Persuasive Essay

As both the standards of school work and stress levels of student’s rise, the American school system remains unaltered, unchanged, and unaffected for over a hundred years. School is an institution that can serve as a massive gate in life granting you access to a job, stability, and a future or it can become a giant pillar in the way of everything you wish to achieve. While we recognize that a student’s own motivation, study habits, and will to learn, are cardinal in any schooling system, we must also understand the issues with an institution that is fundamentally unsound from the ground up. In today’s world, students are shoved with the hands of docility, and amenability as they render themselves in a system that has inadvertently failed them, by neglecting to celebrate their differences, and varying learning patterns. Conformity in the education system has shown to damage the personalization and

In 1983, Raymond Carver introduced his short story “Cathedral” to the public. The first-person narrative takes place within the narrator’s home, where his wife is waiting upon the arrival of her blind friend Robert. The narrator, however, becomes more concerned about how Robert’s visit will affect him rather than enjoy the situation. Once Robert arrives, the narrator tries to understand the blind man, but he is unaware of what tasks Robert is capable of performing due to the narrator’s inability to “see”. In time, Robert shows the narrator the difference between looking and seeing through illustrations of a cathedral, drawn by the narrator with his eyes closed. “Cathedral’s” narrator exposes readers to anti-heroic views

Students today undergo constant pressure for perfection, going through extreme efforts to meet this expectation. Alexandra Robbins, an investigative journalist and author of The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids, views modern educational culture as a danger to students because it advocates productivity over learning. On the other hand, Jay Mathews of the Washington Post believes that students today are more apathetic than stressed. Robbins perception of today’s schools is more accurate than Mathews’, for students cheat to appear smarter, burden themselves with grueling schedules to impress colleges, and develop mental disorders as a result.

Being an athletes is one of the best-paid jobs on Earth. Being that they are paid so much the cost for the consumer is very high. The prices of tickets and sports memorabilia have been steadily rising over the years. The average ticket prices for the NHL, MLB, NBA and NFL all rose 5% to 10% this year, according to Jon Greenberg, executive editor of Team Marketing Report. (Mihoces).

The true value of education is lost as grades and numbers become top priority. In a spoken word, Suli Breaks shares that students have becomes zombies in schools that run everything in a routine. They lose sleep to hand in assignments and meet the dead-line yet by that time the students are also half dead. The grade is all that the student starts to care about because that is what the school is directing their efforts towards. With all of their focus on the grade no one remembers to remember what they learned and apply it in life. Thus, it is in one semester and out the next. In one study teachers witnessed “unprecedented levels of school-related anxiety, stress, and mental health amongst pupils, particularly at exam time”. People may think that only college students do all nighters but it actually is not surprising to find high school and sometimes even middle schools staying up late nights trying to finish up assignments. All of this leads to sleep deprivation which affects the student’s health and in turn propels their stress as time virtually elapses out of existence. Likewise, the school system runs in such a way that mistakes become feared in an unhealthy manner. It is fine to have the fear of failure but one must learn to accept it because once it is accepted, children are not afraid to take a chance at trying something new. Ken Robinson makes the point that “we

The cost of college tuition is continually on the rise and has placed many burdens on high school students as well as their families. Some of the burdens that are placed are a result of parents putting pressure on their children to earn scholarships. Some of the burden is a result of students putting pressure on themselves to earn scholarships. Then, there is the burden of high college debt once the student graduates. Is this pressure really helping our students or is it hurting them? The bottom line is college tuition is skyrocketing out of control and something must be done before it destroys our families and our children.

School-related stress has its roots in many different places. On a national scale, surveys and research have in fact confirmed that “school-related pressures were the primary source of stress for the majority of younger and older children” (qtd. in Blazer 2). Not long ago, kindergartens were places for children to play and learn basics, like the alphabet, but now all of it has changed to teaching kids about test taking, doing reading/writing exercises, and even homework (Blazer 4). In an article titled, “Success with Less Stress,” Jerusha Conner, an Assistant Professor of Education at Villanova University, and his partners conducted a study to find what students say about the causes of school stress. The research revealed that standardized tests, large assignments, and college admissions were very frequent answers. Exceeding competition has also caused stress among students because they feel the need to build the best résumé, and this leads to over-scheduled days (Redding). The modernization of the Collin’s theory states that, “the ‘overscheduling hypothesis’ embodies a more recent belief that it is the volume of activities that provides a boost in the application process and that students need

“When students focus their attention on grades and how they are performing, learning may not result”-Joseph Holtgreive.

“49 percent of students reported feeling “a great deal of stress” on a daily basis. Half reported doing three or more hours of homework per night, and 26 percent noted that they had been diagnosed with depression” (Ossola, 1). With all that is expected of students in school, some rules she be changed to reduce these crazy issues. If schools would reduce homework, start school later, changed dress codes, and extend lunches, student would thrive and succeed more in school.

The American grading system has been the culprit of the United States’ deteriorating education for a long time and proceeds to damage students’ mentalities. For many American students, receiving a low grade causes “negative reinforcement”, and continuously receiving high grades warps a student into believing the A is better than the quality of learning (Thomsen). These grades also negatively affect students’ self-esteem. In 2002, eighty percent of students in a study done at the University of Michigan said a higher dignity relied on doing well in school (Thomsen). The opposite can be said for those with low self-esteem. Students are also afraid of failure, which can lead to obstructed learning and students who are unwilling to accept challenges (Thomsen). Because of the standards deterring student learning and thinking, the education system is in significant need of a change.

Source: CDC, National Center for Health Statistics, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Health, United States, 2002. Flegal et. al. JAMA. 2002;288:1723-7. NIH, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults, 1998.

There is room for improvement in the education system, particularly in high schools across the United States. As university entry becomes more selective with the number of applicants rising each year, students are responding by working to make their qualifications more competitive. The emphasis on students’ achievements and grades causes detriment to their mental and physical health.

“Your assignment is to write a persuasive essay and present it to the class in a week. You will be graded based on how convincing it is. Today we will be choosing topics,” announced Mr. Bowerbank, my 7th grade English teacher and ruler of classroom 110. My class simultaneously groaned at the prospect of work. I simply lifted my head with intrigue as it was already May and about time we had our first essay. He then proceeded to give examples of topics we could choose and gave us some time to think before we had to tell him our topic. My classmates were already rushing to tell the teacher their idea lest someone else steal it. That meant the usual abortion, death penalty, or drug use topics were out. I really couldn't think of anything and the teacher was slowly making his way through the remaining students like an executioner beheading criminals in a line. I have always thought that he would make a marvelous supervillain if he had a curly mustache, a tophat, and a cape. Eventually my name was called. I slowly dragged myself over to his desk. Even sitting down, he still seemed to tower over me. “What is your topic Cindy?” As usual in such desperate times, my mind turned to food. “Waffles are better than pancakes.” I figured that a waffle was just a differently shaped pancake with a nicer texture. “Hmm. Excellent topic. I look forward to your essay!” I survived to live yet another day.

The immediate problem found in the United State’s educational system is one of unavoidable occurrence. As a world leader, our nation’s educational values must meet or succeed our counterparts. However, in these endeavors to meet such high expectations, many of our nation’s high school students find themselves feeling overwhelmed and fatigued from the pressures of school. Many have argued for later start times, healthier school lunches, and even an elimination of homework in order to counteract these feelings. However, we must not change our current educational system, not when so many of our young generation are going on to succeed in ways unimaginable. Undoubtedly, prepared by said education. But the problem

Why spend money that is really needed for other things? Why live uncomfortably? Why be trapped in this hole called a home that belongs to another person? Why not live free and peacefully? When a person rents he or she usually throws away money that could be used to purchase something that belongs to them. Money is not easy to come by so why pay out hundreds toward something that is not benefit to the person paying it out. There is no good explanation for making a decision like this. The best option in a situation like this is to buy a house. Buying a house is a better option than renting an apartment.