Truancy Should be Allowed.

**yesdachi** · 09-03-2008, 16:20

A lot of schools suck and the teachers suck and the systems suck (I have mentioned my disgust for the school system many times here) but for all the failings it is still the best way to get ahead and giving a child (who isn’t mature enough to do anything else) the option to ruin their life is criminal. It is our responsibility as parents and citizens (of whatever country) to make sure we are preparing the next generation of parents and citizens. I barely trust the school system to prepare kids for this task, without it we would have a generation burden the rest of us would have to carry.

Some kids don’t like school and in some cases it is the school’s fault for sucking but I would guess most times it is the parents fault the a child really doesn’t like or do well in school. I would be more inclined to support kids quitting their parents than school.

**Tribesman** · 09-03-2008, 18:11

On many statistical charts, there are outlying data points. Trust me, school helps.

School obviously didn't help you with your reading and comprehension did it ?
It obviously didn't help you follow points in a discussion either

**Seamus Fermanagh** · 09-03-2008, 21:05

In a system wherein the government has assumed primary responsibility for educating its citizens-to-be and wherein the government is actively engaged in providing a safety net in the form of welfare, unemployment insurance and socialized medicine (this includes most of Europe, the Americas, etc.), it is very much in the government's interest to prevent truancy and to make sure everyone is exposed to the education it deems appropriate and to minimize the number it must cover with the "dole."

I would prefer a system wherein none of these services is provided by the central government. In that scenario, truancy would be moot at best.

**Ironside** · 09-04-2008, 08:45

Originally Posted by Seamus Fermanagh

In a system wherein the government has assumed primary responsibility for educating its citizens-to-be and wherein the government is actively engaged in providing a safety net in the form of welfare, unemployment insurance and socialized medicine (this includes most of Europe, the Americas, etc.), it is very much in the government's interest to prevent truancy and to make sure everyone is exposed to the education it deems appropriate and to minimize the number it must cover with the "dole."

I would prefer a system wherein none of these services is provided by the central government. In that scenario, truancy would be moot at best.

And the quality of the nation and it's wealth would go down... But it's a nation's choise to go that path I guess.

**Evil_Maniac From Mars** · 09-04-2008, 00:22

Originally Posted by Tribesman

School obviously didn't help you with your reading and comprehension did it ?
It obviously didn't help you follow points in a discussion either

Can you take it if I'm blunt with you?

By the way;

Originally Posted by Productivity

Since when has a single data point made a trend? Every trend will have outlying datapoints, it's how statistics works, yet everyone seems to think that when they have experienced something different to what is the broad societal trend it means that they've invalidated the entire theory.

My point has already been made.

**Tribesman** · 09-04-2008, 00:30

My point has already been made.

And once again you prove
School obviously didn't help you with your reading and comprehension did it ?
It obviously didn't help you follow points in a discussion either

**Samurai Waki** · 09-04-2008, 01:56

Heres my beef with the American Education system; those that complete with a Highschool Diploma stand less of a chance of getting into a major university than those who drop out and pursue their GED. The system would let you believe that the HS Diploma is a better show of your intelligence/performance in real world situations. I've done a lot of research on this matter (heck I dropped out and got my GED, and I attended two years of college at UCLA before transferring to the University of Montana).

The GED was created in the 1940s to allow people who didn't want to complete Highschool a way to enroll into the military without a Highschool diploma.

Because of the stipulation that if you got your GED chances are you'd end up in the military, most businesses look down on the GED (and still very much do) however, during the 60s the US military co-erced the Department of Education to heighten the standards for those who wanted to take the GED, so drop-outs under the age of 18 could take the test, if they felt they were intelligent enoguh and by the time they were of age to volunteer for the military would probably do so, instead of having to go through the messy complication of drafting them to serve for the Vietnam War. However, because the Standards were heightened on the test, there was a clause in the contract between the US military and the Department of Education that essentially if you passed your GED, you automatically passed with 3.80 GPA Highschool Equivalency.

However, the Social Stigma of getting a GED means you're not very intelligent has persisted... not within the University System, because the Clause signed between the US military and the Department of Education was never removed, even though the Active Duty Military has since then resigned on allowing GED graduates to participate in the military.

What this means is that a GED holder will automatically pass any GPA review by any College including any Ivy League Colleges (Princeton, Yale, Harvard, et al.) The next step of course is scoring high on an SAT, but most non Ivy League Colleges don't even require GED students to take the SAT or ACT. So this really begs the question, is dropping out and getting a GED a better method of being accepted into a college? I would think so as long as thats your intent, if you plan on working at a retail store, maybe its better to just wait and get your HS Diploma.

Thats how totally messed up the US education system is.

**Evil_Maniac From Mars** · 09-04-2008, 02:07

Originally Posted by Tribesman

And once again you prove
School obviously didn't help you with your reading and comprehension did it ?
It obviously didn't help you follow points in a discussion either

There are exceptions to every rule in statistics, if that is what you are referring to. It's a manner of speech - just because one outlying data point is there doesn't mean that point defines the rest of the data collection.

So, I can pretty much copy and paste what you wrote:

School obviously didn't help you with your reading and comprehension did it ?
It obviously didn't help you follow points in a discussion either

**Mikeus Caesar** · 09-04-2008, 05:25

Well, if we're going to allow children to decide whether or not they want an education, that must mean they're also old enough to consent to doing other things, which therefore means the age of consent should be lowered to the age of 4, all pedophilia laws should be scrapped and kids should be allowed to go out drinking, since they're old enough to decide what's best for them.