How does the World view America these days?

Considering that attending public school in the US is a pretty good way to get shot, I can understand the desire to homeschool

  On 6/8/2021 at 4:50 AM, luke viia said:

Considering that attending public school in the US is a pretty good way to get shot, I can understand the desire to homeschool

Not to be the the "well akshually" guy, but the limited data available indicates that most firearm related homicides of young people occur in the home or on the streets. From this study: https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/140/1/e20163486

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The vast majority of younger children [0-12] (85%) were killed in a home, whereas older victims were equally likely to be killed in a home (39%) or on the streets (38%). The majority of younger and older children were killed with a handgun (75% and 85%, respectively).

More on school shootings in this article: https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/02/gun-violence-children-actually-experience/582964/

Lol, you're totally the well ackshually guy (or perhaps the personification of trashbear). I was being a bit facetious, thinking more of perception/optics than facts and stats. Love ya Chen

  On 6/8/2021 at 6:59 PM, luke viia said:

Lol, you're totally the well ackshually guy (or perhaps the personification of trashbear). I was being a bit facetious, thinking more of perception/optics than facts and stats. Love ya Chen

We totally need the trashbear emoji react.

God, could you imagine how fucked up my kids would be if someone let me homeschool them? You can teach them ANYTHING. 

Grade 1-5:: Math is witchcraft, music actually has 13-23 tone scales, 6 hours daily of masonry for my new BBQ pit, gardening classes, learning ONLY the 'Bosnian' version of events from 1992-1996 in history, daily judo lessons. They'd be warriors. But IDK how fit they'd be for the real world. 

(to anyone concerned, I don't have kids ((most likely cant)) so no worries, I can only fuck up my cats) 

That shit should be illegal

  On 6/8/2021 at 5:58 PM, chenGOD said:

Not to be the the "well akshually" guy, but the limited data available indicates that most firearm related homicides of young people occur in the home or on the streets. From this study: https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/140/1/e20163486

More on school shootings in this article: https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/02/gun-violence-children-actually-experience/582964/

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You know what's funny? In the rest of the world pretty close to NO firearm related homicides of young people occur. Anywhere.

  On 6/8/2021 at 8:00 PM, rhmilo said:

You know what's funny? In the rest of the world pretty close to NO firearm related homicides of young people occur. Anywhere.

Not really haha funny, but yes, an astute observation that fewer firearms == fewer firearm related homicides. Don't ask me why Americans love their guns so much, I've fired off some up here in the frozen wastelands north of the wall and sure it's kind of fun watching things go boom, but it wears off quickly.

The children are broken of their human genetic memory at schools. The body is restrained & controlled, there is no actual physical education that teaches kids from early on how to survive in nature, how to feel the energies & tides of the environment without being distracted by alphabetism. We lose the ability to maintain ourselves in a natural environment and are made dependent on a system that is destroying the planet, on cities, supermarkets and Amazon. We no longer make use of the evolutionary traits that are built into us for a reason, because these are actively suppressed through our screwed education systems. It's a damage done to children that's nigh irreversible in an adult age, resulting in a population of obedient workers that may even understand the situation they are in but can never escape it, because they were programmed this way to the point that they defend the massive civilisation of the earth. You think you have a better life than that of animals? But you are totally disconnected from your evolutionary programming, and utilised to serve a system that is a longterm hazard to all living beings.

This is how the ruling classes manipulate you. They created a gigantic system of control many generations ago that serves them with the help of all the elite-serving media and education. This is the most beautiful scam ever. Don't believe me? Just think about this. There is no real education for you, there is only the training of you to be a useful, domesticated slave, offspring of a slave, and the child most likely becomes a slave as well. You are born into the system, you are raised and that is it. From an early age, humans are programmed to become useful to the system, to be caring and understanding of all the problems of the system and the ruling classes that create them. If you question the system, you are pushed aside, you are called paranoid, you are ridiculed, you are called conspiracy theorist, and you will be made a pariah. If you tell the system that it has to change, you will be called a radical and a revolutionary. You will be called a rebel and you will be ridiculed for that. You will be told that you are crazy, that you are idealistic to demand changes from the system. You will be told that you are negative. You will be told that you are a danger to the system, as you could destabilise it. You will be told that you are a utopian dreamer. You will be told that you are a misanthrope, a nutjob, a liar. You will be told that you are naive. You will be told that you have a victim mentality. You will be told that you are just angry. You will be told that you are a radical. You will be told that you are a revolutionary. You will be told that you are crazy. You will be told that you are driven by misguided idealism. But our inherent human powers that have enabled us to live for tens of thousands of years in the harshest environments have long been taken away from us as we have been domesticated, the unconscious memory of our ancestors that enabled us to connect with our dream realities, speak with animals and be one with God. What we are left with is a tame, domesticated, disconnected, depressed mind that longs for the past and no longer is able to connect with the present moment.

sorry for poor engrish

High School was a special kind of hellish place for me. And i know i'm not the only one with that experience. I wish it was designed in a way that resembles university. You pick your courses and interests and voilà. It would greatly help the drop out numbers. Not being force-fed a standard impersonal program that is the same for everybody for 5 fucking years. Learn by curiosity, interest and enthusiasm instead of being forced taught everything. Not a lot of people even question this horrible education format. It's talked as a given and only way to do it. And teens certainly don't have a say in the way they are educated. Not a single time in my high school curriculum was i encouraged to develop curiosity, creativity, critical thinking or a philosophical mindset. It was only: obey, obey, obey and never question anything the authority of the teacher tells you to do. 

Always thought it was really shitty and a big mess, and in general, a waste of human potential. A cold blooded grinder that kills curiosity, creativity and suffocates the human spirit. I don't think that's a good way to start the education of young people...

I can only speak to my unique high school experience, which was quite laughable.  I'm from a very rural area in Ohio and my school district was 100 square miles (260 square km) but my graduating class was only about 90 kids.

The curriculum and textbooks were unchanged from the '70s, most of the teachers were farmers without college degrees, there were no AP courses, and everyone (I mean everyone) took exactly the same courses.  There were no choices at all.  I never felt challenged and wasn't interested in anything except Chemistry and Physics. Since they had to teach to everyone, I could skate by in Chem. and Phys. with zero studying and I resorted to just slacking off in everything else and occasionally cheating to get Bs.  My parents were pissed at me because they knew I could do better.

Once I got to University I found a subject that I was really interested in (Chemical Eng.) and got practically all As all four years, then went to grad school and got a Ph.D.  I was a bit behind compared to some of my Uni and grad school mates who went to better high schools and had to work a little harder to catch up.

Some of my current colleagues who are European (German, Belarussian) tell me how they had specialized paths in high school depending on what they were interested in.  Some schools here in the US have that, but I think they're mostly private schools that cost buttloads of money.

  On 6/8/2021 at 8:54 PM, thefxbip said:

High School was a special kind of hellish place for me. And i know i'm not the only one with that experience. I wish it was designed in a way that resembles university. You pick your courses and interests and voilà. It would greatly help the drop out numbers. Not being force-fed a standard impersonal program that is the same for everybody for 5 fucking years. Learn by curiosity, interest and enthusiasm instead of being forced taught everything. Not a lot of people even question this horrible education format. It's talked as a given and only way to do it. And teens certainly don't have a say in the way they are educated. Not a single time in my high school curriculum was i encouraged to develop curiosity, creativity, critical thinking or a philosophical mindset. It was only: obey, obey, obey and never question anything the authority of the teacher tells you to do. 

Always thought it was really shitty and a big mess, and in general, a waste of human potential. A cold blooded grinder that kills curiosity, creativity and suffocates the human spirit. I don't think that's a good way to start the education of young people...

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Critical thinking should definitely be taught in high school. Some more flexibility could be introduced (for example I didn't have to take all 3 sciences to the grade 12 level - only 2 out of the 3, thank fuck cause I was terrible at physics - although only mildly better at chemistry lol), but the point of school up until post-secondary is to ensure that everyone has the same base level of education. Edit: I just think most teens don't have any idea of what would be valuable to study and prepare them for life later - like would they get a good solid foundation. I was a fucking idiot when I was a teen (I still am, but even moreso then), I would have done 2 physical education classes and 4 music classes, cause that's what I was interested in at the time.

More funding (and more better paid teachers) would allow for more extra-curricular activities, better music and other fine arts programs, and so on.  History could be made much more interesting by teaching about the foibles of historical people as well as their achievements. Better paid teachers would also mean you're getting better teachers, who understand how to teach but also inspire creative and critical thinking.

I think the real problem is this weird fixation with making kids go to college/university straight after high school. Like take a couple of years off (I took off ten lol), work some service industry jobs, travel, whatever, but go get a sense of the world, and then go to post-secondary/university.

  On 6/8/2021 at 10:00 PM, chenGOD said:

I think the real problem is this weird fixation with making kids go to college/university straight after high school. Like take a couple of years off (I took off ten lol), work some service industry jobs, travel, whatever, but go get a sense of the world, and then go to post-secondary/university.

interesting take. makes sense if we're talking about making the most of academic education, but the socialization aspect college/university offers kids at that point should not be overlooked IMO.

going off to university right after high school is something I absolutely wanted to do. I worked service industry/retail jobs part time in high school, and wasn't interested to keep doing those at that point. I also wasn't mature enough to start world travelling just yet, and was eager to go meet new people my age in a more or less safe environment. sure, had I started university at like age 24/25 I probably would have been more disciplined on the academic side of things, but the social aspect was hugely instrumental in helping shape my world view. I was lucky enough to meet and get to know a bunch of people from different countries (and who I'm still friends with to this day), who allowed me to learn a lot about how other people in other countries did things. 

school is a joke i was never once taught about the various types of human lifestyles it was just assumed i was going to become a wage worker.  i was taught nothing about politics or economics or history literally nothing i learned in school was remotely useful to me as a person except to the extent which it enabled me to become a good wage worker, but only that.  imagine that, school teaching you fucking nothing.  defenders may bring up personal responsibility, but in a mass system it has mass effects. youre locked in and you wont admit it, not just by the difficulty of truly escaping but by your own psychology itself formed in the schools during important years

good classes i had in school:

roman history

middle school shop class (threw a hammer at a kid once because he called me babowen)

introduction to electronics

high school art class (the teacher described one of the paintings i submitted as "an insult to art")

ex-gay right winger milo was cured of homosexuality and god blessed him by stopping dogs from barking at him

later: trunews HQ was hit by a "demonic attack" wave of covid-19 brought about by satan for having milo on their show

  On 6/8/2021 at 11:02 PM, zero said:

interesting take. makes sense if we're talking about making the most of academic education, but the socialization aspect college/university offers kids at that point should not be overlooked IMO.

going off to university right after high school is something I absolutely wanted to do. I worked service industry/retail jobs part time in high school, and wasn't interested to keep doing those at that point. I also wasn't mature enough to start world travelling just yet, and was eager to go meet new people my age in a more or less safe environment. sure, had I started university at like age 24/25 I probably would have been more disciplined on the academic side of things, but the social aspect was hugely instrumental in helping shape my world view. I was lucky enough to meet and get to know a bunch of people from different countries (and who I'm still friends with to this day), who allowed me to learn a lot about how other people in other countries did things. 

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I mean you can still socialize when you're 24 - fuck I didn't start uni until i was 35 and made some good friends (no 18 year olds, but some in their early 20s and other mature students). I'm gonna take a wild stab given the demographics of this board and say you're a white dude (please forgive me if I'm wrong) but traveling to other countries would be incredibly safe for you barring some obvious regions.

I dunno, I just think it's a huge chunk of time (and money in the US and increasingly in Canada) when you're 18 that could be better spent elsewhere.

I mean obviously it's just my opinion, but I think the pressure to do so is more what I'm talking about, but certainly there are many people like yourself who want to do so, so that's great as well.

  On 6/9/2021 at 1:13 AM, Nebraska said:

ex-gay right winger milo was cured of homosexuality and god blessed him by stopping dogs from barking at him

later: trunews HQ was hit by a "demonic attack" wave of covid-19 brought about by satan for having milo on their show

 

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Satan's Favorite Sodomite - sounds like a GG Allin song. FLOL

  On 6/8/2021 at 11:54 PM, Cryptowen said:

high school art class (the teacher described one of the paintings i submitted as "an insult to art")

the highest honour of all!

  On 6/8/2021 at 10:00 PM, chenGOD said:

Critical thinking should definitely be taught in high school. Some more flexibility could be introduced (for example I didn't have to take all 3 sciences to the grade 12 level - only 2 out of the 3, thank fuck cause I was terrible at physics - although only mildly better at chemistry lol), but the point of school up until post-secondary is to ensure that everyone has the same base level of education. Edit: I just think most teens don't have any idea of what would be valuable to study and prepare them for life later - like would they get a good solid foundation. I was a fucking idiot when I was a teen (I still am, but even moreso then), I would have done 2 physical education classes and 4 music classes, cause that's what I was interested in at the time.

More funding (and more better paid teachers) would allow for more extra-curricular activities, better music and other fine arts programs, and so on.  History could be made much more interesting by teaching about the foibles of historical people as well as their achievements. Better paid teachers would also mean you're getting better teachers, who understand how to teach but also inspire creative and critical thinking.

I think the real problem is this weird fixation with making kids go to college/university straight after high school. Like take a couple of years off (I took off ten lol), work some service industry jobs, travel, whatever, but go get a sense of the world, and then go to post-secondary/university.

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I will never agree with this point ''the point of school up until post-secondary is to ensure that everyone has the same base level of education'' How many time i have heard such things. The point of high school is to prepare people to be docile. Mechanical memorization of facts is not education, i can't accept that. Science is taught without trying to develop curiosity, without explaining the context about how these things were developed and how they can help you understand the world, visual art is taught without freedom, most projects are imposed and limited, music is big bands, no improvisation, no creativity, may as well join the military music band, language courses ends up being boring and take the life of one of the most amazing things in life which is language and human communication, some people ends up hating books and reading, people are not encouraged to search for meaning and growth through reading and writing they are just forced to memorize rules for a test.

High school takes all human achievements, take the life out of it, and it comes out as a standardized, lifeless, disconnected set of forced exercises empty of meaning and true educational value. It's an utter failure of a system from the point of view of the human  spirit. Wanting people to all have a basic education sure is based in good intentions, but you know the saying: The road to hell is paved with good intentions. It is also about HOW you do it.

And the near total lack of freedom in high school is inexcusable. Human beings deserve better. We are not robots to be filled with information.

Please more emphasis on curiosity, creativity, freedom, philosophy, human cooperation and sharing!

Anyway this was my experience maybe some people like high school lol

I am probably an idealist for believing that school could do more for the full blossoming of the human soul instead of being just a grinding machine molding humans into the neo-liberal free markets structures where they are an exploitable resource to make numbers go up in bank accounts but eh. That's why i became an artist and not a banker.

  On 6/9/2021 at 1:13 AM, Nebraska said:

ex-gay right winger milo was cured of homosexuality and god blessed him by stopping dogs from barking at him

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i hope people start barking at him in public now... 

  On 6/9/2021 at 7:26 AM, thefxbip said:

Mechanical memorization of facts is not education, i can't accept that

But mechanical memorization is not the same as ensuring that everyone (or trying to ensure) has the same base level of education...

  On 6/9/2021 at 7:26 AM, thefxbip said:

visual art is taught without freedom, most projects are imposed and limited, music is big bands, no improvisation, no creativity

That sounds like you had not the best teachers - although, someone pretty famous said "Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist"

Anyhow of course some things suck about learning basic things - but you have to do that to get to the interesting parts, otherwise you don't really understand the interesting parts!

  On 6/9/2021 at 9:49 AM, chenGOD said:

But mechanical memorization is not the same as ensuring that everyone (or trying to ensure) has the same base level of education...

 

That sounds like you had not the best teachers - although, someone pretty famous said "Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist"

Anyhow of course some things suck about learning basic things - but you have to do that to get to the interesting parts, otherwise you don't really understand the interesting parts!

 

 

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Succeeding in making Art, Music, Reading, Writing, Science and various other subjects a chore and a soul breaking activity is the proof that this attitude is broken at it's core. Learning and teaching when well done is interesting at every single step, maybe not easy at every step but always interesting. Would you pay a private teacher 5 fucking years for courses that are an absolute bore and pain? of course you would not. But that's what happening in high school. And  you're forced to take those course on top of it. The high school cursus were made by unimaginative small-minded bureaucrats. Teachers are having a hellish time as well because often a majority of the students in their class either hate them or hate their course. How can this be a good way to learn? How can you learn from a course you hate or a teacher you don't respect? If people were choosing all or a majority of their courses it wouldn't be a problem. You're in there because you choose to. Would greatly help the job of teachers and the life of young students.

It's like it was designed for maximum bore and pain for everyone it's insane. How much do we like to suffer to continue with this BS? Can't we make the start in life of everyone richer and more interesting? if the point is to make everyone think that life sucks well it's a success. But life doesn't suck. Math and science are super interesting and can open your eyes to the beauty of this fascinating universe. Music is the most incredible expression of the human soul. Books are an infinite resource of inner growth. Art is freedom. Yet none of this is truly conveyed! How can that happen? how is it possible to take the life out of all these riches of the human experience?

There is a big lack of vision in the high school education system, i find it absolutely pathetic.

I feel like I experienced school very differently.
I like(d) it.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I guess it might also differ from country to country, school to school, person to person,...
Dunno.

  On 6/9/2021 at 9:05 PM, MaartenVC said:

I feel like I experienced school very differently.
I like(d) it.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I guess it might also differ from country to country, school to school, person to person,...
Dunno.

I liked most of HS. I had a fun time and only had one truly awful teacher. I was lucky, I went to a big HS that was well funded and had a lot of opportunities for fun extra-curricular activities (this was in the late 87-90 in Edmonton, Canada).

I understand in America it's going to be much more patchwork - rich neighborhoods with higher property taxes will have better schools, which speaks to the need for better distribution of funding (leading to more resources for teachers, increased training opportunities for teachers, increased extra-curricular activities for students etc. etc.).

But yeah, different for each person.