Society+Online schooling for high school students= TOILET

Okay, so my friend just brought up this issue to me today, when she was driving back from one of her friends house. She was explaining to me how some schools are thinking about having high school students have the choice of either doing their classes online at thier own homes or going to their high school doing their classes the traditional way. I for one think that high school students are in NO way mature enough to make that type of decision. Mind you that yes, it could definately be beneficial to some students, for instance those who are being bullied at school, or in my case move all the time because their parents are affiliated with the military and move from base to base, students that have some type of disability, or even need something were they can work at their own pace. So, I'm totally not completely knocking the idea but I just don't think that we are ready for this one guys....

I think that more then anything it would hurt students more then help them. For example, children knowadays have no idea how to interact with people or talk to them. They are glued to their instant messengers, iphones, into sex texting and texting, more than calling people on their phones. Many high school sutdents that I have talked to or interacted with can not carry on a conversation with me, and just plain don't know how to talk. Or even write a decent paper for that matter.

We seriously need to think about this before we all let our teenagers sign up for online classes at home. This is what I think will happen if schools start intergrating this type of education in place or in additon to traditional education.

The Aftermath of online schooling for teens
- Higher Teen Pregnancy Rates
- Less, if any social interaction with their peers
- Lower testing scores
- Lower standards of education
- Teens will drop out and won't finish
- Low GPA's, which means many won't pursue higher education.

Now, you probably asking "But, Michelle what about home schooled children? Are you saying that they are damned also?" Well, class I'm going to say no. Because, you may not know this but MANY homeschooled children are actually schooled with their peers and those who aren't their parents usually have their children invovled in afterschool activities or organizations of that sort. There are also community groups for home schooled children also for them to have interaction with their peers and other students.

I think that my issue is with teens being able to take many or all classes online from their home is my fear that many of these teens will take these kind of course so they don't have to go to school and be lazy and not take it seriously.

Futhermore, to recount my statement since I'm a little on the fence as I keep writing this blog. I'm sure it will completely work for some students for sure, but might not work for others. I'm thinking that if teens are able to do this and school are integrating this kind of eduation like dual enrollment (where teens can take college classes at their local universities) that there should be a certaint standard to be able to take this certain classes. If I were on the school board for this decision these would be my requirements to be able to take online classes,courses ect...

REQUIREMENTS
A GPA of at least 3.5 or higher
Someone known as a leader
A Student who is already invovled in advanced placement classes, or taking dual enrollment at their local college.
Someone with a high attendance record.
A student who has no record of behavioral problems.

I know many of my requirements may seem little hardcore (I don't think so) but, I believe this is how it should be if our society wants to go through this kind of educational change.

So, now that I am done with my rantings, leave me a comment let me know what you think about this! I'm interested to know! Have a great week everybody!

XOXOXOXOXO