The future is doomed.
Last Wednesday, I went back to visit my old middle school (Williams Parkway). So I sat with my grade eight teacher for an entire school day, while she carried on art and math classes with grade 7s and 8s. The material they covered, was pretty much like most public middle schools'. In math, our school's awesome in the sense, that they try to get kids ahead, and while I was there, they were taking up gr 9 applied EQAO packages. For art class, they doodled while listening to music. Honestly, with 45 minute periods, there's absolutely no time, to do 'proper' art projects. With a class of 12-13 year olds, it'll probably take them more than 20 minutes to settle down and set up. by the time they actually start doing something, they'll have to start cleaning up and the class will be over. (They should really put it so there's a double period art...).
What was the most worrisome, was the behaviour of these classes. Quite frankly, they were worse than a class of grade 2s - at least the 8 year olds will listen to their teacher. These kids that I met the other day, a large number of them, were disruptive, loud, and rude (Of course, there are a lot of nice kids in the class, but the number of trouble makers seems to have increased exponentially, from since I attended the school). It takes forever for them to settle down, and actually get to work, etc. And unfortunately, one class, took about 20 minutes to solve this math question involving triangles/complementary, supplementary angles, etc. A question that should have been able to be cleared up, with a calculator, in less than 5 minutes. What does that say about their knowledge/quality of education/abilities? Math aside, they just seemed much more... attention deficit or something. And they seem to severely lack a sense of responsibility. If this were China, most of these kids would never be able to survive that education system. Compared to the Eastern hemisphere... Yeah, my parents calls the public schools here, the equivalent to raising sheep... Seriously, there's no learning going on here, more like teachers babysitting a bunch of tweens. In China, starting from grade school, you would not dare to act the way some of these kids are acting, or else you'll be sent to the corner, or get beaten w/ the meterstick, or something.
After class, I asked my teacher, if we were like that when we were in school, because I certainly don't remember my class being that way. Sure, there were those days, where everyone just felt like being chaotic, but I think we were a relatively good class. Anyway, my teacher replied, saying that she didn't remember us being like this, and that unfortunately, what I saw, was these kids on a 'good' day. I really don't want to know what they are like, rest of the time.
Also, social networking -_________-. Most of these kids have facebook already. And some teachers openly talk with them about it, and some probably even communicate with them via facebook. I get the fact that it's the technological age, and there's bound to be new methods of interacting with the younger generation, teaching, go with the flow, etc, etc. But seriously? Isn't there a - need parental consent thing, if under the age of 13 for most online sign up thingies? (Obviously, you can fake your age, and all that stuff... and I'd be a hypocrite if I were to say that people shouldn't do that). Still, don't these parents know what their kids are doing on the intertubes? (Once again, probably not the best person to be complaining about that...). It just doesn't feel right. Because, especially with a lot of personal and private information, these kids probably do not have the best sense of responsibility, reason, and protection to ensure their privacy settings are what they want them to be, and all that jazz. For example, apparently some universities and colleges down in the States, are starting check their applicants' social networking profiles, etc, during the admission process. I think it's smart that they're doing that, but at the same time, it's also leading the world down a very dangerous path.
All of this also contributes to kids growing up too fast, and not in the proper way. An old Chinese tale will help neatly sum this point up:
Pull the crops up to help them grow
During the warring states period, in the state of Song, there was a farmer who was tired of working in the field. Year after year, season after season, he had been working in the field to look after his crops. Planting, seeding, plowing, irrigation, removing weed & insect, working under burning sunshine or pouring rain, all these hard work filled his life.
One year, in the spring, he was working in the field to fertilize the field in order to make the crops grow better. Looking at those short young shoots in the field, he really hoped they could grow faster so he could harvest the next day!
Ding! He came up a smart idea: he would like to “help” them grow “faster” by pulling them up taller. He did this to all the crops in the field quickly. After it was done, he felt very happy when all the shoots were much “taller” than they were before.
He went back home happily that day and told his son proudly: My son, I help our crops grow much taller today by pulling them up; now they are all two inches higher than they were yesterday!
By hearing this, his son knew what would happen to those poor crops. He rushed to the field immediately but it was too late. All the “taller” young shoots were weather and dead under the sunshine with their damaged roots out of earth.
I don't know... maybe I'm just looking at this from the wrong point of view, and it's normal for kids to be like that, and it is how the older generations view us. And hopefully, as they grow older, they'll mature and be responsible young adults. That, or the future's really doomed. -__________-.
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BD: Nicolas Poussin, Edvard Grieg, Gotthard Günther, Saul Steinberg, Neil Patrick Harris
DD: Ella Fitzgerald
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