What is going on with our public school system today? They seem to be changing daily but I often wonder if it is really for the best? Remember the good old days when we learned all about science, history, and art? Remember music and cursive writing? In Mr. Holland’s Opus, students are exposed to the wonderful world of music and find a passion they did not know they had. In today’s schools, this might not be an option. Music, along with so many other wonderful subjects are no longer taught in many schools today.
In today’s classroom, it is all about reading, writing, and math. Now, I am not saying that reading and writing are not important. Of course they are. Math too. But I am not sure that they are more important than learning about history or science. More and more schools are opting to just focus on the three and forgetting about the rest. I am just wondering their reason behind this? I am sure politics and funding are behind most of it but gee, who is suffering?
I am a high school teacher and often find myself amazed at what our kids know nowadays – or rather what they do not know. Since this is my first year teaching, my first thought was to blame my students. Maybe they just did not pay attention when these things were taught. But then after investigating, I discovered something amazing. They were not taught it at all! Now, I am sure all public schools are different and there are some great ones out there. Hopefully, this is just a phase and these long lost subjects will return some day. It is my sincere hope that they return sooner rather than later. After all, I was one of those kids who was actually forced to learn all the subjects and I think I turned out just fine! Well, maybe that is up for debate!
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