American schools are catching a lot of grief these days. It seems the young people we’re handing a diploma don’t know half as much as their parents or grandparents did. College is now the equivalent of high school in some cases, at least in terms of educational level. Today’s graduates don’t know what continents are, how to make change at the cashier, or even how to spell or write their own names.
That’s why an article about other countries’ schools and their impression of our educational system caught my attention.
The first subject brought up was how early we begin classes. In England, children enter schooling full-time starting as young as age four, and it’s mandatory at age five. The school day begins at 8:30 and ends at 4:00 or earlier.
Another question is about the yellow school buses. Other countries have them to some degree, but many kids take public transit. Oh, for those of you with an eye for detail: the black lines on the sides of our school buses are indicators of the locations of the floor and tops of the seats (in general). Those are known as “rub rails” and also provide structural support for the length of the bus.
Another bone of contention for folks outside the US are our use of hall passes for students to leave the classroom to use the restroom. Other countries’ students are permitted to take that break without carrying around a token which must be returned, but then those other places don’t have folks who sneak outside to smoke at the tender age of nine, and they don’t deal with deranged invaders bursting into our educational buildings ready to make a last stand. By the way, in my office we needed a key for the restroom, so as the admin I had to come up with a way to keep track of them. I used a bungee keyring and a foam flower sponge which could be hung on the supervisors’ desks for easy access. Never lost one.
Apparently students abroad don’t all do any sort of ritual morning exercise such as saluting the flag, recitations or singing. Some Asian countries do, such as Singapore and South Korea. I suppose a pause to play “God Save the King” would be the equivalent in Britain if such a thing were done, but we were raised on the ideals of remembering we’re in a unique country, and our loyalty to what it represents just happens to come in the form of this daily reminder.
Apparently students also don’t use lockers in other countries. Folks abroad see these in movies and are intrigued by the idea. They never had to remember the combination, obviously. Other amazing things to outsiders are cafeterias (with several different shifts), and milk cartons with school meals.
The idea of naming each school year’s students as Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors is unheard of as well. Just like in Harry Potter movies, students abroad are just in their tenth year or whatever. And the term “Frosh” never sat right with me when I was in ninth grade, anyway.
Other schools have fewer classes in the curriculum, fewer hours and smarter students. Our schools have a variety of choices, and students are worn out and less educated. Maybe there is a reason for this.
Gym classes: why on God’s green earth did we have to climb a rope suspended from the ceiling? Why was I a failure just because I could not swing around the uneven bars? I never had to do either of these in over four decades, and if the requirement were on a job application, I’d make for the door. Even the Navy didn’t ask these of me, so why require it of little kids?
Student parking. The pinacle of teen superiority is the privilege of simultaneously getting your driving permit, a new car and a parking spot near school. You’ve got it at 17. It’s all downhill from there when your college degree won’t let you drive a pre-owned clunker and everybody takes up the good parking spaces in the neighborhood before you get home from your burger-flipping job.
Sorry, my high school didn’t get parking for seniors until years after I left, and I gratefully got handed down and drove around in my father’s old car when he bought a new one. I missed out, and I live here.
Amazingly, other countries’ schools have more windows, fewer or no vending machines, no swimming pools (no swim teams or swim clubs, either) and no drinking fountains.
Pep ralllies are also strange to folks not from these here parts. The high school system seems to be rallied around the fall/winter ritual of football, with posters encouraging young athletes to win and school colors all over the halls and on the student bodies. The band plays the fight song, the cheer squad works the students in the crowd into a frenzy, and it’s time off from class.
Which is possibly why our system isn’t working as well as it could.
Interesting to see how others see us. We could learn a thing or two from them.
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