I haven't written in quite a while and I think that it's about time I did again. Today a thought was planted in my mind. Let me set the context: I was talking to my drama teacher and he asked me about why the essay we had been set as cover work hadn't been done. As we got talking he said that 'kids at the school are too afraid of failure,' and this is soo true. I actually realised just how annoyed I was about the system when he said that. The system sucks all the soul out of learning. In the UK alone, GCSEs teach kids how to remember and recite facts rather than analyse, evaluate or challenge independently. It seems that free thinking is becoming a thing of the past; especially in a world where information is but a click away. Yet, too many kids have ridiculous amounts of pressure being put on them to be amazing at everything. It seems that young people nowadays need to be athletic, in drama school on the weekends, learn another language in their spare time, volunteer in the community, have a Saturday job and get straight As. Yet somehow parents will still have the audacity to tell their kids to 'have fun' or to 'enjoy life' saying they are 'only young once.' Yes, they are only young once, so don't burden them with the adult need to be perfect. This does more bad than good in my opinion.
Personally, I have always been academic (lucky for me, I always see people less academic struggling on a level that is actually saddening). I've never been that kid that got 3A*s and 9As or higher but I was always above average. This changed when I hit A Level. At A Level I started losing that academic streak I always had and this was very disheartening. I dread to think how those that weren't academic to begin with felt. It' is very sad that soo much emphasis is put on academia when, unless you plan to go into a certain specific field or have a genuine interest in a topic, most academic achievements are not transferable in the real, working world.
The thing that I am best at is something that the standard school system doesn't value, singing. Yes, I do music A Level at school but it is soo heavily academic and music theory based (anyone that's ever done music theory will know that it is another language) that I feel like the one thing that came easy to me is being taken from me. This is especially difficult for me because, as many people involved in music will know, music is a way of life, it's often not just a hobby. It becomes a part of who you are. Thanks to the current school system I feel like music is being taken from me, therefore taking a part of my soul with it.
Another example I will give is my own personal interest in history. I did it at GCSE but the way it was taught and graded made me want to give it up even though I actually love history. I would love, in my free time, to go away and read a history book or watch a documentary, but due to the insistence being put on me to be focusing on my current subjects I can't do this.
Ok, rant over
Peace xx
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