First Person Singular
Learning from home would solve many problems

By Beth Belcher
Herbert Hoover High School

Why does the standard today seem to be to make everyone’s intelligence the same? No one person is a carbon copy of someone else, so why try to conform a society to a standard level of smarts? We are not robots.

In school, it seems like the goal is to keep students at the same achievement level. This is both preposterous and impossible.

Not all of us learn at the same speed or in the same way. Why should those with higher intellects be brought down to lower standards when that will only hurt them in the work force, where intelligence and productivity are sought? Schools should be bringing the lower achievers up, not vice versa.

I think a great solution to this would be to let students learn at home via the computer. Think about it. There wouldn’t be fights that disrupt the school day like there are now, and the county wouldn’t have to run buses, so that would save money and fuel.

Plus, students would not be so tired because they would be on their own schedule. And they could do their work at their own speed without being picked on because they’re too slow or feeling like they’re being held back. They could e-mail their teachers with questions without being embarrassed for asking.

Having school like this would also greatly decrease peer pressure and students’ attempts to fit in with certain groups just to be popular. And if a teacher or student were having a bad day, there would not be repercussions or disturbances from it.

I’m not saying forget school all together. Students could go to the actual school building one a week or so for tests, tutoring and other projects.

However, by spending less time at the school, students would have less chance of being bullied or having their belongings stolen or damaged. This would also decrease the likelihood of violent crimes like school shootings.

This would be a big money saver for schools as well. Their insurance would probably be less and so would maintenance, electric and heating and cooling costs. I think that if schools would seriously consider and embrace today’s technological options, then the benefits would be amazing.