Is School Teaching Us What We Need?

Kindergarten is a great way for a child to learn social skills. Some kids make good friends in Kindergarten. The teachers are encouraging and do their best to make it fun. Most Kindergarten teachers try to avoid conflict and competition. In my opinion that's a good thing because young kids need to learn how to get along, not how to beat the other kid.

Kindergarten has an opportunity to do something special, but rarely do they take advantage of the opportunity.  Some children have special skills even at Kindergarten age. Kindergarten teachers have a opportunity to discover those special skills and encourage the kids to develop those skills. Also, the teacher should make sure the teachers in the higher grades understand which kids have those special skills and try to convince the higher grade teachers to help the child to continue to develop their skills. Unfortunately this almost never happens in Kindergarten.

After Kindergarten the kids get the basics tools they will need in life. They learn to read, write and speak. However, most schools are so tied to a curricular they don't spend much time on the most important life element of all - creativity. Some kids are creative in left brain activities and some are creative in right brain activities. However, most schools in the middle grades don't do enough to explore the child's capabilities.

Most kids don't like the middle grades because everyone only gets to learn the same thing. It's like we are all the same.  The fact is that's a major untruth. We are not the same. A child that is very left brain might not feel good enough when he can't compete in the math world. However, that child might be the next Steven Jobs when it comes to creating the next high tech thing.

Then the kids get to high school and the entire curricular is designed to help them pass the SATs and get into college. High school's focus is on business and basic things like English, languages, math, history, etc.  What about high tech? 

Yes, most high schools have computers for the kids to use. However, the way they are used is to learn the basics needed to get into college. Why college? What so great about college. Do you really need four years of college if you want to become a doctor? The answer is no because none of the basic skills are used in learning how to cure the common cold, fix a broken foot, repair a bad heart, etc.

Four years of college doesn't do crap to help a person become a lawyer. Why can't a person go from high school directly to law school? My son is a lawyer and none of the stuff he received in college had anything to do with him passing the BAR.

Now my favorite subject - high tech. Do the schools realize that top computer programmers make more money than most doctors, lawyers and businessmen. If the child has the gift of being able to write fantastic computer code, why not let the high school dedicate at least 50% of his time developing his skill. If they did so, the student could go straight into the high tech field bypassing college altogether.

High tech companies want the US government to relax the immigration laws so more tech savvy people can get into the US and be hired by these companies. This is only necessary because we aren't teaching computer programming, system design, system repair and creativity in the lower grades and high school.

Why is this happening? It's because the academics want to keep the colleges and universities running.  Like most things in life it's all about the money.

Because America has an entrepreneurial spirit, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, etc. year olds are creating companies worth millions. Oh, by the way, most don't go to college. Or, if they are in college they are creating high tech magic without the help of the school. 

Like it or not, this is the electronic age. It is still in its infant stage. High tech phones, tablets, glasses, etc. are just the start. Your car has more high tech inside than most major computer systems. Soon everything you use for normal day activities will have some computer controls to make life easier and better. That's right, high tech will make our lives better. It's happening today right under our noses.

Therefore, I believe schools have to change with the times. It's great to learn history, but unless you want to become a history teacher or an historian, it has nothing to do with how your life will turn out. Many high tech people read and watch historical events. They do this while they are pulling down $150,000 a year as a computer programmer.  Having two (sometimes three) years of history in school is not accomplishing life goals.

I hated history. I didn't much like high school. I learned computer programing at a technical school after high school. I stunk at English and languages. My Spanish teacher said to me: "Kenny, how can I teach you Spanish when you don't know English?" By the time I was nineteen I was writing computer code in five different languages. I hated high school because it did not focus on the things I was good at and that made me unhappy.

I loved technical school because I was doing things I was good at and was fun for me. If I had my way I would create more technical schools and fewer colleges and universities. BTW, I did go to college at night because in my day, college was a requirement to get any decent job.

Happiness is doing things you are good at doing. Happiness is feeling a sense of accomplishment while doing the things you enjoy. Happiness is a trade (car mechanic, x-ray technician, computer programmer, etc.) that makes you feel good about yourself.