On June 20th, Kareem Elnahal gave his valedictory speech at Mainland Regional High School in Limwood, N.J., quite different from the speech school administrators were expecting. He does not look fondly upon his education, challenging what education has come to mean.
“I speak today not to rant, complain or cause trouble, and certainly not to draw attention to myself,” Elnahar said. “Rather, I was moved by the countless hours wasted in those halls.”
“[It is] grade for the sake of a grade, work for the sake of work.” Elnahal added, according to a transcript of the speech posted on the Press of Atlantic City website.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the spirit of intellectual thought is lost,” Elnahal said. “I know how highly this community values learning, and I urge you all to re-evaluate what it means to be educated,” he concluded before leaving the ceremony without collecting his diploma. — Cybercast News Service
There is some discussion as to the appropriateness of the speech in this venue, and Mr. Elnahal did depart completely from the speech he said he was going to deliver that day. Still, he echoed the sentiments many share toward American public education, especially amidst current trends toward standardization.
Accountability is a good thing. Teachers should be accountable for what they teach and students should be accountable for what they learn. But when this accountability takes the form of a single, high-stakes test, numerous problems emerge. Testing, which is supposed to be a measure of what has been learned, begins to shape instruction. When funding is dependent on a single test, all classroom activity begins to look like preparation for that event rather than like preparation for life. Up to 100 instructional hours per classroom per school year are spent preparing for, administering and recovering from taking these tests.
Are they providing any benefit?
The Harvard study suggested that the [No Child Left Behind] act was not accomplishing its goals. A summary of the study concluded that “the national average achievement remains flat in reading and grows at the same pace in math after NCLB than before.” Like the Berkeley report, it based its conclusions on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. — Los Angeles Times
Education has indeed become “grade for the sake of a grade, work for the sake of work.”
(Hat tip: Why Homeschool)
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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Karl Marx would love the popular moves among politicians in various state governments and the federal government to ban so-called "junk" food in schools, and to "put healthy food in" convenience stores and on the tables of those they define as poor. It's a very elitist and arrogant mindset that promotes this ideology, and it needs to be addressed.
Ultimately, the war supporters in Congress prevailed in the vote on the resolution. Still, the vote was significant because it places every member of Congress on the record as supporting or not supporting the unconstitutional, costly, violent occupation of a country that never attacked us. This vote should serve as an important reminder to the American people of where their representatives really stand when it comes to policing the world, empire building, and war.
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Nigel Watt
Jun 30, 2006
Kareem should have done what I am – I was going to be the valedictorian of my (public) high school, but I’m leaving after my junior year and going to Cornell. No diploma, no regrets.
Drew A Engman
Jul 03, 2006
I am a special education teacher now, but dropped out of high school
because of its “busy work” and grades-for-grades-sake agenda. I
excelled in college because I learned all the things I was
interested in or curious about on my own since childhood. I was
and am still curious about everything at some time or another!
Dana
Jul 05, 2006
Busy work drove me crazy as a students…especially since I was always rewarded with more for finishing early. I had one teacher who got kind of fed up with me though and sent me to the library to write my own curriculum to keep me busy. I enjoyed that.
buff daddy
Jul 05, 2006
Sometimes there is a need to condemn the CAUSE of the lie rather than the PERPETRATOR of the lie.
Stupid people are easy to spot, as they’re words and actions are an infinite loop of paradoxes. In order for this kid to give his valedictory speech, it had to be as truthful TO HIM as possible. There are three distinct questions that could have been asked of the powers-that-be at his school, and two of them would have the exact same response:
1. Would I be allowed to make a speech which would be my honest yet negative account of my four years at this school?
2. Would it be better if my speech was a positive account of this school even though I’d be lying, or if I’m honest in my speech even though it would be a negative account of this school?
3. When I’m writing my speech, should I be as honest about my experiences here or should I fabricate some or all of it instead for a more positive viewpoint?
The first two questions would be answered with a resounding “No!” and backed up with blatant lies as to why he might be wrong in thinking that way. The last question is the starting point that smart people use to overcome the thought process of stupid people by tricking them into telling the truth without their knowledge. Saying nothing is the most dangerous because he’ll take all of the blame without having the advantage of being given permission to do so. In other words, in the eyes of the general public, his message is meaningless simply because of the methods he chose in which to make it public. It would be a MUCH different (and provable!) story if he was able to answer all his critics with one sentence: I asked the principal BEFORE I gave this speech if s/he would permit me to give a speech that I felt was honest and truthful no matter how negatively s/he and/or the faculty of the school might be portrayed.
Eh… maybe it’s just me, but psychology is the most powerful weapon man could EVER possess, and it’s the missing “psychology-factor” that’s the driving force behind the “could have been”’s that pisses me off more than anything else. Hmmm… Correction… It’s the stupid people who fall for the wrong kind of psychology-factor’s (i.e. those who thought George Bush’s “religious faith” was reason enough to re-elect him) that piss me off the most, since we’re ALL directly affected by their decisions.
JD Stillwater
Jul 09, 2006
Kareem Elnahal pointed out some problems with public education, even at the “best” schools. He probably wasn’t aware that schools already exist which fully support the values he mentions in his address. They are called Sudbury schools, or sometimes Integral schools. He’s right: it doesn’t have to be this way.
John
Mar 10, 2008
I am a teacher and have been for the last 10 years. Publicly, teachers have been blamed for not teaching students what they need to know to function in life. Also, students have been called lazy. My comment is, what role do parents play in their child’s education? I know with my students I can tell which parents care and which parents think the school is the only place for learning. Come on, if I am to blame as a lousy teacher and students are to blame for not learning, shouldn’t the parents be held accountable for not taking an interest in their children?