Greg+Opinion+Writing

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Schools are **not** preparing kids for the future
I think schools are not preparing kids for the future. A lot of things teachers do for us may keep us safe but it is often not the case in real life. You aren’t looked after in the real world as you are in school so I think you might as well get used to living in the real world early. You will be much more prepared and it won’t be such a big change after college.

Firstly if you make a mistake in school it doesn’t really matter because you can just start again but in life mistakes can prove costly. I’m not saying we should perform brain operations as toddlers. I’m just saying it needs to be more realistic. If we get something wrong we should have it explained to us clearly and then get a cross if it’s wrong. There is no point in having a small dot next to the answer saying bad luck, try again next time.

Furthermore, schools do not even try to explain to children about saving money for the future or investing of any sort. Kids learn about counting and multiplying but if you ask any child going to school, I’m sure 99 percent of them could not tell you how the Kiwi dollar is doing against the US at the moment or what the word finance even means. I think schools should teach this sort of thing to kids. All they are doing at the moment is preparing kids for the next step up like intermediate or college.

On the other hand maybe it’s a good thing we are not being prepared for the future as early as some may think. With a class of about thirty students, it would be very hard to cater for all their separate needs and the path they would like to follow in the future. At the age of five they might want to be a doctor. By the age of ten they might want to be a builder but by the age of twenty they might want to be a lawyer. This could hugely unsettle the path of the child because they will have to regularly start over and over again. Maybe the child should just be taught the normal subjects like maths and English at an early age until about year 12 when they know what they want to be.

Another point supporting this is the fact there are a lot of parents who want their kids to have a well paid job like being a doctor. If the kids don’t know what they would like to do with their life they might follow what their parents want and find themselves with a job they don’t want. They might have been much bigger things like an All Black if the school they went to didn’t make them choose their future path so early in life.

I think schools should be teaching children about things they can use in the future but not until the start of college. Intermediates and Primary schools should start teaching children about planning their future but not deciding on one just yet.

Keep the smacking law
Smacking is a cruel way to punish a child. It is happening every day and something had to be done about it. Sue Bradford of the Green party introduced a smacking ban in New Zealand in June 2007. But is it working? How can we stop further smacking in New Zealand? And why do some adults want the law to be changed back? I think the current smacking law is doing us a great deal of good and is helping a lot of families in New Zealand.

Research shows it is more likely for a parent that has come out of a violent family to smack their children or become violent themselves as adults. If we are going to live in a peaceful and safe society we are going to have to break the continuing acts of violence that have been passed down the generations. If a parent used to smack their child and then stopped, the child may realise it’s not okay to hit and change their violent ways too. A child may also find out other ways to deal with bad behaviour such as losing a privilege or having a time out in their room for a while as a punishment. They will be able to use these and other ideas to discipline a child when they are parents.

Another reason supporting this is the fact there is currently a law against animal cruelty. What gives you the right to smack a child if you can be fined and put in prison for hitting or being cruel to an animal? Furthermore, you can also be fined and jailed for hitting another adult so why should there be an exception for children?

Lastly, a smack inflicted on a child for the first time can break the trust between a child and parent. If a child is smacked for no reason at all the child may feel confused. It may take some time for that child to look up to the parent in the same way as because they may be afraid they might be smacked again.

As I said earlier, I do not think the law should be changed as it is a good thing people should be fined for smacking. It will teach them a lesson and hopefully get them to change their ways for good. I think trying to change the law back is a waste of time. The law is helping a lot of families in New Zealand and most importantly helping children to become better adults.