Botstein's Critique of the American High School

Botstein’s critique of the American High School Reading Leon Botstein’s critique of the American high school really made me think about what would be most beneficial to our country. Is eight years of school too long? I disagree with Botstein's critique because of maturity, work load, and adulthood. When students are walking through the halls of the American high school, most sixteen year olds are not acting like mature adults - they are teenagers! Sixteen year olds are not mature enough to handle living on their own or in a dorm at this age, and taking responsibility for themselves. That is the time to make mistakes, and learn for later in life. At age sixteen, you are just allowed to get your license. Getting your license and head off to college is a huge change. If the school graduation age was lowered, driving would probably need to be lowered too. That would cause for more crashes, deaths, and injuries then there are now. If Junior High is cut out of the picture, the homework load would mostly likely be increased by a ton, since three years of schooling was cut out, making student’s tests so long and hard. This woul probably cause school days to become longer too. This change would create so much stress within these secondary schools, many students probably drop out. High schools now are giving students so much homework and hard tests, it is almost unbearable. Imagine if three extra years were added on top of your three years of high school. That is six years of learning, with only three years to learn it. But on the opposing side agreeing with Botstein, some teachers are so easy, you do not understand how that can be your level of learning. Botstein says “Given the poor quality of recruitment and training for high school teacher, it is no wonder the curriculum and the enterprise of learning hold so little sway over young people” (153). Most high school students wait to get a job until 16, but if they graduate at 16, you would need to find a job around fourteen, and that is not legal for most cases. If the law decreased the graduation age, that would require to lower the minimum job age. Does America really think with one minimum wage job, a sixteen year old could pay for college, insurance, food, clothing, and more? Lowering the age would mean more students in college, so would that mean the universities would have to increase their tuition by even more? Tuition increases by thousands even single year, and that is causing Americans to not go to college because they can not afford it. When Botstein explains “... The real and virtual freedom of movement we associate with adulthood, are not accessible to every 15- and 16-year old” (154) , I do agree that students are open to too much media that is not appropriate for their age. Students are also just clicks away from getting the answers on their English, math, or history homework, without even trying. That is considered cheating, because the law does not enforce a rule similar to that. There should be specific limits on what students can or can not see and how they will not be able to get whatever they are looking for. Botstein’s opinion on the American high school can stir many thoughts about what our country should, or should not change. He lists many options for those who would not approve of his main concept, which I think are appropriate. But everyone has a different thought about this topic. He uses many examples, and has a strong persuasion, but some parts I do not think are necessary, like “The national outpouring after the Littleton [Columbine High School in Colorado,] shootings has forced us to confront something we have suspected for a long time” (Botstein 153). I partly understand his thinking, but I think that could be removed. It does not revolve much around the main topic. In the long-run, I think the graduation age should continue to be 18, because changing that one simple thing, will affect so much more. Are American teenagers ready for that type of responsibility when they are not even considered adults yet? Two years can have a huge impact on ones life.