Although there are many different types of schooling, all with their individual benefits and disadvantages, I have elected to review the requirements and general information of the four most common types. The most common form of schooling is public, followed by a more costly private schooling, home schooling and lastly military schooling. Each of these four are unique in their own way, however are in several ways connected to each other through ideas and even transferring between several.
Public schools are by far the most common type of schooling as they educate just fewer than 90% of all U.S. students. It is the cheapest form of schooling because public schools are primarily funded by tax revenue. Although, parents will sometimes have to pay a small fee for their child or children to attend public schooling, the fee is typically cheap enough so every child around America can receive an education on some level. Public schools are run differently than the other three types of schools previously mentioned. The curriculum is decided by school boards who are elected by school districts.
The next most common form of education lies with private schooling. Private schools have several rumors involved with their history, such as the student must be exceptionally wealthy in order to attend the private school. Although private schools do have increased expenses because they are not run through government taxes, they are still affordable for many average families. This stereotype of wealthy families only has slowly been decreasing over the past few decades, as private schools have been attempting to increase the overall diversity of the students who attend. It is incredibly common to see that the students attending private schools are typically dressed in uniform, which coincides with the schools dress code. Concerning the requirements for the average private school it has been found that athletics and academics can be more challenging than that of a public school, however the overall stress felt to succeed in these aspects often rest in the students mind, rather than the actual difficulty of the school.
Military schooling is another type of education system that has rumors about the reasons that students attend the school. The major rumor surrounding military school is that it’s primarily used by parents to send away their troubled children in order to straighten them out. Although this is true on some levels, the majority of students attending military school personally decide to go. These are students who are interested in pursuing a military career in their future. As stated in an article concerning military school, “a military school is both a popular and selective alternative to ordinary schooling. They are popular among young people willing to experience military values and structure, a high-level athletic program and perhaps get a military job in the future” (Military School, 1). This just reinforces the idea that military schools are more commonly used by those who desire a military career as opposed to those students who need to be more strictly watched and controlled. The requirements for graduating military school are very similar to that of public schools as they require; 4 years of English, 3 years of math, 3 years of social studies, 3 years of science, etc.
Home schooling is highly connected to both private schooling and military schooling. It is common to see students move from home schooling to either military schools or private schools after completing the curriculum through 8th grade. The requirements for home schooling vary from state to state as no two states have all the same laws concerning home schooling. There is typically a strict requirement on attendance and completion of all assignments. Many states do treat home schooling like private schools such as California, Texas and Indiana. The curriculum used in home schooling is very closely compared if not identical to that of private or public school curriculum. Home schooling is becoming increasingly popular as we can see from this statistic about Wisconsin home schooling, “Home schooling of school age children has expanded during the last several years. In Wisconsin, a 1984 law allowed home schooling with no monitoring simply by registration with the state education agency. Home schooling grew from 2800 to 11,480 (1.3% of the school population) in 1994. Self help groups have sprung up to assist parents who choose to educate their children at home” (Alternative High School Models, 3). The growth of home schooling shown in this statistic can give us a better idea to understand the general information concerning home schooling and how it also effects the overall growth of military schools and the private schools that these students go on to joining.
There are clearly differences in these schooling styles, but the education isn't everything. Most students need a consistent interaction with other students so that they can learn social behaviors as well. The most common way for students to engage in these activities is through extracurricular or after-school activities.
After-school activities benefit children in ways that might surprise parents. According to a recent study by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, children who participate in after-school programs are more engaged in and have better attitudes about learning, perform better academically, and enjoy an increased sense of accomplishment, competence, and self-esteem (Bochan). Participation also lowers children’s risk of becoming depressed, using drugs and alcohol, and experiencing other behavioral problems. Extracurriculars let children enjoy themselves in a fun, stress-free environment and allow them the opportunity to get some exercise and make friends outside of school. Participating in extracurricular activities helps students in other ways too: It looks good on college and job applications and shows admissions officers and employers that they are well-rounded and responsible people (Dowshen). Beyond positioning teens for college, there are many meaningful lessons that come from being a member of an athletic team or involved in a school club. Students also get a sense of belonging, better grade point averages, better organizational and time management skills, and life skills or maturity.
Most people think of sports when they hear the word's extracurricular activities because there are several different sports that tend to be the most “respected” extracurricular activies. Because of their prevalence, school calendars break sports into three seasons. Fall sports are cheerleading, cross-country, dance team, field hockey, football, soccer, volleyball, and water polo. Winter sports include basketball, cheerleading, dance, gymnastics, ice hockey, bowling, indoor track and field, swimming and diving, and wrestling. Spring sports consist of badminton, baseball, golf, softball, lacrosse, rugby, tennis, and track and field. If you cannot find an organized sport that interests you, you can look at climbing walls, taking hikes, or bike riding. There are several different activities. Students just have to find something that they click with.
If they are not athletic, they can volunteer with various organizations. For example if they like animals they could volunteer at the local animal shelter to walk dogs and play with cats. Also if they like animals, they can get involved with the local FFA (Future Farmers of America) or 4-H. These two organizations have lots of activities and projects that deal with animals. A student could train their dog at dog training classes. The student can also use their dog for an FFA project. Some other ideas are to volunteer for a political campaign, serve food at a homeless shelter, spend time at a retirement community, help at a church, or help cleanup a local park. There are several extracurricular activities to choose from. Parents and students have to decide what is best for them. However, a student's choices aren't limited by what the school has to offer. If a student is interested in something enough, he or she could start a club with the help of a teacher and a petition of signatures. If enough students are interested, the school usually will allow the club as long as it has some educational value.
These educational values are one of a school's policies. Schools would have almost no value if they didn't have policies that promoted good behavior, helped students work better in class rooms, or keep them from doing things that would otherwise hinder their abilities to learn.
One of the most highly debated policies in high schools today is the delayed phase preference. This policy makes schools start later in the day to allow adolescent students to sleep in just a little bit more so that they aren't tired when they are at school. Scientists theorize that there are biological factors that actually make adolescents stay up later and sleep in later, and some schools are starting to delay the start of the school day by an hour or so to help them learn better and be less sleepy when they get to their first class.
There are also a few other policies that students tend to hate such as the dress code, no displays of affection, and bans of games from the play ground. Dress codes are pretty strait forward, but students tend to disagree with them because of how strict they tend to become. In my experience holes in clothing, regardless of size of placement, anything that was fishnet, or anything that showed off any part of a student's skin that wasn't his or her arms, shins, or head, was completely unacceptable and punishable by detention. Some of the proposed dress code was warranted, but other parts of it were severely strict with harsh punishments. Some of the students were even sent home to change, but this created an even worse opportunity because it allowed students to leave campus, and they rarely came back. In my experience, the dress code tends to be a necessary policy regardless of how it is enforced, but students generally hate the policy at first, and then tend to follow it without question after it's settled in for a few days.
Another hated policy is the reprimanding of public displays of affection. An example of this policy was shown at Kilmer Middle School in Virginia according to an October article from last year in Current Events. A student put his arm around his girlfriend during lunch and was sentenced a detention because of it. This obviously brought about controversy and the student's parents lobbied the school board to change the rule to allow hugging, but banning other physical contact. This isn't the only instance of such a policy as other schools around the nation have policies on physical contact, however. One rule from a school in Iowa was coined by the principal there: “Handshake or hands-off”. The principal told Current Events that she made the rule to the standards of the business world where handshakes are acceptable but extreme displays of affection aren't tolerated. A school with out such a policy, such as West Side Middle School in Groton, Connecticut sees hugging, high fives and other displays of friendship and affection are a healthy part of a student's social behaviors. A psychologist from Tennessee, Helen Smith, said that if these kinds of behaviors are seen as black and white, adolescent's won't learn where the boundaries are and could make them think that they have to sneak behind authority to show affection to one another.
While researching this topic, I found a policy that blew me away. Colorado Springs Elementary School banned tag from its playground because some of the children complained that they were being chased against their will according to FOX News in August of 2007. The principal said that running games will still be allowed, but the students will not be allowed to chase each other. Very few parents and children objected to the banning of the game, and the school officials say that it has reduced the number of arguments on the playground and encouraged children to create their own games.
Many schools operate differently with different policies, extracurricular activies, and different schooling alternatives, but they all lead to the same thing: the education of the general public so as to create a generation of children that can continue working where the previous generation left off, and I think that regardless of how it is done, the teachers are doing their job and supplying us, the students, with the knowledge to help our society grow.
Schools
Brenda Basham
Brett Sipple
Bobby Crossen
Although there are many different types of schooling, all with their individual benefits and disadvantages, I have elected to review the requirements and general information of the four most common types. The most common form of schooling is public, followed by a more costly private schooling, home schooling and lastly military schooling. Each of these four are unique in their own way, however are in several ways connected to each other through ideas and even transferring between several.
Public schools are by far the most common type of schooling as they educate just fewer than 90% of all U.S. students. It is the cheapest form of schooling because public schools are primarily funded by tax revenue. Although, parents will sometimes have to pay a small fee for their child or children to attend public schooling, the fee is typically cheap enough so every child around America can receive an education on some level. Public schools are run differently than the other three types of schools previously mentioned. The curriculum is decided by school boards who are elected by school districts.
The next most common form of education lies with private schooling. Private schools have several rumors involved with their history, such as the student must be exceptionally wealthy in order to attend the private school. Although private schools do have increased expenses because they are not run through government taxes, they are still affordable for many average families. This stereotype of wealthy families only has slowly been decreasing over the past few decades, as private schools have been attempting to increase the overall diversity of the students who attend. It is incredibly common to see that the students attending private schools are typically dressed in uniform, which coincides with the schools dress code. Concerning the requirements for the average private school it has been found that athletics and academics can be more challenging than that of a public school, however the overall stress felt to succeed in these aspects often rest in the students mind, rather than the actual difficulty of the school.
Military schooling is another type of education system that has rumors about the reasons that students attend the school. The major rumor surrounding military school is that it’s primarily used by parents to send away their troubled children in order to straighten them out. Although this is true on some levels, the majority of students attending military school personally decide to go. These are students who are interested in pursuing a military career in their future. As stated in an article concerning military school, “a military school is both a popular and selective alternative to ordinary schooling. They are popular among young people willing to experience military values and structure, a high-level athletic program and perhaps get a military job in the future” (Military School, 1). This just reinforces the idea that military schools are more commonly used by those who desire a military career as opposed to those students who need to be more strictly watched and controlled. The requirements for graduating military school are very similar to that of public schools as they require; 4 years of English, 3 years of math, 3 years of social studies, 3 years of science, etc.
Home schooling is highly connected to both private schooling and military schooling. It is common to see students move from home schooling to either military schools or private schools after completing the curriculum through 8th grade. The requirements for home schooling vary from state to state as no two states have all the same laws concerning home schooling. There is typically a strict requirement on attendance and completion of all assignments. Many states do treat home schooling like private schools such as California, Texas and Indiana. The curriculum used in home schooling is very closely compared if not identical to that of private or public school curriculum. Home schooling is becoming increasingly popular as we can see from this statistic about Wisconsin home schooling, “Home schooling of school age children has expanded during the last several years. In Wisconsin, a 1984 law allowed home schooling with no monitoring simply by registration with the state education agency. Home schooling grew from 2800 to 11,480 (1.3% of the school population) in 1994. Self help groups have sprung up to assist parents who choose to educate their children at home” (Alternative High School Models, 3). The growth of home schooling shown in this statistic can give us a better idea to understand the general information concerning home schooling and how it also effects the overall growth of military schools and the private schools that these students go on to joining.
There are clearly differences in these schooling styles, but the education isn't everything. Most students need a consistent interaction with other students so that they can learn social behaviors as well. The most common way for students to engage in these activities is through extracurricular or after-school activities.
After-school activities benefit children in ways that might surprise parents. According to a recent study by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, children who participate in after-school programs are more engaged in and have better attitudes about learning, perform better academically, and enjoy an increased sense of accomplishment, competence, and self-esteem (Bochan). Participation also lowers children’s risk of becoming depressed, using drugs and alcohol, and experiencing other behavioral problems. Extracurriculars let children enjoy themselves in a fun, stress-free environment and allow them the opportunity to get some exercise and make friends outside of school. Participating in extracurricular activities helps students in other ways too: It looks good on college and job applications and shows admissions officers and employers that they are well-rounded and responsible people (Dowshen). Beyond positioning teens for college, there are many meaningful lessons that come from being a member of an athletic team or involved in a school club. Students also get a sense of belonging, better grade point averages, better organizational and time management skills, and life skills or maturity.
Most people think of sports when they hear the word's extracurricular activities because there are several different sports that tend to be the most “respected” extracurricular activies. Because of their prevalence, school calendars break sports into three seasons. Fall sports are cheerleading, cross-country, dance team, field hockey, football, soccer, volleyball, and water polo. Winter sports include basketball, cheerleading, dance, gymnastics, ice hockey, bowling, indoor track and field, swimming and diving, and wrestling. Spring sports consist of badminton, baseball, golf, softball, lacrosse, rugby, tennis, and track and field. If you cannot find an organized sport that interests you, you can look at climbing walls, taking hikes, or bike riding. There are several different activities. Students just have to find something that they click with.
If they are not athletic, they can volunteer with various organizations. For example if they like animals they could volunteer at the local animal shelter to walk dogs and play with cats. Also if they like animals, they can get involved with the local FFA (Future Farmers of America) or 4-H. These two organizations have lots of activities and projects that deal with animals. A student could train their dog at dog training classes. The student can also use their dog for an FFA project. Some other ideas are to volunteer for a political campaign, serve food at a homeless shelter, spend time at a retirement community, help at a church, or help cleanup a local park. There are several extracurricular activities to choose from. Parents and students have to decide what is best for them. However, a student's choices aren't limited by what the school has to offer. If a student is interested in something enough, he or she could start a club with the help of a teacher and a petition of signatures. If enough students are interested, the school usually will allow the club as long as it has some educational value.
These educational values are one of a school's policies. Schools would have almost no value if they didn't have policies that promoted good behavior, helped students work better in class rooms, or keep them from doing things that would otherwise hinder their abilities to learn.
One of the most highly debated policies in high schools today is the delayed phase preference. This policy makes schools start later in the day to allow adolescent students to sleep in just a little bit more so that they aren't tired when they are at school. Scientists theorize that there are biological factors that actually make adolescents stay up later and sleep in later, and some schools are starting to delay the start of the school day by an hour or so to help them learn better and be less sleepy when they get to their first class.
There are also a few other policies that students tend to hate such as the dress code, no displays of affection, and bans of games from the play ground. Dress codes are pretty strait forward, but students tend to disagree with them because of how strict they tend to become. In my experience holes in clothing, regardless of size of placement, anything that was fishnet, or anything that showed off any part of a student's skin that wasn't his or her arms, shins, or head, was completely unacceptable and punishable by detention. Some of the proposed dress code was warranted, but other parts of it were severely strict with harsh punishments. Some of the students were even sent home to change, but this created an even worse opportunity because it allowed students to leave campus, and they rarely came back. In my experience, the dress code tends to be a necessary policy regardless of how it is enforced, but students generally hate the policy at first, and then tend to follow it without question after it's settled in for a few days.
Another hated policy is the reprimanding of public displays of affection. An example of this policy was shown at Kilmer Middle School in Virginia according to an October article from last year in Current Events. A student put his arm around his girlfriend during lunch and was sentenced a detention because of it. This obviously brought about controversy and the student's parents lobbied the school board to change the rule to allow hugging, but banning other physical contact. This isn't the only instance of such a policy as other schools around the nation have policies on physical contact, however. One rule from a school in Iowa was coined by the principal there: “Handshake or hands-off”. The principal told Current Events that she made the rule to the standards of the business world where handshakes are acceptable but extreme displays of affection aren't tolerated. A school with out such a policy, such as West Side Middle School in Groton, Connecticut sees hugging, high fives and other displays of friendship and affection are a healthy part of a student's social behaviors. A psychologist from Tennessee, Helen Smith, said that if these kinds of behaviors are seen as black and white, adolescent's won't learn where the boundaries are and could make them think that they have to sneak behind authority to show affection to one another.
While researching this topic, I found a policy that blew me away. Colorado Springs Elementary School banned tag from its playground because some of the children complained that they were being chased against their will according to FOX News in August of 2007. The principal said that running games will still be allowed, but the students will not be allowed to chase each other. Very few parents and children objected to the banning of the game, and the school officials say that it has reduced the number of arguments on the playground and encouraged children to create their own games.
Many schools operate differently with different policies, extracurricular activies, and different schooling alternatives, but they all lead to the same thing: the education of the general public so as to create a generation of children that can continue working where the previous generation left off, and I think that regardless of how it is done, the teachers are doing their job and supplying us, the students, with the knowledge to help our society grow.
Works Cited
"Getting Involved". Parent Spot. <http://www.mohonasen.org/03parents/HSParent/extracurricular.htm>
"Colorado Springs School Bans Tag on Playground, Citing Conflicts". Fox News. 30 August 2007. <http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,295165,00.html>
Beaulieu, Hal & Wretman, Deb. "Hands OFF!". Current Events. 107.4 (2007): 7.
Bochan, Toby Leah. "Best Bets for After School". Scholastic Parents.
<http://www2.scholastic.com>. Path: Search "extracurricular activities".
Dowshen, Steven. "Extracurricular Activities". Teens Health. April 2007. <http://www.kidshealth.org/teen/school_jobs/school/involved_school.html>
Dowshen, Steven. "Voluteering". Teens Health. September 2005. <http://www.kidshealth.org/teen/school_jobs/jobs/volunteering.html>
Knutson, Gay K. "Alternative High Schools: Models For the Future?". Horizon Site. <http://horizon.unc.edu/projects/HSJ/Knutson.asp>
"Military School". Military School. <http://www.military-school.org/>
Stanford, Amy. "Choosing the Right Sport for you". Teens Health. June 2007. <http://www.kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness/exercise/find_sports.html>