Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Education: Irritating to us, Improvement for them

Everyday in America, kids whine and moan and complain as they trudge across campus in the class. Everyone has an excuse. "It's so nice outside, maybe I'll skip class to play on the quad." Or how about the ever popular, "Rain?! Nobody will be at class anyways, it's too wet and nasty to be outside."

It's unfortunate that we have this attitude, especially given the fact that we are privileged to have the opportunity to further our education. Many young people across the globe aren't able to get any education, let alone a degree from an institution of higher learning.

This is true in a variety of countries, including some parts of Sudan. Residents of the Nuba Mountains look upon the very idea of education as the path to a better, brighter future for their nation. Please read the article below and explain how, despite our freedom and ability to attend school we still have the audacity to breed negativity toward the notion of increasing our intelligence.

http://www.newsfromafrica.org/newsfromafrica/articles/art_11243.html

Cara B.

3 comments:

kshotsberger said...

It really is disappointing that young Americans have such a negative attitude towards education, but I can't point any fingers because even I have stayed in bed and skipped class due to bad weather outside.
However, I know that I need to do well and be challenged with my school work if I am ever going to achieve my goals. Still, I gripe and complain about all the school work I have to do, while the people in the Nuba Mountains are desperate to learn anything they can.
I don't know why I do this becasue at the end of a really long day, I still love school. I love working hard and succeeding. No matter how much I complain and whine about it, I always get my work done, and I am a better student for it in the end. Maybe we all need to take a step back, complain a little less and appreciate our education a little more.

Sarah Kelly said...

I don't necessarily think that education is irritating to us, I think we just take it for granted. In today's world, you really need a college degree to become successful. It makes me so sad that these students have to go through so much! Just the personal experience from the one student amazes me. I feel like if that happened to me I would just hide behind a rock forever. They go through so much and still strive to learn more. It is also too bad about all the women that drop out of classes. I shared this in my post, but it is probably more relevant to this post. The website is girleffect.org. It is an organization that helps get women back into schools and away from the cycle that they get forced into. Women marry early, have children and a husband, thus increasing the chances of spreading HIV. Hopefully with more students finishing schooling, many may become teachers and help the school system improve. Needless to say, I appreciate that I have been able to get any education I wanted with relative ease. This article really put things into perspective for me.

Carly Vadnais said...

I'm so glad that you brought this up! It is such a true statement... Americans are very, very privileged and take many things for granted. We are so lucky that we can receive such an amazing education here and the fact that we skip classes when others can't go at all really is too bad.