Beware — apathy is on the rise. Too many students don’t care enough about their education, and are too self-absorbed to appreciate what they receive at FHS. If the school board wants students to care about their education, the board needs to involve students in the planning process. Students who want to be involved in planning classes and other decision-making activities should be allowed to. I am not talking about Student Council, where our belching junior class president and his cohorts get to attend to such important matters as the theme for Morp, or filling in for janitors to clean up the mountains of trash in the neighborhood around FHS. Involve students in real planning — like the schedule. This is not such a radical idea; it is used out there in the “Real World” (those favorite words of the education-reform movement) all the time. A business will offer shares of the company to its employees in order to raise funds to generate more profit. When an employee holds shares in a company, he has a personal interest in the success or failure of the company. If the company’s stock rises, he makes money. If it falls, he loses. Students need a similar system of rewards and consequences in their “company.” Some students have no desire to get involved in school, but if students don’t want to participate, leave them out. They can still attend class and graduate. If the classes don’t meet their needs, that’s too bad. They made a decision not to get involved and they got what they asked for — nothing. The school should cater to the needs of those students who care enough to express those needs. Congress is swayed by lobbyists. Why can’t education work the same way? Give every student a chance to participate in the decision-making process. Those who choose not to can whine all they want, but their cries will be drowned out by the cheers of those reaping the benefits. |
