Extending School Hours!? - Obama

[Guardian Ou]

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Tuesday that American children should go to school longer — either stay later in the day or into the summer — if they're going to have any chance of competing for jobs and paychecks against foreign kids.

"We can no longer afford an academic calendar designed when America was a nation of farmers who needed their children at home plowing the land at the end of each day," Obama said, adding U.S. education to his already crowded list of top priorities.

"That calendar may have once made sense, but today, it puts us at a competitive disadvantage. Our children spend over a month less in school than children in South Korea. That is no way to prepare them for a 21st Century economy."

He urged administrators to "rethink the school day" to add more class time.

"I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas," he said. "Not in my family, and probably not in yours. But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom. If they can do that in South Korea, we can do it right here in the United States of America."

He proposed longer class hours as part of a broader effort to improve U.S. schools that he said are falling behind foreign competitors.

.....


[READ MORE (http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/63663.html)]


I heard this on the radio today. I heard that Obama wants school days to go 4 hours longer than they usual do?

What the heck. It's bad enough we sit in school for 6 hours each day, now it's going to be 10? What about after-school activities like homework, volleyball, football, or basketball. I don't get this at all. Obama wants to do all this just to compete with other countries?


Discuss.

[Butters]

The governor of Ohio wants to do this too. Taking away us kids freedom. By freedom I mean having time to ourselves, free time after school.

[Payton]

I'm sorry but I can't survive four more hours of the hell we call middle school, thanks. I can stand for only two more. Plus, that completely wastes our day. Seven P.M.? Really? No thanks, I'll only stay until about five.

edit: And I really need to get this off of my chest: We are not made to work. The average person's life is:
Born > School > College > Work > Retire (if they're lucky now-a-days) > Die
I'd rather just one day get in my car and drive somewhere, never go back home and be happy than stay here in Alabama and not be happy.

[Butters]

Yea, I have so much going on. Two hour play practice, one hour volleyball, orthodontist appointments, etc. This would completely mess me up with my schedule.

[Payton]

Speaking of schedule:

-Guitar (Thursday)
-Skating (Every day)
-Wednesday youth group church thing (Obviously Wednesday)

Not to mention the homework we get.

[kogeck]

At any given day of the week, I usually have 3-4 after school activities and other activities. Pit band, jazz band, marching band, ju jutsu, track, three paying jobs, orthodontist and dentist appointments, SEAS club, and not to mention a whole lot of homework and studying.

How am I supposed to pay for the things I want and collect enough tuition for college when I'm in school for 3/4 for my work hours?

[Butters]

Speaking of schedule:

-Guitar (Thursday)
-Skating (Every day)
-Wednesday youth group church thing (Obviously Wednesday)

Not to mention the homework we get.

Exactly and next year at the high school I'm going to, the homework takes 2 and 1/2 hours AT LEAST to do. That means that I would be done at 9:30 and would have barely any time for anything else.

Told you all this guy was crazy.

[boznak]

7:00 PM? That's pretty much the whole day. We don't even have time to do our homework if we ever want to go outside! What is he thinking?

[GlacialFreez]

I heard this on the radio today. I heard that Obama wants school days to go 4 hours longer than they usual do?


Does he plan on passing this into law? Or doing something similar?

Does he understand the pressures already on students?

That's what I want to know.

I'm not convinced more school time is the answer, I think it will instead have an adverse effect because it is apparently effecting the morale of the students.

[Mook]

If he does this I'm going to like die.

I mean, I think we also need family time to, a time to do homework, a time to do outdoor activities. I think Obama needs to rethink this.

[Icecube553]

Uhh, there is no way that he can extend school days for another FOUR hours. That is just too much time at school. My school's school day is already 7 hours long. If we added another four hours, it'd be 11 hours. ._.

And if the school day ended at 7, wouldn't the school have to serve dinner too? I eat dinner at 5:30, and if we're at school from 8 AM to 7 PM, then they would have to serve dinner..

Plus, some people that ride my bus that live in the middle of nowhere don't get home until about 5 o'clock (we get out of school at 3). If we got out of school at 7, they wouldn't get home until NINE O'CLOCK. That would leave them about an hour at home until they go to bed. :|

Oh, and also, next year I'll have band after school until 6 o'clock. (not everyday, but I don't know which days yet). So when would we be able to practice for band? 7 PM - 10 PM? I think not. :rolleyes:

[Dragonair]

This man is crazy if he thinks he's going to make me stay in school until 7:45 P.M. I mean who cares if South Korea does it. Also, "'That is no way to prepare them for a 21st Century economy.'" Aren't you supposed to be making our economy better, Obama? I doubt that this will ever pass, but if it does I will seriously drop out of school and take action. By the way, think about people like doctors, professors, atheletes, etc.; do you think that they went to school for ten hours a day? No, but they seem to be doing pretty well in life.

[Payton]

I'm just going to take a look from both opinions:

Supporter:
This will allow for more time in the classroom and will hopefully let kids learn more in a day. This way, more teaching hours can be used to compete against foreign competitors.

Non-supporter:
Kids already have enough to do in a day. At night, there are more crimes, and since pretty much year round it is dark outside by 7:00 P.M., kids could easily pull something off outside loading the buses. Plus, this will stress out many more people.

I'm already as stressed as it is, and I do not want anymore hours of school. I'm changing from accepting two extra hours to one.

[Ryuzaki]

O.o

I really hope this doesn't happen. I always look foward to going home!:(

[Butters]

The only few things that would let me accept this is:
-Schools can't give homework
-You can have 2-3 free periods.


Actually I've changed my mind. Even with those I might not do it.

If this happened, I could see the headlines now: 2/3 Kids Switch to Home-Schooling

[hoagie master 12]

I can understand this a bit. It will help prepare kids for their future. But i think this should only be used for schools that have bad grades. I mean, MY school, gets excellent grades. We wouldn't need it. But i know some, and could Imagine even more, that could use like, 30-45 minutes more of school.

[Jeebus]

No. D: At my school you can stay after until 5 PM if you want. Isn't that good enough? I don't want to be getting out of school at 7:30 PM and getting home at 7:50. I'd be done my homework at like 8:30 and 2 hours isn't enough free time for any kid. :/ People in America are still very smart. Maybe this should only apply to school/kids who need it. None of the kids in my school need to stay an extra 4 hours in school because people around here end up being successful so there's nothing really to worry about where I live. =[

[Butters]

I can understand this a bit. It will help prepare kids for their future. But i think this should only be used for schools that have bad grades. I mean, MY school, gets excellent grades. We wouldn't need it. But i know some, and could Imagine even more, that could use like, 30-45 minutes more of school.

My school has four blue ribbons in the No Child Left Behind. Everytime you get a Blue Ribbon (which you can only do every 8 years) it means that your school has an average grade above average. My school has the most of them btw

Edit: 1,500th post!

[Tom]

Maybe if kids in America weren't getting dumber and dumber like they are now we wouldn't need this increase. Obama didn't suggest it, the Secretary of Education did. [Source] (http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/27/education.school.year/)

[Baroutter456]

we dont even get time to do homework
and i always get 3 long homeworks(each lasts 1 hour)per day
so probably when i finish my homework im getting to bed x_x

[Butters]

Only a few of the countries do this like Korea. (No offense to any Koreans if any here) Koreans don't seem that well built for sports and stuff and they own me in video games. Not cool lol

Maybe if kids in America weren't getting dumber and dumber like they are now we wouldn't need this increase. Obama didn't suggest it, the Secretary of Education did. [Source] (http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/27/education.school.year/)

Obama hasn't said anything disagreeing with it am I right?

[Dragonair]

Maybe if kids in America weren't getting dumber and dumber like they are now we wouldn't need this increase. Obama didn't suggest it, the Secretary of Education did. [Source] (http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/27/education.school.year/)

They're making this all sound like a big competetion. I mean if people choose to drop out it's their decision. It's their fault and all of us shouldn't be punished for abunch of kids who want to throw their education in the trash. Also do they actually think that making us stay in school later or making us have a longer school year is going to result in less drop-outs? I would think it would cause more.

[Tom]

They're making this all sound like a big competetion. I mean if people choose to drop out it's their decision. It's their fault and all of us shouldn't be punished for abunch of kids who want to throw their education in the trash. Also do they actually think that making us stay in school later or making us have a longer school year is going to result in less drop-outs? I would think it would cause more.

I do not support adding 4 hours to the school day, however, I do agree with increasing the school year. Maybe cutting into Summer break.

Only a few of the countries do this like Korea. (No offense to any Koreans if any here) Koreans don't seem that well built for sports and stuff and they own me in video games. Not cool lol



Obama hasn't said anything disagreeing with it am I right?

Blame the guy who brought it up, not the guy who agrees with it, blaming Obama isn't fair at all, it wasn't his idea. You wouldn't want other countries calling us dumb and stupid while having proof that it's true, am I right?

I know it was the Secretary's suggestion, but isn't Obama for it though?

Your post has been forwarded to the reply above. :)

[Guardian Ou]

Maybe if kids in America weren't getting dumber and dumber like they are now we wouldn't need this increase. Obama didn't suggest it, the Secretary of Education did. [Source] (http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/27/education.school.year/)

I know it was the Secretary's suggestion, but isn't Obama for it though?

[Zmac93]

If he did pass it there would be a huge uproar in the community about it being too long. In my state, we're trying to switch alot of schools to a year round calendar and there are so many parents fighting against it, but it needs to happen. This, however, does not. They need teachers who are more strict in their methods. Don't let EVERYTHING go unpunished. It's also partially the parents fault since they let their kids walk all over them. It's insane. I don't believe the people would allow this bill to pass.

[kogeck]

Maybe if kids in America weren't getting dumber and dumber like they are now we wouldn't need this increase. Obama didn't suggest it, the Secretary of Education did. [Source] (http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/27/education.school.year/)

How is this fair to the children and teenagers who actually study and really do well in school? Is it some sort of punishment for being diligent and smart?

[NickyPenny]

I can barely last 6 hours of school, nevermind 10. That means as soon as I get home I'd have to do my homework, not be able to do any sports except weekend sports, and I'd probably have to go to bed at 8 just to be able to wake up in the morning. Hopefully this law doesn't pass, because I probably wouldn't be able to do it.

EDIT: Kogeck, I completely agree with you. A lot of students are smart, just because some people don't care much for school doesn't mean you have to punish everyone. Thats unfair.

[Tom]

How is this fair to the children and teenagers who actually study and really do well in school? Is it some sort of punishment for being diligent and smart?

You can never be too smart. :P Maybe they could make it so those students with a certain GPA could leave school early if they can get a ride. It's incentives like those that could encourage kids to actually get better grades.

[NickyPenny]

You can never be too smart. :P Maybe they could make it so those students with a certain GPA could leave school early if they can get a ride. It's incentives like those that could encourage kids to actually get better grades.

Your right because students would most likely try harder in school because who wants to stay at school for most of the time. But my question is if this law did pass, how long would it last? Forever? Years? Months?

[kogeck]

You can never be too smart. :P Maybe they could make it so those students with a certain GPA could leave school early if they can get a ride. It's incentives like those that could encourage kids to actually get better grades.

Incentive is a codeword for a threat. And do tell how kids can participate in after-school activities, volunteer services, and earn money from jobs when they're stuck in school for 10 hours. Might I remind Obama that we need certain requirements for community service hours to get into college that can't possible be achieved in a short 2 day weekend.

[Yoki]

I would only agree to this if they let us choose one class to take for at least 1/4 of the time we're in school. I would take band of course.

[Tom]

Your right because students would most likely try harder in school because who wants to stay at school for most of the time. But my question is if this law did pass, how long would it last? Forever? Years? Months?

If it's an Executive Order, it lasts until a president now or in the future rescinds it.

[NickyPenny]

Well, I'd maybe agree if we could have something like recess where we can hang out and relax, a gym period, and have a 3 day weekend like having Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off instead of Saturday and Sunday.

[Butters]

Well, I'd maybe agree if we could have something like recess where we can hang out and relax, a gym period, and have a 3 day weekend like having Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off instead of Saturday and Sunday.

At the high school I'm going to, they have free periods where if you take your foreign language for two years, then you have a free period.

We would not be allowed to have any homework and for the extra four hours would most likely be school activities like band, play practice, school sports, etc.

I still don't like it though.

[Icecube553]

I would take band of course.

Good choice :P

Yeah, what classes would we take in an 11 hour school day? I mean, we get enough classes in each day already.

Well I guess they could make some of the classes that are only a semester long or a quarter long into all year classes (like art, music, gym, home ec., computer, study hall, etc.). But I think we are doing fine just by having these as a semester or a quarter..

[walmartshrty]

Maybe if kids in America weren't getting dumber and dumber like they are now we wouldn't need this increase. Obama didn't suggest it, the Secretary of Education did. [Source] (http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/27/education.school.year/)

Maybe the problem isn't the amount of time we're spending in school, but the problem is what we're doing in school.

I have a hard enough being away from home for the nine hours going to/at/coming home from school that I already do. So if this happened I would definitely drop out of school. No doubt about it.

[Dragonair]

I do not support adding 4 hours to the school day, however, I do agree with increasing the school year. Maybe cutting into Summer break.



Blame the guy who brought it up, not the guy who agrees with it, blaming Obama isn't fair at all, it wasn't his idea. You wouldn't want other countries calling us dumb and stupid while having proof that it's true, am I right?



Your post has been forwarded to the reply above. :)

What's wrong with summer break? I think that it's a great idea because it would be way too much to go to school for thirty-five hours every week year-round, and summer break gives us students time to relax from a year of nothing but learning.

[Billboard]

I would not be able to stand the drama at high school.

THEY BROKE UP!
THEY GOT BACK TOGETHER!
THEY KISSED!
HUG ME, IM SAD!
I GOT TOO MUCH HOMEWORK!
I DIDNT GET A CHANCE TO STUDY!
wine wine wine, I can barely stand it now.

[Dragonair]

I would not be able to stand the drama at high school.

THEY BROKE UP!
THEY GOT BACK TOGETHER!
THEY KISSED!
HUG ME, IM SAD!
I GOT TOO MUCH HOMEWORK!
I DIDNT GET A CHANCE TO STUDY!
wine wine wine, I can barely stand it now.

Bill, you just brought up an excellent point. What about studying? Here's an example of what could very well happen if this bill passes:

I get off school at 7:45 P.M., get on the bus and arrive at the bus stop at about 8:00 P.M. (which I remind you would already be dark). I start walking home and arrive at around 8:15 P.M. Then I sit down at the table and get started on homework, which is: practicing my instrument for one hour (9:15 P.M.), completing a page from my math book (maybe 9:30 - 9:45 P.M.?), and studying for a science test that counts for 80% of my grade (probably about 10:15 P.M.?). Now I only have fifteen minutes until I have to go to bed.

Horrible idea.

[Icy Joe 8]

Considering the fact that many of the people who support him now and would be voting for his re-election are high school and college students, this could greatly decrease his chances of winning re-election. :rolleyes:

In all seriousness though, it sounds very unlikely that this would be done. I could never see schools going until 6:00 pm in America. It would really mess a lot of things up, such as jobs that mainly teenagers fill, and even TV schedules. Mainly children stations like Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon could go bankrupt if they aren't getting enough program viewings.

[Lost One]

Maybe the problem isn't the amount of time we're spending in school, but the problem is what we're doing in school.

I agree. It isn't the time, it's the work. Kids are going to rebel more if they are in their classes longer. Maybe if the teachers cared more about us as people and how we learn we wouldn't be on a lower end of education, or if our country wanted to put more money into our schools rather then other countries. Sticking kids in longer creates a bad enviroment, the teachers will go insane and the kids will get mad.

[JeDii]

This is completely insane. No one will be able to stay until 7:30. I don't think it will ever pass. But even if it does, I'm safe here in Canada. I won't be affected :P

[Aeroviper]

A lot of you probably don't support this since, well, we're kids. I do agree that 4 more hours is a bit excessive. If they were to add 4 more hours, I'd guess they'd give us less homework, less work in general. More just school work.

[worldking01]

So? I am really for it. We already don't spend that much time in school as it is. Along with higher education rates, there may be less crime because kids would be ocupieing more of there time in school and not on the streets.

[Lost One]

So? I am really for it. We already don't spend that much time in school as it is. Along with higher education rates, there may be less crime because kids would be ocupieing more of there time in school and not on the streets.

You know how the mods are saying "it's not amount of posts but quality" well school is that way too. It's not how much time we spend in school, but the quality of the school we do. The teachers don't care enough, the kids feel forced, adding time is going to make it worse. And the kids that skip classes are still going to get into the trouble and they are probably causing the most problems too.

[Chargers2133]

Okay I really thought Obama would come out as a better leader then this.

I mean, maybe an hour or two won't hurt, but four? That's out of hand. I am busy almost everyday of the week with physical therapy and tutoring. I also need time to do homework and go outside. I don't wanna come home from school when it's almost dark outside. He needs to do some more thinking.

[worldking01]

You know how the mods are saying "it's not amount of posts but quality" well school is that way too. It's not how much time we spend in school, but the quality of the school we do. The teachers don't care enough, the kids feel forced, adding time is going to make it worse. And the kids that skip classes are still going to get into the trouble and they are probably causing the most problems too.

Indeed. I spent most of my school day reading a book. I never have homework, never even studied. I am also in all AP classes. If they gave us more work, it would do much more good then making the schoolnday longer.

[KingKitty]

I'd be for it. Not four hours more of school, but maybe an hour or two more, and maybe cutting into summer break more. America couldn't afford that right now though.

[Dracophile]

Schools may need more hours as a means to reform, but there are also a LOT of things that need to be done in general - perhaps though, more hours could fix this. More time in class would really mean LESS HOMEWORK because you'd get it done in class with the help of your instructor, rather than inevitably having to do it on your own without help especially when your mom and dad can't tell you how to find "x" when the entire equation is pretty much an English sentence with mathematical functions peppered in.

Recess for younger kids. Give them an hour where they can take their juice boxes and jut go do WHATEVER they want. Let them be kids. Let them go down the slide, play tag, or re-enact Bakugan or whatever is popular these days. It's sad to say that I was one of the last "Class Of"s that actually HAD a recess, and it was fun.

Lunch. Lunch is not 25 minutes long (like it is at the school I graduated from). Lunch should take the place of recess for the older students. Give the "grown ups" an hour to sit down with their friends and just relax in the middle of the day. 25 minutes isn't near enough time to wait in line, get your food, sit down, and eat.

Cut excess funding of sports programs and give it to the science department. If you expect students to know how the world around them works, then we kind of need Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Lots of schools are having these classes either cut completely or truncated in material because there is not enough money for labs and supplies. Maybe it's not too much of a bad thing to use the same helmets and jerseys as last year, you know? Especially when the science department would like some microscopes.

In many schools the art department needs to be revived (or funded). Give the less academically or athletically inclined students an opportunity to do what they are good at doing. Art has been with mankind since day one - ever since Oog the caveman made a handprint on the wall people have enjoyed artistic expression. I was an art student in high school, and it was sad to see that we hardly had materials to work with and our clay kiln was a piece of junk. Capt Fiskers is also artsy (and a hell of a lot more talented than I am) and feels the same way.

Hire a foreign language teacher. If Obama wants the nation to be on top of things, then I think all students should be exposed at least to elementary forms of secondary languages - especially Spanish seeing as how Hispanics are pretty much the majority of the country now (or will be, I'm not on top of that fact). Being able to SPEAK AND UNDERSTAND people is a pretty key part of doing business and day to day life, even if you really do only know how to count to 10, say hello, and ask where the bathroom is. There's a widespread saying in other countries that "if you speak 3 languages you're trilingual, 2 you're bilingual, and 1 you're American".

Offer opportunities for technical/trade schools. The guy who carves his name into desks, punches people in the face, and generally has a bedside manner tailored to Hannibal Lecter probably isn't going to be the next president or CEO of a company - so rather than force him to go through higher education in high school (Algebra II/III, English III/IV, etc) there should be opportunities in classes like metal shop and auto shop where he can learn skills tailored for jobs in the automotive and construction industry.

Honestly, it's not that hard to do. People just need to get off their collective butts and actually do something, rather than sit there with wishful thinking or simply dumping all of their money into sports. There are other grossly more important things than football, which I know is hard for most Americans to believe.

[phenom21]

Let's see go to school @ 8 and come home @ 7. No thanks. It would help us get smarter though however. As KingKitty said, it'd be better off if they cut into summer break a little and added like one hour. I'd be up for that.

[Chargers2133]

Schools may need more hours as a means to reform, but there are also a LOT of things that need to be done in general - perhaps though, more hours could fix this. More time in class would really mean LESS HOMEWORK because you'd get it done in class with the help of your instructor, rather than inevitably having to do it on your own without help especially when your mom and dad can't tell you how to find "x" when the entire equation is pretty much an English sentence with mathematical functions peppered in.

Recess for younger kids. Give them an hour where they can take their juice boxes and jut go do WHATEVER they want. Let them be kids. Let them go down the slide, play tag, or re-enact Bakugan or whatever is popular these days. It's sad to say that I was one of the last "Class Of"s that actually HAD a recess, and it was fun.

Lunch. Lunch is not 25 minutes long (like it is at the school I graduated from). Lunch should take the place of recess for the older students. Give the "grown ups" an hour to sit down with their friends and just relax in the middle of the day. 25 minutes isn't near enough time to wait in line, get your food, sit down, and eat.

Cut excess funding of sports programs and give it to the science department. If you expect students to know how the world around them works, then we kind of need Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Lots of schools are having these classes either cut completely or truncated in material because there is not enough money for labs and supplies. Maybe it's not too much of a bad thing to use the same helmets and jerseys as last year, you know? Especially when the science department would like some microscopes.

In many schools the art department needs to be revived (or funded). Give the less academically or athletically inclined students an opportunity to do what they are good at doing. Art has been with mankind since day one - ever since Oog the caveman made a handprint on the wall people have enjoyed artistic expression. I was an art student in high school, and it was sad to see that we hardly had materials to work with and our clay kiln was a piece of junk. Capt Fiskers is also artsy (and a hell of a lot more talented than I am) and feels the same way.

Hire a foreign language teacher. If Obama wants the nation to be on top of things, then I think all students should be exposed at least to elementary forms of secondary languages - especially Spanish seeing as how Hispanics are pretty much the majority of the country now (or will be, I'm not on top of that fact). Being able to SPEAK AND UNDERSTAND people is a pretty key part of doing business and day to day life, even if you really do only know how to count to 10, say hello, and ask where the bathroom is. There's a widespread saying in other countries that "if you speak 3 languages you're trilingual, 2 you're bilingual, and 1 you're American".

Offer opportunities for technical/trade schools. The guy who carves his name into desks, punches people in the face, and generally has a bedside manner tailored to Hannibal Lecter probably isn't going to be the next president or CEO of a company - so rather than force him to go through higher education in high school (Algebra II/III, English III/IV, etc) there should be opportunities in classes like metal shop and auto shop where he can learn skills tailored for jobs in the automotive and construction industry.

Honestly, it's not that hard to do. People just need to get off their collective butts and actually do something, rather than sit there with wishful thinking or simply dumping all of their money into sports. There are other grossly more important things than football, which I know is hard for most Americans to believe.

Referring to the first paragraph, what if the teachers give you the same amount of work in school and still give you homework? You would have less time to finish it. Unless the teachers give less homework because the amount of time in school has increased.

[Jay Bird]

I actually kinda approve of having longer school hours. I mean, every other country in the whole world is ahead of us, so seriously, what the heck? My school is actually lucky, because we won't grossly overspend on sports. I don't want school to last until 7. The maximum I'll go is 4 or 4:30.

And yes, I'm bilingual, so I'm not American? :P

[Phenom]

With the money situation they should be cutting school hours.
I wouldn't say that everyone's ahead of us, we're still the best :D

[Dracophile]

Referring to the first paragraph, what if the teachers give you the same amount of work in school and still give you homework? You would have less time to finish it. Unless the teachers give less homework because the amount of time in school has increased.

With ~4 extra hours of time to spend on school curriculum then I am fairly certain that you will get either no homework or significantly LESS homework, as the homework would most likely end up as the entire class lesson/lecture.

[Anvar]

Maybe the problem isn't the amount of time we're spending in school, but the problem is what we're doing in school.

I have a hard enough being away from home for the nine hours going to/at/coming home from school that I already do. So if this happened I would definitely drop out of school. No doubt about it.

That's the problem with all western schools. In Russia we get around 4 hours of School, but we also get 2 hours of Homework everyday and it's very intense. Miss a day out, and you already have a lot to catch up.

Now, I will definitely say NO to an Idea like this.

Idea of not having homework at all is a bad idea. We need to learn how to do things by ourselves. If we always get help, we won't be ready for life.

Behaviour would seriously drop. We're still kids, and mucking about is natural. Even most behaved kids would muck about on one of the lessons.

I want to spend my time with my Family, not school friends. Having 2 hours in home means that 30 minutes of time together would be maximum.

Why do kids that have good grades need to do it? I'm already sick of Group Responsibility in school, when one of the classmates drives teacher mad and she will give something boring.

Extra 4 hours would definitely mean that we going need to do 2 extra activities. One of them probably would be Sport. I don't want to embarace myself in front of the class when I can't even do proper Press Ups.

On top of it, it would completely tire us out. Even adults get less Work Time. (8-10) I would imagine my life as: Wake up & get ready-School-Get back home-Eat-Wash myself-Go to sleep. And at Saturday I would spend half of my day resting.


What I think people should do, is give us more homework and make classwork more intense. It would be better.

P.S. I live in UK, but I have a feel that our Parliament will copy idea of USA if it happens.

[Wolf]

I will not agree to that. Nu-uh. Nada. Big no. By my calculations, that would mean school ends at...... 7. Correct me if I'm wrong. I'm no math wizard...:rolleyes:

We would have less time to do the tons of homework we lug from school everyday..... *sigh*
I'm in the honor's class but even a geek like me would not like this.....

[Detonate!]

[READ MORE (http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/63663.html)]


I heard this on the radio today. I heard that Obama wants school days to go 4 hours longer than they usual do?

What the heck. It's bad enough we sit in school for 6 hours each day, now it's going to be 10? What about after-school activities like homework, volleyball, football, or basketball. I don't get this at all. Obama wants to do all this just to compete with other countries?


Discuss.

It's because of the even worse economy that HE put us in.Can someone assaissinate Obama for me,please?
Edit: I'm pretty smart,but 6 hours is enough for me.And for probaly anyone else.

[iWaddle]

I'd be getting out at 6:45 if it was 10 hour. What about dinner? I'd be starving by then. Afterschool activities? Hardly enough time before it's dark out.

Our school district is really good. I don't really think we need it.

Worst idea ever.

[Billboard]

I bet this will not pass because I bet he has probably been yelled at by his wife and kids telling him that this would be a completely bad idea.

[Puppy Love64]

No. No. No. I will not ever, ever follow this guy's beliefs. (I don't care what it is.) I am not going later in school later then 7 hours a day. Sorry, but you need to fall down a well.

Obama wants to do all this just to compete with other countries?

Oh really Obama? This coming from the man who put us in so much more debt since he got in, we will be having to pay off this until we are 90.

Compete with other countries ehh? And what will that do Mr. President? DO we go overseas to look for jobs? No. Do they come here to look for jobs? Ok, maybe that. But this is pointless.

[Chandru]

School starts at 8 AM and gets out at 2 PM. I sometimes take an after school class that gets out at 4. 8 AM to 4 PM is quite long (8 hours), and if we get out at 6, it may already be dark. Same with starting at 6 AM or 7 AM (though some already do).

[Snathan!]

You have enough time at school as it is, but if anything he should extend the summer term.
Your summer break is the longest out of any countries I've heard of.
Who needs that much relaxation? (yes, I'm jealous)

[cheese rox]

YES! Finally this is what I always wanted! Just Kidding...

When I supported Obama during the election season, I thought he was going to be the best president ever. But now I think he's eating more than he can chew...

[Floppydisk35]

Oh come on! I do 8 hours daily with no problems, and with only a 45 minute break! If he's gonna increase school time, break time must be increased like hell too!

[Samwesty999]

YAY! Maybe Americans will only get 5/6 weeks of summer vacation like England, instead of 10/11/12/13/14/15 weeks like they normally have.

[leader706]

THis doesn't affect me much.
I'm in England.
SUCKERS! AHAHAAAHAHAHHAHAHA.

[CopperPython]

Well doesn't this sound like a great idea? No. I don't even think parents will support this, we have after school activities and to be honest I don't think we need get competitive with any other countries right now, they already hate us enough as it is.

[Detonate!]

You can never be too smart. :P Maybe they could make it so those students with a certain GPA could leave school early if they can get a ride. It's incentives like those that could encourage kids to actually get better grades.

Your'e right,but do you think Obama would do that.I mean he is Obama.:rolleyes:

[SaFiEtCP]

Wow, I feel sorry for the people who have to stay in at school for extra hours.

[kogeck]

YAY! Maybe Americans will only get 5/6 weeks of summer vacation like England, instead of 10/11/12/13/14/15 weeks like they normally have.
Americans don't get nearly as many breaks as Europeans do, though. I like to have a longer summer anyways.

[sonic30132]

This would be longer than a work day. I'm at school usually eight hours and get home at four. They expect me to get home at eight? What about any sports I'm in or jobs? I don't know about you, but almost everyone's parents where I live cannot afford to send their children to college. The child has to work and save his or her own money. Of all the schools I've went to, we wasted SO much time. I mean, jeez. Teachers give us way too much time to finish things. There is no point in waiting 10 extra minutes for two lazy students who take forever to do a math problem.

[Melaugh]

If he passes this he will lose every teenager who is able to vote in 2012.
(Mine, too. I will be able to vote by then. :D )

[Snoopy4life]

WE. ARE. AN. INDEPENDENT. NATION! Why would we need to conform to the places around us? Ludicris! Iam under enough pain during the day to sit in class ALL DAY LONG. Not to mention this would cause more obesity, no family values, less sleep, and mean teachers.

A whole lot of teachers at my school REALLY want to leave when it gets close to the end of the day. Adding on hours would make them bears.

[b][color=red]- PLEASE REPORT ME FOR SWEARING!!! -[/color][/b][b][color=red]- PLEASE REPORT ME FOR SWEARING!!! -[/color][/b][b][color=red]- PLEASE REPORT ME FOR SWEARING!!! -[/color][/b][b][color=red]- PLEASE REPORT ME FOR SWEARING!!! -[/color][/b][b][color=red]- PLEASE REPORT ME FOR SWEARING!!! -[/color][/b][b][color=red]- PLEASE REPORT ME FOR SWEARING!!! -[/color][/b][b][color=red]- PLEASE REPORT ME FOR SWEARING!!! -[/color][/b] Obama Administration. If this ever comes to pass, I will be homeschooled then o.o

[Detonate!]

If he passes this he will lose every teenager who is able to vote in 2012.
(Mine, too. I will be able to vote by then. :D )

He's already lost practically every vote because of what he did to the economy.

[Deidarakid]

4 more hours?!?! I can barely stand 6! I'm already under pressure and have no time,how is this gonna help. Lets hope its not passed,I'd almost rather have summer vacation shorter...I'm sorry but this idea is kind of dumb.I feel like 6 is way too much, If I had to do 10 I would get kind of mad. My school is already tough and strict, with 10 hours...please no lol, oh well If it MUST happen it will:rolleyes:

[cub]

LOL! :D

Funnest thing ive heared all week!

Feel sorry for you americans :P

I couldnt last 6:00 am - 5:00 pm in school...

[Lost One]

It's quite intersting how all the forumers who aren't Americans find this hilarious. It doesn't affect me either, even though I'm an American. College rocks. XP

But I still feel bad for everyone this will affect.

[Deidarakid]

I'd be in school 8:30 to 7:13, also europeans, and non-americans, if america does it, some other countires might copy. SO everyone, enjoy your 6 hour days while you can, and pray this law doesnt get passed!

[biodue123]

Yea, I have so much going on. Two hour play practice, one hour volleyball, orthodontist appointments, etc. This would completely mess me up with my schedule.

for most schools it would go to 7pm, and then kids would miss there dinner, and parents would sue......

but, JUST TO COMPETE?!?!?!

LAME!

[Tina]

What is Obama smokin'?

Lol, I feel bad for you guys. :P Hopefully this won't happen.

[..::MaxWell::..]

I'm happy I'm a Canadian.
:D

[cp kid 1000]

MY BROTHER WOULD GET HOME AT *pm!!!!!!!!! IS HE CRAZY

[Oceanside344]

If that happens, it better not spread into Canada's schools. 6 hours a day is long enough for me, thank you. I'm too addicted to video games to go to school for 10 hours a day anyways.

But would that really help kids learn more? If they don't pay attention when they are there for 6 hours, are they really gonna pay attention or stay at school if it is extended?

[GSP-x]

That is really bad for americans. Kids need their free time. Also do you get 6 hours of school in America? Its 7 hours where I go to school.

[Hockeyfan]

Where would kids get the money to go to college if we went to school until 7:00? The number of drop outs for schools would go crazy. I know I would drop out. I could not live like that.

[Butters]

This might not get voted in, on about February 24th, his approval rating dropped out 15%.

Although the die-hard Democrats out there who would jump off a bridge for Obama *cough**cough**hint**hint* would vote this in.

[Tom]

What's wrong with summer break? I think that it's a great idea because it would be way too much to go to school for thirty-five hours every week year-round, and summer break gives us students time to relax from a year of nothing but learning.

Unless you want to stay in school everyday until 6 or 7 pm. I'd say cutting into Summer break is far better than that. Don't you think so?

Maybe the problem isn't the amount of time we're spending in school, but the problem is what we're doing in school.

I have a hard enough being away from home for the nine hours going to/at/coming home from school that I already do. So if this happened I would definitely drop out of school. No doubt about it.

That's where the incentives would come in. Reach a certain GPA and you can leave early/have a shorter year.

He's already lost practically every vote because of what he did to the economy.

What has he done to the economy? I've seen nothing but good come out of the economy so far. The stock market up for three days straight. States have already gotten their stimulus money and are using it to fix their roads and bridges and to create the work needed to make some jobs. Unless, that's what you call screwing up the economy. =\

Where would kids get the money to go to college if we went to school until 7:00? The number of drop outs for schools would go crazy. I know I would drop out. I could not live like that.

Join the military, they'll pay for your college tuition. PLUS, you get to serve your country!

This might not get voted in, on about February 24th, his approval rating dropped out 15%.

Although the die-hard Democrats out there who would jump off a bridge for Obama *cough**cough**hint**hint* would vote this in.

Source of the approval rating drop?

Haha, yeah, just like the die-hard Republicans out there who would jump off a bridge for John McCain or Rush Limbaugh.

[JeDii]

Join the military, they'll pay for your college tuition. PLUS, you get to serve your country!

That sounds like a great idea! You can go to school free doing whatever you want, and then get shot and killed a year later in Iraq : D

[Butters]

Source of the approval rating drop?

Haha, yeah, just like the die-hard Republicans out there who would jump off a bridge for John McCain or Rush Limbaugh.
(here they say 22 percent source: http://www.lifenews.com/nat4857.html

If John McCain jumped off a bridge, I'd plan his funeral.

Join the military, they'll pay for your college tuition. PLUS, you get to serve your country!

And like all the rest of the soldiers returning home, commit suicide out of depression!

[Tom]

That sounds like a great idea! You can go to school free doing whatever you want, and then get shot and killed a year later in Iraq : D

Oh wait, I forgot that not everyone who joins the military goes into combat! Silly me! I mean, you could become a mechanic, chef, work with computers, or even fly unmanned aircraft! Isn't it great? The possibilities are unlimited!

And like all the rest of the soldiers returning home, commit suicide out of depression!

Please don't stereotype. It's not nice.

[Butters]

Please don't stereotype. It's not nice.

No, you couldn't believe how many have done that. Seeing friends, partners, etc being killed is hard. Why do you think they have a virtual reality thing for them now to get rid of depression?

[walmartshrty]

That's where the incentives would come in. Reach a certain GPA and you can leave early/have a shorter year.


That would be pretty awesome I must admit. It would give me no benefit however, because I am in an art program so the whole point of me trying to have good grades in the first place is so I can spend more time in the art program. And if I get out early that would pretty much ruin the point entirely. I would just rather skip all my other classes and be allowed to take all art oriented classes. I might even be persuaded to do it for ten hours a day, if the 'oh holy' government would allow me to do so.

I just hate the whole idea of standardized tests and having to be to a certain level in every branch of public school. Because people are all different, I don't think you can just the intelligence and talent of someone by having them take a standardized test. Someone might be an absolute genius when it comes to English, but if they can't pass Math, they can't even graduate. I just hate how the whole system is set up. Instead of letting kids do what they want to do, and letting the kids who don't want to anything go home instead of wasting the teachers time, we force them to stay so the people who actually want to do something with their lives are forced to deal with these people.



Please don't stereotype. It's not nice.
It is actually true. A lot of soldiers returning have a hard time letting go of what happened and their whole personality changes because of the grief they experienced.

[_Nitrogamer_]

ok, i am homeschooled, but i can still yell about it cant i? good.
what is he thinking? all that raising school hours will do is make more students drop out asap.
and competing with other countries? stupid, unnecessary, and see above.

[Payton]

The problem's not the length of the school day, it's what we DO in the school day as others have said. :P

[kogeck]

That would be pretty awesome I must admit. It would give me no benefit however, because I am in an art program so the whole point of me trying to have good grades in the first place is so I can spend more time in the art program. And if I get out early that would pretty much ruin the point entirely. I would just rather skip all my other classes and be allowed to take all art oriented classes. I might even be persuaded to do it for ten hours a day, if the 'oh holy' government would allow me to do so.

I just hate the whole idea of standardized tests and having to be to a certain level in every branch of public school. Because people are all different, I don't think you can just the intelligence and talent of someone by having them take a standardized test. Someone might be an absolute genius when it comes to English, but if they can't pass Math, they can't even graduate. I just hate how the whole system is set up. Instead of letting kids do what they want to do, and letting the kids who don't want to anything go home instead of wasting the teachers time, we force them to stay so the people who actually want to do something with their lives are forced to deal with these people.

I agree. No test or grade can ever prove your talent and intellect.

Why the Obama Administration wants to do this:

1. To show off at other countries.
2.


The traditional 5-7 hours of school per day for the past 100 years have given some of the best results in the world. Hundreds of thousands of graduation students have become famous and successful scientists, mathematicians, writers, historians, artists, computer designers, doctors, and many other proffesions. Changing our curriculum to fit 10 hours of school work and exams will not help the students at all, since they will all be reluctant to this, as proven by every American forumer who posted here.

[Tom]

No, you couldn't believe how many have done that. Seeing friends, partners, etc being killed is hard. Why do you think they have a virtual reality thing for them now to get rid of depression?

Not everyone who joins the military goes straight to the front lines. Yes, some do return with PTSD. But my point is that there are plenty of other jobs in the military other than combat. You could fix up fighter jets and have your college tuition payed. You don't get PTSD from scrubbing dishes.

That would be pretty awesome I must admit. It would give me no benefit however, because I am in an art program so the whole point of me trying to have good grades in the first place is so I can spend more time in the art program. And if I get out early that would pretty much ruin the point entirely. I would just rather skip all my other classes and be allowed to take all art oriented classes. I might even be persuaded to do it for ten hours a day, if the 'oh holy' government would allow me to do so.

How would getting out early be pointless? Being able to leave early would be a reward for those who meet a certain GPA. If you're GPA is high enough, you'd be awarded with the ability to leave early or have a shortened school year. You also wouldn't have to leave, you could stay if you wanted too. Not that anyone would want too?

You also wouldn't be able to leave too early, like 2 hours after school started, you'd stay the length of a normal school day.

[conman1001]

Obama needs to quit worrying about other things until he fixes the economy, because if he doesn't fix the economy, there aren't going to be many jobs to "compete" for.

[Makarov]

If this passes, I will go to the White House and poop on Obama's face.

[sonic30132]

I agree about how a test grade cannot prove your talent or intelligence. I could guess on all the answers and get a good grade the first try and get a worse grade on the second try. I'll do something..uh..drastic if this happens.
If this passes, I will go to the White House and poop on Obama's face.

That's very pleasant.

[_Nitrogamer_]

If this passes, I will go to the White House and poop on Obama's face.

sig qouted! and yes, i agree that it is a very lousy idea and i will join in the pooping:P

obama really needs to fix the economy first. this wont help if there are no jobs now will it?

[walmartshrty]

Not everyone who joins the military goes straight to the front lines. Yes, some do return with PTSD. But my point is that there are plenty of other jobs in the military other than combat. You could fix up fighter jets and have your college tuition payed. You don't get PTSD from scrubbing dishes.



How would getting out early be pointless? Being able to leave early would be a reward for those who meet a certain GPA. If you're GPA is high enough, you'd be awarded with the ability to leave early or have a shortened school year. You also wouldn't have to leave, you could stay if you wanted too. Not that anyone would want too?

You also wouldn't be able to leave too early, like 2 hours after school started, you'd stay the length of a normal school day.


Are you saying it's not good enough to scrub dishes? I would scrub dishes the rest of my life before I joined the military.

That's my point. It is POINTLESS for me because I want to be in the art program but I don't want to go through the education bull crap. And that's what I'd have to do, if I wanted to stay in the art program. Or I'd just have five hours to wait until I could get a bus ride home. Yeah, because I really want to go through that. So for me (Me as in I.) the whole idea would be literally pointless and I would just drop out anyhow.

[Tom]

Are you saying it's not good enough to scrub dishes? I would scrub dishes the rest of my life before I joined the military.

That's my point. It is POINTLESS for me because I want to be in the art program but I don't want to go through the education bull crap. And that's what I'd have to do, if I wanted to stay in the art program. Or I'd just have five hours to wait until I could get a bus ride home. Yeah, because I really want to go through that. So for me (Me as in I.) the whole idea would be literally pointless and I would just drop out anyhow.

No, I'm just saying that joining the military doesn't mean you're going to be ducking behind sand bags getting shot at my terrorists and you're going to come home with PTSD.

Drop out and do what? Get your GED and work at Burger King? Not to mention the fact that getting a decent job without a high school diploma in this country is extremely hard.

Besides, you only spend a small fraction of your life in grade school. Dropping out without a high school diploma and settling with less-than-decent jobs for probably the rest of your life because what, school cut into your Summer break or the school day was longer? Yeah, there are some people who dropped out and made it, but that doesn't happen very often anymore, if at all. I just don't think it's worth it.

[kogeck]

No, I'm just saying that joining the military doesn't mean you're going to be ducking behind sand bags getting shot at my terrorists and you're going to come home with PTSD.

Drop out and do what? Get your GED and work at Burger King? Not to mention the fact that getting a decent job without a high school diploma in this country is extremely hard.

Besides, you only spend a small fraction of your life in grade school. Dropping out without a high school diploma and settling with less-than-decent jobs for probably the rest of your life because what, school cut into your Summer break or the school day was longer? Yeah, there are some people who dropped out and made it, but that doesn't happen very often anymore, if at all. I just don't think it's worth it.

You're just saying this because you graduated from grade school. :P
Put yourself in out shoes, would you really think that this is for the better?

[cheese rox]

No, I'm just saying that joining the military doesn't mean you're going to be ducking behind sand bags getting shot at my terrorists and you're going to come home with PTSD.

Drop out and do what? Get your GED and work at Burger King? Not to mention the fact that getting a decent job without a high school diploma in this country is extremely hard.

Besides, you only spend a small fraction of your life in grade school. Dropping out without a high school diploma and settling with less-than-decent jobs for probably the rest of your life because what, school cut into your Summer break or the school day was longer? Yeah, there are some people who dropped out and made it, but that doesn't happen very often anymore, if at all. I just don't think it's worth it.

Actually, Air Conditions, which are in high demand, doesn't need a collage degree to work for. Sorry for being kinda off-topic :rolleyes:

[Tom]

You're just saying this because you graduated from grade school. :P
Put yourself in out shoes, would you really think that this is for the better?

I worked my butt off to get my advanced studies diploma. Although, I can't put myself in your shoes I can say that dropping out over increased school ours is just ridiculous and is probably a decision someone will most likely regret when they get older. I know people from high school who dropped out and got their GED and still are unable to find work, even at fast food joints.

I'm not agreeing with increasing school hours, I don't think it's a good idea at all, but I think dropping out because of it is just plain stupid.

Actually, Air Conditions, which are in high demand, doesn't need a collage degree to work for. Sorry for being kinda off-topic :rolleyes:

I'm sure you could. But I don't think you could without a high school diploma. Even if you manage to do that, I doubt you'd be able to buy a house and support a family with the income from that job. You'd still get payed more with a high school diploma than if you had a GED.

[walmartshrty]

No, I'm just saying that joining the military doesn't mean you're going to be ducking behind sand bags getting shot at my terrorists and you're going to come home with PTSD.

Drop out and do what? Get your GED and work at Burger King? Not to mention the fact that getting a decent job without a high school diploma in this country is extremely hard.

Besides, you only spend a small fraction of your life in grade school. Dropping out without a high school diploma and settling with less-than-decent jobs for probably the rest of your life because what, school cut into your Summer break or the school day was longer? Yeah, there are some people who dropped out and made it, but that doesn't happen very often anymore, if at all. I just don't think it's worth it.

And yet I really don't care to be the governments go-to-woman. I don't believe in the army's mission, why would I attempt to help them?

Why does everyone assume just because you drop out you're going to work at Burger King? I think that's sort of like a hasty generalization which is one of the fallacies in trying to persuade. I learned that much in English I.

A fraction of my life... Did you ever think that I care about those small fractions of my life? Just because I have passion for one thing does not mean that I will settle for a less-than-decent job. Some people go to colleges, and guess what? They still can't find jobs. Everyday a college graduate settles for a less-than-decent job. Wake up and smell the coffee and if you would like you can even have a sip of the coffee. (Just thought I would add that.) I know someone personally who got straight A's in high school, went to college for four years, got his degree, and what is he doing now? He's a construction worker. Why? Because he hated the field he went into. He was convinced that is what he wanted to do the rest of his life, so he worked for it, and worked for it, and found out that he completely sucks at it and hates it. Yeah, you might get lucky. You might go to college and amount to something. But the chances are slim, and few and far between. Almost as few and far between as trying to get a job with just a GED. This man I know says he learned only one thing when he went to college; that was you cannot help someone who doesn't want it. The only thing.

[cheese rox]

That's true, but that could be a start to some other get-rich quick scheme.

[~Pjtush~]

Prepare for the 21st century economy?
Obama, we elected you to solve that problem, didn't we?
You need to get your big bald head on the right track and think of other people for a change.
"LET'S SEND KIDS TO SCHOOL FOR 10 HOURS HERP DERP."
Who cares what Korea does? Why can't we be our own country instead of copying another?

[Tom]

And yet I really don't care to be the governments go-to-woman. I don't believe in the army's mission, why would I attempt to help them?

Why does everyone assume just because you drop out you're going to work at Burger King? I think that's sort of like a hasty generalization which is one of the fallacies in trying to persuade. I learned that much in English I.

A fraction of my life... Did you ever think that I care about those small fractions of my life? Just because I have passion for one thing does not mean that I will settle for a less-than-decent job. Some people go to colleges, and guess what? They still can't find jobs. Everyday a college graduate settles for a less-than-decent job. Wake up and smell the coffee and if you would like you can even have a sip of the coffee. (Just thought I would add that.) I know someone personally who got straight A's in high school, went to college for four years, got his degree, and what is he doing now? He's a construction worker. Why? Because he hated the field he went into. He was convinced that is what he wanted to do the rest of his life, so he worked for it, and worked for it, and found out that he completely sucks at it and hates it. Yeah, you might get lucky. You might go to college and amount to something. But the chances are slim, and few and far between. Almost as few and far between as trying to get a job with just a GED. This man I know says he learned only one thing when he went to college; that was you cannot help someone who doesn't want it. The only thing.

Yeah, I know that not everyone who graduates from college lands a job or ends up with a decent or above-decent job. But going to college doesn't mean that you won't get a less-than-decent job, if any. Most school teachers, for example, go to college and they end up with less-than-decent jobs, teaching. It depends on what you want to do with your future.

As for what you do with your future is up to you, if you want to drop out and get your GED, then go ahead and do it. But you'll regret it in the future, most people do.

I do wake up and smell the coffee, every morning actually. Oh, and I do sip it.

[walmartshrty]

Yeah, I know that not everyone who graduates from college lands a job or ends up with a decent or above-decent job. But going to college doesn't mean that you won't get a less-than-decent job, if any. Most school teachers, for example, go to college and they end up with less-than-decent jobs, teaching. It depends on what you want to do with your future.

As for what you do with your future is up to you, if you want to drop out and get your GED, then go ahead and do it. But you'll regret it in the future, most people do.

I do wake up and smell the coffee, every morning actually. Oh, and I do sip it.

But isn't it true that you might or might not get a decent job no matter which path you choose? Some people regret getting married, or having children, or eating a piece of cake, or dropping out, or going to college. No matter what you do, there will always be a downside to it, and you might resent the idea you could have done something different, when the truth is you would still probably be just as messed up if you chose the other path. It isn't just true with dropping out and it isn't just true with going to college. I think you can do anything, and as long as you have a passion for it and you love it, it won't matter if it's a less than decent job to you. At least you'll have the drive to improve. It's my personal opinion as long as you follow your passion, you will be happy. There was this artist, but he couldn't afford paint. So he literally sold his blood so he could have enough money for paint supplies. You think he regrets it? Maybe, maybe not. But he probably wouldn't have had it any other way. I want to be happy, and I don't want to be stuck in a profession that I don't like. I care about art and I have a passion for it. Why should I have to be subject to standardized tests if I'm not interested in that life?

So you don't just wake up and smell of the coffee and just leave it there so you can smell it later? Americans... always consuming. :P Just kidding.

[Tom]

But isn't it true that you might or might not get a decent job no matter which path you choose? Some people regret getting married, or having children, or eating a piece of cake, or dropping out, or going to college. No matter what you do, there will always be a downside to it, and you might resent the idea you could have done something different, when the truth is you would still probably be just as messed up if you chose the other path. It isn't just true with dropping out and it isn't just true with going to college. I think you can do anything, and as long as you have a passion for it and you love it, it won't matter if it's a less than decent job to you. At least you'll have the drive to improve. It's my personal opinion as long as you follow your passion, you will be happy. There was this artist, but he couldn't afford paint. So he literally sold his blood so he could have enough money for paint supplies. You think he regrets it? Maybe, maybe not. But he probably wouldn't have had it any other way. I want to be happy, and I don't want to be stuck in a profession that I don't like. I care about art and I have a passion for it. Why should I have to be subject to standardized tests if I'm not interested in that life?

So you don't just wake up and smell of the coffee and just leave it there so you can smell it later? Americans... always consuming. :P Just kidding.

Some things you regret more than others. You'll regret dropping out when you get that eviction notice because you can't pay your rent more than eating a piece of cake. I agree with you 100% on having a passion for what you believe in and following it. I had a passion for data modeling and database administration and I landed a job with the industry leader in databases and I love what I do.

Standardized tests are flaws in our education system and are a product of the "No Child Left Behind Act" which isn't working.

As much as I'd like to continue debating with you, I think were getting a tad bit off-topic. :P

[Pen Rua]

Doesn't affect me... har har.

But still, 6 hours is more than enough. Our lives already revolve around school, and we get complaints that most teens aren't - and not just teens - are anti-social, why? Because we'll be stuck in school for 10 hours. 9am to 7pm each day... yikes.

[walmartshrty]

Some things you regret more than others. You'll regret dropping out when you get that eviction notice because you can't pay your rent more than eating a piece of cake. I agree with you 100% on having a passion for what you believe in and following it. I had a passion for data modeling and database administration and I landed a job with the industry leader in databases and I love what I do.

Standardized tests are flaws in our education system and are a product of the "No Child Left Behind Act" which isn't working.

As much as I'd like to continue debating with you, I think were getting a tad bit off-topic. :P

Well, let's throw something in here about school to make it like we're not offtopic.

That's true, but even when you regret something, you may have been doomed either way. It's not like one goes positive, one goes negative. You really don't know which one could positively affect your life until you do it. And it's my opinion that school is wasting my time and therefore negatively effecting me, perhaps even more than spending hours on a Club Penguin forum. But forums make me happy, and school doesn't.

I am so glad you found something that you love to do. And if school and college does that for a person, congratulations. However, I don't think it's for me.

I am so glad you see that standardized tests suck. SEE, WE DO HAVE STUFF IN COMMON. :D

[John-h]

It's the Secretary of Education, not Obama.


Adding 2 hours is much better than 4 hours because children will complain, though there is actually a positive thing on the extension.

I expect if there will be such extensions, there will be less homework (children are gonna love this).

[flippysam]

Well I can see how he would want school to go into summer as at my old school our summer lasted 6 weeks from around 20th of july to the start of september, in america you break up in early june, but I don't think you should have longer than 6 hours worth of lessons a day, you will just loose interest and take nothing in.

[worldking01]

Well I can see how he would want school to go into summer as at my old school our summer lasted 6 weeks from around 20th of july to the start of september, in america you break up in early june, but I don't think you should have longer than 6 hours worth of lessons a day, you will just loose interest and take nothing in.

I break in late May and then go back early-mid September.

[Bizor]

10 hours a day, without going earlier to school.. 5:30, I can't do that.

There is a problem with the school day placement, but extending hours isn't the solution. Many teenagers, including myself, have to wake up earlier than our biological clocks allow us too. The school day needs to start later, around 8:30 or 9:00am.

[sonic30132]

How HOW can they possibly make us go to school four hours longer? Most people go to school 7 hours. That would be 11 hours per day. I thought they were just going to extend it by 30 minutes or so to extend school 4 hours total at the end of the week. :confused:

[zoot396]

how could obama do this:mad: 8 am to 7 pm? that is 11 hours!

[Pen Rua]

how could obama do this:mad: 8 am to 7 pm? that is 11 hours!
He wants to make it 10 hours - but apparently, it's not him who wants to.

[Bludycomicsinc]

7AM-7 PM????? I'd rather drop out of school and work at Target the rest of my life. Bad enough I got 7 and a half hours of school. I'm not staying there until 7PM. Not going to happen. This isn't South Korea. I doubt our school will pick that up though. Not even the faculty has enough willpower to last 12 more ours in this hell.

[Djquecumber]

The U.S will fall soon, there probably will be a WW III and Obama will finally get the dictatorship hes wanted for many, many years. The worlds recession isn't helping anyone, and the only way we can get out is through war. Mr. Obama is just worried about having children grow up to get better jobs than Asians. Americans have always had a summer to look forward to, just to chill in the summer. Here in Chicago I make it through the horrible winter weather just because I know I will have all the hot days of summer off. Now Obama wants us to over work school, I go to School from 8:00 AM to 2:40 PM CT, Another 4 hours would make it 6:40 PM, I would'nt have enought time to do anything, except school work like the Asian Communists in China. The U.S isn't suppose to be a Communistic county, thats why out founding fathers escaped from the British rule. Everything America has and was made for seems like it is going to be down the drain. I am outraged, that Obama thinks we need 4 more hours of nonscence just to get better jobs. I think Obama should'nt worry about the jobs at this time when unemplment is at about 8% and probably will raise if this recession gets any deeper.

All this is coming from Obama, the U.S first and last president. Major spender of taxpayer money on nothing, and just a horror.

:scary: I am outraged.

[JeDii]

I don't get why he would care so much. I mean, The US isn't doing that badly. They don't need 4 extra hours of school to get better jobs, in fact, most kids would drop out or switch to home schooling. And if they didn't pay attention for 6 hours, it doesn't mean that they will for 10.

[hhcandyhh1]

This may be a good thing..

Here in Canada, we have six hours of school from the beggining of September - Ending of June. That's more then you have, Obama may have a point...

[Steve Green]

You have got to be kidding me, I will seriously go crazy if we had 4 more hours of school. I mean come on. No way.

[REVENGE]

I can see how this might be a necessary change in order to refrain from falling behind, but honestly, he could make the change a little less drastic. Maybe if the change is more gradual the teenage suicide rate won't increase by, like, what? Ten percent?

If school runs an extra four hours a day, it won't end until 7:20 here, which means I would get home at about 8:50 everyday. Sounds lovely. I'm graduating next year, so maybe I won't have to deal with this if it actually passes. :/

I don't see how adding four hours to an already crappy education can help anything, anyway. If he wants to do something to improve the minds of young people, he might want to focus more on tampering around with the quality of it, first, rather than the time spent on it.

[JeDii]

This may be a good thing..

Here in Canada, we have six hours of school from the beggining of September - Ending of June. That's more then you have, Obama may have a point...

Actually, we spend about the same amount of time in school than the US?

[Guardian Ou]

This may be a good thing..

Here in Canada, we have six hours of school from the beggining of September - Ending of June. That's more then you have, Obama may have a point...

Actually, that's a little less than some American schools.

Some start August 23 - June 7th. -_-

[ÍÇ€Dragon96™]

OMG! MORE SCHOOL HOURS!?! 'faints' 'gets back up again' That diabolical Obama, giving you more school hours! Lol, think of al those freaky nerds that'll be made happy...:scary: :scary: :P

[Penny44546]

If this happened, I'd beg my mom to homeschool me. No kid wants to stay in school for an extra four hours.

[Butters]

This may be a good thing..

Here in Canada, we have six hours of school from the beggining of September - Ending of June. That's more then you have, Obama may have a point...

I go to school for 7 hours from August till May.

[JaCK.]

This would be a horrible rule!!! But to think in complete seriousness, we would probably have less homework. (Hopefully) If we had a 10 hour long school day it would also be ruining what we've had for years now. Whatever... Hope it doesn't happen.

[Payton]

Hi kids, want to go to school for FOUR MORE HOURS EVERY DAY? :scary:

[Snappyguy928]

I'm assuming this will be a geography lesson. America really needs to know where they are on the map.

[Chocolat 65]

Tough. In France, we've been living this since... forever!

[JeDii]

Tough. In France, we've been living this since... forever!

You go to school for 10 hours in france?

[neo789]

They're wanting to take 1 day off of our school week here in Florida.

Be jealous.

[Butters]

I'm assuming this will be a geography lesson. America really needs to know where they are on the map.

And people in other countries need to learn how to not stereotype.

[Cali9000]

It doesn't matter how long they're teaching us its what they're teaching us...

[Butters]

It doesn't matter how long they're teaching us its what they're teaching us...

Yea, but I know my school is doing things right because our test grades are higher than a lot in other countries.

[256log]

I'm assuming this will be a geography lesson. America really needs to know where they are on the map.

Oh yeah, cause all of us kids are in the government and can control what we do overseas. :rolleyes:

I wish I knew what country you were from...

[JoeyPeng]

And people in other countries need to learn how to not stereotype.

I'm assuming you see the irony in your post?

Well, about the topic, sorry to see all you American kids whining, it really does strike a chord in my heart. However, my initial was reaction was : SUCK IT UP!

American kids are stupid. Its not an insult, its a fact. We are falling further and further behind Asian and European countries in math and science. This is a serious problem, if we want our next generation to be able to compete at a global level. Yeah, and our geography is pathetic too. (Ex, link of evidence, there are many other sites: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/04/AR2007120400730.html

Why are other countries smarter than America? Is it because their minds are genetically superior?
Not exactly. They just have year round schooling.

And for all you ready to impeach Obama: you are not going to wake up tomorrow morning and find out you have 4 extra hours of school that day. If you know anything about government, this is going to take a while, as everything does. And also its a lot more likely year round schooling will be implemented, as opposed to longer school days. This is a lot more convenient for everyone.

I am an American teenager as well, and as much as I hate waking up and going into school in the morning I don't want our nation to be dumb. Its embarrassing. I'm not saying I'm a model student or that I don't sleep through math class everyday, but as a nation, looking at the bigger picture, this is something we need.

[Guardian Ou]

I'm assuming you see the irony in your post?

Well, about the topic, sorry to see all you American kids whining, it really does strike a chord in my heart. However, my initial was reaction was : SUCK IT UP!

American kids are stupid. Its not an insult, its a fact. We are falling further and further behind Asian and European countries in math and science. This is a serious problem, if we want our next generation to be able to compete at a global level. Yeah, and our geography is pathetic too. (Ex, link of evidence, there are many other sites: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/04/AR2007120400730.html

Why are other countries smarter than America? Is it because their minds are genetically superior?
Not exactly. They just have year round schooling.

And for all you ready to impeach Obama: you are not going to wake up tomorrow morning and find out you have 4 extra hours of school that day. If you know anything about government, this is going to take a while, as everything does. And also its a lot more likely year round schooling will be implemented, as opposed to longer school days. This is a lot more convenient for everyone.

I am an American teenager as well, and as much as I hate waking up and going into school in the morning I don't want our nation to be dumb. Its embarrassing. I'm not saying I'm a model student or that I don't sleep through math class everyday, but as a nation, looking at the bigger picture, this is something we need.

Sometimes, too much knowledge in one sitting can be unhealthy.

There are millions of people in America and Millions of people in China. There are smart people in America and there are smart people in China. There are dumb people in America, and there are dumb people in China. It takes determination to learn. If American's don't have the determination to want to learn, it's our own fault. Obama can not justify what is right. He is one educated man and does not know what all 304,095,000 of us are capable of.

If we are dumb, we are dumb. America is a different country. Let's not compete. Let's not act like other countries just because we are afraid to become embarrassed. Before Obama focuses on our own education, perhaps he should help other people in foreign countries who don't even have one.

[Butters]

I'm assuming you see the irony in your post?

Well, about the topic, sorry to see all you American kids whining, it really does strike a chord in my heart. However, my initial was reaction was : SUCK IT UP!

American kids are stupid. Its not an insult, its a fact. We are falling further and further behind Asian and European countries in math and science. This is a serious problem, if we want our next generation to be able to compete at a global level. Yeah, and our geography is pathetic too. (Ex, link of evidence, there are many other sites: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/04/AR2007120400730.html

Why are other countries smarter than America? Is it because their minds are genetically superior?
Not exactly. They just have year round schooling.

And for all you ready to impeach Obama: you are not going to wake up tomorrow morning and find out you have 4 extra hours of school that day. If you know anything about government, this is going to take a while, as everything does. And also its a lot more likely year round schooling will be implemented, as opposed to longer school days. This is a lot more convenient for everyone.

I am an American teenager as well, and as much as I hate waking up and going into school in the morning I don't want our nation to be dumb. Its embarrassing. I'm not saying I'm a model student or that I don't sleep through math class everyday, but as a nation, looking at the bigger picture, this is something we need.

They said America in general. I said SOME people in other countries. I'm not stereotyping.

Like I have said a million times. My school has the average or above of other schools in other countries. We have 7 hours a day. I go to a Catholic school. The problem is the teachers, not the students. My teachers are excellent, there are just a few in my school who are bad. My school has four of the No Child Left Behind ribbons, the most in the U.S.

[JoeyPeng]

Sometimes, too much knowledge in one sitting can be unhealthy.

There are millions of people in America and Millions of people in China. There are smart people in America and there are smart people in China. There are dumb people in America, and there are dumb people in China. It takes determination to learn. If American's don't have the determination to want to learn, it's our own fault. Obama can not justify what is right. He is one educated man and does not know what all 304,095,000 of us are capable of.

If we are dumb, we are dumb. America is a different country. Let's not compete. Let's not act like other countries just because we are afraid to become embarrassed. Before Obama focuses on our own education, perhaps he should help other people in foreign countries who don't even have one.
Yes, there are smart people in America and in China. However, on average, countries like Korea are rapidly pulling away educationally from America 's children. There is a cause and effect: amount of schooling.

Not compete? That is not how the world economy works. You cannot expect to be successful without competing, not matter what your job is.

And thats like saying we can't have dinner until everyone in Africa has eaten. If we look at it from the perspective of we can't increase American children's education until everyone else has one, we will never improve. We can help both at the same time, and we should start as soon as we can.
They said America in general. I said SOME people in other countries. I'm not stereotyping.

Like I have said a million times. My school has the average or above of other schools in other countries. We have 7 hours a day. I go to a Catholic school. The problem is the teachers, not the students. My teachers are excellent, there are just a few in my school who are bad. My school has four of the No Child Left Behind ribbons, the most in the U.S.
Good for your school? My middle school has a few too, I don't see your point.

[Butters]

Good for your school? My middle school has a few too, I don't see your point.
It shows that we DON'T need more hours, just better teachers, programs and schools.

[NinjaPenguins]

The governor of Ohio is proposing to do this to :sick:

Sickens me :rolleyes:

And to think I liked Obama lol

[JoeyPeng]

It shows that we DON'T need more hours, just better teachers, programs and schools.

In an ideal world, maybe. However, just because one school is able to thrive under a certain system doesn't mean that system is applicable to the whole country. I would be more specific expect that I don't know your school or its reason for success.

I do agree that we need better teachers and schools. This of course, would be achieved by federal funding for schools, as lots of schools are drastically under-funded.

And even though one school might be doing fine, the majority aren't. The fact is that as a whole, America is falling behind and the combination of more schooling and better schooling would be a viable solution.

[Anvar]

Sometimes, too much knowledge in one sitting can be unhealthy.

There are millions of people in America and Millions of people in China. There are smart people in America and there are smart people in China. There are dumb people in America, and there are dumb people in China. It takes determination to learn. If American's don't have the determination to want to learn, it's our own fault. Obama can not justify what is right. He is one educated man and does not know what all 304,095,000 of us are capable of.

If we are dumb, we are dumb. America is a different country. Let's not compete. Let's not act like other countries just because we are afraid to become embarrassed. Before Obama focuses on our own education, perhaps he should help other people in foreign countries who don't even have one.

Spem, face 1 fact about America: AMERICA DOESN'T "HELP" OTHER COUNTRIES JUST FOR THEM TO ACHIEVE DEMOCRACY. Why invade Iraq? Because America needs oil. Did America find biological weapons in Iraq? NO. Why invade Afghanistan? To take back control of Al Kaida and probably, control drug business. If you didn't know, America SPONSORED terrorists before. Ever heard of USSR having war with Afghanistan? Bush sponsored Ukraine and Georgia to be against Russia.
America didn't lift a finger in World War One until very end. It became rich on others' troubles.

I'm not talking about everyone in America, there is a lot of good people in there, but USA's politicians lead a dirty game.

[TnT]

That's rediculous, actually.
11 hours of school everyday for me, then practice after school for 2 more hours.

If you really aren't smart enough to compete for jobs, you need to be studying more at home instead of sitting around doing nothing. Most of the people who need extra hours aren't going to learn anything anyways. If they don't think it's important in the normal time, if you add time or add into the Summer, it will be even worse.

Bad idea.
Thumbs down, Obama. :unsure:

[Guardian Ou]

I'm not talking about everyone in America, there is a lot of good people in there, but USA's politicians lead a dirty game.

I'm pretty sure everyone in the world, even Americans, can agree that they hate/ dislike/ do not appreciate/ are not very fond of the U.S. Politicians. ;)

Onto what you said before, that's probably why they went over to Iraq, but all I was saying was what the "President" should be doing. :rolleyes: