Students Explain Which Things They Hate Most About The Current Education System
Image by tjevans from Pixabay

On the whole, human society doesn't seem to be able to figure out how to educated students in a way that is effective, inclusive, and energizing.


Instead, most students leave their 12 years of early, middle, and high school full of complaints and frustrations.

And in many ways, it takes some time for the dust to settle. As people grow up, define their values, and learn more about how they tick, the flaws of their education begin to grow more and more obvious.

Curious to know all the ways the education system has screwed up, Redditor Hplr63 asked:

"Students of Reddit, what's something you hate about the current education system?"

Many discussed that the education system struggles to do exactly that--to educate.

Careful Distinctions

"In every education system I believe there is one major mistake. Students have to learn things instead of understanding and thinking them"

-- Panais69

All About Metrics

"That grades matter more than actually learning the material" -- Shrexygrass

" 'You've taught me nothing other than how to cynically manipulate the system' - Calvin and Hobbes" -- missedtheboat16

Squashing the Spark

"What we learn."

"Yes school teaches us resilience and skills to score in exams but what do we really learn at all?"

"The current system kills curiosity and interest in learning."

-- pisceanm00n

Ruining a Good Thing

"English classes seem hell-bent on making you despise reading."

"They tell you to love reading, then shove a book in your face with mandatory deadlines and assignments, expecting you to memorize pointless info unrelated to the story or message."

"I remember I used to enjoy reading during elementary school, but as of my senior year in high school, that fire's completely extinguished."

-- Dynablade_Savior

Others talked about the ways schools fail the students that have needs beyond learning. Simply put, the human element often appears to be lacking.

Oversimplifying

"the 0 tolerance policy that makes it impossible to protect yourself from bullying without being in the same amount of trouble as them even if they've beaten you badly and all you did was push them away."

-- Tottaly_Sane

Piling It On

"That most schools don't consider that students have a life. Basically they have sh** to do."

"My brother was showing my mom and I a recorded session from online classes, and the teachers said something about putting more homework, the whole class complained and didnt like it since they're already pressured with work. Then the teacher said 'What!??!?! You're students! All you should be doing in life is homework!' and that's where my brother flipped out."

"It's triggering in every way that she said that. My brother is a programmer and even did a Harvard programming course + he has a side hobby of photography."

-- Bilal1963

Back to Back to Back

"The lack of freedom I get outside of school. If each of my teachers think a half hour of homework a night is good for my education, and six of my seven classes each day assign homework, then I have three hours of homework to do. My schedule is literally just wake up at 6, leave for school at 7:15 (I live pretty far away), go home at 3:20, get home at 4, do homework until 7, then I have three hours for myself, not including dinner and stuff like family events."

"My (terrible, don't try at home) solution to this is just not doing homework. I do good on the tests but.the main reason I'm doing bad in school is that I couldn't care less about the homework because of how much of a waste of time it is. Also, I have ADHD, and the executive dysfunction that comes with it makes my homework take much longer than it needs to."

-- Andromeda3604

Creating Identities

"I think we 'track' people too early. A lot my friends had major self confidence issues in high school because the system told them they were bad at this or that subject."

"It's fine. People learn things at different paces. The point of education should be to help people to grow, not tell them what they can or can't do."

-- Idkanymore16

Last, people talked about the way schools seem so bogged down by the need to handle large numbers of students and needs that they don't create an open environment.

Nuff Said

"The inability to have a discussion. The teacher will always be right. The students shouldn't argue or disagree even if they provide evidence or supporting info"

-- MickyRickyPickyDixy

They're Just Selective

"There is a lot that I could rant about but I'm going to just focus on one. I hate it when schools say that they can't do anything, when they really can. Like if a student is being bullied, the teachers don't do anything. But the second a bra strap is showing, they act like it's life or death."

-- LesbianGamer802

Maybe one day we'll figure out how to do the whole school thing right. But for now, students will still be herded through the flawed approach.

Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.