Editor's Note: American high schools give everyone the impression that they focus on personality development, free growth, and academic pressure seems to be small, but the reality of American high schools is not the case. Observe those high school students who are the most active and enterprising. They are on the high pressure application road, just like walking the tightrope. They study hard while taking the best grades and choosing the most difficult courses; At the same time, we will carry out a variety of extracurricular activities to develop distinctive personal highlights. At the same time, American families will also make great efforts to spend heavy money on education.
Edward Humes, a famous American journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner, once wrote a reportage, "School of Dreams". Based on Whitney High School in California, he reflected the experience of studying in American super high schools through words. This school enrolls students in grades 7-12, and is famous for good academic performance.
Studying in this local top ranked public high school may mean getting up at 6:00 am and going to bed at 2:00 am sometimes, and the sober time in between is devoted to academic and extracurricular activities. Therefore, it is common for these teenagers to discuss Dostoevsky while drinking coffee drinks in their hands.
A student in this school said that 4 is a magic number. In order to achieve 4.0, he may only sleep for 4 hours a day and need 4 lattes, which is even busier than some CEOs.
In order to apply for the university, the students are very desperate
When university admissions officers look at a transcript, they will not only see the number, but also see whether the students have chosen the most difficult courses in the school, whether they have the courage to challenge themselves and achieve good results through hard work. Advanced Placement is an important indicator.
In high school, the academic system is also like an arms race. AP>Honor Courses>Ordinary Courses, as the most advanced academic AP, always attracts many excellent students to take elective courses. The academic strength of a high school depends on how many competitive advanced courses it can provide.
Kosha, who studied in Whitney Middle School, focused on Yale, Stanford and other universities. She took five AP courses in the year of graduation, which is equivalent to the course of a college year. Many excellent students even take more than 10 courses in high school! In addition, students may attend SAT tutorial classes, summer courses, etc. on weekends. In the academic field, they should not be careless at all.
In the United States, college applications need to examine comprehensive abilities, including standardized test scores such as SAT and ACT, as well as letters of recommendation, personal statements, extracurricular activities, etc.
Therefore, students spend a lot of time in extracurricular activities to find out the distinctive highlights. Fei Jiuniu Erhu made great efforts to write an application document composed of carefully selected words that related to his future. Many children felt anxious about this and wrote it again and again. After that, they were not confident to show it to the teacher.
In addition to classes, Kosha also has cheerleading exercises, history teaching assistants, student affairs, planning proms, participating in model United Nations activities, and preparing university applications.
As a result, homework, SAT, being too busy, lack of sleep, and pressure from parents constitute the source of stress for these children. Some of them enjoy this experience. The whole extrapersonality spirit, with good time management skills, is extremely busy and balanced. Some try to find a compromise between their own goals and college applications, and mediate between their enthusiasm, goals and realistic achievements, applications, and parents' expectations.
Some children are too controlled by their parents to apply for their favorite majors; Some children feel depressed, not because they fail in any subject, but because they study hard and participate in extracurricular activities, not because they like it, but to make their college application form look beautiful. Some students are very confused and have no sense of purpose for the future. In general, American high schools do not mean "happy education".
Faced with educational difficulties, American families also struggled
The college application process sometimes looks like a dice game. Parents and students calculate various odds. After all, the competition among top universities is so fierce. So much so that some fanaticism appeared in order to win the famous schools. The most typical ones are school district houses and remedial classes. Yes, this phenomenon also exists in American education.
With the rise of a high school's reputation and status, there is often fierce competition. Many families have moved to high-quality communities with their families, making great efforts to educate their children and making big bets. Some parents are willing to donate a large amount of money to the school in order to obtain an admission pass.
The remedial classes around the school are like a new industrial zone. On the leaflet, these institutions have written slogans such as "improving SAT performance", "1500 reinsurance" and "elite". There are also many parents who will ask extra tutors for their children and help them at home on weekends.
In addition, under the fierce competition of famous schools, there are also students who often investigate which subjects are relatively unpopular. Although some students are not interested in gardening, they begin to consider gardening as their major. However, in fact, there are thousands of universities and colleges in the United States, many of which have their own characteristics, and individual departments are not inferior to or even superior to famous universities. Focusing only on a few top schools has led some students to make abnormal choices against their inner will.
It can be seen that these common educational problems are also faced by the United States. As far as students are concerned, high school students have heavy learning pressure and little sleep time; As far as families are concerned, educational anxiety is also playing a role. Finally, we see that no matter where we receive education, it is not easy.
Although there are differences between the education systems of China and the United States, there are many similarities worth thinking about. For children, too much pursuit of high grades may lose the fun of learning. In addition to the facilitation role of parents and schools, children should strive to adjust the balance between scores and interests, choose fields they love more, and put their energy into more passionate places.
And parents should be a balance adjuster. Children with low pressure should apply pressure appropriately, but if children are diligent and eager to learn, they should properly channel pressure and make dynamic adjustments. When it comes to education investment, whether it is remedial classes or family relocation, full consideration should also be given to children's wishes. If all this is just pressure for children, thinking "I must behave well for my parents", it may not achieve the desired effect.
(Statement: This article only represents the author's view, not Sina.com's position.)
