Junior and Senior years of school optional.

Ran across this on the news today, wanted to know your opinions on it?
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/schools-outfor-college/story?id=9890294&page=1

Are you for or against it, look beyond the fact that you want to get out of school early. Im personally for it, not everyone needs the subjects depending on what profession they are going into. Not only that, some mod on Sythe posted some time ago that we forget like 3/4 of what we learn in High School.
So are you for or against?

EDIT: I feel that I should mention that in order to graduate at 16, you must pass a series of exams.

 

No, most kids are too stupid and impulsive to make that decision themselves. Also, many people in trades go back to college/university later, and graduating from high school is going to be a necessity. The 3 years is a small sacrifice to be able to get into University.

 

Disagree completely, in my high school, the real important classes such as biology, chemistry, calculus,start at Junior year. stuff that may not help you in the future, but sure as hell are worth knowing, for a typical good job.

 

From an educational stand point I'm sure many people could handle to be challenged at a college level. However, you run into the maturity factor, do we really want 15 - 16 year olds running around partying with college kids? Probably not.

Honestly, the kids that want to college education can easily sign up for college classes while in high school (I'm in English 101 & 102 via Dual Enrollment at my school).

 

They can sign up for classes that give them college credit (A.P.) classes in high school. Skipping junior and senior year classes restricts the professions available to you and you may never know what will peak your interest. The point of high school is to give you a good enough base of knowledge to go to college and decide what to do with your life.

But, as far as my opinion goes, this system would take away valuable experience from 16-17 year olds who really need that education to make an, pardon the phrase, educated decision in what career they choose to follow. Not to mention the social benefits of spending more time in high school.

 

I'm sorry if its the late night blues, but I don't see how your logic applies to his. He is saying that young adults (16-17) are not mature enough and do not understand the world enough to make such a dramatic decision.

Again, sorry if I am missing the point.

 

Agreed. Obviously, we do not have the right to point a gun at someone and force them to do as we wish, but applying that logic here would be like saying we should not be able to enforce a drinking age, or voting ages, etc.

 

Whether or not YOU care about voting doesn't negate the fact that for many politically active ctizens, it is an important and cherished right that should not be trusted to immature persons.

And just because you CAN buy those things, doesn't make my point invalid. Using that then, I could say that I can point a gun at someone and make them do what I want, and as such it is meaningless to argue against it. Using that kind of support won't get anyone anywhere.

 

Well, yes they are capable of thinking for themselves, but the point is that they do not think with their future in mind. IF the young adult can provide reasonable logic and give a plan that shows that they will be successful without the rest of the education then yes, they may leave. But most kids want to leave because it is too much work and they hate the classes. Well, you may hate the classes freshman/sophomore year, but Junior and Senior years have much more freedom.

Also, getting married at 16 is with parental consent. Unless you are of/above the age of 18, you can not independently (in the U.S., sorry i do not know foreign laws) make a legally binding contract without parental representation. So, if you "decided" to leave school, you would be doing so without a legal contract and your parents would still be forced to take care of you. (They would be forced to do so in the U.S. because it would be considered neglect because they are still a minor that does not have shelter, food, water, and other necessities) This would make you a worthless leech on their money. (You already were but at least you were getting an education)

But to go so far as to say that since a person can read a paper and comprehend its meaning means that they can make their own legal decisions would be detrimental to many young adults in my opinion.

But you may have a different idea about what they should do. Very opinionated and arbitrary issue.

 

This was actually the essay question for the ACTs a few weeks ago.

I said more or less it should be left up to the school - but I think there is a lot of social growth that one would miss out on if they left early.

 

I think that the student should have the choice on whether to finish highschool or move on to college. If they think they are mature enough and ready for college why not let them start? Sure they will miss out on some social skills in highschool and maybe miss a few classes but some students im sure can handle it.

 

like someone said before, 15-16 year olds at college going to mature parties and experimenting, end up being arrested etc ;

 

I take it not everyone actually read the article, they have to pass a series of exams in order to graduate and it's optional. The person graduating would have to be somewhat smart in order to pass the exams, so it's not like any person can graduate at this age. I say yes, it should be optional.

 

Absolutely. More skilled kids can graduate earlier and start making more money.

Why would I care about what other people choose to do with their time/life?

 

I think SENIOR year is pointless. In the US at least. It's really only for making up what you fucked up on in the last 3 years.

 

Senior year is definitely pointless. I skipped it and I know for a fact most get out early due to having most credits they need by the time they hit senior year.

 

For the masses it seems that school is just there to serve as a day-care, and because of this, it would be irresponsible to let those who can't control themselves into the real world to fend for themelves; I'm not saying that this doesn't already happen - i.e., dropouts -, but it's on a smaller scale, and they tend to have a much harder time after school. ( I think the wording will be strange, but I'm having trouble with this sentence)

I think that Junior and Senior years shouldn't be optional, but that opting out through dropping out should be acceptable but frowned upon.

 

It already is acceptable. You can drop out at age 16.