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The benefits of attending secondary school

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What are the benefits and advantages of attending secondary school, assuming that one has completed their primary education and scored close to full marks on KS2 knowledge? Is there anything that secondary school offers that cannot easily be found outside of school?

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What my lad learned at secondary school was that he was weird, that he didn't fit in and that nobody wanted to be his friend, he didn't know these things before. You don't need to attend secondary school in order to gain GCSEs. For him it was a horrendously isolating experience that scarred him for life, imo, and I wish we'd never sent him. Sure, he came out with a few GCSEs but so what, he is still incapable of getting a job and the experience of sitting alone day after day watching the other kids having fun together has done him far, far more harm. He is less socially able now than when he started because of the destruction to his confidence that year after year of friendless loneliness has done to him.

 

~ Mel ~

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In theory there is very little which is not available outside if you are a very good independent learner. I would consider myself to be a pretty good lifelong learner and looking back I can see no real difference in my rates of knowledge and skill aquisition between being in or out of formal education structures.

 

I think there is a good point in your post Canopus, that being, once we have the basics where do we go from there. In the past knowledge resources were a handicap for me but local and university libaries played an important role for me whilst school age. Today the internet would solve those problems but you have to be able to filter information. Some areas such as art I couldn't be bothered with at school but spent time at night school with adults from around the age of 14 to develop skills. Whilst school sport was one of the few things which could get me in through the gates, local sports clubs are where standards are at as the level of school sport has fallen away over the years.

 

Throughout my life I have drifted in and out of formal education and a lot of the time simply want to do my own thing. The one thing school, colleges and universities did do for me was allow me to compare my own strengths and weaknesses against those of other individuals, it allowed me to keep a perspective on things.

 

For a lot of people flexibility is a big issue and the organisation and structure of schools provides an important framework for learning. In my opinion however it is overdone. Many people are unable to opperate in a dynamic and open learning environment which is life and their rate of progress goes into decline as soon as they leave formal education. For me this in not about a lack of potential or old age but that they are lacking in motivational skills to keep working on developing themselves when someone is not there to hold their hand.

 

You can have too much schooling to the point we become adicted to it as a means to knowledge and skill aquisition, I have seen this all too often for example in the teaching profession sitting down with colleauges doing self appraisals. All too often when you highlight something they might want to think about working on the response often is ok, but you need to send me on a course. They feel they need to sit down and listen to someone who will tell them what to do, what happened to taking responsibility and focusing on something yourself as an area for development?

 

Just a few personal thoughts.

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What my lad learned at secondary school was that he was weird, that he didn't fit in and that nobody wanted to be his friend, he didn't know these things before. You don't need to attend secondary school in order to gain GCSEs. For him it was a horrendously isolating experience that scarred him for life, imo, and I wish we'd never sent him. Sure, he came out with a few GCSEs but so what, he is still incapable of getting a job and the experience of sitting alone day after day watching the other kids having fun together has done him far, far more harm. He is less socially able now than when he started because of the destruction to his confidence that year after year of friendless loneliness has done to him.

 

~ Mel ~

 

That's how it was for me - although there were other things happening too - it did me a lot of harm....

 

At the same time, I did learn a lot of self preservational skills, and an instinct to survive... I also learnt a lot of negative lessons that were further proved by my family...

 

It also taught me that most people don't see when you need help - and that you have to look after yourself - because a lot of the time no one else gives a damn....

 

In terms of schooling, it was often restrictive, boring, too long, there were too many kids per class, too many disruptions, and only 10% of the teachers (at most) were any good at their job.

 

On a positive note - it did teach me how people can be - although it is a highly magnified and extreme example of group behaviour, there was a lot to learn about how everyone interacted - including with the teachers - I picked up more information from that than I did from the actual lessons...

 

So I guess it offered a load of life lessons....

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Its a broad question as many factors would need to be considered. Like the school the child attends...special school will offer alot more than a mainstream, it depends on the child..what does the child want(if they are able to express this) for their future and what will the alternative be.....not just meeting their academic needs but also social needs,whilst some will say who cares but the more you isolate yourself the more difficult basic communication will become, one may not achieve that much socially from primary to secondary school but I am certain many times it would be more than if parents were to try meet this need themeselves...unless they have a good group of friends already.The character/personality of the child also plus a huge factor I am lucky in that both my boys are not shy to voice their opinion if someone is bullying them they will let someone know and are not afraid of anyone really.

 

Personally I feel my boys will get far more out of secondary school than if I was to home school. Social skills are not just learnt from groups or friends its picked up from observation to,whilst there are many youngsters I would not with for them to copy there are many positives that outweigh this.

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What my lad learned at secondary school was that he was weird, that he didn't fit in and that nobody wanted to be his friend, he didn't know these things before. You don't need to attend secondary school in order to gain GCSEs. For him it was a horrendously isolating experience that scarred him for life, imo, and I wish we'd never sent him. Sure, he came out with a few GCSEs but so what, he is still incapable of getting a job and the experience of sitting alone day after day watching the other kids having fun together has done him far, far more harm. He is less socially able now than when he started because of the destruction to his confidence that year after year of friendless loneliness has done to him.

 

~ Mel ~

 

I read something on Facebook about school is for friends, not education...

 

I discussed your son's experience of school with a businessman who says that in reality he sadly failed. The government rates success at school on the basis on how many A* to C grade GCSEs one leaves with but this gives no indication of other factors. Was the student popular or unpopular? Did the student behave well or badly? Did the student contribute to life at school or not? Did the student develop any other real life skills or did they focus entirely on studies and exams? Did the student receive any awards? Did they make any good friends which last many years beyond leaving the school?

 

Traditionally employers just looked at ones grades them maybe asked a couple of quick (and easy to fake the answers) question to life at school. Now they are increasingly looking beyond the grades.

 

Personally I feel my boys will get far more out of secondary school than if I was to home school. Social skills are not just learnt from groups or friends its picked up from observation to,whilst there are many youngsters I would not with for them to copy there are many positives that outweigh this.

 

What you are saying is that social skills are developed naturally and gradually. This does not apply to people with AS.

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I thought not everyone with ASD is the same?? I have two boys with ASD one Aspergers, he cannot make social observations instead is taught social rules etc however his brother dx'd as HFA does/can make social observations,ok he may not always apply what he observes but he does comment on things. So I do believe school helps both boys either learn or observe social skills,whichever way you look at it.

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In theory there is very little which is not available outside if you are a very good independent learner. I would consider myself to be a pretty good lifelong learner and looking back I can see no real difference in my rates of knowledge and skill aquisition between being in or out of formal education structures.

 

The problem with the state secondary school system is that it was set up in an information poor era with the aim of teaching a broad selection of subjects which may or may not be useful in later life under an ideology of just in case it is useful. Once one had finished school then their opportunity to study and learn had been diminished so it was advantageous to make the most of school and learn as much as one could, again, just in case the knowledge is be useful. In reality much of the knowledge acquired by students was forgotten and never used either in or out of work but that didn't stop parents and teachers making baseless arguments like 'it will all pay off in future'.

 

Nowadays we live in an information rich era where opportunities to acquire knowledge outside of formal education is greater than ever thanks to the internet. This has resulted in certain educational strategists developing the view that it is more important for students of secondary school age to develop the skills and ability of how to learn and find out knowledge and information as when one requires it rather than cramming one's brain with knowledge of invariable utility on a just in case it is useful basis. The ability to find out about things like Newton's laws of motion or study the history of the Norman conquest in depth at the age of 30 with the minimal amount of guidance and direction of a classroom teacher are now far more useful skills to possess than a fuzzy and superficial knowledge of such subjects acquired during one's teenage life when one is uninterested and then half forgotten at the age of 30. Schools haven't moved forwards and still follow the ideology of 'fill the bucket' although nowadays the trend is for schools to teach to the test in order to pass exams rather than operate as fountains of knowledge as they did in the past. Such a system has the potential to be inhibitive and create students who have difficulty in self directed learning without the guidance of a teacher.

 

Throughout my life I have drifted in and out of formal education and a lot of the time simply want to do my own thing. The one thing school, colleges and universities did do for me was allow me to compare my own strengths and weaknesses against those of other individuals, it allowed me to keep a perspective on things.

 

Students in schools compete against a fixed system called the GCSE syllabus except in sports where they compete against each other. In the real world most competition is against other people rather than a fixed system.

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