The year before I quit school, I passed all my classes with very high grades, much to the chagrine of my Biology teacher who constantly tried to scare me into showing up by telling me I was going to fail because I refused to do her busy work. I trotted my 98% EOCT before her with a smug smile on my face, but she thought it was a fluke. It was one of the final straws on the back my patience with high school.
Im a sophmore and a lot of the classes that are "required to graduate" is shit even the teachers admit most of us wont even use. I really have a hard time giving a shit about alot of it. There should definitely be more electives available based on what you want to do with your life. The only things that should be required is general math, english, science, etc. and learning a trade. like welding, mechanics, etc. I would rather take psychology instead geography, but noooo.
When I was a sophomore in High School I had an incredible Biology teacher. During the parent teacher confrences he would always say thank god for Michael Willis. He saw potential, I saw a failure. And I scraped by his class. But I remember when he passed a sea sponge around the room. Everyone else was smelling it. But when it got to me, I squeezed it just to see how small it could get. Then my teacher pointed at me and said "He gets an A". After that school year he retired, and soon after died.
@blues999 But that's not the saddest part. This summer I became a Christian. I don't know why. I was at a camp to convert, reinforce, and encourage to evangelize. During it someone said that they hoped he believed even though he showed disbelief in the bible. just by a few things he said about genesis. But I don't know how anyone can say it's right for someone who even they called a great teacher to deserve torture for eternity for not believing. It makes me sick. I wish it made them sick.
The first part hits close to home... the mind numbing boringness and why didn't they notice that I always got the questions I DID answer right... Oh sure they noticed that I aced all my tests. They also noticed that I rarely did any class work or homework. It was the same shit over and over and over. How many times do I have to ace a test for them to get that I've mastered the material?
They accused me of cheating; tested me more to prove it. My high IQ and scores meant nothing.
@luccaskunk I'm very sorry that you had to experience that. I see it far too often and it breaks my heart. I trust that you have found away to apply your abilities in a way that is productive without a formal diploma.
@GrapplingIgnorance Thank you. I actually took the GED at 15, got 5 questions wrong, basically 495 out of 500 points. They didn't issue me the GED till I turned 16 though; state law. Got a full scholarship from MIT believe it or not, but my parents didn't want to pay the room and board. So, I had to make due with community college, but by then I'd given up on education entirely and dropped out of that.
@GrapplingIgnorance Regardless, I've been struggling for the last 16 years, but in the past 4 I finally decided to take my talents and turn them into something productive. I initially wanted to be an aeronautics engineer. Started playing video games to make the pain of failure go away. Eventually emerged as an indie video game developer and have recently been hired full time by an actual company in the industry as their lead game play developer. I don't make much, but I finally feel successful.
@Menak666 I feel sorry about your parents and the house, not that it would make a difference about the fact. I don't think it's nerve as it is stupidity. She can't control her class much less try to and she thinks she has the right to call someone stupid. How the hell did she even keep her job?
I had a teacher the dealt with me in a similar manner, she took the time to actually see why I was responding negatively. This was the most important milestone in my mind.
This poem speaks from my heart. Only few understand that the student-teacher relationship is a self axxelerating cycle: Bad teachers won't be listen to by students and therefore can't teach them anything regardless what they are talking about. Good teachers get the attention of their students. The foundation that must be achieved before they can even begin to teach them something. Good teachers don't resign if their students act like dumb fucks. They try to get them out of their comfort zone.
It actualy made me sad listening to this. So many of the high school teachers I had could give a fuck less.
But it always makes me notice that on the High school level the male teachers are better then the female ones. Probably due to the fact that the female teachers just have the job as an unnessessary second income, and that the males do it as a career...
@ILikeMeProductions I really have no idea how you arrived at the idea that female high school teachers just do it as a secondary income source, or that they aren't as good at teaching as male teachers are. Perhaps in your experience you encountered more male teachers that reached you better, but as an individual who immerses himself in learning whatever I can about the profession of secondary education, I can assure you that good and bad teachers some in similar numbers regardless of genders.
@GrapplingIgnorance Probably just personal experience then, and I came to that idea because most of the female teachers I have had in highschool where married and their husbands worked. It seamed like the male teachers had more of a drive to teach, and treated teaching as if it where more then a job.
@GrapplingIgnorance This actually kinda resonates with me. Especially the first third, almost describing me to a tee. I'd like to be a history teacher someday, as it is by far the subject I'm most interested in, and teachers have said as much. I'm like the first student in that I can't keep interested or motivated in any classes other than history and, depending on the subject, English/Literature. Still, I have some personal issues that I feel are holding me back in life, just like the second.
@ILikeMeProductions WTF? Maybe you weren't trying to be offensive, but this comment makes me want to kick you in the shin. Your hasty generalization of female teachers is as ignorant as it is incorrect. I'm currently studying to be a high school English teacher, and I assure you, there are an infinite amount of other jobs I could get that would be less stressful and pay far better were I simply looking for "unnecessary second income." I don't HAVE to work...cont.
@ILikeMeProductions cont... My husband has supported our family for as long as we have been a family. This is a job I will do because I'm going to be good at it, because our education system needs people like me that actually care, and because I'm willing to go through all the bureaucratic, flaming hoops that it takes to be a good teacher. On the flip side, I could just as easily say that the only reason males teach high school is because they like to look at pubescent girls and boys all day!
@MyGrammarRules I was also floored by the remark, especially since the majoirty of teachers (especially English teachers) ARE females. I was the extreme minority in my college courses, usually with only one or two other males in each Education of English class I took. The notion that somehow women, who tend to be more compassionate and nurturing than men would be less meaningful teacehrs is shocking to me, which is an indication that he's only drawing from personal experience.
@GrapplingIgnorance In my personal experience, I've had more awesome male teachers than female teachers, but I've always viewed that as a deficiency of my breadth of experience rather than a reality.
Sure glad my child doesn't go to your school. Discussing personal school-related and family issues in public is pretty unprofessional, whether you say their names or not.
@FrugalStrugal This isn't a discussion. It's a poem. It's done completely anonymously, not only in terms of the people's names, but the school they attend, and the actual source of the information source itself. There is absolutely no connection that can be made to the actual people who inspired this piece, and to suggest that this is a discussion of private matters with a public forum is innaccurate.
@GrapplingIgnorance So it looks like the only thing you could contest in my post was the word "discussion?" Looks like that college English degree payed for itself. Let's try it again:
Sure glad my child doesn't go to your school. Talking about personal school-related and family issues in public is pretty unprofessional, whether you say their names or not.
@FrugalStrugal No, I corrected your error of claiming that I was in error here. I divuldged no personal details about people here. The audience does not know who I am, where I live, who they are, what their names are, what school they attend, or anything else. This poem is about the thing certain students go through, not about the students themselves as you're describing here. If you fail to understand that, I can't help you any further. Just don't send your kids to an awful teacher like me.
you just adressed about every problem im struggling with.. and it almost feels to me as if you are talking about me. i have adhd i my parents are in depth and cant afford my meds, i have problems with drugs, i think im to smart for the education im getting as im going to every test exam stoned as shit and never learn for them and still i manage to get good grades. and i also act pretty stupid in front of poeple my age.. its almost scary how much the person you speak of is like me :S
This is a great poem. It's powerful and solid. I write poetry too but mine has never been published except for a few here and there, but I still grind my through the words to make sure each is as perfect it can get.
Thanks for the shout out to the students who the system doesn't acknowledge. I would be honored to have had you as a teacher in any of my years in the public education system, and I am confident that as the years go by, thousands of students will in turn remember you.
Damn GI. You exemplify the type of teacher I wish to become! TY for making this, it's reminded me why I've chosen to pursue this career in the first place.
You are a wonderful speaker, and because of these stories, I can also tell you are a wonderful teacher. <3 There needs to be more teachers like you in this world, maybe then school wouldn't be so bad.
I REALLY love this one! What a treat after having been away from youtube for a few months. This is inspiring because I was officially accepted into the teaching program yesterday. I think I'm going to make a wonderful teacher, but it's the things like this that could potentially bother me. I'm not sure if I will like to remember cases such as these. I'm wondering why they don't have a class on how to handle the emotional fallout of teaching.
my ex taught for a short time in highschool...he had choir and "flunkie"english. we formulated a plan based on a teacher i had in h.s.:assume every student is at least of average intelligence. they have to proove they deserve a better or worse grade.we used some of my art and gave a creative short story writing assignment.the stories they came up with were very good,and we saw such growth.in the end, a class that was 80% failing we had 80%passing or excelling.
I don't know if what you've said here was at all real, but seeing as you're a teacher (or so I understand) it may be loosely based on actual events. As such, I somehow wonder what's worse, living through what it is that these students go through, or for you to see others live through it.
I wish my 4th grade teacher was as understanding or caring as you, she really messed me up, and she was the turning point for me, from a straight A student to barely graduating high school. And it wasn't because I didn't have the brains, as college showed, but because I simply didn't care.
I salute you for your work, sir. I can barely comprehend the pain you must go through seeing these things happen to the kids you care about. It must be so frustrating, so infuriating. And yet you stay and fight for them.
I just had my high school graduation ceremony this afternoon, and came home to see this in my subscription box.
I honestly don't feel any different now that high school is over. I'm just glad I never have to see most of those materialistic, ignorant, kids again.
I have so many problems with my school and school in general. It's probably the main reason I've been in depression for most of high school. That and I've never really felt like I belong in any group, even outcast groups.
the system is really the problem, it neglects students, no one wants to listen to lectures on basic problems they know how to solve. only illiterate students have of a problem with this..and there are very few of those...there are lots who try little but they have been taught how to succeed...indoctrinated even..frequently to the point where you are told what to look for instead of using your head, and this stops the actual process of education. There are psych tests that show this
@jblev2 School is terrible it focuses on the average not the above or below average it puts people who are different or slow in one group and then put in the autistic genius in that group slowly torturing him with the easiest work they could pull out of there ass. And then they get bad at the person for not doing the work. Why would they the person did the work years ago repeating the same stuff the person memorized isntteaching the person shit. Guess what i am that person this all happened
It's good that you care, but I find this kind of annoying. I think students names are important, and the stuff they learn in class is much easier than they think, and I think failure is there because no one thinks they are supposed to be successful and is easier than working. They are the same as everyone else; it is a social strata. If they are doing well enough to make it as something or what they expect they will only reach that far....
Before I had said that I thought your poetry was to much like rap, this still sounds a little like beat poetry but I thought It was great. Thank you for sharing
I saw the same things the few years that I taught. I tried to help them but, ultimately, I couldn't even help myself. Teaching has becoming a thankless profession and the lack of support teachers get from parents and the administration is disheartening.
I'm glad you're hanging in there and making a difference.
damn, that's really deep and touching. I wish I had someone say something remotely like this to me when I was in high school. Could've saved me a lot of physical and mental harm, and I might even be in better health and have some sort of future today if someone had cared enough, like you did.
You are an amazing human being for even thinking of these kids, and their anguish, and writing about them and putting out this message.
Your name is irrelevant. Your anonymity is key to your being. You came here with a purpose and a goal. You set forth on your journey with only a few who listened. The few who listened encouraged others to listen. It set the wheels in motion for a great many to listen. You faced a major set-back, but you kept on going. The precision of your words, your perseverance, and the goodness of your heart will enable you to accomplish anything you desire.
Can't remember how I came across your videos, but I subscribed after watching which ever one it was I saw. I think you make some of the best videos on here. Moving, interesting, entertaining and educational all at once. Intelligent and sincere, your channel really is exceptional my friend.
@TRUERYU Thank you so much for the encouragement. In place filled with some of the most respectable people imaginable, and the worst trolls imaginable, it's always appreciated to hear something positive back.
Family life was difficult & I spent much of my time growing up in isolation. Teachers were eager to send me from one clueless counselor to another. I remember how the teachers seemed to love to pick out the weak & make examples of us. There were a few teachers who were good, one even had me placed in the gifted classes (that really pissed off some teachers). I dropped out, went to alternative school & was treated like a person then. In college I score the highest in every class every semester.
"You did your best to fail just so you wouldn't have to try to succeed, and run the risk of failure- because succeeding at failure seemed more dignified to you than failing to succeed." How did you know how the first half of high school went for me?
I get the feeling that this is related to the stress video you did before this.
@ChiefMaverick515 That's how a lot of young people in my area treat education, and anything else that presents a real challenge to them, for that matter.
Has anyone heard what Khan Academy is doing? They've got a solutions to fix the majority of problems in the school system and have so far shown they can do it. There's a TED talk. I really hope this gets adopted by the US and Canada soon. Maybe as a teacher you can try to raise awareness in the school system about it?
@ScissorHand26 I'm very familiar with it. They have some excellent ideas and I hope they continue developing that program, but it's FAR from a magic bullet. The problems in our education system span much wider than just how content gets instructed. I have an ongoing playlist on that matter, in fact.
@ScissorHand26 - The Khan Academy has a really wonderful online website to access any math or science related material. It has already helped my daughter with her homework. She logs on once a week to watch the videos for shits and grins.
I wish I had a teacher like you when I was growing up. I had to teach myself how to read and do math. Because I wasn't learning anything from the teachers.
annoyingly this (partially) happened to me, I had no interest in classes, I had teachers who couldn't understand why I was so disinterested, I still have trouble with the concept of algebra because of how anti-aspergers the teacher was, how I could answer a question in 3 lines but fail because I didn't answer it in 120 lines like they had to. And as such they stuck me in the "assistance" class eating up a credit slot every year with 8 other guys, 3 of them basically genus IQ...
I hated spanish, math, english class and would do just enough to get a passing grade. I loved social studies, science, home economics and shop and typically got A's/B's. I hated only having one class for 40 minutes then going on to the next. It was annoying spending the first half of the class just reviewing what you did the day before.
If something interests you, do you not spend hours if not days reading and working on the problem until it's solved?
@Anonymous247n No I'm not. I'm just a regular person who really cares about the work I do, and constantly tries to get better at it for the right reasons.
OMG - schools in the US appear to be of another caliber than schools in Denmark.
And judging from what you say the caliber is 45'
Good thing they have teachers like you :)
In Denmark when you talk to teachers you get the impression that the biggest problem is actually dealing with the parents of spoiled children demanding special treatment for their little prestige projects...
@itsjustameme Guns are extremely rare in schools in the US. A child was taken out of school because he had a toy G I.Joe gun that was the size of a fingernail. You get the spoiled children and their parents demanding special treatment all the time. The biggest problem with the United States school systems is the over crowding.
I had one particular teacher who kept me from being this student...
One teacher, who challenged me and lit a fire in my mind, goaded me into changing my perspective from an unwillingness to appease those with expectations of me, which was never met with approval for my efforts, to a perspective in which I need please only myself, and to at once be pleased with myself, but never satisfied.
She was also an English teacher, and in the middle of the bible belt, also an atheist.
cos being smart hurts, and intelligence is so often diagnosed as adhd these days. cos when i finished the problems to my own satisfaction that was enough. cos there is no kudos or cool in being clever. cos being tough is easier than being a geek. cos oxford and cambridge dont want you once you are in trouble for fighting....but mainly cos i didnt have teachers like you....thanks to peeps like you GI my son will fulfil his potential....tytyty
I wish I were one of your students, and I like that in a way when I watch your videos I am one of them, and you help me to think about the world and grow.
When I was in high school, most teachers where apathetic, and didn't care (my calculus teacher stands out the most in this regard.) However, the ones that did I remember their names and still talk to them and on that day I walked into the auditorium to graduate, I thanked them. It wasn't much but I let them know how they helped me.
I'll remember the high school geniuses long after I've forgotten the ones who studied hours every night, copied homework, and kissed up to the teacher to barely get As. Grades don't go high enough for the student who sleeps through class, skims the chapter quickly just before the exam and gets the same marks.
From your words you sound like an awesome teacher. Much respect from me for you. I was much like the first person in your story, with elements from some of the other people in it too, which resulted in me going to than 10 different schools while growing up and learning little at all in at any of them apart from how best to avoid having to spend my time at them. If I had had a teacher with your skills it might have saved me from alot of trouble later in life. Peace and thumbs up.
This is one of those satisfying moments tainted with heartbreak in a teacher's career. Reaching a kid who needed someone to reach out so badly, and he was already so damaged...but you couldn't help but be human...and reach anyways...
I let a few tears fall listening to you. I had a nephew who was just like the third student of your story/poem. We were close, but even though I knew he was doing straight F, he never talked about himself much. At one point he tried working in school. He realised that the possibility of success was worth the risk of potential failure. But his teachers, they didn't try. They only saw a lazy, lost-case, student, and they took his chance at succes away. He killed himself.
why the fuck do you only have 9000 subs! I have a friend of mine that recently graduated, and is completing their stint at a junior high here, and shes feeling defeated after seeing all the apathy in the faculty she works with. I think i need to show her this video of yours :) she will appreciate the fact that at least one other person out there cares.
A beautiful piece. I wish more teachers were like you. Sadly, I'm sure you know better than I how many have been worn down by the effort and constant grind of trying to teach troubled children; unable to empathize with them as fellow thinking human beings in any meaningful way.
Amazing video. I was lucky enough to have good teacher and support by my familiy. so it wasn't until 28 years old that ADD was diagnosed. unfortunatly ADD meds don't work for me (i develop tolerance). but thx to a lot off support and help from people like you, i can handle things pretty well. unfortunantly schools often rather test how much you trained and not how much you understand.
@TheAtheistPaladin How would you react to being put in a prison for 12 years? Seems almost like they're trying to be overt about it: "Kill yourself. We'll make life not worth living to help you out."
How dare they give children the tools to live in society today. How dare they not let a five year old make a choice that will affect the rest of their life. How dare they ensure that they are able to read, write and do math. You're right, that is outrageous.
@TheAtheistPaladin *sigh* I really don't feel like arguing this stuff. I'll just make an analogy which you'll disregard because it's obviously not the same at all and reassert your obvious rightness over me and we'll be on our way.
How dare Christians give food at charities and give children a chance at life. How dare they help children learn about God. How dare they teach them literacy so that they can read the Bible and recite Psalms and Songs of Solomon. You're right, that's outrageous.
I'm not against education. I'm not against learning. I'm not against giving kids the tools of success (however those may be defined). I'm against forcing kids to go to school, even against the behest of the parents. And you know what's scary? That that one choice affects the rest of their lives so imperviously. And it wasn't even their parents' choice.
Indeed: how dare they think that the standard curriculum and cookie-cutter sheet works for everyone, universally.
There are private schools, charter schools, home schooling, and a variety of public and private tutor agencies. Where is the "cookie cutter" and the "force"? If the best analogy for school is PRISON, then it not likely that you be able to see all the choices one can take for education.
@TheAtheistPaladin Those choices depend on the financial situation of the people. If you have little to no money, you have little to no choice. Poverty is growing, the BS stats about unemployment don't look at the type of jobs the employed have which are low paying jobs. A lot living just above poverty with jobs. Taking all that into consideration, the analogy about schools are like prisons is mild when life seems like a prison as well. You are as free as your purchasing power.
HEAD START. LOOK IT UP. There ARE options, just that you don't study and look at the options there before you open your mouth on a subject you obviously don't know. I know it sucks to be poor but there IS help.
@TheAtheistPaladin Clearly you don't know me. When I was a kid my sisters went to head start. 2 were in programs for gifted kids. Fast forward 20 years a sister graduated from princeton, I have 3 kids, one of which went to head start. Got my kids into a great elementary school that wasn't in our zone because i spent time looking at options. So before you open your mouth about what you think someone knows try asking, you spare yourself from looking like an ass who ASSumes. Help is limited
Then you are a moron! Everything you just said proves my point of options! Jesus H. fucking Christ! If you are going to talk like you are ignorant of the facts, then only person that made an ass of himself is you. You are really going to be that pessimistic just because "help is limited"? *rolls eyes* Welcome to earth. If life was a "prison", then your sister nor your kids would have head start. None would be in gifted programs and have fuck all for schools. So STFU.
@TheAtheistPaladin No moron my point was I know very well the options. I also know that those options are very limited. Only a fool would think every child had those options. I can only guess for every child that had those options how many more don't. Add in the schools that are under funded and schools in poor areas. You can roll your eyes but I would say they are closed. My sister and a few others was picked out of thousands of kids. What happens to those that don't get picked? Moron
Who saying that every last child can get help if they need it? I never made that claim. I rolled my eyes at the fact you go to the pessimistic extremes just because it limited. I made that clear. So go ahead and continue to make an ass of your self. So go and continue aruging that "life is a prison" or it is perfect dichotomy. I can at least see the continuum of differing results. It is not as black as you think it is nor it is not as white as you think that I am presenting. So STFU.
@TheAtheistPaladin While I was trying to find a decent school for my kids, there were many other parents trying to do the same. talking to them along with the staff in the schools and you hear some pretty depressing stories. Trying to find the time, don't have the money to get into better schools, waiting list that keeps getting longer, people who are turn down because the schools are full and reserve spots for siblings of attending students etc. Thats not pessimistic, thats reality moron.
You're clearly arguing agaisnt a position I am not taking. Just go the fuck away. Oh yeah, "life is a prison", is that not pessimism either and reality? Go fuck yourself.
@TheAtheistPaladin When you hold such a narrow view, it's no surprise that you can't grasp how things are connected. Thats why to you, you can't or won't see the correlation. From my personal experience I could agree with everything you said about options but I understand my experience is one view and subjective. When I look at things objectively, not only can I understand the position they are coming from, I also agree. I can see thats 2 much for you. No surprise there narrow moron.
You should be looking in the mirror. YOU are the one that said "life is a prison". How the fuck is that not a narrow view? I have already made it clear that I do not see this as an black and white issue, and that there is a continuum of results. Recognizing that some people can't get all the help they need does nothing to my position. I never claimed that everything was perfect and I am sure as hell not for status quo. So congratulation. You made an ass of yourself.
Dear god this reminds me of myself >< So many of my teachers either didn't care, ignored me, assumed I'd coast by (and I largely did) or just never bothered to teach me. I went from a low performing school where I was still learning to read to a school where I was expected to already known cursive.
Needless to say I was always behind. I'm not an idiot, just didn't have enough people try to teach me or parents who cared =/
@AtheistCranberry
Oops, *chagrin
AtheistCranberry 2 months ago
The year before I quit school, I passed all my classes with very high grades, much to the chagrine of my Biology teacher who constantly tried to scare me into showing up by telling me I was going to fail because I refused to do her busy work. I trotted my 98% EOCT before her with a smug smile on my face, but she thought it was a fluke. It was one of the final straws on the back my patience with high school.
AtheistCranberry 2 months ago
Im a sophmore and a lot of the classes that are "required to graduate" is shit even the teachers admit most of us wont even use. I really have a hard time giving a shit about alot of it. There should definitely be more electives available based on what you want to do with your life. The only things that should be required is general math, english, science, etc. and learning a trade. like welding, mechanics, etc. I would rather take psychology instead geography, but noooo.
UndeadClown95 4 months ago
@UndeadClown95 I agree, and I talk about that in my educational reform series.
GrapplingIgnorance 4 months ago
Ah, sweet Nostalgia. Don't you miss those days? I think I can semi-relate to all these stories.
elvebrothergenju 4 months ago
When I was a sophomore in High School I had an incredible Biology teacher. During the parent teacher confrences he would always say thank god for Michael Willis. He saw potential, I saw a failure. And I scraped by his class. But I remember when he passed a sea sponge around the room. Everyone else was smelling it. But when it got to me, I squeezed it just to see how small it could get. Then my teacher pointed at me and said "He gets an A". After that school year he retired, and soon after died.
blues999 5 months ago
@blues999 But that's not the saddest part. This summer I became a Christian. I don't know why. I was at a camp to convert, reinforce, and encourage to evangelize. During it someone said that they hoped he believed even though he showed disbelief in the bible. just by a few things he said about genesis. But I don't know how anyone can say it's right for someone who even they called a great teacher to deserve torture for eternity for not believing. It makes me sick. I wish it made them sick.
blues999 5 months ago
The first part hits close to home... the mind numbing boringness and why didn't they notice that I always got the questions I DID answer right... Oh sure they noticed that I aced all my tests. They also noticed that I rarely did any class work or homework. It was the same shit over and over and over. How many times do I have to ace a test for them to get that I've mastered the material?
They accused me of cheating; tested me more to prove it. My high IQ and scores meant nothing.
I dropped out.
luccaskunk 6 months ago
@luccaskunk I'm very sorry that you had to experience that. I see it far too often and it breaks my heart. I trust that you have found away to apply your abilities in a way that is productive without a formal diploma.
GrapplingIgnorance 6 months ago
@GrapplingIgnorance Thank you. I actually took the GED at 15, got 5 questions wrong, basically 495 out of 500 points. They didn't issue me the GED till I turned 16 though; state law. Got a full scholarship from MIT believe it or not, but my parents didn't want to pay the room and board. So, I had to make due with community college, but by then I'd given up on education entirely and dropped out of that.
luccaskunk 6 months ago
@GrapplingIgnorance Regardless, I've been struggling for the last 16 years, but in the past 4 I finally decided to take my talents and turn them into something productive. I initially wanted to be an aeronautics engineer. Started playing video games to make the pain of failure go away. Eventually emerged as an indie video game developer and have recently been hired full time by an actual company in the industry as their lead game play developer. I don't make much, but I finally feel successful.
luccaskunk 6 months ago
@Menak666 I feel sorry about your parents and the house, not that it would make a difference about the fact. I don't think it's nerve as it is stupidity. She can't control her class much less try to and she thinks she has the right to call someone stupid. How the hell did she even keep her job?
DeathnoteBB 6 months ago
@Menak666 I don't have words to describe how I feel about people who suspect less of a person's intelligence for being human.
DeathnoteBB 6 months ago
I had a teacher the dealt with me in a similar manner, she took the time to actually see why I was responding negatively. This was the most important milestone in my mind.
AmazinKC 7 months ago
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Athais 8 months ago
i almost cried in this video. its really nice to know that someone notices cause i hate when talent goes to waste.
NeverlandAud 8 months ago
What subject do teach?
connorbenson100 8 months ago
I will miss you Mr. V - CodyF
weArESanchez 8 months ago
You are so fricking awesome! The way you worded everything...its like poetry
4232charlotte 8 months ago
This poem speaks from my heart. Only few understand that the student-teacher relationship is a self axxelerating cycle: Bad teachers won't be listen to by students and therefore can't teach them anything regardless what they are talking about. Good teachers get the attention of their students. The foundation that must be achieved before they can even begin to teach them something. Good teachers don't resign if their students act like dumb fucks. They try to get them out of their comfort zone.
Hemothep 8 months ago
It actualy made me sad listening to this. So many of the high school teachers I had could give a fuck less.
But it always makes me notice that on the High school level the male teachers are better then the female ones. Probably due to the fact that the female teachers just have the job as an unnessessary second income, and that the males do it as a career...
ILikeMeProductions 9 months ago
@ILikeMeProductions I really have no idea how you arrived at the idea that female high school teachers just do it as a secondary income source, or that they aren't as good at teaching as male teachers are. Perhaps in your experience you encountered more male teachers that reached you better, but as an individual who immerses himself in learning whatever I can about the profession of secondary education, I can assure you that good and bad teachers some in similar numbers regardless of genders.
GrapplingIgnorance 9 months ago
@GrapplingIgnorance Probably just personal experience then, and I came to that idea because most of the female teachers I have had in highschool where married and their husbands worked. It seamed like the male teachers had more of a drive to teach, and treated teaching as if it where more then a job.
ILikeMeProductions 9 months ago
@GrapplingIgnorance This actually kinda resonates with me. Especially the first third, almost describing me to a tee. I'd like to be a history teacher someday, as it is by far the subject I'm most interested in, and teachers have said as much. I'm like the first student in that I can't keep interested or motivated in any classes other than history and, depending on the subject, English/Literature. Still, I have some personal issues that I feel are holding me back in life, just like the second.
halo07guy2 8 months ago
@ILikeMeProductions WTF? Maybe you weren't trying to be offensive, but this comment makes me want to kick you in the shin. Your hasty generalization of female teachers is as ignorant as it is incorrect. I'm currently studying to be a high school English teacher, and I assure you, there are an infinite amount of other jobs I could get that would be less stressful and pay far better were I simply looking for "unnecessary second income." I don't HAVE to work...cont.
MyGrammarRules 9 months ago
@ILikeMeProductions cont... My husband has supported our family for as long as we have been a family. This is a job I will do because I'm going to be good at it, because our education system needs people like me that actually care, and because I'm willing to go through all the bureaucratic, flaming hoops that it takes to be a good teacher. On the flip side, I could just as easily say that the only reason males teach high school is because they like to look at pubescent girls and boys all day!
MyGrammarRules 9 months ago
@MyGrammarRules I was also floored by the remark, especially since the majoirty of teachers (especially English teachers) ARE females. I was the extreme minority in my college courses, usually with only one or two other males in each Education of English class I took. The notion that somehow women, who tend to be more compassionate and nurturing than men would be less meaningful teacehrs is shocking to me, which is an indication that he's only drawing from personal experience.
GrapplingIgnorance 9 months ago
@GrapplingIgnorance In my personal experience, I've had more awesome male teachers than female teachers, but I've always viewed that as a deficiency of my breadth of experience rather than a reality.
Alastair 9 months ago
i wish you were my teacher
Origamimaster321 9 months ago
Thank you...
Silentsam7532 9 months ago
Sure glad my child doesn't go to your school. Discussing personal school-related and family issues in public is pretty unprofessional, whether you say their names or not.
FrugalStrugal 9 months ago
@FrugalStrugal This isn't a discussion. It's a poem. It's done completely anonymously, not only in terms of the people's names, but the school they attend, and the actual source of the information source itself. There is absolutely no connection that can be made to the actual people who inspired this piece, and to suggest that this is a discussion of private matters with a public forum is innaccurate.
GrapplingIgnorance 9 months ago 11
@GrapplingIgnorance So it looks like the only thing you could contest in my post was the word "discussion?" Looks like that college English degree payed for itself. Let's try it again:
Sure glad my child doesn't go to your school. Talking about personal school-related and family issues in public is pretty unprofessional, whether you say their names or not.
FrugalStrugal 9 months ago
@FrugalStrugal No, I corrected your error of claiming that I was in error here. I divuldged no personal details about people here. The audience does not know who I am, where I live, who they are, what their names are, what school they attend, or anything else. This poem is about the thing certain students go through, not about the students themselves as you're describing here. If you fail to understand that, I can't help you any further. Just don't send your kids to an awful teacher like me.
GrapplingIgnorance 9 months ago
you just adressed about every problem im struggling with.. and it almost feels to me as if you are talking about me. i have adhd i my parents are in depth and cant afford my meds, i have problems with drugs, i think im to smart for the education im getting as im going to every test exam stoned as shit and never learn for them and still i manage to get good grades. and i also act pretty stupid in front of poeple my age.. its almost scary how much the person you speak of is like me :S
tacob0 9 months ago
Hey GI, how long have you been a teacher?
Whisper95Productions 9 months ago
@Whisper95Productions I'm finishing my second year now.
GrapplingIgnorance 9 months ago
@GrapplingIgnorance Can you do my homework for me? :D
Whisper95Productions 9 months ago
I hope these students find this video.
RaPositivist 9 months ago
I wish my teachers would have cared enough to try to understand why I was the way that I was.
prada92114 9 months ago
One word.... HolyFuckingShit
devchelle2 9 months ago
This is a great poem. It's powerful and solid. I write poetry too but mine has never been published except for a few here and there, but I still grind my through the words to make sure each is as perfect it can get.
kelliko70 9 months ago
I was a student once, I try not to get noticed and never raise my hand but get called anyway to give the right answer.
emancoy 9 months ago
Thanks for the shout out to the students who the system doesn't acknowledge. I would be honored to have had you as a teacher in any of my years in the public education system, and I am confident that as the years go by, thousands of students will in turn remember you.
Equ1n0xbox 9 months ago
Damn GI. You exemplify the type of teacher I wish to become! TY for making this, it's reminded me why I've chosen to pursue this career in the first place.
AestusL4 9 months ago
@AestusL4 Be very careful about making that career choice. If I were to go back in time, I'm not sure I'd have gone into it.
GrapplingIgnorance 9 months ago
@GrapplingIgnorance Why do you say that?
AestusL4 9 months ago
all I can say is...damn, I'm speechless
MrTruthAddict 9 months ago
Do They pay you well for all that frustration tolerance and thoughtful insight and determination??
Didn't think so.
Keep on Keepin' on.
Great Vid.
TooferMan 9 months ago
You are a wonderful speaker, and because of these stories, I can also tell you are a wonderful teacher. <3 There needs to be more teachers like you in this world, maybe then school wouldn't be so bad.
gothgirln 9 months ago
I REALLY love this one! What a treat after having been away from youtube for a few months. This is inspiring because I was officially accepted into the teaching program yesterday. I think I'm going to make a wonderful teacher, but it's the things like this that could potentially bother me. I'm not sure if I will like to remember cases such as these. I'm wondering why they don't have a class on how to handle the emotional fallout of teaching.
MyGrammarRules 9 months ago
how lucky your students are to have you as a teacher
alexporterfield 9 months ago
I think they will long remember you after they have left your class room for you did not forget them while they were there.
DerOrso 9 months ago
my ex taught for a short time in highschool...he had choir and "flunkie"english. we formulated a plan based on a teacher i had in h.s.:assume every student is at least of average intelligence. they have to proove they deserve a better or worse grade.we used some of my art and gave a creative short story writing assignment.the stories they came up with were very good,and we saw such growth.in the end, a class that was 80% failing we had 80%passing or excelling.
practicalmagic9 9 months ago
I wish i had you as a teacher when i was in school
qapiojg 9 months ago
I don't know if what you've said here was at all real, but seeing as you're a teacher (or so I understand) it may be loosely based on actual events. As such, I somehow wonder what's worse, living through what it is that these students go through, or for you to see others live through it.
DeathsPictures 9 months ago
@DeathsPictures All of these are based strictly on real people/events.
GrapplingIgnorance 9 months ago
As a substitute teacher and the child of a school principle I really relate to this.
Skepticktok 9 months ago
Wonderful.
Skepticktok 9 months ago
I'm sure the impact your time made on those students will help them later on, with or without graduation.
MrStillmans 9 months ago
I listen to this twice, one of those two occasions I was high like a mother fucker.
TheZamario 9 months ago
Very evocative, powerful and poignant. I wonder what this would sound like in song.
Bobbiethejean 9 months ago
Is this inspired by real pupils you've known?
SoundOfScilence 9 months ago
@SoundOfScilence Yes.
GrapplingIgnorance 9 months ago
I wish my 4th grade teacher was as understanding or caring as you, she really messed me up, and she was the turning point for me, from a straight A student to barely graduating high school. And it wasn't because I didn't have the brains, as college showed, but because I simply didn't care.
Dudeamis 9 months ago
That was almost me.
TheAnubisDrake 9 months ago 2
aggh! a stab right through the defenses and into emotional center, a heart felt piece indeed.
Paxmax 9 months ago
its good to know that there are teachers like you out there
farseerelune 9 months ago
This is, without a shadow of a doubt, your best video.
You are speaking volumes, here.
TheAxlSnaks 9 months ago 19
@TheAxlSnaks Thank you.
GrapplingIgnorance 9 months ago
@EdwardVonFishington
part 1
watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY
part 2
watch?v=r9LelXa3U_I
SomethingSea1 9 months ago
Whoa.
SomethingSea1 9 months ago
wow... intense man
Shaekaku 9 months ago
School failed me, though I did not fail it. Weird how that works right?
dookiecheez 9 months ago
I will remember you
Will you remember me?
Don’t let your life pass you by
Weep not for the memories...
TheGreatOldOnes 9 months ago
I salute you for your work, sir. I can barely comprehend the pain you must go through seeing these things happen to the kids you care about. It must be so frustrating, so infuriating. And yet you stay and fight for them.
RayLiehm 9 months ago
I just had my high school graduation ceremony this afternoon, and came home to see this in my subscription box.
I honestly don't feel any different now that high school is over. I'm just glad I never have to see most of those materialistic, ignorant, kids again.
I have so many problems with my school and school in general. It's probably the main reason I've been in depression for most of high school. That and I've never really felt like I belong in any group, even outcast groups.
dieyou2000 9 months ago
@dieyou2000 Oh but you will the moment you get in to a college or university you will. Your mind will be boggled by all the work.
yuo252 9 months ago
the system is really the problem, it neglects students, no one wants to listen to lectures on basic problems they know how to solve. only illiterate students have of a problem with this..and there are very few of those...there are lots who try little but they have been taught how to succeed...indoctrinated even..frequently to the point where you are told what to look for instead of using your head, and this stops the actual process of education. There are psych tests that show this
jblev2 9 months ago
@jblev2 School is terrible it focuses on the average not the above or below average it puts people who are different or slow in one group and then put in the autistic genius in that group slowly torturing him with the easiest work they could pull out of there ass. And then they get bad at the person for not doing the work. Why would they the person did the work years ago repeating the same stuff the person memorized isntteaching the person shit. Guess what i am that person this all happened
yuo252 9 months ago
It's good that you care, but I find this kind of annoying. I think students names are important, and the stuff they learn in class is much easier than they think, and I think failure is there because no one thinks they are supposed to be successful and is easier than working. They are the same as everyone else; it is a social strata. If they are doing well enough to make it as something or what they expect they will only reach that far....
jblev2 9 months ago
Wow. That's profound. You are a teacher extraordinaire.
AuntieDiluvian 9 months ago
i would want to have a teacher like you...
distortion041 9 months ago
We need more teachers like you out there!
No, we need more people like you out there!
valkyriav 9 months ago
I was hoping more of your poetry would pop up on this channel.
Thank you for sharing this.
Yessacmidnight 9 months ago
Before I had said that I thought your poetry was to much like rap, this still sounds a little like beat poetry but I thought It was great. Thank you for sharing
Justwosweet 9 months ago
I saw the same things the few years that I taught. I tried to help them but, ultimately, I couldn't even help myself. Teaching has becoming a thankless profession and the lack of support teachers get from parents and the administration is disheartening.
I'm glad you're hanging in there and making a difference.
EleniDarkspell 9 months ago
That was excellent. The world needs more like you.
6stringsbrainfingers 9 months ago
damn, that's really deep and touching. I wish I had someone say something remotely like this to me when I was in high school. Could've saved me a lot of physical and mental harm, and I might even be in better health and have some sort of future today if someone had cared enough, like you did.
You are an amazing human being for even thinking of these kids, and their anguish, and writing about them and putting out this message.
xXBr4ndonDXx 9 months ago
Do you think he'll be a drug dealer? Good luck there, only the smartest succeed there, wall street has nothing on that high risk market.
MacabreManifesto 9 months ago
damn.
PrecambrianLullaby 9 months ago
Well look at you coach fucking carter!
MacabreManifesto 9 months ago
This is one of your best pieces of literature so far.
csidynos 9 months ago
Dear GrapplingIgnorance,
You are an inspiration. <3
Ujames1978 9 months ago
Your name is irrelevant. Your anonymity is key to your being. You came here with a purpose and a goal. You set forth on your journey with only a few who listened. The few who listened encouraged others to listen. It set the wheels in motion for a great many to listen. You faced a major set-back, but you kept on going. The precision of your words, your perseverance, and the goodness of your heart will enable you to accomplish anything you desire.
I doubt I could ever forget you.
nishbrown 9 months ago 24
@nishbrown Thank you so much for that.
GrapplingIgnorance 9 months ago
Can't remember how I came across your videos, but I subscribed after watching which ever one it was I saw. I think you make some of the best videos on here. Moving, interesting, entertaining and educational all at once. Intelligent and sincere, your channel really is exceptional my friend.
TRUERYU 9 months ago
@TRUERYU Thank you so much for the encouragement. In place filled with some of the most respectable people imaginable, and the worst trolls imaginable, it's always appreciated to hear something positive back.
GrapplingIgnorance 9 months ago
why are you such an amazing person?
PhauxTheFox 9 months ago
Family life was difficult & I spent much of my time growing up in isolation. Teachers were eager to send me from one clueless counselor to another. I remember how the teachers seemed to love to pick out the weak & make examples of us. There were a few teachers who were good, one even had me placed in the gifted classes (that really pissed off some teachers). I dropped out, went to alternative school & was treated like a person then. In college I score the highest in every class every semester.
razredge07 9 months ago
"You did your best to fail just so you wouldn't have to try to succeed, and run the risk of failure- because succeeding at failure seemed more dignified to you than failing to succeed." How did you know how the first half of high school went for me?
I get the feeling that this is related to the stress video you did before this.
ChiefMaverick515 9 months ago
@ChiefMaverick515 That's how a lot of young people in my area treat education, and anything else that presents a real challenge to them, for that matter.
GrapplingIgnorance 9 months ago
@GrapplingIgnorance I bet that stings. You have my sympathy.
Is it worth it?
ChiefMaverick515 9 months ago
Has anyone heard what Khan Academy is doing? They've got a solutions to fix the majority of problems in the school system and have so far shown they can do it. There's a TED talk. I really hope this gets adopted by the US and Canada soon. Maybe as a teacher you can try to raise awareness in the school system about it?
ScissorHand26 9 months ago
@ScissorHand26 I'm very familiar with it. They have some excellent ideas and I hope they continue developing that program, but it's FAR from a magic bullet. The problems in our education system span much wider than just how content gets instructed. I have an ongoing playlist on that matter, in fact.
GrapplingIgnorance 9 months ago 3
@ScissorHand26 - The Khan Academy has a really wonderful online website to access any math or science related material. It has already helped my daughter with her homework. She logs on once a week to watch the videos for shits and grins.
skeletonmom 9 months ago
I wish I had a teacher like you when I was growing up. I had to teach myself how to read and do math. Because I wasn't learning anything from the teachers.
Mglosk 9 months ago
annoyingly this (partially) happened to me, I had no interest in classes, I had teachers who couldn't understand why I was so disinterested, I still have trouble with the concept of algebra because of how anti-aspergers the teacher was, how I could answer a question in 3 lines but fail because I didn't answer it in 120 lines like they had to. And as such they stuck me in the "assistance" class eating up a credit slot every year with 8 other guys, 3 of them basically genus IQ...
Darkfirebrand 9 months ago
I think the world would be a slightly better place if there were more teachers that get it like you.
vicious3579 9 months ago
I hated spanish, math, english class and would do just enough to get a passing grade. I loved social studies, science, home economics and shop and typically got A's/B's. I hated only having one class for 40 minutes then going on to the next. It was annoying spending the first half of the class just reviewing what you did the day before.
If something interests you, do you not spend hours if not days reading and working on the problem until it's solved?
deadman12078 9 months ago
Is this a poem or prose? Either way, this is awesome.
fruitikay 9 months ago
@fruitikay Technically a combination, but I'd consider it free verse.
GrapplingIgnorance 9 months ago
You know, you are an amazing person.
Anonymous247n 9 months ago 6
@Anonymous247n No I'm not. I'm just a regular person who really cares about the work I do, and constantly tries to get better at it for the right reasons.
GrapplingIgnorance 9 months ago 25
@GrapplingIgnorance I really wish every teacher would be like you. Only a handfull care anymore and its stupid.
soccerwizard975 9 months ago
I hate not commenting because this video is so good, but I have nothing to say. Just perfect.
ExSaint1379 9 months ago
OMG - schools in the US appear to be of another caliber than schools in Denmark.
And judging from what you say the caliber is 45'
Good thing they have teachers like you :)
In Denmark when you talk to teachers you get the impression that the biggest problem is actually dealing with the parents of spoiled children demanding special treatment for their little prestige projects...
itsjustameme 9 months ago
@itsjustameme Guns are extremely rare in schools in the US. A child was taken out of school because he had a toy G I.Joe gun that was the size of a fingernail. You get the spoiled children and their parents demanding special treatment all the time. The biggest problem with the United States school systems is the over crowding.
1 teacher per 40 students doesn't work to well.
Mglosk 9 months ago
@Mglosk
Guns are also rare in schools in Denmark. But we let children keep their toy guns.
itsjustameme 9 months ago
another...
wow!
premed2 9 months ago
I had one particular teacher who kept me from being this student...
One teacher, who challenged me and lit a fire in my mind, goaded me into changing my perspective from an unwillingness to appease those with expectations of me, which was never met with approval for my efforts, to a perspective in which I need please only myself, and to at once be pleased with myself, but never satisfied.
She was also an English teacher, and in the middle of the bible belt, also an atheist.
DeathofSpeech 9 months ago
I wish more humans were like you.
wormsto 9 months ago
cos being smart hurts, and intelligence is so often diagnosed as adhd these days. cos when i finished the problems to my own satisfaction that was enough. cos there is no kudos or cool in being clever. cos being tough is easier than being a geek. cos oxford and cambridge dont want you once you are in trouble for fighting....but mainly cos i didnt have teachers like you....thanks to peeps like you GI my son will fulfil his potential....tytyty
jimthepleb 9 months ago
I remember my boredom coming out as defiance in school. Rather than help I got lectured at and churned through the system.
spazfox 9 months ago
This is a beautiful piece indeed, if only we had more in terms of systems to catch those few like this before their lives turn for the worse.
Thank you for the awesome upload!
Ryanowning 9 months ago
I wish I were one of your students, and I like that in a way when I watch your videos I am one of them, and you help me to think about the world and grow.
Thank you.
retrorocketrhiannon 9 months ago
Maybe if I had just ONE fucking teacher like you............just one.
LordSlag 9 months ago
the bible belt sounds like the wild west
000whiterabbit 9 months ago
When I was in high school, most teachers where apathetic, and didn't care (my calculus teacher stands out the most in this regard.) However, the ones that did I remember their names and still talk to them and on that day I walked into the auditorium to graduate, I thanked them. It wasn't much but I let them know how they helped me.
SleepNeed 9 months ago
I'll remember the high school geniuses long after I've forgotten the ones who studied hours every night, copied homework, and kissed up to the teacher to barely get As. Grades don't go high enough for the student who sleeps through class, skims the chapter quickly just before the exam and gets the same marks.
JoesephKatana 9 months ago
From your words you sound like an awesome teacher. Much respect from me for you. I was much like the first person in your story, with elements from some of the other people in it too, which resulted in me going to than 10 different schools while growing up and learning little at all in at any of them apart from how best to avoid having to spend my time at them. If I had had a teacher with your skills it might have saved me from alot of trouble later in life. Peace and thumbs up.
TheRenekruse 9 months ago
This is one of those satisfying moments tainted with heartbreak in a teacher's career. Reaching a kid who needed someone to reach out so badly, and he was already so damaged...but you couldn't help but be human...and reach anyways...
MsMrNoface 9 months ago
a beautifull example of the starfish paradigm (i know it's not exactly like the starfish paradigm but it's close)
Zralf 9 months ago
I let a few tears fall listening to you. I had a nephew who was just like the third student of your story/poem. We were close, but even though I knew he was doing straight F, he never talked about himself much. At one point he tried working in school. He realised that the possibility of success was worth the risk of potential failure. But his teachers, they didn't try. They only saw a lazy, lost-case, student, and they took his chance at succes away. He killed himself.
Good video.
gilless429 9 months ago
This video really hitted the bulleye. Great job
oralyon 9 months ago
why the fuck do you only have 9000 subs! I have a friend of mine that recently graduated, and is completing their stint at a junior high here, and shes feeling defeated after seeing all the apathy in the faculty she works with. I think i need to show her this video of yours :) she will appreciate the fact that at least one other person out there cares.
peteheatb3 9 months ago
A beautiful piece. I wish more teachers were like you. Sadly, I'm sure you know better than I how many have been worn down by the effort and constant grind of trying to teach troubled children; unable to empathize with them as fellow thinking human beings in any meaningful way.
VarmitC 9 months ago 26
@VarmitC Exactly.
GrapplingIgnorance 9 months ago 2
@GrapplingIgnorance This is why I was lucky to attend the first Glasser Quality highschool. I needed the individual attention afforded by the system.
VarmitC 9 months ago
Amazing video. I was lucky enough to have good teacher and support by my familiy. so it wasn't until 28 years old that ADD was diagnosed. unfortunatly ADD meds don't work for me (i develop tolerance). but thx to a lot off support and help from people like you, i can handle things pretty well. unfortunantly schools often rather test how much you trained and not how much you understand.
beyondEV 9 months ago
When I was a teacher, I had a student who was creative & articulate. Unfortunately, he often misspelled words & tuned out class during lectures.
One day at the end of my class he said, "I always felt I was a genius until I had to put so much time in classrooms."
The teacher coming for the next class had had him the semester & laughed out loud at what he'd said
I found him before the next class & told him that he'd made good sense, & that he had to be on his own side & define his life himself
2bsirius 9 months ago
(2)
OMG the typos in my comment...SOMEONE should make me correct those...I guess that's part of the reason i saw what my student was saying?
2bsirius 9 months ago
...
wow...
just... wow...
GraberStone 9 months ago
Remember yesterday - walking hand in hand.
Love letters in the sand - I remember you.
DJRC420 9 months ago
I used to be that kid. But then I discovered Heavy Metal, and I all changed
ZachValkyrie 9 months ago
I just don't understand why so many kids prefer a self destructive life style. Just to give up on life before it really has begun.
TheAtheistPaladin 9 months ago 2
@TheAtheistPaladin Because they live in the moment- they don't recognize that they have a lot more life ahead of them, and they behave accordingly.
GrapplingIgnorance 9 months ago 20
@GrapplingIgnorance Also, it's easier than trying, and high school is boring.
Stofferdyret 9 months ago
@TheAtheistPaladin How would you react to being put in a prison for 12 years? Seems almost like they're trying to be overt about it: "Kill yourself. We'll make life not worth living to help you out."
SomethingSea1 9 months ago
@SomethingSea1
How dare they give children the tools to live in society today. How dare they not let a five year old make a choice that will affect the rest of their life. How dare they ensure that they are able to read, write and do math. You're right, that is outrageous.
TheAtheistPaladin 9 months ago
@TheAtheistPaladin *sigh* I really don't feel like arguing this stuff. I'll just make an analogy which you'll disregard because it's obviously not the same at all and reassert your obvious rightness over me and we'll be on our way.
SomethingSea1 9 months ago
@TheAtheistPaladin
How dare Christians give food at charities and give children a chance at life. How dare they help children learn about God. How dare they teach them literacy so that they can read the Bible and recite Psalms and Songs of Solomon. You're right, that's outrageous.
SomethingSea1 9 months ago
@TheAtheistPaladin
I'm not against education. I'm not against learning. I'm not against giving kids the tools of success (however those may be defined). I'm against forcing kids to go to school, even against the behest of the parents. And you know what's scary? That that one choice affects the rest of their lives so imperviously. And it wasn't even their parents' choice.
Indeed: how dare they think that the standard curriculum and cookie-cutter sheet works for everyone, universally.
SomethingSea1 9 months ago
@SomethingSea1
There are private schools, charter schools, home schooling, and a variety of public and private tutor agencies. Where is the "cookie cutter" and the "force"? If the best analogy for school is PRISON, then it not likely that you be able to see all the choices one can take for education.
TheAtheistPaladin 9 months ago
@TheAtheistPaladin Those choices depend on the financial situation of the people. If you have little to no money, you have little to no choice. Poverty is growing, the BS stats about unemployment don't look at the type of jobs the employed have which are low paying jobs. A lot living just above poverty with jobs. Taking all that into consideration, the analogy about schools are like prisons is mild when life seems like a prison as well. You are as free as your purchasing power.
moety2 9 months ago
@moety2
HEAD START. LOOK IT UP. There ARE options, just that you don't study and look at the options there before you open your mouth on a subject you obviously don't know. I know it sucks to be poor but there IS help.
TheAtheistPaladin 9 months ago
@TheAtheistPaladin Clearly you don't know me. When I was a kid my sisters went to head start. 2 were in programs for gifted kids. Fast forward 20 years a sister graduated from princeton, I have 3 kids, one of which went to head start. Got my kids into a great elementary school that wasn't in our zone because i spent time looking at options. So before you open your mouth about what you think someone knows try asking, you spare yourself from looking like an ass who ASSumes. Help is limited
moety2 9 months ago
@moety2
Then you are a moron! Everything you just said proves my point of options! Jesus H. fucking Christ! If you are going to talk like you are ignorant of the facts, then only person that made an ass of himself is you. You are really going to be that pessimistic just because "help is limited"? *rolls eyes* Welcome to earth. If life was a "prison", then your sister nor your kids would have head start. None would be in gifted programs and have fuck all for schools. So STFU.
TheAtheistPaladin 9 months ago
@TheAtheistPaladin No moron my point was I know very well the options. I also know that those options are very limited. Only a fool would think every child had those options. I can only guess for every child that had those options how many more don't. Add in the schools that are under funded and schools in poor areas. You can roll your eyes but I would say they are closed. My sister and a few others was picked out of thousands of kids. What happens to those that don't get picked? Moron
moety2 9 months ago
@moety2
Who saying that every last child can get help if they need it? I never made that claim. I rolled my eyes at the fact you go to the pessimistic extremes just because it limited. I made that clear. So go ahead and continue to make an ass of your self. So go and continue aruging that "life is a prison" or it is perfect dichotomy. I can at least see the continuum of differing results. It is not as black as you think it is nor it is not as white as you think that I am presenting. So STFU.
TheAtheistPaladin 9 months ago
@TheAtheistPaladin While I was trying to find a decent school for my kids, there were many other parents trying to do the same. talking to them along with the staff in the schools and you hear some pretty depressing stories. Trying to find the time, don't have the money to get into better schools, waiting list that keeps getting longer, people who are turn down because the schools are full and reserve spots for siblings of attending students etc. Thats not pessimistic, thats reality moron.
moety2 9 months ago
@moety2
You're clearly arguing agaisnt a position I am not taking. Just go the fuck away. Oh yeah, "life is a prison", is that not pessimism either and reality? Go fuck yourself.
TheAtheistPaladin 9 months ago
@TheAtheistPaladin When you hold such a narrow view, it's no surprise that you can't grasp how things are connected. Thats why to you, you can't or won't see the correlation. From my personal experience I could agree with everything you said about options but I understand my experience is one view and subjective. When I look at things objectively, not only can I understand the position they are coming from, I also agree. I can see thats 2 much for you. No surprise there narrow moron.
moety2 9 months ago
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@moety2
You should be looking in the mirror. YOU are the one that said "life is a prison". How the fuck is that not a narrow view? I have already made it clear that I do not see this as an black and white issue, and that there is a continuum of results. Recognizing that some people can't get all the help they need does nothing to my position. I never claimed that everything was perfect and I am sure as hell not for status quo. So congratulation. You made an ass of yourself.
TheAtheistPaladin 9 months ago
@SomethingSea1
Your not even close, stop making an ass of yourself.
TheAtheistPaladin 9 months ago
@SomethingSea1
You don't feel like arguing this stuff, and yet you made three replies. Your analogy is shit. Pure and simple.
TheAtheistPaladin 9 months ago
Dear god this reminds me of myself >< So many of my teachers either didn't care, ignored me, assumed I'd coast by (and I largely did) or just never bothered to teach me. I went from a low performing school where I was still learning to read to a school where I was expected to already known cursive.
Needless to say I was always behind. I'm not an idiot, just didn't have enough people try to teach me or parents who cared =/
Otokogoroshi<