The Consequences of Blind Ambition, part 1

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The Consequences of Blind Ambition, part 1
by Adam Schorsch

Have our public schools become obsolete? Being myself a product of them my knee jerk reaction is no, but now I'm not so sure. In a recent conversation with two of my close friends, let's call them Karen and Mike, we were reflecting on our high school years and how well they had prepared us for the 'real world'. Karen and Mike are both very intelligent, yet they had completely different experiences in high school. Prior to this discussion I believed that our school did an adequate job of providing us with the necessary skills to slide into life without a hitch. Afterwards, however, I was left with a conclusion that shook my faith in our public school system.

Karen graduated with a 4.0 having taken the most grueling, high profile classes offered (calculus, physics, trig, etc.). None of these were in her major, mind you, they were just 'highly suggested for a young woman of such merit'. Mike graduated with a 3.0 having taken classes in more basic skills (auto shop, basic electronics, wood shop, etc.). Karen was lauded for her marks in her AP (advanced placement) classes. Mike's achievements fell by the wayside; after all, an 'A' in electronics isn't as impressive as an 'A' in calculus. Four years later Karen is making $25,000 a year working jobs where her advanced skills have atrophied from lack of practice, whereas Mike makes an easy $35-40,000 as a journeyman electrician, utilizing the skills he learned in high school.

Throughout school we were pressured from all directions to achieve for achievement's sake. Parents, teachers, and everyone else seemed to know how to run our lives better than we did, as though we were too stupid to make our own decisions. Some students yielded to the pressure while others stuck to their guns and took classes they deemed important later in life. More often than not those who took the high profile classes never once used their skills outside of high school. Mike earns more money, can fix his own car, build his own furniture and has an overall better arsenal of skills with which to handle life's complexity. Karen has nothing to show for her achievements but a drawer full of awards and pretty report cards, and has to pay some shady mechanic to change her oil. I liken my experience more with Mike, though I was pushed into taking some courses I knew wouldn't help me a lick while the classes I wanted (silly things like speech and creative writing. . .go figure) were disdained.

My point is that our schools mindlessly emphasize advanced classes while neglecting to acknowledge the validity of basic skills education, and people like Karen get screwed because of it. After struggling to make the grade, we emerge from our graduation ceremonies with minds full of parametric equations but not knowing how to change a tire, make a table or program a VCR. If someone honestly knows what he or she wants to be and needs to take high-profile classes because they lie within their career field, fine. Give them all the education they want. But no one should be pressured into making choices they feel would leave them ill prepared for life in the real world, which is supposed to be what high school is all about.