Generation X>

chester cheetah
If the kids in school have to go through what I go through in real life, I'd insist on home schooling if Iwas a kid.
Little Nemo
It's easy to say that you don't have to settle for being told "don't work ahead", in hindsight, but little kids don't always know that. I was a stubborn little brat, though. :) I always assumed my teachers were idiots... Really, though. I was reading at a high school or maybe even college level in first grade, but the teachers made me sit in the reading groups anyway, reading Dick and jane stories. They were boring and slow. I was never allowed to read ahead. I got in trouble for that kind of thing. That's not much of a way to get a kid like me excited about school.
Little Nemo
whoa. nifty bug in the header of that last post.
ShadowStalker
i've met people that were home schooled... most close minded people i've ever met. just my experiences though, and i am in pullman, so things tend to be a little sheltered over here... (to say the least..)
JayDee
I saw that one on a post of mine on another board, LN it may be catching... eep...
Penthesilea
Yes. I could read farther than most people as well, at that age. And it made doing homework really boring and pointless. And now I don't want to do anything. =) I still find college classes to be slow, however. Maybe when I get past all the silly requirements, it'll perk up a bit.
Khasim
Nope. Independent studies is the way to go. College is boring. High School was boring. Grade school was brain dead. Just a place to stuff the hyperactive little freaks until they were old enough to care for themselves. On the cool side, several bands are getting together to do covers of the Education Rock series. Mass radical.
John
Why are you toiling in "silly requirements" if you find them too slow? It's your money. Why are you paying people to waste your time? Come by my house, and you can pay me to waste your time.
JayDee
I know some kids that like school
John
Are we talking about pre-teens here, Phil?
JayDee
foreign languages...urf...
Penthesilea
I'm taking silly requirements because I would eventually like to get a BS at the very least, and they have this thing about taking all their silly requirements to receive such an item.
John
It's not that you want to get a B.S. You want to get a B.S. from a school with requirements that you consider silly. That is your choice.
Penthesilea
all requirements are silly. everywhere. not just in school.
Little Nemo
I guess that's why you go to Evergreen, so that you don;t have to deal with requirements. :) Truth is, though, I think it's good to have some requirements. There are classes I would have never taken if they weren't required (for my AA at SCCC; I got my BA from Evergreen), and I'm really glad I took them, like Intro to Logic. But I wish I could have tested out of some of the other requirements. John, I was talking about pre-teens when I was talking about teachers stifling the intelligent/creative students by not letting them work ahead or not giving them work that is suitable for their ability.
Twoflower
Intro to Logic is no longer the alternate to math 105 at SCCC [as I think it was a couple of years ago, when LN got her AA.] Math 107 is now the alternate [titled "Math: a practical art," and consisting of simple discrete math and statistics.] Some prerequisites are silly; others are not. If I hadn't had math 101, 105, and 107 [101 and most of 105 being review,] I would probably be having a difficult time in discrete math right now, and be view calculus with dread.
Penthesilea
I don't go to evergreen. And I thought that intro to philosophy and logic sounded interesting. =) It's the english requirements that kill me. I HATE writing. I loathe writing. I wouldn't mind writing about something like science fiction, or poetry, but I hate research papers. Ah, well. I hate everything, I suppose. =) Except math. Math is fun. And logic was looking to be fun, as well.
john hinkley
so who cares math is pointless give it a rest
Little Nemo
Sounds like you were lucky, John. I would have loved to have teachers like yours. I did have them occasionally, but not often enough. A lot of teachers wouldn't allow me to work ahead or give me enrichment activities because they didn't want me to be different from the other kids. hmph. I always had plenty of things to do at home, but in school I had to sit and follow along in the dick and jane reader when I would rather have been reading huckleberry finn or something. (Yes, I was reading Mark Twain at age 5. I think that was a little early for Huckleberry Finn, though Tom Sawyer was easy to get through. :) It just drove me crazy. I was so bored. And if I tried to read ahead or something, I got in trouble.
Cloister the Stupid
I was banned from the computers after my partner programmed it to say something "dirty"
Livia
my second grade teacher punished me for reading in class (when i had already finished whatever we were supposed to be doing) she and my mother came up with this nefarious scheme involving "book tickets", which were some dorky little mimeographed pieces of paper with flowers on them. if i didn't read in class that day, i could come up to her desk at the end of the day (in front of everyone else, of course), and get my book ticket. if i came home with a book ticket, i would be allowed to read whatever i wanted; if i didn't, i wasn't allowed to read at all whee ha of course, what it actually accomplished was to make me good at sneaky reading
JayDee
oh, wasn't school such a cherished experience... right
The Raven
One question: Are any of you in school NOW? I can say, the problem isn't so bad as it used to be. I'm in tenth grade now, and they supple honors classes it you want them- I'm in Int. III Mathematics, (Algebra was in seventh grade), Honors World History, Honors Chemistry, and Spanish III. They wanted to skip me to four, but scheduling didn't permit it. Same with computer programming- I didn't get it, so I'm teaching myself. I have to admit, I could be doing more right now. They require all tenth-graders to take the same english class (a TOTAL breeze) and I'm in some dumb Health-class...Could sleep and ace it. Next to all that, though, I'm reading The Stand, A Clockwork Orange, 3 books of poetry, and a science fiction novel, plus several others on the Holocaust, for myself and a research project in History. I'm teaching myself how to program, playing soccer, doing community service....You can't really say that school is BORING or stupid- It's really your own fault. If you have, if you blast through all your homework, do some outside reading, other activities, whatever....Don't limit yourself just because they make you read WAY below your level.... Get what I'm saying?
Cloister the Stupid
I'm in college. Phil is either in high school or is doing running start... most of the problem is in elementary and middle school anyway. by the time you reach high school most of what you are learning is social.
John
The Raven said it all.
LA REINE
my mom knew that taking away tv privledges did't rock my world like it should have. when she got really mad she'd threaten to take away my books. and those i can't live without.
JayDee
I had a series of Logic and Rhetoric verrrry interesting, to say the least the instructors were renegades, too... but I don't think it beats math math is god
Grendel
I had Intro to Logic. It beats math hands down.
Starfleet Academy
Room "Generation X>" created by Captain James T Kirk
John
I hated Logic.
Penthesilea
I think I would take logic even if it wasn't required. And all the math classes. They're fun. :) (really!)
Blain Nelson
The Raven -- I'm glad your school's like that. It sounds neat. My school wasn't and I'll guarantee still isn't. Livia -- that kind of crap really burns me up. I hate that aspect of schools, and that there are parents that will play those kind of games because they think that the schools know everything so they'd better.
Little Nemo
The Raven is misunderstanding, though. I think most of us made the most of our spare time, and did as much outside reading and learning as possible. But I can tell you that many times, especially in the primary grades, it is not possible to do anything in class except what the teacher will allow. Livia's story sounds quite familiar to me. Sure, when you are in high school you can actually choose your own classes and so on. It's a little more flexible. But in elementary school you have no choices. It's really up to the teacher whether you can do anything to enrich the learning experience, at that age. It's nice to know that you are able to fill your life with activity, Raven. But the situation is a little different.
Little Nemo
I mean, I've said it before and I'll say it again. I've been talking about young kids, kindergarten to 5th or 6th grade at the latest. Mostly K-3. High school is a whole 'nother ball of wax.
JayDee
I'm just thankful that my people knew that the schools were full of catcrap, and had the ways and means to deal with them effectively, too...had to bust some heads and lay out some cash so that I could at least have the experience and had sense enough not to push too hard, and let me drag my feet abit, too
Twoflower
We did have, in my elementary school, a program called "Great Books," where advanced students (those who could read well,) were invited once a week meet and discuss a book the group was reading. Unfortunately, you did have to be nominated by your teacher, and I think there were only a dozen people in the group (out of 300 students) at any one time, but it was a very different experience from books in class.
JayDee
oh, yes...many suprises, indeed some of them very, very nice...
The Raven
Dang, I'm not sure what to say... Elementary school, Junior high...Never a problem! I was wrong in saying that it is totally up to you- In the earlier grades, you're pretty much under the teacher's hand. I hadn't thought of that... It's the craziest thing I've ever heard of, though! Teacher forcing you to stop doing something extra when you've finished with the assigned work...I'd never even heard of such a thing, and I didn't think a teacher could be low enough to work like that. But humanity reveals, in the end, many surprises...
JayDee
LA wasn't a picnic, no-way... and, it seems, that the more upper-class the school the higher the level of viciousness... nasty, cruel little piglets without a trace of decency or honor sneak up on you and smash you with a board or pound you with stones... yeah...the real cutting-edge in education the Greasers and The Rat Pack out in Pomona didn't stand a chance, tho damm lowlifes...
Livia
well, this was in rural vermont not exactly the cutting edge of education
Twoflower
my mom used to send me to my room. even after she realized that i'd just go and read. she never did "take them away," and in fact kept to her "if you'll read 'em, I'll buy you 1 book a week" promise from first grade all the way through the time i moved away from home (again.) so i have this library of some 400 or so books, mostly sci-fi/fantasy, sitting around in boxes until i figure out how to get them in my new apartment.
Corpus Delectable
I did fairly well in elementary school, a little better in middle school, & pretty terrible in high school....math came very hard for me, I couldn't understand much of, even though I tried & tried, I just got more mixed-up & confused when it came to math, esp. story problems & fractions, which I still can't do very wll & hate. I did pretty well in English & writing, which I really liked.
Phil
yeah, i'm in running start, a nifty little program that has the state pay for me to be bored at the local community college instead of high school. and yeah, the damage is done before high school. by the time you get into 9th or 10th grade, your path is pretty much set, for better or worse.
The Raven
I forget about violence for a short time there... (HOW, I have no idea!) There are no "Gun Free Zone" signs at my school. No violence (that I'm aware of). Decent school spirit. Lots of stuff going on... Can I safely say that I'm a lucky one, enrolled in a high-end school? Or am I forgetting anything?
JayDee
only had to use my head like that, once...on a huge fuckin' giant d00d gave him a headbutt knocked the sucka out cold avoided getting my ass violently torn-off me... there-ya-go
John Shannon
I also never experienced violence directed at me in high school. I think it's still relatively easy to avoid if you just use your head from time to time.
Montesquieu Miller
if you just use your head... so when you're walking home from school at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and three guys you don't think you've ever seen before get off of a school bus on a corner you're walking by, and immediately leap at you and start punching you in the neck, back, and shoulders, you should start using your head. nah. my two friends and I just kept walking and giving each other quizzical looks. it only lasted about ten seconds. I hope they were less amused than we were.
JayDee
they really hate it when you won't even acknowlege their existence, and totally ignore their attack, completely plus, they become rather confused, as well heh...
JayDee
hmm... they caught me that was a bad move on their part...
John
People chased me once that I can remember. I ran into someone's house, acting like it was my own. They left.
Montesquieu Miller
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Montesquieu Miller
yes, um, was when my dad packed all of my rpg stuff into big boxes and "hid" them in the basement. actually, it wasn't exactly an impediment, because it inspired me to hone my stealth abilities. in fact, I even bought a lot of things over again and hid them under my mattress and behind shelves...
John
I don't recall being "grounded". A few times, there was the threat to take away my computer, but I would have freaked. My mom wasn't really into the concept of grounding, anyway.
John
Oh, the phone was a point of contention. I'd use the modem at 2am for a few hours (300 baud). My step-father would say I shouldn't because his father is 84, and something might happen! I told him if grandpa died, there wouldn't be anything he could do about it, anyway. Well, the funny part is that now grandpa is 90.
Megamol
You'd be surprised how much getting A's in the"real world" is like getting A's in school. If you're smart enough to know which buttons to push with your boss the results are the same as they are with a teacher. In the business world they call this "Office Politics"....
The Raven
You're all explaining, in a way, what school teaches you BESIDES everything else, which never seems to be much anyway....It has taugh me how to get good grades. Yeah, man, I'll work for every single A I can, but learning...It dwindles in the face of all those A's and 99% grades. Appeal to the teacher rather than explore and uncover. Perfect pointless papers and projects JUST to get them over with AND grab that good grade....... When I try to get those A's in the realy world, I'm not sure what I'm going to do... Rely on everything that school HASN'T taughtt me? Probably...
The Raven
heh...TAUGHT, even...
John
But Raven, it sounds like you're well on your way. If you can postpone your own interest and inquiry for a teacher, imagine what you can do for an employer!
JayDee
disgusting office politics
Megamol
Yes, office politics are disgusting, but they are also a fact of life...
JayDee
depends...
John
Depends on where you work, I guess.
Pyromania
Well, our education system is pretty much fucked, anyway. I feel envious of those who say they've never had violence directed at them...it'd be nice. I think I'll always remember school as this place where I cannot be myself, or I get assholes threatening to beat me up for no reason other than that I (And these are pretty awful) Have red hair, Have glasses, Am not obnoxious to everyone around me (I guess this is supposed to make one popular, I have no idea why), and Am a quiet person who actually attemps to get some learning done, in the face of the school system. Being myself garnered me a punch in the jaw in metal shop (which I took not because it looked easy, but because it looked interesting - apparently a unique motive in the class), some fool threatening to beat the crap out of me for walking a certain road back home, a complete lack of acceptance anywhere in any school, and the contempt of all the "beautiful people" who you had to be liked by in order to avoid all the other things. So, at school I become a different person. One who is still somewhat quiet, but more outgoing than I am; one who insults others and gets respected for it; one who gives less effort to his work than he really should, and consequently doesn't do as well as he could. I still refuse to associate with the jocks, and I still respect the fairer sex too much to be rude and condecending to them (another thing which baffles me - however, this also means that I haven't been out on a date in any of my 16 years). But still, I become a person I don't like, yet am forced to become anyway. This is why I will never like it. I only hope that I can manage to lead a somewhat pleasant life in the future.
JayDee
I usually took bullying up to the point where they drew first blood then I tore the person up and after that, I was not messed with at that school there was only one hs that I attended, that did not have bullies, fighting, or other such shit...the hs in Smyrna, Ga...no...two...the one I went to in Marietta, Ga, before I went to the tech school it wasn't Marietta High, but one off on the rich peoples' side of town at Marietta High, Billy Joe Royal was always getting his ass kicked, not because he was a "star", but because he was a nasty little rat bastard...
John
I was very well-known in high school. I suspect this helped me avoid acts of random violence.
Bookworm
Pyro- I understand where you are coming from. Sounds like some of the schools that I went to.
Freejack
damn... my earlier years where much more violent than described... and this was in the burbs... when the burbs were something...
Bookworm
CD- sounds kind of like the middle school I went to. (all the cliques) I personally spent most of my time in the library.
Blade Runner
Sounds as if high school hasn't changed much in many, many years.
Corpus Delectable
I spent a great deal of my time sitting in the library reading or drawing or just relaxing, trying to make friends got tiring & when I got tired of dealing with life or when schoolwork got too hard i'd just go someplace quiet & be in my own little world, even for a few moments....only thing is they didn't like it when I cut class to hang out in the back of the library & avoid life....even sent me to a shrink & counselour a few times to find out why I was avoiding things. I was an average kid, liked to wear long skirts & hippy clothes & wqas often depressed cuz my folks worked a lot & I was alone a lot, which made me sadder.....thank God for radios & books!
Bookworm
Thank God for books is right!
Cloister the Stupid
I found that being on first name basis with the administration as a result of my work on the newspaper gave me a lot of freedom. Having the press pass helped a great deal.
The Raven
You sound JUST like me, CD.....Things haven't changed at all, and I don't know that they ever will. The cliques, the groups where I just don't "fit in"....It's tough, but I've learned to live with it, to just keep myself indifferent. Besides, I think I've finally started to become myself at school- After years of doing it their way, I'm becoming my own person, and I don't have to fit into any of those cliques now... It's still a shame, though, when someone has to live through all that...I HATED school for that one reason. I didn't want to see anybody. I could hardly deal with it. In a way, I've been lucky, figuring things out so well. If I hadn't been getting better, I'm sure school would still be hell...
Bookworm
True Raven. Things haven't changed. I hope they do in the future though.
Corpus Delectable
We should get together & talk sometime, Raven, we do sound a lot alike...I am still learning/discovering things about myself these days..It'll be funny if my high school ever has a high school reunion someday....I've matured quite a bit & several years ago met a really great guy & am happily married now. I am still pretty shy but much more open & cheerful than I ever was back then. :)
Corpus Delectable
Saw the movie Threesome a few days ago. Nice flic, about these 3 20-something college kids, two guys & a gal, who are stuck living together in the same dorm room & who eventually become friends & fall in love with each other. Has some hillarious moments & some very touching, emotional ones. Also has some nice threeway love scenes....& good alternative music.
Spur
every generation is generation x:
Spur
hesse in steppenwolf: Every age, every culture, every custom and tradtion has its own character, its own weakness and its own strength, its beauties and ugliness; accepts certain sufferings as matters of course, puts up patiently with certain evils. Human life is reduced to real suffering, real hell, only when two ages, two cultures and religions overlap. A man of the Classical Age who had to live in medievbal times would suffocate miserably just as a savage does in the midst of our civilisation. Now there are times when a whole generation is caught in this way between two ages, two modes of life, with the consequence that it loses all power to understand itself and has no standard, no security, no simple acquiescence. Naturally, everyonce does not feel this equally strongly. A nature such as Nietzsches had to suffer our present ills more than a generation in advance. What he had to go through alone and misunderstood, thousands suffer today.
Spur
written a long time ago
Prick
what the fuck makes generation x think its any different from any othehr generation i mean shit problems change but the core is always the same jesus the only thing that changes is technology and does generation x want to go down in history as being the first generation to consider themselves fucked by technology? i think not, you take away all the fucking technological privileges and what do you have you have a whole world full of whining babies generation x generation schmx
John
Any thrusting members? I hope so.
Helix Quark
only on the fencing team ...
The Raven
You sound just like your name, guy. Coincidence? Egad.
The Raven
Wow....That sounded good CD, the "get together and talk" part. But have you taken into account our age differences? Or do you know? Heh....I'm 15. The thought just seems a little awkward now... (OR, were you think/typing out loud? :) ) Dang, I've wanted to see Threesome. Course, I have parents who are against that urge, and so I'll have to wait. Until when, I'm not sure....
Blade Runner
A bit extreme but sometimes I think many people out there are whining. I'm considered a generation x'er, so what, big deal, most of the problems I have many people older than me went through when they were my age. What's the big difference? I don't know... maybe I'm just tired of hearing about how my generation is so screwed up, how bad we have it, etc. etc. I didn't get the name of the person who said that the problems have just moved down grades. I don't know if they have. I remember being verbally abused almost every day in elementary school, kids are like that, I just got over it and really thought they were just being immature kids, which they were. Such is life, live and learn. I also remember a few kids bringing knives to school and other makeshift weapons, because they thought it was "cool". No guns though. I think it has become worse, sure, but I also think that some of it may have just come out into the open. The kids doing this stuff have been allowed to get away with it and they have become more bold in these areas. no boundaries. Boy, if someone had been caught in my elementary school with a knife or something they would have been punished good. Usually something involving both parents and principal communicating about the punishment. I don't think that happens today, so the kids get away with it. anyway, I wish my thoughs were more coherent on this right now.
Sanguine
cloister the stupid: like your t/s. jennifer warnes did the only version i am familiar with. lesse... "they sentenced me to 20 years of boredom for trying to change the system from within... " cool song. cd: does it work out? and was it 2 femmes and a man or two men and one femme? i have found that men seem to think that it is degrading in some way for THEM to be the "third", but not for women. strange.
Black Adder
not really..... :)
Helix Quark
what makes them think they are different is: human nature. everyone thinks that they are different than the Other.
Corpus Delectable
Way back in my elementary school, if you did somthing bad a couple of the teachers had paddles, wooden ones, some with holes, & you'd get a swat or two, if your teacher wasn't one of those or who decided otherwise, you usually got a "time-out" where you had about an hour or so of sitting by yourself & occasionally with another kid in the hallway...or sent to the vice principal or principal, but only if it was something really bad...& in middle school or high school, similar stuff, & detention, sitting in this little room being watched & made to do homework or educational quizes & tests for an hour or so after school.
John
I talked to a fellow 20-something today. She just got a job with AmericaCorps. It sounds like the sort of thing that makes Whippersnapper cringe. But this person was right: It *is* hard to get a spiffy job these days. For someone bright like her, I imagine that's aggrivating. So anyway, AmeriCorps is sending her to Vermont to help some community transfer to a more sustainable economy. Her job is to surf the Internet collecting information, or something like that. She threatened my idea of what to do when you're young and stuck in wage laborland. Well, she really didn't. I still think you should move to a small town where living is cheaper, and flip *their* burgers instead of our own. I know people in Olympia who live on stunningly low budgets, and seem quite happy.
Knight Shade
no not at all.
Sanguine
ks: you're different. ;D
Corpus Delectable
Sanguine: I won't give out the ending of the film....:) that would be giving too much asbout the movie away...it was these two guys, one straight, one bi, & this gal.
Corpus Delectable
The Raven: yes, I was thinking that we should get together & talk...you seem like a pretty nice guy from what I've seen....& I have no problem with people's ages, esp. young guys. >wink< Sanguine: The film is about these two guys, one straight, one bi, & this cute straight gal.....& I'm not telling the ending, but most of the time the three get along pretty well...
Quinn the Eskimo
I'm seeing cliques at school for the first time, and I'm scared because I'm in a really small one. But at least my life revolves around me, rather than the clique....
Sanguine
qte: are you scared because you're in one, or because it's small?
Saint Augustine
Well, I am a disciple of the one true Cohen. Actually, I am only familiar with her as one of Leonard Cohen's back up vocalists. (You know, perhaps I should mention that I am also Cloister the Stupid....hmmmm) I would kind of like to hear the REM version of First We Take Manhatten, I think it was on the first version of I'm Your Fan... The pitiful so called poets of GenX angst could learn a lot from Leonard Cohen. Cohen manages to convey extreme pain without constant whining about his sex life and how he always gets the fuzzy end of the lollypop where chicks are involved.
Quinn the Eskimo
no, I'm just plain scared.
Prick
leonard cohen just makes you go "yeah" alot
Prick
and then you sigh
The Raven
(hey, sounds good CD! now how do we set this in motion? or do we?) Cohen, Cohen.....sounds familiar, but I can't place him....
Megamol
Raven, if you remember a song called Suzanne......that's Cohen.
Ruadh
Maybe cliques are a necessary response to a society where not everyone can know everyone else... I don't think it's possible to eliminate them. In fact, in college, that's almost all you find, but the difference is that nobody cares as much, because they're all too busy. Or at least that was my experience. High school was hellish -- I was a Navy brat, a perennial outsider. In college everyone has to start fresh.
Lady Non Sequitur
I don't think you can avoid cliques -- people tend to tribe together according to interests and common characteristics ... the hard part is not getting closed minded about the rest of the groups out there ... I was never part of a clique, just a hopper between several, and I think I prefer that ... harder to get stereotyped, harder to get stuck in a rut...
The Wanderer
Alright, BA.... I AM The Wanderer, The Raven, and The Grey King. Happy? Heh...
uncle herb
Belonging to cliques is something all of the people I hang with grew out of in their early to mid 20's. None of my friends think of themselves as "goths," "yuppies," "punks," or what-have-you. They're all just themselves. After one reaches a certain maturity level, it's possible to be comfortable simply with that.
Lady Non Sequitur
most of my friends don't classify themselves as any particular group, but they do classify the groups overall ... a'course, yuppies aren't usually welcome ... values tend to conflict too much ... I don't know how much people grow out of it -- witness the country clubs, D.A.R., church groups and what-have-you that adults stratify themselves with ... just different names and features ... I'd say being comfortable with yourself might also include admitting that you are part of one particular aspect of the scene, be it goth, punk or what-not...
john hinkley
Some adventure, eh boys@!?!
Generation X> _