hiddendriver34 said:I honestly don’t get how a homeroom teacher can just sit there and teach absolutely nothing to their students. It makes it impossible for them to actually bond with the kid. 🤷 On top of that, if the parents are totally at odds with everything that teacher stands for, how is that even supposed to work? What kind of relationship is that?
I’ve seen this happen before with a Religious Studies teacher, but that was strictly within a private religious academy setting. This situation feels incredibly bizarre.
Don't you think those religious instructors are basically a privileged class compared to us "regular" public school teachers? Like they play by a different set of rules when it comes to hiring, promotions, or even disciplinary stuff...
We’ve got a few different people teaching Religious Studies at our school. For the little kids, they bring in some nuns, and honestly, from what I’ve heard from a friend, most of them are just total jerks. They snap at the kids in the hallways, they're super rude, and I even heard one of them threatened to ban kids from having snack time just because they were running in the halls.
Now, for the older grades, I actually know two of the teachers personally. One is the mom of my colleague's daughter—she is genuinely wonderful. She’s fair, really understanding, and she actually brought up the idea of getting the non-religious kids sorted out so they aren't just wandering the halls aimlessly. I wouldn't mind at all if she was the one running the classroom.
The other guy is my coworker's son and my neighbor, and man, I wouldn't trust him to watch a single sheep. He has absolutely no boundaries. He asks the kids these incredibly awkward questions—like, he'll pull kids from divorced families aside and ask them how they feel about their parents splitting up or what they think about their parents dating someone new. People have complained about him a ton, but whatever, his boss seems totally fine with it.
So yeah, I guess it really just comes down to the individual.
Sarah Hall53 said:Honestly, if she wants to get into simultaneous interpreting, she’s going to need an incredibly broad knowledge base—it really just depends on whatever topic or field she happens to stumble into—plus this crazy ability to rapidly memorize massive amounts of data and facts (not to mention the vocabulary) when you're trying to prep for those high-pressure gigs. I mean, an interpreter basically has to master the fundamentals of a subject and a mountain of technical jargon in both languages, all within a tiny window of time. In a way, her time in high school was actually great training for the kind of professional skills she'll eventually need for a job like that.
I'm aware of all that, but I'm just not so sure about her yet. 😁 That's why I mentioned there's no such thing as useless knowledge. But with this kind of pressure combined with all that random stuff they're cramming into their heads, they're probably just going to forget half of it anyway.
Personally, I feel bad that they aren't encouraged to read much. It feels like the required reading lists are chosen specifically to kill any desire to pick up a book—exceptions are the rule at this point. It’s like, between the internet, social media, YouTube, and TikTok, they just need one more nudge to lose interest in the written word entirely. 🤦 But you can learn so much from books, even if it's just light fiction. When you stumble onto something interesting, most of that knowledge tends to stick with you.
She recently surprised me by saying she wants to read the Bible. Not necessarily as a religious text, but just as a literary work. Call me silly or naive, but the Bible is still a staple, while school textbooks seem to be getting swapped out for Instagram and TikTok. 😬
mellowskipper said:Speaking as a former prep school student myself—the whole point is to endure the drill, pass the tests, and then dump all those useless details into some void in your memory, because the next time you might actually need them is when you're trying to impress a Millionaire. But typically, kids go to these schools when they aren't sure what's next but have decent grades. That was me. Luckily, my kid knows what she wants, and I'm glad she chose a solid vocational track instead; she can still go to college easily if she decides to later on.
My girl has been obsessed with languages since she was in 5th or 6th grade. Her big dream is to be an interpreter. The only real debate was whether to go the language-heavy or the bilingual track. Guess What, both of them basically require prep school. The language track only has slightly fewer science classes—maybe an hour or two less, I think—to make room for more linguistics. So, it’s pretty much the same headache.
Since she wanted to study things like English, German, French, or whatever combo she picks, she really didn't have any choice but to aim for a prep school. She had to endure that whole G. I. Jane drill with a mountain of material that's mostly just meant to be forgotten.
Personally, I'm a believer that all knowledge is valuable and you should never shy away from learning or seeking out info... But there's such a thing as too much of a good thing. This isn't even learning at this point; it's just splitting hairs.
Susan James said:And honestly, what’s the point of your question? Entrance exams exist so students can see exactly what they need to know before they even step foot in the building (and maybe pick up some extra credit points along the way). From what I’ve looked up, schools with an advanced math track have slightly tougher entrance tests than those with a standard curriculum, and I think that makes total sense. If the exams were so brutal that they couldn't even fill their classes, the schools wouldn't bother with them. But clearly, they aren't that extreme. The high schools holding entrance exams this year cover all sorts of different programs and are spread out across various parts of the city. It’s totally expected that a student might end up taking two different exams, if they even do that—most will probably just pick a school with an exam and use the others as backups. You might have some kids who end up with slightly lower scores—maybe because they struggled a bit in middle school or their GPA took a hit—but they still have enough to meet the threshold. They might end up sitting for all seven exams to try and make up those 10 missing points. But hey, that’s also a bit of a litmus test to see if they’re actually cut out for a rigorous high school environment and if they can handle the pressure of having multiple tests in a single week. Because once they get into high school, they’ll be dealing with that kind of workload for four years straight. (Which, by the way, is exactly what you're saying here)
You totally missed the point. I know exactly what entrance exams are all about, and my post wasn't even about that. It was actually about what you said:
Susan James said:That doesn't seem right. I honestly think most students only end up taking one or two entrance exams. First off, not all high schools have the same curriculum. Even when looking at specialized STEM academies, it's unlikely a kid would want to sit for every single one—especially since some programs are way more math-heavy than others. Plus, the locations are pretty spread out; traveling between a school on the north side and one downtown can be a huge hassle.
But I agree with the sentiment. If they can't manage to stay focused for a week of exams, they probably aren't ready for the intensity of high school, where they'll be living this routine for the next four years.
I have a daughter in high school. She goes to one of those schools people call "elite"—which is such a nasty way to put it, honestly. We should be teaching kids to respect everyone who earns it, instead of just hammering them with this elitist nonsense through the whole school system.
They are just buried under coursework, tests, and teachers who constantly nag them with stuff like, "You're in an elite school, so you need to know way more than just the syllabus." Some weeks they end up with double the amount of exams they're supposed to have, not to mention a mountain of research papers, presentations, projects... it's just too much. When parents tried to complain once, the school basically just told them, "Well, they knew what they were signing up for."
Actual knowledge? At this pace, they're just cramming for tests, and who knows if any of it will actually stick. Is the whole point of high school to actually learn something, or just to prove you can survive the drill?
So, what’s the actual point of high school anyway? Is it about actually soaking up a broad range of knowledge, or is it just some way to grind kids down—basically making them bleed just to prove they're worthy of graduating from an "elite" prep school?
Organizing dedicated school buses for high schoolers is honestly a nightmare and just doesn't make sense in the US. If we actually tried to roll out those specific routes, costs would skyrocket, and kids would still end up waiting forever anyway. It’s way smarter to just beef up the regular transit lines—buses or commuter rails—and let them adjust based on actual demand. Right now, it's always one extreme or the other: either totally empty or packed to the gills.
Now, I don't live in some tiny, remote corner of the country. My family lives in a city where the kids head to high school, and we have plenty of bus and train options running all day long. But even then... it’s tricky. First off, not every high school starts at the same time. You’ve got some starting at 7:20, some at 7:30, others closer to 8:00. Then you’ve got the commuters heading to work at all sorts of different times. Even class schedules vary—some days they finish early, some days late. How do you sync a schedule to fit everyone perfectly? You’ll have one train arriving way too early, while another might be ten minutes too late. And the equipment is a mess, too; during off-peak hours, they run these massive trains that are basically ghost towns, but when the rush hits, they switch to express services with half the capacity, leaving kids standing shoulder-to-shoulder.
If we went the school bus route, a quick 20-minute trip would turn into an hour-long odyssey because the driver would have to wind through every single little neighborhood to drop everyone off. It would be like a road trip from hell.
It’s definitely not as simple as people make it sound when they live in big cities with easy transit right outside their doors.
Timothy Phillips said:Trust me on this one—don't doubt it for a second. You better brace yourself. I was talking about puberty today with a colleague whose daughter is an eighth grader. She told me her class just got back from a two-day field trip. According to her, half the kids in that class smoke; these girls are out there puffing away right in front of their teachers like it's nothing. Looking at the photos from the trip, it’s all "mommy and daddy's little angels," and they aren't even trying to hide it. The teacher called a parent meeting after the fact, and the consensus is that this behavior has become an epidemic among this generation. Apparently, they were otherwise well-behaved—no drinking or illegal drugs—but cigarettes were everywhere. The woman was absolutely shell-shocked. I just sat there listening in silence. I have a poser of a daughter at home who practically lives on cigarettes, so I'm hardly the shoulder to cry on regarding this topic. I chose to stay quiet, though. I didn't feel the need to justify myself to her.
It definitely wouldn't be wise to bring up what we were like back in eighth grade. 😬
I still stand by what I said: God forbid they grew up doing half the stuff we did. And honestly? They aren't. Compared to us, today's kids are basically just little mama's boys and girls. 😈
Michelle Nelson4 said:If you have a, b, c, d, e, and then a 50% chance of passing, you definitely aren't clearing the bar if all your answers are c. On another note, I still remember that pure shot of dopamine back in college when they finally implemented instant grading. There was nothing quite like grinding through those problems, bubbling in your Scantron, and actually getting your results that same afternoon—instead of playing that agonizing waiting game for two weeks or more, which is how some professors used to handle grading tests 👍
Yeah, totally agree. It's faster, way easier... and you still have to know the material either way.
Elizabeth Morales49 said:Just let him go. My wife and I used to party and hang out with our own crews all the time when we were younger—we weren't exactly inseparable back then anyway.😁
He’s already in high school. Six years of middle school followed by five years of high school, kind of like that structured system they have over in the UK...😉
But if I'm being fair, COVID really messed things up. They kept everyone stuck in those ridiculous little bubbles at school, so you couldn't even socialize with kids from other classes, just your own group. Of course, once school lets out and everyone piles onto the same buses to head home, there aren't any problems socializing then...
School, homework, whatever else life throws at you... it's all part of the deal, I guess. Just the way it goes.🤣
Does the kid really have to live through the exact same thing you and your wife did? Why assume he needs to find the same stuff fun as you guys?
Times change. I bet your parents gave you the same old "back in my day" speech too. Just let the kids have their fun their own way.
Elizabeth Morales49 said:How on earth do you get a teenager to actually leave the house?
My son is about 14 and a half, and trying to convince him to hang out with friends outside the house feels like a total mission impossible. It’s just a constant loop of PlayStation, phones, or PC—it’s nothing but technology and voice chat these days.
The girls aren't interested yet, and honestly, looking at his buddies, none of them seem much better off... they're all glued to their screens.
I've tried everything. I suggested going to the movies together, maybe hitting up a pool hall afterward, or even just grabbing a soda... nothing works. Even when he finally agrees and asks his friends, everyone else always comes up with some excuse to stay inside.😵
This is supposed to be the age where they explore, go wild, and actually live life... instead, they're just rotting away at home.😢
It’s just a phase. It’ll pass, and then one day you won't be able to get him to come home!
If you push too hard, you'll just trigger that teenage rebellion. It doesn't matter how much sense you make; it's a lost cause. Just let it be. Don't stress too much. In a few months, it'll be something else entirely anyway. Plus, at 14 and a half, he's still pretty easygoing compared to what might be coming in a year or two.
Once he hits high school, he'll meet a whole new crowd and find new interests...
wearybison8 said:That's simply not true, period. Entrance exams for university almost never included specialized technical subjects. And honestly, speaking as someone who attended a prep academy, we actually found it easier to get into engineering colleges than our peers from the technical schools did. We had a much stronger grasp of math and physics, which was exactly what the admissions tests focused on.
Talking about "specialized subjects"? As someone who went through the general high school track, you might want to work on your reading comprehension. 🤷
Since I spent my whole life being pushed into things I didn't want—first high school, then college, and now stuck in a career I’m just not passionate about—I’ve never once tried to tell a junior what to do. Honestly, she figured out her path way too early, fought tooth and nail for it, and actually got people to back her up.
On top of that, she’s a total perfectionist and a huge overachiever; for her, anything less than the absolute best prep school just wouldn't cut it. I have no clue where that attitude comes from. My husband and I aren't elitists at all—in fact, we've always had nothing but respect for tradespeople and local craftsmen. Her grandmother definitely pushed that "upper crust" mindset, but we shut that down pretty quickly.
It really bugs me when I hear her talking about how students at her fancy private academy look down on kids from the local public schools. It’s just wrong, though I guess it's hard to fight against how society works.
Honestly, I think they really messed up with this whole split between academic high schools and vocational ones. Even if the reality isn't actually that different, just the way it's labeled makes it feel like anything that isn't a traditional prep school is somehow second-rate.
Back when I was in school, you had all sorts of options—prep schools, nursing programs, business schools, trade schools for mechanics or construction... Sure, there were definitely some schools where you knew the kids weren't exactly looking to pull all-nighters studying, but everyone else was treated pretty much the same. The kids in the prep tracks weren't treated like royalty compared to the other solid vocational programs.
If anything, I remember that students from those general prep schools actually struggled more with college entrance exams because they hadn't picked up any specific, hands-on knowledge in a specialized field.
But now? It feels like you either go the prep route or you're basically a failure. I swear, I hear people pushing the prestige of those academic high schools everywhere you turn lately.
mellowskipper said:My little girl is stuck in this exact predicament right now. She wants to apply for a sports academy, but she plays a sport where there haven't been any sanctioned competitions since the pandemic started, which means she has no points to her name. I was told there's nothing we can do except file a formal petition to try and transfer her mid-year.
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Just another one of those classic American paradoxes, right? Shouldn't actually being great at a sport and crushing it in high-level competitions automatically earn you credits for a sports-focused high school? It just doesn't make sense.
The way things are set up, you could have an elite wrestler getting into a prep school for languages, while some kid who wins national science fairs or crushes Portuguese classes gets dumped into the athletics program.
I'm exaggerating a bit, sure, but you get the idea.
rowdypanther12 said:If you look at it that way, then extra points from regional competitions shouldn't really matter at all. No socioeconomic status, health issues, nothing else matters.
The logic is that elite young athletes sacrifice an incredible amount, and we should be rewarding that level of dedication.
But honestly, I don't see it that way. They're making those sacrifices for themselves and their own passions. It's different from other kids who give up sports entirely just so they can focus on getting into a good college or pursuing a specific career path.
Does it actually make any sense to count points from sports competitions when you're applying for, say, a language school, a medical program, or just any high school that isn't sports-focused?
In our school system, I once saw a student get top priority for enrollment basically just because they crushed it at a national table tennis tournament. Like, are you kidding me? 🤦 How on earth does being good at ping pong qualify someone for a STEM academy? Or a web design track?
rowdypanther12 said:I just finished piercing her ears, and I had to hold her hand the whole time 😂 She’s actually planning on getting her ear cartilage done next, but hopefully, she’ll forget all about it for a few years 😂 Still, it doesn't really matter—a professional piercing studio is lightyears better than a jeweler 🙏 I honestly wish piercings were this easy back when I was doing my own ears 😢
You ready? 🙂
She got handed three whole pages of dense, typed-out instructions on how to take care of her piercing. For the first two weeks, her girlfriend actually made her wear a longer stud just so it wouldn't squeeze if things started swelling up. So, after those two weeks were up, she went in to swap it out for a shorter one. Everything was super professional—gloves, sterile setup, the whole nine yards.
And get this—she even got a little "gift" in their promotional pack: a sticker and a condom. She was absolutely horrified. 🤣 I've gotta say, I really dig that. Honestly, props to them.
So, this condom just finished its second day of school. They were actually testing out how much water it could hold before it gave way. Honestly, kind of a wild experiment, right? 🤣
rowdypanther12 said:Is 16 the cutoff for piercings like ears or eyebrows/nose? 🤔 As for her hair, she can basically do whatever she wants—shaving it or dyeing it neon green, I don't care. Well, okay, I do care a little; I'd be sad because her color is gorgeous, but I wouldn't say a word to her about it. I’d be fine with piercings after 16, but tattoos... maybe wait until she's 18. Honestly, I'd probably tell her to just hold off for another couple of years anyway.
Not exactly, but at our local piercing studio, they told me there's a rule where you can get certain things done without a parent present once you hit 16 and have an ID. My first thought was "nope, I'm not going with her," but mostly I just wanted to make sure she understood that some choices are permanent. Well, she finally reached that age! 😁
She’s gone through everything—ginger balayage, purple, pink, even that look where it’s dark blue at the neck... now she’s rocking black. The only thing off-limits is green. I absolutely cannot stand green. 😬
It’s the same deal with acrylic nails; she’s got a whole stash of polish and nail charms. She wears leather pants, does her makeup however she feels like...
As for tattoos, she’s dreaming big—something on her shoulder or arm. I don't hate them, I actually think they're pretty, but she can get one once she starts paying for it herself. That's a lot of money for a kid!
I totally get being okay with the massive tattoos or heavy piercings. But a little nose stud or an eyebrow ring? Seriously, what’s the big deal? Are kids supposed to be miniature versions of us? Should they only like what we like? At that age, finding themselves is everything, and I don't see why I'd want to stifle that just over some tiny things. Honestly, I think tattoos and piercings look great—nothing gross about them in my book.
My only rule was that they had to be at least 16. And honestly, I'd much rather they go to a professional piercing studio. Getting ears pierced at a mall jewelry kiosk always gives me the creeps; it feels like such an open invitation for an infection.