AIBU to think some school policies are at least partially responsible for the rise in pupil unhappiness?

[Alittlebitofmin]

A friend’s kid described school like a prison. He is likely to be a school success story set to get really good grades, but sees school as something to mainly tolerate. AIBU to think the school system itself is at least a significant partial reason why teenagers report lower levels of happiness at schools in England? Schools seem increasingly punitive and restrictive, pressure seems high, some children are even made to feel guilty if they have a day off sick.

If that were true, why do we bother teaching Shakespeare?

I think the teachers back in the 70s just accepted that some kids were scruffy. We certainly had to put up with scruffy teachers.

I don't remember anyone getting a detention for not having their shirt tucked in. But then we didn't indulge in attention-seeking class disruption.

That’s awful. I can see why you are so frustrated.

So many parents think their child is special and deserves a school experience tailored exclusively for then. Whereas schools have to be designed for what works for the majority. It's no wonder we have so many NEETs as kids leave school expecting the world to adjust to their needs instead of adjusting themselves to fit in with the world.
it's utter madness.

Ah that just brought back a memory of going on a cross country run… there was one teacher so most of the class hung back and walked a different route back to the school.

The local shop would sell individual cigarettes to the pupils so many of the kids got back to school sweat free and stinking of fags 🤣

My dc attendance is good, behaviour good, grades good, friendships good

She loathes school , really hates it

Precisely this; schools and teachers are actually quite indulgent and pupils are given multiple warnings before detentions are been issued.

Words out of my mouth.

Totally agree with this. In my final year 6 class before I quit:

All printouts duplicated on white paper, green paper, blue paper, peach paper, careful of the font, special pens, ipads for some, a/b/and c can't cope with homework, d doesn't like something else, e and f can piss off out the room whenever they like, g and h can arrive late and leave early, i/j/k are allowed cuddly toys, l sits under a desk covered by a sheet, all are allowed to ditch the lesson and play lego in the corner if they feel "overwhelmed", m can't read and write, n doesn't speak English. I have probably forgotten some. It's total chaos and impossible to teach those who just want to get on with it.

I think 'why do we bother teaching Shakespeare?' is a really good question.

Teaching Shakespeare to some people is fantastic. To others these are some of their worst lessons which makes it a waste of good learning time.

The curriculum is too restricted. Should we teach literature? Yes. Should everyone study Shakespeare? Probably not.

Our education system is very underfunded, so inevitably very one size. Would schools do what they do now if the budget was 50% or even 100% higher? No, they would offer a lot more options and pathways - because that would get better outcomes both in terms of engagement and results. But we are where we are.

This is very common and is cause for serious concern. The fact that many well behaved and achieving kids absolutely hate school is a big red flag that something is going wrong.

Kids have always hated school though.

I remember during COVID seeing interviews with sad-faced kids about how they missed school and thinking it was odd!

This
coupled with the fact people seem to want to moan about literally everything and anything which is totally un-necessary and awful for the staff who do their upmost in a very challenging time.

I do agree about the draconian uniforms with hideous kilt skirts and blazers - these are not representative of the modern world and I feel that this needs a bit of a re-vamp and sorting this out could immediately raise morale a bit. However dd10 is going to year 6 and so if they could do this now that would be great so I don’t waste loads of money on obselete uniform!

I was taught stuff in school that I found extremely tedious and pointless at the time and yet as an adult I find reflecting on as valuable, or speaking to the human condition in a way that I didn't appreciate at the time. "When am I ever going to use this in real life" is a question that teachers should be ready with 'you may not but that doesn't mean that it's not worth learning about'.

No, we can't offer every pupil a curriculum perfectly tailored to their interests, but perhaps we shouldn't anyway. In what other areas is a child expected to know what's best for them?

Why?

My eldest utterly loathed school due to the violence he was supposed to endure / witness. The screeching and swearing in the corridors. The lack of respect for anything shown by so many of his classmates. It was the lack of boundaries shown to peers that had him living in fear of going in.

Actually teachers should try to relate stuff to possible future applications. Saying ‘it’s worth learning for the sake of it’ is not going to inspire anyone!

I would have hated most modern schools and would be excluded I suspect. Im
very bright but adhd so cant sit still, always talking, bored a lot. Luckily my primary was awful ( i got hit by nuns with a ruler a lot) but high was great. It was fun, interesting etc

Yes, and many people don’t really have an understanding of the curriculum for any (or all) subjects.

We are allowed to tell kids that they are learning something that they might never use in real life but that it's cool or interesting or might make them think or feel.

👏

But then most of my love of learning has zero to do with my school career. The teachers (all except two of them) just did their thing, we endured it,
we left.

So adult life isn't meant to be enjoyable? Work isn't meant to be enjoyable and meaningful in some way (as well as paying the bills)? How utterly depressing! Also, yes, you get paid to go to work and, in theory, you can opt out of it and choose to work somewhere else or for yourself anytime you want. Just the knowledge that you CAN leave is enough to keep you going sometimes when work life is difficult

Thank you.

No, we can't offer every pupil a curriculum perfectly tailored to their interests, but perhaps we shouldn't anyway. In what other areas is a child expected to know what's best for them? This is a straw man response. No one is suggesting a perfectly tailored curriculum, no one is suggesting a child would choose.

But everyone from the SoS for Education to the kid in Year 7 knows that our current curriculum is not offering enough kids an education that would really benefit them either now or in the future.

I was taught stuff in school that I found extremely tedious and pointless at the time and yet as an adult I find reflecting on as valuable, or speaking to the human condition in a way that I didn't appreciate at the time That's great, but many people don't have this view - they just wasted time in school not getting enough useful learning.

Could some of these children hate school because of the persistent disruption and unpleasant behaviour of other pupils?