Why do kids hate school?

It is a fact that since the beginning of time, most of us, students, hate school. It is boring, useless, and we just don't like it! Every single student in High School wishes nap time was still in their schedules. We get up early every morning to be dragged to a place that for many of us is just a big waste of time. But what is it that makes school so tedious for us? In my experience as a student, it is because we just don't see the point in it! Learning about the Han Dynasty in ancient China is not going to make me CEO for Apple, so why bother? We don't know the reason for learning everything we are supposed to learn. I lost count of how many times I heard my classmates asking, "fine, and when will I ever use this knowledge in my life?" Personally, I like school, and learning in general, but that depends very much on the subject, the teacher, and the way I am being taught. Nobody likes to just sit and listen to someone talking about a topic you are not interested in all day long, and that is how most classes are. We want to participate, debate, have our questions answered and be taken seriously by our teachers. We want to be stimulated to learn, and talk about topics that are interesting, and that will actually help us later on in life. 

 

I have always liked History, but it wasn't until recently that I found out how much I could enjoy reading about it, because I did it when I was not told to. The same thing with Science. There are so many fascinating things in the world, that are basically the same things we study at school, so why when we do it on our own it seems so much more interesting? Because we are doing it in an interesting way. Everyone is curious about the world what surrounds us it; is a natural human characteristic. But the way we are supposed to sit, listen, take notes and go home makes it seem boring. So the curiosity is there, but how do you make students interested in what they need to learn? 

"‪At the heart of good history is a naughty little secret: good storytelling." Stephen Schiff. ‬

Well, in my opinion, you can get almost anyone interested in almost anything if you present it in an interesting way. Classes that are more dynamic are more stimulating and interesting.

That is a something that can be seen through all of our educational system. This system that is used today was created so long ago, and the world has changed a lot since then, that it just doesn't fit it anymore. We now have access to every single piece of knowledge on Earth with the Internet. We have a much more globalized view of the world now than our grandparents, or even parents, did. We can use that to our advantage in school. But globalization also has a bad side. We have so many different things stimulating us, calling out for our attention, that it takes an extra good storytelling skill to keep us focused. 

Not only about technology, but the role of education has changed. Nowadays the importance of having a university degree when applying for a job is being discussed, and formal education does not mean as much as it did 20 years ago. That only encourages more students to drop out of school and focus their time on things that will help them specifically in the fields they want to work in. That is odd, because preparing children to live in the "real" world, and giving them the knowledge and the tools to succeed is the very purpose of school. So as the educational system remained the same, schools are no longer serving their purposes. 

I like this video because he expresses insatisfaction with the way colleges are, not the very idea of education. I also like his family tree analogy, where that is made clear, and how he knows that school puts us "in the box", not education. 

So how can the educational system change to the point where it adapts to today's world, within borders so that it keeps its purpose? We have studied many attempts. I personally don't agree with some of the radical views such as, "let's get rid of all the teachers!" but I do think that we should get rid of the way teachers are teaching us. As I wrote before, nobody wants to sit and listen to someone talking the whole day, so the perfect classroom, in my opinion, should be one where the students bring up their interests. I like the idea of a teacher to introduce students to a subject, but, as students gain a more profound understanding of that subject, they should "take over" the class, with the teacher to guide them through more complex concepts. Another radical view I don't agree with is the one where we get rid of regular subjects. They do exist for a reason, and they help us in understanding the world around us. Everybody should have a basic understanding of how the world works and exposure to all subjects will give the student a sense of what they are better at, so when it comes to a point where they have to choose what they want to do in life, they will know what to focus on. But there comes a point where students would benefit much more from subjects they are more interested in. For me, an ideal schedule would be regular classes in the morning (classrooms like I described above) and during the afternoon students could work on individual projects. The regular classes could also include more electives. Basically, the students would make most of their schedule. 

I also like the idea of small classrooms. Keeping them small makes things more interesting for the student, who feels like their questions matter, as it also facilitates for the teachers, who can more easily control the class, and can give more individual attention to each student. 

Another thing that makes kids hate school is that many times we don't feel important, or as if our teachers don't take us seriously. I understand that teaching is exhausting many times, and that it is not easy dealing with students, especially teenagers, but, as I wrote above, I think small classrooms are a great way of solving at least a part of that problem. Giving students more freedom (when they are mature enough to handle it) would help us in many ways, not only so we can decide what to do with our time and education, but as a way of learning how to handle such freedom. Giving students more freedom early, and guiding them on how to use it well, is a very important tool that would be useful for the rest of our lives. 

Social life is also one major point that makes kids hate school. High School is a very difficult time for many people. Basically, what High School is, you just take many teenagers, with their already crazy behavior, and put them all together in one building, and wait for the result. Some of them will do better than others, and some of them will suffer. That is because not every student is the same, and there are the "people people" and the people who hate people. Academically, I see the differences between people as a good thing, which is not being used successfully. Every student learns in a different way, and has a different strength, so you can't just put all the kids in one classroom, teach them the same way, and expect all of them to understand you to the same level. Some people learn by doing, some by listening. Some like to work in groups, some benefit more from working alone. Schools should encourage different types of learning, and individualistic thinking, the type that makes students think for themselves, and is not compatible with the standardized test system. 

So what is my response to “Why do kids hate school, and what I can do about it”? We hate school because we don’t see a point to it, we are not encouraged, taken seriously, things are presented very boringly to us (if that is even a word), and we don’t have the freedom we think we deserve. Also, it does not help when so many people who dropped out of school are far more successful than many people who didn’t (I am not trying to generalize, but... Steve Jobs). As to what I can do about it, as I have stated in this post, I believe that a change in the educational system is needed, but as I can’t change it, what I can do to not hate school, and make it more interesting, is help my classmates, encourage them, and make school as interesting as I can for myself and for others.