Do kids care about an education?

Some won’t care. Don’t be one of those. It sounds like you have a good grip on things. Stay on course and you’ll do great.

The smart ones do.

I always cared about mine, and it made me angry when my classmates would say how “stupid” school was.

i think that pooling ‘most kids’ together as care/don’t care is foolish. it depends on culture, individual ideas, etc. it’s also important to keep in mind that a lot of kids care about education, but are not keen on the school structure. i don’t like school, but i do see why it’s important. however, i love learning.

i know a lot of kids who hate school, but are really interested in being educated.

I think a lot of it has to do with the parents’ attitude on education. If a parent lets a kid come home and play Xbox all night and has no initiative to ask about homework then that surely isn’t going to help.

All the top kids in my high school had parents that involved themselves in their child’s education.

I used to cut school to go to the public library.

I know a lot of similar people. When you can learn more cutting class than you can by attending class, it might seem like you don’t care about your education. But that isn’t always the case.

Stay in school.

My kids do so far. My oldest is 15, and she flips if her grades slip below straight As. She might care a little too much.

@petethepothead
Hehe I “used” to do that

Hey, I’m a high school graduate now. I’m allowed to say that. ;)

Im not yet, but now they require a signed pass to enter the library so that means I have to go to p.e. now

Like everything else, it epends on the kid.

I agree that parental involvement is key. Of course, this requires the parent has their head on straight about education.

I called one of my (college) students once to see why he had been missing class. I get the mother on the phone who proceeds to chastise me for “making my boy think he can be somebody. He ain’t no better than the rest of us and needs to quit wasting time with school and get a job”.

I was floored, but I’ve subsequently run into far too many parents with that attitude.

@cprevite Holy crap. That’s awful.

@Parrappa. I think a good deal of kids do care about their education and try to do the best they can, much like you. And kudos to you for doing your best and understanding why it is so important. It will certainly be to your benefit later on.

I’m an example of a person that understood education was necessary and meaningful (especially in high school) although I didn’t apply myself as diligently as I could have and I missed some opportunities that would have been beneficial if I would have studier harder and been more devoted.

All these years later, I still recognize that learning can be a motivating and important part of life and I’m still working towards finishing an Associates degree. I’m at the point where I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and it was worth the journey.

As many previous Flutherites stated, it depends on the kid. My friends generally care about their education. I’m a straight “A” perfectionist, so as you can imagine, I care majorly about my education. I’m your age and entering my sophomore year as well, and am taking all honors classes, plus AP Calculus and AP World History. Sadly, some of my friends aren’t taking advanced/honors classes when they have the ability just because they don’t want to put in the effort. And, unfortunately, I know of all too many kids who just couldn’t care less. It’s unfortunate when people don’t understand the value of a good education, because those people will suffer later in life. I consider myself lucky to have such great educational opportunities and try my absolute best to achieve good grades so that I can enter a great college and become a successful, knowledgeable adult.

A lot of kids who don’t seem to care about learning actually haven’t had the switch flipped on for them. Answering the questions at the end of the chapter of the book-type learning isn’t for everyone. Every person engages differently, so I wouldn’t go so far as to say your schoolmates don’t care, though I’m sure there are a few who don’t.

There are some people who don’t care. And sometimes you just have to give people the benefit of the doubt.
I definitely care about my education, but I complain as much as the next person. “Erg, I wish school was over. I don’t want to wake up early. Do I have to? This essay is so stupid!” You know. But I still care, it’s just sort of a pain sometimes.
Most of the people I know do care as well. It shows in different ways. Some are high strung and HAVE to get straight A’s and strive to be valedictorian. Others are more relaxed, still try hard, occasionally get poor marks, but they just go with the flow and don’t get too stressed. I find that by the time the college process starts you can tell which people care about their education. The ones that apply for schools are the ones that care! (And there may be a few who don’t, but do.)

Education and learning are vital. School is often a waste of time.

Smart kids do.

As others have said, it depends on the kid and what they see themselves doing in life.

My daughter wants to be a doctor. She studies as hard as she can so she can keep her grades up. She acknowledges that sometimes school is a waste of time, but she agrees with me that any day you learn something new is a good one. She values education because it will let her do what she wants to do with her life. She values school because of the social connections it offers her, because of sports, and because completing it well will give her entrance to the next step closer to becoming a doctor.

My son, OTOH, hates school, sees no reason to learn things such as algebra and Texas history, and is absolutely convinced that all he needs is a Commercial Driver’s License and he will make a mint as a truck driver. He has few friends at school and refuses to participate in extracurricular activities. I fight to get him to not only do his homework, but also to do his work at school.

As a child I attended school regularly and generally received average grades and scores. I constantly enjoyed learning about what interested me (the school curriculum usually being the opposite of such) and sought to learn more about these concepts, however this was simply for my own sake, I had no concious care for my education and the primary reason for my even attaining average grades, aside from my ability to do so, was likely to appease my parents and teachers as I was just happy obliviously swimming around in my own mind during classes and feeling patronised by adults disturbed this exercise. My parents were very involved with my education (having taught my three older brothers before me) but I disagree with those that claim that this encourages all children to care about their education, to me it just made something that was tiresome drag on further through the day.
Having came into my mid-adolescence I began to appreciate education in many ways and now read and study regularly, though such is generally still for my own sake. Formal education remains somewhat dull and prosaic.
I have described my experience with lower formal education to illustrate a point that many have already expressed. Whether or not a child cares about education is entirely dependant upon the child in question. Additionally, whether or not a child cares about education does not dictate their feelings on the matter in the future, nor their intelligence (though i’m a poor example of the latter).

@Tink1113 bummer! I don’t quite like P.E. I prefer to read books, too, and just chill at the library.
:)

@cyndihugs I know but, we only have to do p.e 2 years here :)

same here…
:)

:)

I wish my kids had your insight! My daughter only goes to school to socialize! The fact that she was supposed to graduate last year and didn’t is proof that she could care less. My son, well the majority knows what he’s done! (Gang member). So from the POV of how my kids are, “No they don’t care”.

What I HATED about school was getting up early, I missed a lot of school because of it. I think a lot of kids say they don’t like school because it is cool to say so, and a lot times the cool kids ar enot great students. I wish I had studied more in school.

My education and creativity was and is number one for. Just now, I have a family and future to consider. The smart ones care about education. Far too many don’t care, blame the parents.

I certainly do. I know many kids my age and older who hate school and would drop out if they could afford to. But in some ways I have to agree with them because the way school is set up is just not working. Getting up that early and only having one lunch break is ridiculous for teens and younger students; not to mention the poor education standards. Teenagers and younger students are forced to have to go to these lack luster schools where they are filled with crappy teachers and pathetic worksheet education. Which is definitely not quality education. I think schools should fire more bad teachers, give more breaks(at least two in addition to lunch; it can help students a bunch), and update their teaching and education standards and methods.
We can change schools, we just need to unite together and tell them we won’t put up with their poor quality. We have the rights to an education; not this madness.

I read a while back that some states are more in tune with the sleep needs of adolescents. I think it was parts of Minnesota and parts of California that at least were trying at the time a later school day, I think they had start times of 9:00 or 9:15am? I wonder how that worked out? I would have done much better in that environment. In high school we had the option of taking study hall so we could get our homework done, or have a “break” as mentioned above. Schools vary, if you go to a big school you most likely have lots of options in electives, which can make school more interesting and fun. I had a lot of choices in HS, which did make it better.

Here in our district in Southern Texas, one of the few good things they do (and they do it only because it means they need fewer school buses) is start elementary school at 8 am, but start secondary school at 9 am. And I know that my daughter is allowed to bring and consume snacks in most of her high school classes.

However, the quality of the education she is getting concerns me greatly.

sure, education is so much fun :)

@JLeslie I was about to say the same thing. I believe that many kids act like they couldn’t care less about school in order to appear cool in their friends eyes. These people may very well care deep down but their image in the eyes of thei friends is more important to them at that time. I am sure kids like that actually regret that attitude they had once they have left school and enter the real world.

Personally I have always loved learning but I didn’t enjoy school very much (although I can’t say I hated it either). I put the work in most of the time but their were certain subjects that I didn’t care whether my grades were high, low or average. On the other hand, their were some subjects that I desperately wanted to excel in.

Some kids do, if encouraged to do so at an early age and they do well in school. Heck, my 13 yr. old twins are already planning college.

My daughter has been planning on college since age 8, when she decided she wanted to be a doctor. The particular university has changed several times Rice, then TCU, then UT, then Baylor, with U. California Berkeley and UConn being considered for a while as has her choice of medical specialty currently it is plastic surgery, but at 17 she is getting ready to actually start on that long and arduous road.

I don’t remember a time when I didn’t assume that I was going to college. However, at age 5 was when I first settled on an acedemic area of study. That was archeology, which was replaced when I was 12 and saw World Without Sun.”

I was a kid that cared about my education – that’s because it was something my parents valued and because I loved school. I, to this day, value education and love school. I hope to instill the love of learning while understanding the negatives and positives of the American education system in my kids.

Some people don’t let school interfere with their education…I think Mark Twain said that… I agree some really smart people believe that school is just a place to put kids when the parents are at work…
I always cut school and watched the discovery channel and went into the libraries that my city offered… other times I stayed on Light-Rail-Transit and read a whole novel before I had decided to go home.