School and The Monster

It's understandable that most people wouldn't like school since they look at it as a cage. Like a monster holding them in. They feel like they're literally in the belly of the beast they just wait for the time to finish up and the bell to ring so they can rush out and away ASAP. I'm talking about teenagers or young adults here by the way. They believe in that situation that they're like puppets on a string. They want freedom. They want space. They want to have fun.

Not so much to ask right? It seems that they only want so little which is in fact, really so much.

The thing is - young adults seem to be  concerned about doing everything else that there is to do outside the school that they've  start to want nothing to do either what goes on on it.

Why? Restrictions? Authority issues? Personal space? Nutella + Cookies?

Most adults, most especially the less literate ones would love to go back to school and either relive their glory days or enhance and better themselves. They see a value in which the majority of the youth do not. It seems to me that as each generation comes on by less emphasis, importance and value is placed on schooling, education and the environment in which the process is done. This is happening especially due to the evolution of technology, culture and information worldwide.

Students and not, are seeing alternatives and options to schooling and the process of schooling.

My reason for writing this article, however, is not to explain the predicament facing the world on issues of changing precepts and beliefs.

I want to address a simple issue. The school opportunity. It's a simple concept - easily understandable as well. The things you COULD and SHOULD  take full advantage of while still in school. The grades. The classes. Networking. Learning.

Most people only realize what they've missed out on, and what they could have done - in school, only when they leave it and graduate. That's when you realize all of the missed chances, opportunities and advantages that were made available to you. That's when you start to get lessons from the hands of life to make you understand what the instructors in your school were trying to do and why they were trying to do it.

That's when you understand that though not everything might have been or would be useful to you - non of it is in any way useless.

In my school most students don't take the GST or institutional (called AFE) courses seriously. I won't say I completely blame them - when the content of a particular course is in no way aligned with your chosen study or future interests, it's hard in fact to focus and find love for it. It's natural. It's  Human nature at it's norm.

Truly there is a monster in the school system. its the decay of value. A decadent rot that's been growing since the age of the technological freedom began to bind and hold the populace instead of free and unrestrict them. A monster that binds their freedom. A monster that binds their minds. A monster, not just in school, that binds their all.

Most students don't take the time to read the course materials till the day before, or even *OF* the test. The exams too. Most would go play games or watch movies on their computer systems, watch television, go onto the usual popular social networks and chat or read, watch or view creative things from the minds of other people etc. Most have no idea that it limits their own mental creativity at times - not just stimulating it. These are the things that the current youth generation busy themselves with.

This isn't the main problem - young adults finding and using numerous innovative ways to enjoy and/or express themselves. The problems stems from when they take this too far and forget and neglect the other things life has to offer.

They do these things during class, they do them during meetings, they do them so much that it's become an almost basic fundamental of their lifestyles. They then forget the little things.

They forget the joys of a warm smile from an acquaintance.

They forget the breath of air given by the wind on a terribly hot sunny day.

They forget the sounds lingering in the environment from random and organized activity.

They forget the joys of communication, togetherness and   seen and offered in a classroom.

They forget the joys of being a child.

The one thing any adult would give everything to feel and have once more.

The other day we had a french class - an AFE class in which the teacher planned on revising the work we had learnt in the semester. A class in which we had gotten a large number of people to come by telling them that the one time attendance marking for that course would be taken. A large number of students showed up - expectedly of course. The lady eventually taught us two songs in the class as well as trying to get us to be engaged in the revision of the course content. The entire class was engaged and had a nice time. It's something they would have obviously missed put in had they not come for the class. I'm pretty sure most of the people didn't and sure till do not regret coming to this day. A video excerpt  of the class is shown below. It's only about 2 minutes long  so it'll not waste your time and I'm sure it'll be worth your time. :D

In that class we had gotten people to come just to come sign their attendance. But those students? ..... Well. .....they left with so much more. :)

Thanks for coming here :)

Love, Stars and Jam