Rogue's Second Political Poll- Ah, the stupidity of school...

Nicely said Goat

Its interesting about what you said about JFK

Well here in NZ, I just finished an assignment on The Assasination of JFK, and there was no censourship what-so-ever, well what a surpise huh? We were allow to freely write what ever we want, it was grade on the ability to analyis etc etc, hte problems you talk about aren't here at all, lucky huh?

But seriously though, I didn't know that your, or anyother school would be like that?

That is seriously wrong.

rogueleader - explain 'democide' please...

I think that comparing schools to Nazi concentration camps is not only wrong but is insulting as well.

I mean you cant be serious can you????? As screwed up as American schools maybe you cannot possibly compare them Nazi concentration camps. Are the teachers in American schools doing degrading and painful physical tests on the students where in the end the students will probably die? I dont think so.

From what I can understand of American education system it is very biased in what it teaches. Australia is not biased we learnt about what happened to the Aborigines when Australia was conolised (this including killing and then trying to assimilate them - very uncool).

We had to do a "creative response" for english, which really only tests your artistic ability. anyway, my friend also decided to do a protest assignment, and handed in a crappy 5min black ball-point pen sketch and explained his thoughts in a short essay, saying that the ideas are what counted, not it's execution (along with some content hinting at the fact that english is pretty much a waste of time after you learn to write and that the teacher has wasted her life). anyway, it' now hanging on his wall with a big dirty 1/20 on it

I cant stand english

all that

"there is no right answer" is bull****

I prefer Science and Maths, straight up and down baby!

I think this throws a monkey wrench into the entire works: I moved around a lot (my father was a Marine for 30 years), I attended 8 different schools during grades 1-12, these included public, catholic, and schools that were on 'base'. Judging from all of these posts, the catholic school and the one on the military base (Camp Lejeune, specifically) would be the ones more than likely to be very biased in their teaching, especially Camp Lejeune since it operated directly under the government. Those fascist bastards! Just the right breeding ground for mindless zombies, right? Wrong!

The 3 years I spent at this high school were the most informative of my life. I took mainly college level courses and ALL (but one) of my teachers were very open and not only encouraged but rewarded individuality and originality. Seems to be bit of a paradox here, eh? Our history teacher even touched on the '2nd gunman on the grassy knoll theory' in a serious way..not very typical of a school that operates DIRECTLY under the government thought by many to be responsible for the death of JFK.

School is what you make of it. Of course there are going to be good teachers and bad ones, but to make a judgement based on your own limited experience and the experiences of others (especially when you seemingly only take into account the 'bad' ones) seems a bit wrong to me. You could say that I am doing the same thing, but I think I attended a pretty good 'cross-section' of schools. The list of places that I attended or visited schools in include: Maryland(2 different schools), North Carolina, Hawaii, Cuba, San Diego(2 different schools), Monterey CA, New York. Of ALL the schools I attended, the BEST were the Junior High School I attended in San Diego (encouraged MUCH individualism) and high school in North Carolina (Camp Lejeune). The absolute WORST was a high school in San Diego (mainly because of gangs).

My point here is that I have attended enough schools to be able to make (IMHO) a judgement based on a multitude of learning experiences, the base being @100 different teachers in different states. I saw more good teachers than bad, more encouragement of individuality than oppression of free thought.

I, too, would like to see the essay that you got crucified on. Are all of your teachers like this? (I know you said at least one was cool)

Chunky, English is not a waste of time. I used to think maybe it was but now I have to, on a monthly basis, write reports on how my class is running and the individual progress of my 'guys'. My job requires not only the ability to write but to speak well, both of which are taught in English. If I don't present my thoughts, no matter how brilliant, in a cohesive, intelligent manner, then I sound like an idiot and will not be taken seriously. By the way, I work in Human Services with mentally handicapped individuals, teaching basic life skills. I don't know how old some of you are, but for those who are still in high school, wait until you are in the work force before deciding what you 'needed' to learn in school and what was a 'waste' of time. There are several areas of school that I thought were a complete waste of time, only to realize later that they were valuable, if not completely necessary.

As stated before, for every cool teacher and school, there are a thousand bad ones.

We had to do an essay on the assasination of JFK, and i personally dont belive in one bullet recosheting that much, nor that any one man could have operated a bolt lock fast enough to shoot him that many times, in so little time, so i did an essay in favor of a second or even a posible third shooter.
Needles to say, i flunked, because the historry book said there was only one shooter.

I went to 3 differend schools in my time, all where pure s<b></b>hit, i only had one teacher that actually cared a little bit about what i felt or had to say, but he wasssent allowed to do anything to help me boost my grades, f<b></b>ucking byocracy.

Yes, i do compare them to the consentration camps of 1939-1945, simply because that was what they where for me all that time, a place i was locked up in, and forced to work, and tought how to be a "proper" citicen.
Ohh and BTW, im not yank, im from Denmark, and what i say regarding this subject is based on what i have seen, heard and experianced in the danish school system, i dont know "how bad" it is over there.

WTF kinna schools did Rouge, and Goat goto???

I mean, I was in a very open environment! I could ask teachers questions. I could write what I wanted.

I think its relative....

or... its all in your head

So because u dident experiance it, it must be all in ouer minds.

Sorry to say it Phat, but thats the mentallity that kept the Apartheid in government for so long in south africa.

no no no... Goat...

you missunderstand me

just becasue your situation was so horrid you don't need to say that ALL schools are brainwashing pits of dispair

I think some of the horrors of skool is in your head.
I'm sure you had some good experinces @ school

C'mon guys, there are good schools and bad schools(and VERY bad schools). I accept that not all of them are good, and some teachers should definately NOT be teaching anything at all. But to lump all school systems together, whether good or bad, is wrong. Need I remind everyone of the reaction to 'Dr. Gary' when he lumped all video games and gamers into the category of drugs and those addicted to them? This type of generalization sounds disturbingly similiar to me. I am sort of curious as to where everyone is going (or went) to school.

Nice words Mason. BTW your job sounds cool as well.

I have but a few words. School is what you make it, there are always ways to express your views. Just like life there are things that you have to do that you may not like, but alas you have to do them.

If you choose to make a stand, you have to deal with the consequences.

If you cant give a baseline level of respect to your teachers (or anyone) you really should not expect any in return.
CC

Check out Dead Prez....Rogue Leader and Goatf<b></b>ucker would like their stuff I'm sure (I love it myself).

Their CD is called "Lets Get Free"

Some good songs -

Dead Prez: Propaganda
Dead Prez: They Schools
Dead Prez & Talib Kweli: Sharp Shooters
Dead Prez: Animal in Man
Dead Prez: Mind Sex

If anyone wants any Dead Prez tracks drop me a line via ICQ or come on IRC (irc.utgames.com #anf or #infiltration) and I'll hook ya up.

Alright...

... I've read all of the posts in this thread (phew! . I am hearing some very influential ideas from both ends of this spectrum.

I am 16 years old, and I have already attended a hell of alot of schools. I attended an International school in China, an American school in Russia, a public elementary school in Maryland (Eastern United States), a public middle schooll in the same place, an international school in the Philippines (Manila), and finally an American school in Paris, France. My dad works for the United States government, so we move around alot.

In all of the schools I have been to, for the most part, the teachers were extremely kind. They would acknowledge the shadier parts of the United States history, how the ways everyone fel during the war (not to start any flames here, but did you know Hitler was almost loved by the people? He helped out*his* o****ry alot... too bad he was such a damn bastard).

However, in both of my public schools in the States, I have to admit students and myself are somewhat *pressured* into thinking a certain way or acting in some fashion. From singing the National Anthemn and "I Pledge Allegance" (amazing how many people don't know what the hell they are saying) tot eachers telling you the glory of US history, I beleived alot of it. I will admit when I left the States, I believed it waqs the greatest country on the planet.

Now that I have been aquainted wiht the rest of the world for the past 4 years, I've begun to actually dislike the UNited States. And I am also beginning to dislike school. It is sort of like a barrier; although you gain the protection it covers over you, you cannot leave it or experience anything outside of it.

School, in its purest form, is learning. It is helpful. However, when 3rd party sources, such as governments and religions, get involved in this kind of field, things go wrong. Just look at Nazi Germany with Hitler and his "Hitler Youth" programs. He controlled almsot an entire generation of people. An even better example would be Stalin. Even now, the some of the people he brainwashed long ago support him as a hero, even though he was a ruthless bastard who was just as bad if not more so than Hitler.

Oh yes, the idea of communism is simply brilliance. It is an incredible idea, if any of you have read the Communist manifesto. As many of you pointed out, however, the weakness IS the human factor. Humans are greedy and selfish, and that is the reason such a beautiful idea like communism will never work.

TO answer the original poll, I can't say that school is a fascit regime, however. If there were alot of schools under the jurisdiction of government or church I could agree, but for now I simply have to state that schools do restrict your freedom.

PS: Dont give teachers **** If you have a very well thought out argument, however, and really want to present it to the teacher in a calm, <b>persuasive</b> manner, than by all means try it. I have argued points against my teachers countless times, and you would be amazed at how some of them will respond. Sometimes you do get pricks who will just flunk you, but other times they may suprise you...

Elite soldier, what school you at now?

No comment on my reply about Stalin RogueLeader? hmmm interesting. My english teacher adores when someone disagrees with her or writes open mindly. She constantly says that prozac is gonna kill all the great writers... i have to say she has been very influential in my writing not only in English but OUTSIDE of English... I would post some of my poems but I dont want to be trendy and I feel these poems are written by me and for me (and maybe some close friends)