What do you think is one of the biggest flaws in the American education system?

“Speaking specifically on learning and the curriculum taught to us by the teachers … I think the grade system is something I really struggle with. It’s not like I do really poorly with my grades or anything, but the amount of stress and anxiety that goes along with grades — I think [the grade system] really negatively impacts kids, and I think it causes them to have a lot of anxiety and sometimes even depression. They feel all of this because of how serious grades are. Teachers try to tell you that it’s not that bad and it’s not gonna affect your life, but it is. I mean, they also tell us that colleges look for good grades, good [American College Testing]  or [Scholastic Aptitude Test] scores, and so on and so forth. You also have to do all of these extra-curricular activities, and you’re also supposed to take really hard classes. All of that can become a lot [of stress and responsibility] for just one person to handle, especially when all of that is not your only commitment. You also have a social aspect of school, which doesn’t necessarily help. You still have those friends and those cliques to obsess over because that’s just a part of high school. So, you still have to cope with all of that while also dealing with the stress of the grade system. The way [our education system] handles grades is such a negative thing. I don’t think it’s necessarily just up to secondary schools like high school, I think it’s also up to colleges and universities. Not only does this apply to small, local universities but also to ivy league schools because those are often times the schools kids want to get in to, and so they work so hard to get into these schools, and then they fail. So, I think [the education system] should make it more fair to everyone in understanding that learning is different for everyone, and there are different ways to teach. Within high schools they can implement those ideas and work on different areas of learning instead of just focusing on what is considered standard or status quo so far.”

What are your thoughts on the American education system? Let us know in the comments below.