Posted by Zombie [216.86.81.70 - usr31-070.provide.net] on 08 April 2003 at 10.29.21 ZuluTime:

In Reply to: My teachers are fucking idiots posted by Ephemerides Dragon on 07 April 2003 at 19.11.32 ZuluTime:

Not usually feeling inclined to post here, though sometimes things grab my eye (I usually just sit and watch. *lurk lurk*), I really felt I had to respond to this one.

Yes, American schools really suck, and most of the teachers aren't people that should ever be put in a position to 'shape young minds.' I had quite a lot of ridiculous teachers during my high school years, but I was lucky enough to have the capacity to learn on my own, without someone directing me.

I'm pretty sure the big problem with American schools (And maybe other schools in the world. I dunno. I've never been to one.), is apathy towards the learning process. Kids nowadays are much more interested in who is going out with whom, and Must See TV. Read a book? You've got to be kidding me! This leads kids to be eminently stoopid in general. And while many teachers, I think, really *are* rabid idiots...the majority are not. Their sucky teaching just reflects their sucky students. They don't try harder, because the kids aren't going to bother to learn. Why waste the energy?

Of course, this is a vicious cycle. How will the kids ever be 'inspired' to learn if their teachers aren't 'inspired' to teach? And if no teachers are 'inspired' to teach...no kids are going to learn. How we get out of that rut, I have no idea, but there you have it.

When I was in high school, I was only there because I was required by law to be there. I wasn't learning anything from the classes, since I had already picked up most of it from my own reading/learning adventures. Basically, I was the chick in black in the back of the room reading a book that had nothing to do with whatever class it was. And I turned out fine. (Depending, of course, on your definition of 'fine'...)

Further, it's hard to respect a person teaching a class when said person is going vapidly on with a lecture full of errors. I know this. I understand. I might even 'feel your pain.' However, I must point out a few things to you.

Being the psychotic pedant that I am, when I read your post, I immediately latched on to the numerous spelling and grammatical errors. Now, usually that's not a big deal to me...but if one is going to go on about how stoopid other people are, one had better make sure not to make the same sort of mistakes the stoopid people make, mhm? I'm not going to waste space with pointing out all of them, but you should know that when asking a question, as you said your friend did, you should use a query mark. Also, it's 'curriculum,' 'syllabus,' and 'regale.' I'm pretty sure the other misspellings were just typos. At least, I hope they were. o.o

Anyhoo, there you go. You seem like a bright kid. I'm sure you'll go far in life, or whatever. Just read books, learn things for yourself, and don't denounce others for mistakes that you yourself make. Life is hard enough without being a hypocrite on top of it all.

Cheers!