Top 5 Biggest Lies About School

No nodding off; this is all going to be on the final. Welcome to WatchMojo’s Top 5 Facts. In today’s instalment, we’re counting down the top 5 myths about school. Come along as we take to task some of the biggest fallacies about formal education, as well as the misconceptions made within academic institutions.

If a student is acting up in class and consistently flunking tests, teachers can be too be quick to assume that the pupil in question simply isn’t interested or invested in their education. Sometimes, this might be the case, but outside factors need to be taken into consideration as well. Family life, for example, significantly affects a child’s performance at school. Furthermore, there are many different learning disabilities out there, that, if left unaddressed, can hurt ability and engagement in the classroom. It’s easy to write off a student who isn’t getting the material as lazy or indifferent, but without proper context, a letter grade is an unfair assessment of their potential.

When a mismatched group of students are forced to team up in order to pass the class, the result is often less like a movie tagline and more like a nightmare. In a movie, all parties would come away from it with a better sense of themselves, their peers, and the topic assigned. In reality, the more likely outcome is that your grades suffer and you walk away frustrated. Group projects are intended as a way to boost and foster teamwork and communication, but in practice, group efforts are often lopsided, with the overachiever doing most of the heavy lifting, while the other students learn to piggyback on the hard work of others.

With school shooting statistics climbing every year, many school boards have resorted to a zero tolerance policy for school violence. This policy administers harsh punishments when a student exhibits even the slightest sign of violent behavior. A fistfight can result in suspension or even expulsion for the student under a zero-tolerance regime. The thing is, there’s no evidence suggesting that schools implementing harsher punishments like expulsions or suspensions are any safer. On the other hand, when we choose to expel a child, it could have serious negative consequences that affect the student for the rest his or her life. If a game of tag gets too rowdy… the punishment shouldn’t be a life sentence.

Just getting on the radar for Ivy League college admissions is commendable, but even if you consistently aced the tests, made the grades, and worked your butt off in extracurricular activities, that’s still no guarantee that you’ve nabbed yourself a dorm room at Harvard. Factors like family ties, personality, and even your physical appearance routinely affect admissions into discerning schools. Not only that, but you and your family’s ability to pay also plays a huge role in that acceptance letter. To be fair, Ivy league admissions are a lot about the grades, but being born with a foot in the door doesn’t hurt either.

According to a University of Phoenix College of Education study published in 2014, the average American high school student is given 3.2 to 3.5 hours worth of homework nightly. The research on the effectiveness of homework has led to many contradictory conclusions, with most studies arguing only a marginal improvement in schoolwork, while others report no significant difference. For many, the studies don’t matter, while homework is a foregone conclusion - an inherent part of the school experience. But consider the fact that the Finnish school system assigns relatively little homework, and yet it routinely ranks near the top of global student achievement. The marks are in... and homework just doesn’t add up.