Monday 16 June 2014

30 Day Blog Challenge Day 16 | My Thoughts on Education

Let me start this post by saying that I think education in very important, however, the way in which we receive it can often be unhelpful. I strongly believe that all children are different, unless you are identical twins you won't find two alike, yet the education system that we have in place in the UK treats us as if we're carbon copies of each other.


One of the 3 buildings that made up my high school

When I was in school I didn't have the easiest time, not because I was unwilling to work hard or that I couldn't comprehend what was being taught, mainly because I have always been very inquisitive and teachers often saw that as me being disrespectful.

If someone is trying to teach me something I can never just accept the fact that I'm being told, I have to know why. Why did certain things happen? What rule is there that tells us how we must do maths a certain way, even if we get the right answer a different way? This 'attitude' as many teachers called it got me into trouble. I don't see it that way at all, it's not attitude it's simply wanting to learn. I don't just want to know the answer, all that teaches you is how to remember facts, if you are taught why you have to do things a certain way you'll be able to work out any problem on your own, and surely that is what education is about?

When it came to exams I fell apart, I got myself so worked up that my parents sat me down and told me that I should consider not taking my GCSE's. They were so concerned for me that they would rather I left school without any and then went to college to do one at a time, instead of the 13 in a couple of months that I was doing in school. I didn't take their advice and sat every exam, but it retrospect maybe I should have listened. I passed them all, just, but I know I could have done a lot better if the anxiety didn't cause me to fall to pieces.

Years after leaving both school and college, where I studied business, I wish I had listened to my parents and some of my teachers. I was given the chance to go to a better high school but turned it down because all of my friends were at the one closest to my house, who knows what I could have done if I didn't let anxiety stop me!

However, as much as I really value and appreciate a good school education, nothing quite prepares you for life after it. This is where I think the education system lets down a lot of people. We are taught to pass exams but that is not enough. We need to be taught how to deal with real life; paying bills, dealing with emotional difficulties and sex education. I hear that sex ed' is a lot better now than it was when I was taught, and I should hope so too!

To my recollection I had 1 sex ed' lesson, and that comprised of watching a video of a woman in labour and a diagram of a man's floppy penis. Seriously, that was it! I am so incredibly lucky to have such a great relationship with my parents, I went to them and asked questions about everything, and they always told me the truth. Both my Mum and Dad taught be about puberty and periods, there was nothing that I couldn't ask them. So many of my friends weren't this lucky and got most of their information from teen magazines or second-hand information from friends.

I think that every parent is obligated to teach their child how to be an adult, moreover, of how to be a decent human being, and from what I have seen a lot lately is failure to do that. In my opinion, school is there to help you pass exams, for everything else it is the parents job.

So, in summary; I think education is extremely important, especially if you have an idea of what you want to do with your life. But I don't think passing exams is as important as the education you should be getting from outside sources; your family, your friends and from life. Having a certificate full of A's means little if you haven't been taught how to be a nice person.

What are your thoughts on the subject? I'd be really interested to know.

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