I'm not quite sure why there is pretty much nothing but
hatred on this node. I especially refer to comments like
DMan's.
Jeez.
While I don't think that every day was a party for me during high school, I did have a lot of fun, and I was pretty much the typical geek. By the time my high school got PC's, I'd had one for several years already. I took AP Computer Science. It was all good. And on top of it all, I learned a great deal.
I don't think you people get it, though. Ya, a lot of the stuff they teach in high school is crap, but that's not what it's about. High school, elementary school, university, or whatever is about the chance to interact with other humans in a time when our minds are very impressionable. We do the most learning when we are young and the older we get the harder it is to learn. If you judge high school solely on what it is they teach, you are missing the point. The point is classes, lockers, dances, after school hang outs, and crappy jobs and everything that makes up your life up to that point. High school is basically where you learn about yourself.
University is much the same way, though the learning is a little more focused on learning itself rather than learning about yourself. I have always maintained that while university teaches you a great deal, it is more about teaching you the foundations of your area of focus. And more importantly, I think university teaches you how to learn. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying you don't know how to learn or that you're stupid if you didn't go to university. I think you also learn how to learn in the real world, but to a different extent.
Downvote this as you see fit, but if you don't agree with me, sit back and think about it. Ya, you learned a lot of seemingly stupid stuff. Why would they teach you that? Just cause it's stupid? I highly doubt it. Someone, somewhere has decided on what is taught. And think about what you are exposed to when you learn. Tom Sawyer. Would you have read that book otherwise? Probably not. Playing golf in Phys Ed. Would you have tried that sport otherwise? Maybe, but who knows. And if you're really adventurous, sit down and look at your daily routine. And look at how much of it is built on stuff you learned in school. From knowing how much change to expect (elementary math) to knowing how to tie your shoes (kindergarten) to whatever.
Anyway, those are my thoughts... not yours.