire white-collar job market, and much of the blue-collar job market. It is also necessary for almost any kind of design, whether it be graphical design, product design, architechture, computers, or infrastructure. Any and every qualified businessman should have a solid mathematical background. While I feel that many jobs do not involve math, most do, although with the advent of computers, this need is growing somewhat smaller.


To add on to my previous post:
I also feel that biomedically oriented classes should be excluded from focus as well. There is no practical application to know human anatomy or the theories of evolution unless you are going into a medical or archaeological field. I would encourage biology and chemistry, however, as they explain the composition of objects, both living and otherwise, and are commonly used in most scientific fields.

school is helpful. i don't consider that school are not helping us. it develop us in many ways. but i think we can still be successful though we are illiterate or have not gone to school. cause success does not necessarily depends on your education. there are so many rich people here in my country who didn't attend school at all. there success was out of pure hard work. and there are many highly educated people here who are still terribly poor.

School was a waste of my life you was to ask me. I haven't learned anything that would be useful. I have learned more on the Internet. Like I have discovered I can make a living off doing something I love. Webmastering.

I am a flash game developer, and you do need school to be successful on the internet. You mainly need math though, not so much the other subjects.

i don't think education is brainwash, i do agree that not all things are life applicable to everyone.. therefore i believe that at the end of middle school a person should have the core basic knowledge needed to be your average person, and those that wish to continue school can after that, and the rest can begin working if they wish...

or maybe it should be more vocation tech type schools after middleschool were if you know yoru carreer path you can be more focused on the actual valid subjects you will need for your career rather than wasting time on e=mc2 or history when your going to be a mechanic etc.