school: what's wrong with it?

What is wrong with school you ask? Well, 150 words wouldn't even be the start of it. America is in the midst of an education crisis as I write this. We go to a big public high school in Kentucky so we can see experience some of these issues firsthand. At a smaller level, just take a look around Henry Clay. Sometimes it really is the absolute most depressing place to be. There are hardly any windows, everything's lined with a thin film of dirt or grime, and the hallways are completely overcrowded. That's not all though; how many of us have ever felt like we're the victim of poor instruction? I can think of at least one teacher I've had every year that just doesn't quite "make the cut," and I end up basically teaching myself the material. We have teachers because we're supposed to look up to them, learn from them, and respect what they have to say about their knowledge of the subject. They should really care about what they're teaching and really want to share what they know with our young minds. Core content isn't even strictly enforced either; teachers must follow this criteria and not just teach whatever they see fit.

Another issue I see a lot is this constant sort of cycle of pressure we, as students, face almost everyday--especially in the Academy. I have never been so busy in my entire life this year. Don't get me wrong, I love being busy but sometimes it's a little much. It's like our résumé and transcripts are the end all be all. If they aren't perfect, then somehow we, as actual people, are reduced to being less than perfect, and who we really are isn't fully expressed by those oh-so-significant numbers and words on those documents. I look around and see cheating, procrastination, and completely haphazard work ethics, and can't help but think, how can we ever fix all of this?