Leah

Why do you think teenagers spend more time socializing, then focusing in school? Please explain.

"School is not as interesting as people an they want to enjoy life an they spend more time socializing because they are focusing more on the present not the future"

What's your opinion on test and quizzes? Do you think test such as midterms should be the last thing your grade is based off of? Explain in detail your opinion.

"I don't think our last grade should be on midterms because we Could fail the midterm just because we are not good at taking tests but know the concept of it I think sometimes it's good to have little quizzes an what not to show the kid's understanding."

Christine

What about school would you change so that it would be more fun?

"I would like to go outside the class room more, instead of sitting in a chair all day. If I were to change school in order to make it more fun, I would like to leave the classroom more often to learn classroom topics. For example visiting more museums, and theaters. I would also include more curriculum activities during school hours, such as music, art or dance. Teenagers have a life other than going to school. I would make shorter school days in order for us to go on with the rest of our day."

If school started later and we didn't have so many rules such as no texting, or talking in class do you think more kids would come/ stay in school? Why or why not

"The rules in schools being less strict wouldn't make a difference in the attendance of students. Students who constantly miss school or drop out are doing this because they are either too lazy to do the work, so they decide not to attend, or because they want to just hang out. Texting or talking in class being allowed wouldn't make a difference because; students find a way to text and talk in school anyway. Most students’s, who drop out of school, drop out because. They don't get the work, this is why teachers should take time out with students like this and we wont have as many dropouts."

My mom

What do you think changed from when you where in school to know? Do you think if corporal punishment was still allowed, kids would behave better in school?

"There appears to be less structure in the way young people are taught school today from the way I was taught. We were expected to memorize quite a bit of information for all our subjects with flawless spelling and excellent penmanship. Young people today are encouraged to understand the big picture and present their grasp of the subject matter thoughtfully as opposed to a lot of detail and countless hours of homework. I would like to think that the students today can express themselves more freely than we did years ago. Certain subjects were taboo especially for those of us who attended the local parochial schools and some of us were considered to be naive when we moved on to college. We did have less distractions than the students of today and schools were safer and better maintained. Corporal punishment often" upset everyone in the classroom and did not model appropriate behavior in my opinion, however, it did result in a quiet classroom environment with more learning and less disruption."

If you knew school would effect your future so much would you have taken school more seriously at a younger age?And if you already did, what/who made you take it seriously?

"Yes, I would have been much more serious about my understanding of the subject matter and less concerned with the detail. When I left HS I took a full-time job. The great job I took was counting securities by hand and mailing them out. Within 8 weeks I was registered for college to avoid the boring work and to sink my teeth into a more meaningful career. After all if I was going to work a good part of my life, I should really like what I am doing."

If you had the amount of technology we have now when you were in high school do you think you would be more distracted in school and just focused on texting or being on the computer for social reasons?

"I think it would have made our Math courses a lot easier to deal with for sure. At the schools I attended, electronic equipment would not have been allowed unless it was a calculator or a word processor. We mostly communicated in person or one on one phone conversations which gave us a lot of practice in verbally communicating our feelings."

Jenise

Why do you think teenagers spend more time socializing, then focusing in school? Please explain.

"I think this is because some teenagers don't understand the work or don't feel like thinking. It can also be because of some teens ego, Talking seems much more cooler then doing work cause when you do, you seem like a "nerd"."

If school started later and we didn't have so many rules such as no texting, or talking in class do you think more kids would come/ stay in school? Why or why not

"well i think both, I think the reason why kids would go is because they can pass easily, Do what they want with out and consequences. Reason why they won't go to school is because They wouldn't see any reason to go."

If you knew school would effect your future so much would you have taken school more seriously at a younger age? And if you already did, what/who made you take it seriously?

"Hell fucking yeah. I would of stayed on top of my stuff. I didn't know it was so important until junior and senior year. I would of studied for the s.a.t in freshman year instead of waiting so late. I Feel like the institute waits too long for students to do something. Sometimes I feel like they set it up for us to fail."

Part B

I reread over my mom's answer to the first question i asked her (what do you think changed from when you went to school to know? And how do you think corporal punishment would effect kids now?) And i found it interesting how she was taught small important facts while now a days we are taught main ideas, and how penmanship was taken very serious. In school most of our papers are asked to be typed and many classes use blogs... does technology have an effect on the values of what school use to be about? Such as writing and grammar? Everything is automatic now when we type so our brains don't do as much work... is this indicating a downfall in schools?