dsister -

I've been out of school for 6-7 years now. I know 4hrs was an absolute max including homework. And mind you, by saying 4hrs - that was from start to finishing and heading upstairs to play SNES.

Sorry about this post. I was going to ask Mr. Stickball a question and then pushed cancel leaving a blank message

I absolutely agree that its about how you utilise your time, the quality of the teachers and a general unwillingness for students to learn.

My teachers were so horrible that in my last year I refused to do any homework, or listen to their stupid teachings in class. I essentially taught myself and guess what, I topped the school and ended up being dux.

In many of my classes I knew more about the subject then the teacher did. Shameful

This.

I also find it odd that Montana and I agree on this part, but disagree about what governments role in Healthcare should be.

I think the thing that makes me shake my head the most, is that Obama doesn't see this. Fix the schools (privatize them), and all this goes away. Kids can get a better education, and go to school the same or less amount of time, not more.

He's right.

They've done studies that have shown that the education gap between rich and poor students primarily has grown during summer vacation.


Children who's parents "force' them to do educational things over the summer get ahead. While those who don't fall behind. Usually it's the rich who fall in camp A, and the poor in camp B.

Our summer vacation is one of the largest anywhere.

Even with thsi change though it wouldn't get to the root of the problem.  Making a large portion of America's parents actually play an active role in their children's lives rather then a passive role.

What if a kid can't afford private education? O.o And how do you deal with something where geography plays a huge role? In order to go to the best or cheapest school, depending on what you can afford and want, you'll have to force everyone to send their kids to boarding schools.

I'm not a liberal or conservative. I just find that there's a lot of potential problems and that you kinda over simplified the solution...

Mafoo, I've coming to the conclusion that things like healthcare will make us absolutely broke no matter what we do.

@Kasz
Yes, educated people make more money, and educated people realize the importance of education more. Because of this, they put more effort into education. Not just time, but effort. It's like looking at a statistic that says people who go to the gym an hour a day are in better shape, so let's force everyone to go to the gym.

Being there does not make you more fit.


@Akvod
The parents of the students don't have to pay it. We could collect the funds in the same manner we collect them today (taxes), but instead of the government using that money to educate your kids, they could give it to parents in the form of a voucher, that can be taken to any accredited school and be redeemed. This would make all schools private, and force them to compete. Always better for the consumer (the kids).


@Montana
Yea, there is an element of it that will always be expensive. The problem is everyone dies, and almost everyone dies from a health related issue. Yea, some die in accidents, but the majority will die in a hospital.

Let's look at car insurance. Let's say we changed the rules, so no matter how old the car is, you have to offer coverage, and no matter how damaged it is, you have to try and fix it. We also said if the car is know to be broken when I come in and try and insure it, you still have to cover it. I can also make a claim against my car insurance for anything related to the car. If it need an oil change, if I wreck it, if it's rusting out... anything. Oh, and you can not cancel me, or raise my premiums.

How much do you think car insurance would be?

This is health insurance. it's the same if government runs it, or the private sector runs it. If you are going to force these rules on people, the answer then must be to lower the cost of care. There are ways to do that.

Now, if you wanted to find the best posable way to increase the cost of care, let the government run it. They have increased the cost of every other single thing they have ever run. Ever.

Health insurance is not the problem. The cost of healthcare is. Fix that.

On a side note, there are elements of the problem with the American education system that can be demonstrated by the vast number of children who are prescribed Ritalin (anti-depressants or any other mood altering medication) because of perceived problems that are limiting their education; the last studies I heard of had American students being prescribed these drugs 3 to 4 times as often as most other western nations, and the rate of growth in usage in the United States was far greater than every other nation.

I have anecdotal evidence in Canada that a lot of teachers will aggressively push parents to seek out medication for their children to keep them from acting up in class; and that these children will often stop acting out in class if they’re put into a more structured environment, like the ones that are often found in private schools.

I want to be clear that I don’t think the drugs are what is causing the problems, as much as I believe there are countless teachers who are unwilling or unable to adequately supervise and teach their classes; and in order to get some sort of control over their class they encourage the parents of the most disruptive children to medicate their children turning them into brain-dead (but quiet) zombies.

U do have a point like always, but the difference in prescription rate between countries ain't necessarily bad. In Sweden for example still not enuff kids are getting Ritalin and antidepressants (mostly cause of fear-mongers everywhere in society and media alarms of this or that when it comes to mind altering medicines, which sadly affects the medical proffession becoming cautious).

Yes, I have a hunch that in America there might be a trend of over-prescription of mind altering medicines (and over diagnosing of these conditions like ADHD), but under-prescription can be just as bad.