Scholastic Crisis

For the past twenty or more years, people have been thoroughly going over the United States' educational system with a fine tooth comb, attempting to figure out exactly what is wrong with the educational system. What they have not realized is that the problems that they are now finding are problems that have not just come up in recent years, but are problems that have always been there. The one thing that they are realizing is that these problems are not likely to be going away soon, unless something drastic is done, such as a complete overhaul of the entire educational system, but not one so drastic as that outlined by Leon Botstein in his article "High School, an Institution Whose Time Has Passed." Granted, while David Berliner and Bruce Biddle do bring to light some interesting facts in their article, "Manufacturing a Crisis in Education," not all of the information has been manufactured."

Throughout nearly every high school student's journey through those four years, a note is either passed or received in class. These notes could be anything from a few words to multitudes of pages, to even a full notebook. Contained in these notes could be anything from invitations to affection to cheating on tests. Notes are but one major distraction that students face in high school. Another large and more noticeable distraction is that caused by the flood of hormones that people of this age are experiencing. According to Botsein, "the primary reason high school doesn't work anymore, if it ever did, is that young people mature" (473). Botstein brings up a very valid point of high school not currently working, "if it ever did," due to the fact that there are so many distractions. The main problem is that these actions are going on in front of the teachers, and yet the teachers do nothing about it. It is not that they do not have the authority, but some other and unknown reason. Possibly it is the fact that there is never enough time in class, or even it is too much work, but for whatever the reason, the teachers will evoke their authority, but only if the students' actions absolutely require attention. These notes bring to light another form of the failure of scholastic authority. Students are going through a new period of their life, puberty, which brings about an often uncontrolled flood of new hormones that run rampant through the body. This flood of hormones can lead to many things, but the worst of it is the distraction that they cause in the classroom. These distractions come about in many ways, from the general flirting between two people to the passing of notes, or even many other things.

Cliques. Every school has them, but few would readily admit it. The students form into groups, generally segregating by parental income or by common interests (Botstein 473). To be within these groups, you must almost be initiated, then you must become one with the machine. To think, to act, and to be like the rest of the people in the group, and do nothing more than that throughout school. "Individuality and dissent are discouraged" (Botstein 47). All the cliques have a hierarchal system, whether it is stated or not, with the most popular on top and the scum of the group on the bottom. Even the cliques as a whole have a set hierarchy, which depends wholly on the types of groups at the schools. The most common groups are the rich and well-dressed people, the sports jocks, and the rejects. The popularity contests going on within the various groups are very damaging to those who are on the bottom of the hierarchal tree. These people are the ones that are driven into