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Parent Questions Mandatory High School Chemistry
Ollabelle writes "David Bernstein, a nonprofit executive who lives in Gaithersburg, Md., has two sons, ages 7 and 15. He has previously written about how schools fail students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Now he turns his attention to mandated curriculum in public schools, and argues that his sons shouldn't be forced to take any science class."
From the article: "There’s a concept in economics called 'opportunity costs,' which you may not have learned about because you were taking chemistry instead of economics. Opportunity costs are the sacrifices we make when we choose one alternative over another. ... When you force my son to take chemistry (and several other subjects, this is not only about chemistry), you are not allowing him that same time to take a public speaking course, which he could be really good at, or music, or political science, or creative writing, or HTML coding for websites."
Now I don’t begrudge chemistry, which has brought forth many of the great inventions of our time, from the pain killer I took an hour ago to the diet soda I’m sipping on now (I’m actually sipping on Scotch. In fact, my very own mother, who if I am lucky will never lay eyes on this article, is a chemist, and believes that chemistry is the most noble of human pursuits and doesn’t understand how I, a former philosophy major, was able to eke out a living.
And if you wouldn't have wasted your time on that public speaking course and instead used that opportunity cost to take a class in a Lisp language like Scheme you'd understand why your failure to close that left parenthesis is driving me bat shit insane right now.
My work here is dung.
You forgot baking! Cookies and cake are the two most important things to use chemistry for.
you can skip Chem when I can skip PE.
Sometimes you have to do stuff you don't have any interest in.
This summer I had to convert a dozen or so moles to mulch. I tried to convert them to cat food but the reaction failed for insufficient feline catalyst.
Eloi are stupid, throw morlocks at them!
The kid shouldn't be taking classes just to think or just for challenge. The kid should be taking courses directly aligned with their chosen future. This goes for college/university as well.
It's good to be specialized.
Also it teaches you basic fucking chemistry which comes in handy if you work for a living.
Love is chemistry. What you're referring to is physics.
But either way, the kid'll get plenty of opportunity to learn in college what he misses in high school.
I am not a crackpot.
You forgot baking! Cookies and cake are the two most important things to use chemistry for.
Yeah, but I heard the cake is a lie.
Can't wait to make Thermite with my son.
Chemistry class: 39 minutes per day
Teaching a kid a variety of subjects so he will have something to talk about when he does take public speaking in college: 18 years
Cleaning up chemicals spilled by your ADD kid who wasn't paying attention: 6 minutes
Getting acquainted with the flow rate of the emergency eyewash station: 5 minutes
Teaching a kid that ignoring science can be hazardous to your health: Priceless
There are some things you will never find time for. For everything else, there are pretentious self-important jerks like David Bernstein.
Biology is really chemistry.
Chemistry is really physics.
Physics is really math.
And math is really hard.
Lets go shopping!
He states very bluntly that his 15 year old son "will not be a scientist". How does he know that?
This is how he takes care of that. No son of his is going to become a scientist!
This reminds me of a joke my dad told me: There was a man who was terrified of air-travel because he thought someone might blow up the plane. One day, the man's job required him to fly to another city. Soon after boarding, the stewardess was adjusting bags in the overhead bin, and accidentally spilled his bag, exposing a bundle of dynamite! The stewardess asked the man, "Why on earth would you bring a bomb on a plane???" To which the man calmly replied, "What do you think the odds are of there being TWO bombs on one plane?"
It sounds like your cat-alyst was already saturated.
I'm afraid to ask why you need more than 2 gloves...
"I'm not sure I like the fugnutish tone you used in your post!" -RogL (608926)-
Four sheep, three pairs of gloves. Avoid cross-contamination. Hmm...
Put on pair #1 of gloves.
Put on pair #2 on top of pair #1. Do whatever it is you're doing to sheep #1. (I won't judge!)
Remove pair #2, leave pair #1 on. Put on pair #3. Do whatever to sheep #2.
Remove pair #3, turn inside-out and put them back on over pair #1.Do whatever to sheep #3.
Remove pair #3 and discard. Turn pair #2 inside-out and put them back on over pair #1. Do whatever to sheep #4.
Remove and discard pair #2 and pair #1.
You don't learn practical problem solving like that in Public Speaking class! :)
=Smidge=
Billy was a chemist.
Now Billy is no more.
What billy thought was H20.
Was H2SO4.
Why do I feel an overwhelming desire to read "non-profit executive" as "unemployed douche bag with too much access to a thesaurus"?