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Friday, January 11, 2008

Opinion: School Attendance Should be Optional

By Charles Yi, Courier Staff Writer

Whenever I have an upset stomach and go to the bathroom during the middle of class or whenever I head over to the counseling or career center for an appointment, I almost always see students lounging on the stairways of the 500's or the lunch patios, horse‑playing with one another and disturbing the learning environment. If our CST's are always present to hassle students about something as trivial as a black beanie without a James Logan insignia, where are they during class periods when students need to be sent to their respective classrooms?

Stretching this topic further, why do some students come to school with nothing but their cell phones, to be used to text friends during class? Why do some students even come to school at all?

To many, school is not a think tank used to absorb and enrich our minds; instead, it is a hindrance that prevents them from completing their to‑do list's, a list comprised of frivolity and immediate satisfaction.

These observations have led to my opinion of reforming the precedents of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Under current circumstances, students MUST attend school until the age of eighteen.

However, I believe that school attendance should be optional.

Let the people who want to learn learn. Let the people who don't stay home and pursue other endeavors. Not only would this drastically improve California's debt and future budgets, it would provide a better environment for those who want to learn and make something of themselves. There would be less crowding in the hallways, smaller class sizes, and a better sense of school spirit and unity.

Still, I am not naive enough to believe that such a reform will ever occur in the near future, considering the bipartisanship of the No Child Left Behind Act and its success in raising national test scores, but the fact is that our schools are filled with students who have no desire to be there and are simply draining assets that could be used to help those who seek education.

Posted by courier at 07:43:48. Filed under: Opinion

Comments

School, optional? Que?
That makes no sense! Kids needs school! How would it help the economy if half the citizens decided when they were 12 that they didn't WANT to get their education, and at age 30, those forementioned folks are idiotic losers who don't know anything about committent, responsibility, or work ethic. How would it help California's budget crisis to have a bunch of adults who don't want to work for a living?

Posted by SuperSmileyFace Girl at Friday, January 11, 2008 12:26:50

Maybe we should get rid of the no child left behind act

Posted by SuperSmileyFace Girl at Friday, January 11, 2008 12:32:41

school attendance should be optional. in college you don't have to go. you can easily get A's in classes without bothering to go to class. in college, you complete class work/quizzes, and you can leave. and the CSTs are useless. it is so easy to get off campus at any time of the day.

Posted by anonymous at Friday, January 11, 2008 13:32:16

The CSTs are friends with those you see in the hallways during class, we need a reform in that area.

Posted by JeanZ at Friday, January 11, 2008 18:41:20

the CST's aren't even strict...i see some let the students whom they've befriended get away with things.

but i disagree about the optional attendance idea because it'll just encourage gang violence and drug use...plus and pregnancy rates will rise, i mean DUH what else would they do if going to school wasn't required? forcing kids to show up to class at least gives them something to do

Posted by commentor at Friday, January 11, 2008 19:47:23

i love how the cst's watch over us and the staff and teachers too. i believe that if people wanna be friendly with csts, thats fine as long as they dont give them special privledges. hey, u never know. keep the school safe! yay!!

Posted by hi. at Friday, January 11, 2008 20:19:53

I understand what you are trying to get at by having school be optional, but I don't think that is such a great idea. I do agree that there are a lot of people in school that are nothing but a distraction and they probably don't even go to class enough to know their teachers' names, and it would be better without them around. Unfourtunately, if school was optional, they would simply find someplace else to get in trouble, and I think it would lead to more fighting and shootings in out area.

Also, I agree with what you said about the CST's. They seem to care much more about who is wearing the wrong kind of hat than they care about people walking around during class periods. I thought the time gap between the two lunches was to prevent people from double lunching, but when people walk around during this time, the CST's don't seem to do much about it. I know many people that say even though the lunches are no longer back to back, it is still really easy to go to both lunches withoiut getting caught.

If the CST's and other staff around school would pay more attention and not be so lenient on the rules, I think it might help the situation, though I know it won't completely solve the problem of distracting students.

Posted by pippy at Saturday, January 12, 2008 11:32:42

I assure you that if school was made optional, then NO ONE will go to school. At some point in someone's life, they'll think to themselves, "I hate school". If school was made optional, that student can just leave and never come back. That would mean the only way to get kids to come to school is if students are persuaded with little treats or something. Optional school will just make things worse.

Posted by hahaha at Monday, January 14, 2008 18:07:48

Sorry, but most of your statements were completely arbitrary, and I assure you many people would still come to school if school was made optional.

Posted by Chuck at Monday, January 14, 2008 23:11:49

:) Haha.

Posted by Pap at Friday, February 27, 2009 03:07:53

I like eggz

Posted by DooDoo at Friday, February 27, 2009 03:10:02

Trafficing is guuud

Posted by Poopie at Friday, February 27, 2009 03:11:27

EVELYN SE LA COME

Posted by ME!!! at Monday, September 28, 2009 09:16:02

Thank you for realizing that some one who is no good at something should not continue to take the space of some one who would be great at it. Let people have their childhoods back,the ones without the stress of grades and the other assets of this Slavery of the young that they call "school". Only White Collar jobs should require education because Blue collar jobs literally require hardly any intelligence what-so-ever. That way, people all are happy and make money.

Posted by Brian at Tuesday, January 03, 2012 00:51:58

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