The Student Room Group

What is school for...

I am going to start by saying I have been out of the education system for a while now. I Graduated from university in 2010 and I finished my A2's in the summer of 2004 so things could have changed since I was at school. However having had a child of my own recently the education system that we have in this country and the way that it functions has been playing on my mind.

Today I was on facebook at this video popped up in my news feed (I am aware it is a month old already so lots of people might have seen it already). I by no means agree with everything that he says I think that he raises some interesting points so I thought I would share it.




My thoughts on what he says are that actually he makes a lot of good points about the things that we don't learn about at school. Basic first aid, a good grounding in our political system and understanding money are all important to be able to make good decisions as an adult and also from my experience were all covered poorly at school. However I am not sure I agree that the other things that he has listed aren't important to. A good grounding in British, European and World history for example will hopefully mean that past mistakes aren't repeated. Learning about science and the way that the world around us functions again while not essential for every day living I still feel is important to learn. I would strongly disagree that being able to do mental arithmetic is pointless now that we have calculators....

But generally I think that this raises some interesting issues about what is the responsibility of the state and what falls under the responsibility of parents when it comes to education. So what do people think? Does he have a point? Was there anything that you didn't study at school that you think you should have done?
(edited 9 years ago)

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School is not the font of all knowledge which gives you all the information you need in life. Learning about politics, money and how to raise a child are things you can and should do out of school. It's not as though the classroom is the only place you learn things.

And the way he dismisses the importance of Maths, Science and History is ridiculous. School is not a crash-course in life skills, it is a place for academic work. If you failed to develop any knowledge of the real world or any political opinions when growing up then that's your own fault. The state is not your mother, do some independent learning.
Original post by randdom

But generally I think that this raises some interesting issues about what is the responsibility of the state and what falls under the responsibility of parents when it comes to education. So what do people think? Does he have a point? Was there anything that you didn't study at school that you think you should have done?


The school system we have; part training for life in a medieval monastery, part training for life in a cotton mill, part training for life as Bob Chratchit and part training for the Battle of the Somme is a product of our history, not any logical scheme. Each generation tweaks the educational system a little but too many people have too much invested in the status quo to replan it from scratch.


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Reply 3
I think too much of the current UK school system focuses on academic subjects whilst neglecting real life skills and knowledge. I'd happily see secondary schools give up an hour of molecular biology lessons to teach students about how insurance, mortgages, pensions and ISAs work.
Original post by Ezisola
I think too much of the current UK school system focuses on academic subjects whilst neglecting real life skills and knowledge. I'd happily see secondary schools give up an hour of molecular biology lessons to teach students about how insurance, mortgages, pensions and ISAs work.


100% agree.
Reply 5
Original post by Ezisola
I think too much of the current UK school system focuses on academic subjects whilst neglecting real life skills and knowledge. I'd happily see secondary schools give up an hour of molecular biology lessons to teach students about how insurance, mortgages, pensions and ISAs work.


That's what families are for.

What I think is utterly pointless is that most people do their GCSEs and then forget everything they 'learned' after it. What the hell is the point for these people.
Reply 6
Original post by jakeel1
That's what families are for.


And for those who don't have families? Or who's families are perhaps inexperienced or bad with such matters? Bad habits just get passed down the generations and a same family remains in cycles of debt.
Reply 7
Original post by Ezisola
And for those who don't have families? Or who's families are perhaps inexperienced or bad with such matters? Bad habits just get passed down the generations and a same family remains in cycles of debt.


That's the point. Those families need to take more responsibility, the state can't do everything for them.
Reply 8
Original post by jakeel1
That's the point. Those families need to take more responsibility, the state can't do everything for them.


You've missed the point of them being perhaps unsuitable for offering such knowledge.

The state can't do everything, but it can contribute where appropriate and I consider knowledge of finances far more appropriate education for survival than that of molecular biology.
Original post by jakeel1
That's what families are for.

What I think is utterly pointless is that most people do their GCSEs and then forget everything they 'learned' after it. What the hell is the point for these people.


But many families don't have these 'life skills'. There are lots of families without adults who can cook, or manage money etc.

I do do think school should have a strong academic basis, but teaching thinks such as how to cook (not the home economics rubbish but how to cook proper meals for yourself, cook meals on a budget, cook healthily etc), how to manage money, proper career development (I.e. How to apply for jobs, expected behaviour for employees) would have a massively beneficial impact.
Original post by Ezisola
You've missed the point of them being perhaps unsuitable for offering such knowledge.

The state can't do everything, but it can contribute where appropriate and I consider knowledge of finances far more appropriate education for survival than that of molecular biology.


Education is not really about survival in this country. Not really sure what it is about, it clearly does not put much effort into citizenship. I don't endorse the view I said by the way, just arguing the other side.

There is a lot of information out there now thanks to the Internet and libraries (most counties have them and offer them for free) so what's the problem?
Original post by ForestCat
But many families don't have these 'life skills'. There are lots of families without adults who can cook, or manage money etc.

I do do think school should have a strong academic basis, but teaching thinks such as how to cook (not the home economics rubbish but how to cook proper meals for yourself, cook meals on a budget, cook healthily etc), how to manage money, proper career development (I.e. How to apply for jobs, expected behaviour for employees) would have a massively beneficial impact.


I do agree with you. My role here is to endorse the other side of the argument, and think of possible counters :tongue:

Also I did actually learn to cook at school.
School is for the bants (and one month of hard work at the end of the year).
Is the government responsible for teaching life skills to young people?

In an ideal world parents and teachers would work together to help children grow into intelligent, well-rounded members of society - teachers focusing on academics, and parents on life/social skills. But parents now seem to be in a battle against teachers, always taking the side of their child and blaming teachers for problems. With a rising number of dysfunctional families, there is a lack of role models for kids and the teachers are increasingly being put under pressure to play the role of parent.

So.....I don't think schools have to teach life skills to children but under the current circumstances if they don't who will?
Original post by bethnonsense
Is the government responsible for teaching life skills to young people?

In an ideal world parents and teachers would work together to help children grow into intelligent, well-rounded members of society - teachers focusing on academics, and parents on life/social skills. But parents now seem to be in a battle against teachers, always taking the side of their child and blaming teachers for problems. With a rising number of dysfunctional families, there is a lack of role models for kids and the teachers are increasingly being put under pressure to play the role of parent.

So.....I don't think schools have to teach life skills to children but under the current circumstances if they don't who will?


They may not be responsible but it could be highly beneficial and cost saving.

For example the levels of obesity could be greatly improved if more people knew how to cook. There are so many people who don't know how to cook, or eat healthily, and rely on takeaways and ready meals.

I definitely agree with you that there is a lack of good role models at the moment and a lot of people in government aren't people we would want as role models. But I think a good education can help people become good role models.

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Original post by jakeel1
That's what families are for.

What I think is utterly pointless is that most people do their GCSEs and then forget everything they 'learned' after it. What the hell is the point for these people.


same with my Alevels lol. You only start learning useful stuff at university imo. Since you're picking the subject

(Alevels are so limited in choice. They don't really count)
Reply 16
School is just an indoctrination camp, a place to get children away from their parents so their heads can be filled with the ideas the government want
Reply 17
I think that the main issue that I have with this video isn't that he is saying that x, y or z should be covered because I think that a lot of us would agree that most of what he says is important (as a doctor who has worked in general practice I definitely think that having a bit more taught to people on the basics of first aid and self care would be helpful. As would teaching about symptoms not to ignore). The main issue I think is that he doesn't seem to see the value in a lot of subjects. It is a fine line between making sure that people are taught basic life skills but not minimising the academic side of things too much.

I think that Forestcats idea of including these things into pre-existing subjects where possible would be a good one.

I would have concerns about people dropping any key subjects (Maths, Science and English) before the end of year 11 personally and any other major subject (language, humanities, arts, technology) before the end of year 9 as I think that everyone needs to be given a solid grounding in these subjects so that they can decide if it is something that they want to take further in their studies or not.

It definitely made me think though
Original post by Dracul
School is just an indoctrination camp, a place to get children away from their parents so their heads can be filled with the ideas the government want


It's a valid point, but TBH the ideas a lot of parents have aren't necessarily that fantastic either.
I don't really like this video.
i got taught how to vote and the 3 voting system that we use in elections and about the America politcal system.

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