Monday, October 29, 2007
School is a waste of time?
The Yip family was recently featured in the newspapers for having "superkids" - 2 teens at age 14 and 12 already doing O and A levels, and Anthony at 5 years old reading encyclopaedia. Their father, Dr Yip, claims that "school is a waste of time", and pulled them out of school to "home school" them, that is, arrange for them to be educated at home. Do you think his methods are sound? And is it true that school is a waste of time? What is the difference between education and schooling?
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18 comments:
Shawn Chong (DEEE/FT/1B/03)
How can we say that school is a waste of time? That's totally absurd! In my opinion, school is not just a place where we gain knowledge, it also provides an environment which helps instilling moral values and ethics into youngsters.
Education means passing knowledge and techniques needed to lead a better life in the future to younger generations. It is true that there are other means to gain knowledge than going to school. Home schooling is one of those other methods.
It is true that home schooling allows one to learn in one's own pace and speed without needing to adapt other people's studying pace. One may have more freedom in what one wants to study base on how strong or weak in particular topics in particular subjects. But we are actually overlooking something -- exposure. Home schooling constrain one to be exposed to the society and faces lots of problems dealing with people due to the fact that they always stay at home studying rather than mixing around with people around one's age whenever one have free time.
School has also yet another advantage, which is teachers. Teachers are elites who went to courses and trained to become experts in handling kids and youngsters who faces both academic problems and disciplinary problems. These are criteria most parents lack.
From the statements above, we can see that Dr.Yip's method brings more disadvantages to his children than advantages by withdrawing them from school. Therefore, we cannot say that going to school is a waste of time. In fact, its just the other way round.
Mervin Seow
i don't agree that school is a waste of time at all. Both schooling and 'home schooling' has their pros and cons. In school, students are exposed to many other students, and thus can help them improve their communication skills.
If students are faced with problems both emotionally and academically, some school teachers who are specially trained can help them, for example, counselling. This is one of the 'skill' which parents may not have.
At home, kids may learn and absorb better as their parents understand them better and can cater to their learning speed. Parents teach their children and prepare them for exams, but schools can provide students with extra knowledge, which cannot be found in their textbooks. Students also learn the importance of teamwork with different types of people, but not at home. This is one of the difference between learning at home and in school.
Although learning at a very young age (just like Mr Yip's 5 year old kid) builds up a child's foundation, schooling is still essential in helping a person grow better.
In conclusion, i do not think Mr Yip's methods are sound. School may be a waste of time for him, but to others, it is the total opposite.
From shawn's statement,"we can see that Dr.Yip's method brings more disadvantages to his children than advantages by withdrawing them from school. Therefore, we cannot say that going to school is a waste of time. In fact, its just the other way round."
i strongly do not agree with him. Dr Yip's children being able to attend O and A level at age 14 and 12 is to his advantage. Each person has his own unique brain to study and the ability to take national exam. Being Stated, Its Dr Yip, a doctor, which has at least 50% of his talented and gifted gene, i believe his children have the talent to not go normal conventional school.
For some, school IS a waste of time, and for some, school is NOT a wasted of time.Conclusion is there is always 2 side for everything
I strongly disagree to the point Mr Yip claimed that school is a waste of time. Understanding from Mr Yip’s family’s background, I understand they are renowned doctors who can nurture their children to become “super kids” A school is not only place to study but also to interact with people. Through many activities in school, we learn to interact with different people and become more sociable. There is less competition at home compared to school and we are unable to enjoy grand events such as Sport’s Day, Racial Harmony Day and National Day Celebration.
For home schooling, the children will lack of exposure to the society. This may result the children to become introverted. I believe these children may encounter problems and they can only consult their parents. Home schooling is just like confining the children from the society. They will not be able to handle problems as their lives are smooth as there is no obstacle in home schooling.
Lastly, I think is wrong to say that school is a waste of time and do not agree to Mr Yip’s methods.
Bertrand Low Yan Xin
DEEE/1B/03
Eugene Chow DEEE/FT/1B/03
i agree to a certain extent to the statement " school is a waste of time".
At the young tender age of 12 & 14 to overcome the standards of O levels proved that these kids are not needed to be in the mainstream education, as it clearly spelt a disadvatage in them, because the teachers would have to focus on topics beyond their ciruculum scope, which also means their classmates would have to work extra hard to catch up with them.
Hence, home schooling might just be a better solution for these kids with exceptional learning abilties, as it would better enable them to optimise their learning capabitlies.
At the same time, schooling is something that all of us are required to go through and it should not be looked onto as a waste of time. Not everyone has the monetary means to afford home schooling. Going to school not only afford a learning platform for all of us, it also instills values such as leadership as well as the priceless friendship that is a valuable asset is society.
Education is one thing while schooling is another thing. The only thing in difference is the learning process.
Hence, in conclusion, school being a waste of time applies to the elite pupils who have exceptionally well learning capabitlies but not to the normal layman like you & me.
I disagree to the statement, "school is a waste of time" to a certain extent.
School may be the place where we make friends and learn lifeskills where its not applicable in the course of study.
Schooling not only allows us to gain knowledege academically, but also allows us to gain exposure to different things in life. In school, i would say there are all sorts of people, from the friendly ones, to the boastful ones. And this is when we learn to socialise with different people, handle our emotions.
When Dr. Yip commented that school is a waste of time, it may be due to that, time is not used wisely as there are time wastage while waiting for the next lesson, and when there is a free lesson, we will rather play & slack rather than to do our self-revision.
Chen Hua (DEEE/FT/1B/03)
I disagree that school is a waste of time to a certain extent. School is a place where we gain knowledge, learn how to communicate with others, learn experience from different people.
Only Dr yip is claiming that school is a waste of time, but i guess there is other parents let their childs stay at home study, but why they never say school is a waste of time. Because there are people's child who can't get good result for their exams. So from here, we can see that not everyone can be educated at home.Can Dr yip sure that educated at home is not a waste of times, all kids can get good result as his kids?It depends on different kids. Even they can do O and A levels in a such early age than normal kids.This means they put in alot of efforts, everyday study, do anyone wish to have this kind of life. At home study, they do not have chance to play with friends, and no chance to make friends.I think people who educated at homes, miss alot of life experience.
Why i only agree to a certain extent? Because there are people who waste time in school and do not want to study, go school is just to have funs. This is the people who are wasting time in school.And is not like what Dr yips meants.
In my conclusion, i think study in school is better than study at home. So i think school is not a waste of time.
I agree that school is a waste of time only for such children.These "super kids" are able to take the O and A levels at such young age. This feat is definitely not achievable by many, thus average people go to school.
How can you conclude that they are introverts just because they stay at home to study. They chose to be home schooled because the education system could not meet up to their requirements. Not going to school does not mean closing yourself from the outside world or not having a social life. I believe that Dr Yip's children will have a bright future.
Many things we learn in school such as differentiation are not needed in daily life or sometimes work at all. I remember "mugging" for chemistry during my O levels but my course does not need so much knowledge in it at all. This is the biggest problem of Singapore education, we try to be too broad based but in the end only a few comes in handy.
However going to school has its pros too. I believe that many of us will not want to study so much at such a tender age and not have a memorable childhood.
I agree with Marn Chern - " Each person has his own unique brain to study and the ability to take national exam."
Not everyone's brain works the same way.
Dr Yip has his own reasons for pulling his children out of school and arranged them to be educated at home.
I disagree that school is a waste of time.
In school, we study togetherand interact with people of different character, diffrent race.
We make friends in school too and we learn from each other's mistakes to make ourselves a better person.
Dr Yip's children are educated at home and they are not exposed to the outside world.
But they may face difficulties when they come out to work in the future because they do not know how to communicate well with them.
However, they can concentrate on their studies better at home because sometimes there are disturbance and disruptions caused by some students in the class.
We may come across schoolmates or classmates who smokes, or play truant and as teenagers, we tend to be more easily influenced by friends.
By educating his children at home, Dr Yip has one lesser worry.
“School is a waste of time.” This statement is partially true as it only applies to ‘gifted children’ with the ability to learn faster and better.
Like what Mervin said previously, ‘normal schooling’ and ‘home schooling’ have their own pros and cons. Even though gifted children might learn slower than they can when they are normal schooled than home schooled, there is one thing that they cannot are unable learn in home schooling. That’s social skills.
In schools, they get to interact with other children, thus improving their ability to communicate with others, also known as EQ. Gifted children can learn undoubtedly more at home than they attend normal schools because when they are home schooled, the ‘curriculum’ is set at their own pace which is obviously faster than normal schools.
The reason Dr Yip says that school is a waste of time is because he himself has a Doctorate and can be considered to have ‘superior learning’ genes than others. His children obviously inherited ½ of his genes (theoretically) thus having the ability to learn faster than normal children. Perhaps Dr Yip thinks that the normal school’s curriculum might ‘hinder’ his children growth that’s why he pulled them out from normal schools and started schooling them himself.
IQ is important when going out into the working world. So is EQ. I do not think that home schooling teaches social skills to children. Besides that, normal schooling exposes children with other children, thereby widening their social circle which will eventually be helpful to them in their future endeavors. Therefore I do not think that school is a waste of time.
From the original post, it was already stated that The yip family was featured for having 'superkids'. Not everyone has 'superkids' and i believe that school can train normal kids to become on par with those 'superkids' therefore i believe that school is not a waste of time. The government has to cater to the majority, which is obviously not full of 'superkids'. Normal kids have to go through all the basics of learning and exploring which school provides. Some parents are uneducated or lowly educated but do have inttelligent kids, lacking the education, they are unable to help their children on this matter. So, by sending them to school, they actually get educated and are groomed to be ready for the life after school.
I believe that Dr Yip claims that school is a waste of time just because he has 'superkids' and would most likely not make that statement if his kids are otherwise. Education can be obtained from many places, and school is one place to find it. It is not necessary to go to school for education as it can all be found in textbooks and encyclopedias.
I conclude that school is not a waste of time as it has helped me in many ways, socially, physically and mentally. The benefits of school is more than just education, making its value higher than education itself.
For his point of view, it is of cause sound because it has already been proven that what he have done really help his children to excel well. But, not everybody is able to excel. Something is that we have to admit that his children have self discipline and the talent of studying. Some people are able good at studying and some people are not. Yes, it is really helping his son to advance in his studies the right way however, he have left out the fact that his child’s psychology and social relationship will be isolated thus, making the child only “half-rounded” for an “all-rounded” should be able to relate to mentally and physically and for leaving him out of school, he will also not have physical exercises together with social bonding.
Joel Yew (DEEE/FT/1B/03)
School is a waste of time? I strongly disagree with this. Although the Yip family has many "superkids", this does not mean that he can rightfully claim that school is a waste of time for his kids.
For what I personally feel about schools is that it is not just a place we gain knowledge from, and yes, i agree with Shawn that "it also provides an environment which helps instilling moral values and ethics into youngsters." and what guojing said are really true. "Schooling not only allows us to gain knowledge academically, but also allows us to gain exposure to different things in life."
Besides, there is a thing that home schooling could never provide one with as compared to normal schooling. They are friends. In school, one's social circle plays an important factor in his or her life. Friends are someone whom we can share our ups and downs with. Someone who will lift you up when you fall. Someone who is able to share his or her notes in preparation for any upcoming tests. Friends are really wonderful.
Compare someone who engage in normal schooling and someone who chose home schooling. I dare to say that those who chose normal schooling will have a better and a much more satisfying experience than those who chose home schooling.
In school we have many activities and clubs for us to join and enjoy ourselves throughout our learning journey. These gives us a more balanced lifestyle, rather than facing books the whole day.
Discipline is another problem for those who decides on home schooling. At home, if one does not have self discipline, he or she might have the urge to relax or slack at home due to the absences of tests and exams.
Thus I personally feel that Mr Yip should not pull out his kids from normal schooling and this will greatly deprive his children of the fun and exciting experience that he or she is going to face in school. And "School is a waste of time" should not be an excuse anymore as education in Singapore nowadays are already catering to those gifted children.
So, why deprive them of something that plays an important role in everyone's life - friends.
Vincent Aow(DEEE/FT/1b/03)
School is a waste of time?I do not agree if the statement.I believe school is the only place where we can learn the most imformation.
Education is 'force' into us.In school, we learnt a lot of knowledge from books.Not many people reads books when they gone out to the industrial world.We should not waste our time while we are in school.
I believe we should make use of the time in school.Not everyone has the chance to go to school to study.A lot of people in foreign countries want to go school also do not have the chance.We should cherish the time with our friends learning more knowledge.
In school,we can make a lot of friends with different characteritics.We can learn different of experience from them.These experience will follow to the industrial world when we grow up.
In my conclusion, school is a fun place to be in.School gives us knowledge that cannot be find in the world outside.School is not a waste of time.
Going to school is a waste of time? I strongly disagree with that notion.
All of us go to school to learn the fundamentals of what they have to be equipped with in the universities. We learn math so that when we get into universities, we can focus on math topic and score well. As for practical, it exposes us to experiments. Thus going to school would prepare students for getting into universities.
Another reason for going to school, is friendship. Most of our friends or even close friend were “found” in school. The importance of friendship is much valuables then a blank. This is why; school had activities for student to communicate with each others.
In conclusion, going to school is never a waste of time.
Khairul (DEEE/FT/1B/03)
School is a waste of time? Come on. Get real here. Yes, school is a facility to learn new things.If you are smart and clever, you do not have to go to school as you will be wasting your time studying things he already know and you will feel might as well as study at home.
However, there are other things to gain beside knowledge at school and that is friends. Without them, you will not know what life is like. True, when you grow up, friends are not that important. But this is life. You will not want to have a misery childhood. During childhood, it is the time to have fun as you will be having lesser fun and more stress during adulthood.
I do not like Dr Yip method as it is removing the purpose of going to school and that is studying and having fun at the same time.
Puvanesh
I do not agree with mr yip that school is a waste of time...I believe he himself got his knowledge from a school which he claimed is a waste of time....Also in school u do not only get exposed to knowledge which is require u get to be exposed to ppl which eventually will affect how u are as a person when u grow up..for mr yip hes childrens at the young age of 12 and 14 can be going through o's and a's but will they have the courage to even uphold thier knowledge should the need arises? also wat is he doing with his kids??? basically he is depriving his children of the childhood which they are supposed to have!!!
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