Sitting in my third period world history class last week, I realized (not for the first time) what an excrutiatingly painful and unjust experience it is. I don't feel that I should be required to sit through a class where stupidity is encouraged and intelligence ignored. To me, that goes against the very principle of education. For one thing, I believe my IQ is higher than my teacher's. The first red flag was when she told us we'd be skipping the chapters covering the Industrial Revolution because she didn't think it was incredibly important (and now we're studying the unification of Italy...)
But the particular situation that caused me to realize this occurred when we were reviewing the chapter we were assigned the previous night for homework. We were reviewing so that the seventy-five percent of the class that did not read the chapter would still be able to pass the test, because at Big Walnut we spoon-feed students so they get grades that make our school look better. I, having read the chapter and feeling sorry for my teacher who kept asking for participation and didn't get any (because no one read, perhaps?), raised my hand and tried to contribute. However, after a few minutes of this she began ignoring my hand, as well as the two other people who were making an effort to respond. So, after having been ignored for merely being intelligent and studious, I went ahead and began doing other work. However, it still pissed me off that I was there to learn and wasn't.
Granted, not all of my classes at Big Walnut are like this. I generally feel like I'm learning something in the other three classes I have before Fort Hayes. Maybe it's because of Fort Hayes that I've become so cynical toward Big Walnut. At my other school, I am surrounded by people who are there because they want to be, and they took the intiative to get their asses out of public high school bullshit. Not only that, it's an extremely diverse group of people. So when I return every morning to white, middle-class, mildly prejudiced Big Walnut, it's like I'm taking a step back in time to something less evolved. And to put it plainly, I'd rather drive dull pencils into my eyes. |
