Real Talk

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 Reflecting on the transitions from my first blog post up to my most recent, I feel like the number one issue within my community has been a lack of good education in school. My most recent thesis statement questions if we should fix our learning system with standardized testing, and through my sources, I've come to the conclusion it would be a good idea worth trying. The information in my sources regarding standardized testing in US schools address the benefits and setbacks that come with this sort of education tool. Of all the sources, I think the best is the one that covers Finland as #3 in education in comparison to other countries and the way they have implemented standardized testing in their schools. It comes across as the most useful because the United States has tried to use standardized testing in the past, but comparing the methods of use is important to identify and correct mistakes.  One viewpoint from a source I listed claimed that standardized testing is a way t...

Source: https://bigthink.com/the-present/standardized-testing/ This source uses Finland as a reference to another country that has done standardized testing. I included this source because it shows that there is a way to include standardization in education as a tool and not suffer because of it. This country has ranked number 3 of the world in a 2021  High School Completion Rate World Economic Forum's Global Competitive study despite this sort of testing being scrutinized in the states under the No Child Left Behind Act. To be fair, the NCLB Act was certainly not perfect in any way. Still, I think if it had been done properly, the US wouldn't be so behind in education in comparison to some other countries.  Source: https://sites.psu.edu/martinoci/2013/02/17/the-positives-of-standardized-testing/ This source makes the point of standardized testing is a good way to learn key content. They do mention teaching to a test, however that doesn't necessarily mean that the lesson ...

  For a long while, there has been arguments about whether schools should be standardizing material.  Standardized testing in school is when exams are designed and administered in the same manner for everyone. In order to pass standardized tests, all test takers have to learn the same material usually provided by the test administrator. Popular examples of such exams would be state driving tests, Advanced Placement (AP) exams, Scholastic Assessment Tests (SATs), or The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) exam. My reasoning to transitioning to this question from my last, is because I believe that if we were to standardize classes, specifically history ones, the issues with misinformation and radicalized behavior mentioned in my previous blog posts would be minimized. Here's why: In the United States, only 23 states have mandatory Holocaust education.  That means that of the 50 states, 27 of them have people who may have never heard of the horrible events th...

           Upon reflection of my previous blog-post , I realized every issue I pointed out within the Gen Z [and even millennial/boomer] community stems from the same source. That source being, people who are chronically online. Therefore, my main question will be: "What is happening to the chronically online youth?".      Calling people chronically online refers to " those who spend so much time online it skews their sense of reality and hinders their ability to effectively communicate about topics like politics or social justice because they lack real-world experience".  In other words, their entire belief system was brainwashed into them by the internet.       The reason I picked this subject is because I've noticed a regression among people in my age group. By regression I mean, behaviors in 2022 and on-wards are starting to mirror life 1965 and prior.  Young people of color, a community I also belong ...

Community is best interpreted as groups of people with a common interest, goal, or some other unifying factor.  When I consider the communities I am a part of, I largely focus on people within my age group. Regardless of whatever labels I apply to myself.      Being born in Generation Z during the age of the internet means that most of us relate with others who grew up with the same access to millions of sites filled with information, right at our fingertips. Aside from just accessing these sites, we can also instantly communicate with anyone in the world with a few clicks. Our ability to spread messages at a moment's notice is why the issue I'd like to focus on within my community, is GroupThink.  Groupthink is a phenomenon in which a group of people desires harmony or conformity. This desire results in irrational or dysfunctional decision-making. A place I find groupthink to be more prevalent is on social media. Whether it be Facebook, Twitter, or TikTok, it ...