Psychology of Childhood and Adolescence in an Urban Context

The education system in the United States is well respected throughout the world mainly because of the super power country it belongs to. Although many people do come here to study and enrich their minds, it is more often for college. When it comes to certain subjects, mainly math and science, which are the two subjects leading the way in technology, the United States does show some lag. There are many shortcomings in the education system today, but hoe can they be fixed put the United States back on top.

Even as early as preschool, there are issues. Preschool is not mandatory, but in my opinion it is very beneficial for young children. Children absorb the most information when they are of this young age. Preschool should be mandatory. It does not have to be all day but children of this young age should be exposed to some arithmetic and language arts to get their minds focused.

But the issue with making preschool mandatory is the issue with funding. The government cuts funds from the school system all the time but what they do not realize is that they are holding back their minds of tomorrow. The government will spend millions of dollars to aid other countries, but we should make sure our own homeland is up to par. Money should not be cut from the education system, there are other places where money can come from but, to them it is easiest to take it from there.

This lack of funding also leads to lack of learning. Children should not be kept in front of old reused textbooks everyday. At least when I was in school I found it most enjoyable when we would go on field trips to learn certain things. Going to the museum of natural history for science, and going to Ellis Island for social studies class. Thee two trips were extremely beneficial and helped me learn a lot. There are various ways to keep students interested in school. The education system just needs to understand and make the attempt to help these students.

The shortcomings in the education system show prevalent in the areas of math and science. These two subjects lead the way in technology which the government holds dear to its military weaponry. But if we do not pick up the slack in math and science, other countries will continue to surpass the united states. If the united states government is so fond on being on top, it needs to take the appropriate action to keep it on top.

Another shortcoming of the education system is the is just the curriculum overall. The education system has changed it approach to certain subjects time and time again but what isn’t broken shouldn’t be fixed. Especially when it comes to math, new ways of multiplying are always being used. But when I was in school, it was strict memorization of the times tables. To me this was the easiest and most beneficial way to multiple. There are just certain subjects that some methods are more beneficial then others, but then for others there is only one way. The education system needs to stop trying to make things so easy on students and challenge them mentally, so then can reach their full potential.