What are the cons of going to school?

Recently, austerity measures on state and federal budgets have led to yearly education funding cuts. As a result, public schools may not be able to provide the same quality of education as private schools. Before deciding to send children to their neighborhood schools, parents should be aware of the disadvantages of public schools.

Frequent Testing to Meet Requirements

The No Child Left Behind Act and other similar state and federal legislation require schools to prove they are accountable to the taxpayers who fund them. Theoretically, this makes sense, but test results are the only way the government measures accountability. Regardless of the state, students in public schools take lengthy accountability tests, and high school students must take cumulative, high-stakes tests such as the California High School Exit Exam in order to receive a diploma. While testing isn't inherently bad, these standardized tests take up a lot of valuable instructional time -- the CAHSEE takes over eight hours to complete -- and they are not always accurate measurements of teacher accountability or student achievement since they do not measure a student's academic growth.

Larger Class Sizes

The average class size in a California elementary school is 29.7 students, and the number is higher for secondary schools. If an average elementary school's day runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and an hour is spent for recess and lunch, then the teacher splits six hours of instructional time between 30 students. That works out to just 12 minutes for each student. This may be a simplistic way of calculating the math, but it does illuminate just how little opportunity is available for individualized instruction within public schools.

Disproportionate Resources

Although some school funding comes from the federal government, much of it also comes from local taxes, giving students in affluent areas a distinct advantage over their low-income peers. Some affluent school districts, like the Seattle Public School District, are able to fund music teachers and other supplemental programs by soliciting parent donations. This is not an option for lower-income districts, where many schools cut supplemental services like transportation and class trips due to budget constraints. Additionally, a Department of Education study shows that districts spend less money on teacher salaries at schools that serve low-income communities than they do on salaries for teachers at schools in affluent areas because schools in affluent communities recruit teachers with more experience.

Bullying And Violence

Approximately 28 percent of students ages eight to twelve reported being bullied, according to data compiled in 2009 by the National Center for Education Statistics. Of those, a higher percentage of public school than private school students reported being bullied on school grounds. Another study by the NCES during the 2009-10 school year revealed that 46 percent of public schools reported at least one threat of physical attack against a student without a weapon, and eight percent reported incidents of physical threats with weapons.

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Resources

Writer Bio

Based in Sacramento, Calif., Beth Wenbourne Katz has been writing about education topics since 2006. Katz has taught in the California public schools, working primarily with students with learning, behavioral and emotional challenges. She holds a Master of Arts in special education from San Diego State University.

What are the cons of going to school?

School is one of the oldest systems of education in the world. It is the place where children go to get knowledge and learn new life skills that would later be used in their adulthood. The school has been used as a yardstick to measure how knowledgeable one is depending on the level of school education attained by an individual. Below are some of the pros and cons of school.

1. Source of knowledge: School is the primary source of formal knowledge that is designed to shape the future knowledge database of the student. School provides this knowledge to students through teachers.

2. Encourages socialization: A school is an ideal place where children come together to interact and share new ideas from various backgrounds. This also serves to encourage socialization among students which play an important role in their future.

3. Boosts confidence: School is a great platform in which students can express themselves openly and freely without being judged. This also helps to boost the students’ confidence which comes in handy in their future.

4. Bolsters teamwork: School brings students from various backgrounds together towards a common purpose. By these students being able to work together, they develop their teamwork skills.

5. Varied perspectives: Schools helps students get a varied and diverse perspective about different subjects which helps the students adopt an open mind when dealing with issues and subject.

6. Preparation for the future: School is an institution designed to prepare children for the challenges of the future that they may face in their adulthood.

7. Comparative information: Through school, children are able to get information from various teachers and even from other students and compare this information. This way, they are able to adopt an open mind mentality.

8. Encourages competition: School setup is designed to bring the aspect of competition which in most cases encourages creativity and individuality.

9. It is a source of inspiration: School plays an important role in inspiring the students to be the best that they can be especially in relation to other children.

10. A sense of belonging: School brings together different students from all walks of life who eventually share a common goal and purpose in life. This ends up creating a sense of belonging among the children.

Cons:

1. It is expensive: In most cases, keeping students in school is an expensive affair especially in instances where the parents have to foot the bill. This causes a financial strain on the parents.

2. Cutthroat competition can be harmful: In a school set up, all students are subjected to the same tests and measuring scale which creates cutthroat competition. This may sometimes affect other students negatively.

3. It may create confusion to a student: School setup uses the same measurement metrics to assess the ability of students which may confuse the students who would want to pursue something different.

4. Bad company may influence a child’s behavior: In school, there is all sort of people. Some of them may be of negative behaviors which may end up negatively influencing some students who are on the right path.

5. Spoon feeding hinders creativity: Schools sometimes spoon-feed students in a bid to receive favorable ratings in students’ success which tramples on the creativity of the students.

6. Favoritism is possible: Schools sometimes show open bias towards other students who may be seen to be better than others which affects other students’ performance.

7. Extracurricular activities may distort students: A lot of extracurricular activities sometimes associated with schooling may have a negative impact on the students while in school.

8. Exams are not fair measuring tools: Schools subject students to common examinations which in most cases are not fair tools of testing a student’s capability.

9. Schools are biased: Schools are usually biased in terms of student attention since most schools only want to be associated with high-performing students.

10. May affect self-esteem: The students’ self-esteem may be affected if they feel like they are not as good as their counterparts in class.

What are the cons of school?

Disadvantages Of Public Schools.
Public Schools have Less Access to Resources. ... .
Public Schools have Bigger Class Sizes. ... .
Public Schools have Fewer Curriculum Options. ... .
Public Schools are Less Specialized. ... .
Public Schools have Fewer Extracurricular Activities. ... .
Public Schools have Less Parental Involvement..

What are pros of school?

Education provides students with the space and the opportunities to meet like-minded individuals, either on a peer or mentor basis. In school, students meet leaders in their field, top professionals, and make contacts through extracurricular activities as well.

What are disadvantages of day school?

The disadvantages of day school include a lot of aspects. Your day school will expect you to be involved with the school activities and daily routines. A Child in a day school is pampered by the parents. Staying at home does impact the child's development. As a result, they do not become self-dependent.

What are the cons of a small school?

Smaller schools often have less resources along with less staff, which might immediately make some subject offerings impossible. It can also mean that there simply aren't enough students to fill a class, so the subject doesn't go ahead.