This is a static copy of In the Rose Garden, which existed as the center of the western Utena fandom for years. Enjoy. :)

#26 | Back to Top01-23-2008 12:21:25 AM

Yasha
Bitch Queen
From: Edmonton, AB, Canada
Registered: 10-15-2006
Posts: 6031
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Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

Hey, I don't know any of that stuff. But check out what I said before-- the level of schooling needs much, much better standardization if you can do all that, and yet others get the treatment I illustrated there.


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#27 | Back to Top01-23-2008 12:29:28 AM

Jellineck
Wondrous Sexual Eggplant.
From: Under your bed
Registered: 08-02-2007
Posts: 894

Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

Well, the quality of my education is generally pretty high. But it's not so much the quality right now that bugs me. It's the expenses. It costs a crapload of money to afford a good college these days, and the expenses are just getting higher. I think it's actually one of the most detrimental problems of our generation because it will cripple the entire oncoming workforce financially. The problem is that college is becoming more and more expected for jobs that don't need degrees, and fewer people are able to afford it. It's ridiculous.

I can get up every day and thank whatever powers may be that my grandparents tucked away an account for me. But even then, my family is pinched. And if I think I have it bad, I can just imagine those kids that have to work away every penny of tuition. Imagine how this will strengthen the class divide - only the rich can afford education, so the rich can get the good jobs, and the rich will end up getting richer and staying bloody filthy rich.

American education is like American healthcare and just about anything else. It has some of the best in the world - if you can afford it.

Which you probably can't.


"You said you would do anything for me, right Mamiya?" Mikage purred as he slithered close. "Yes that's right" Mamiya said with a rosey blush. Mikage's smile was evil and cinister as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a banana. "Eeny meeny myny moo. I wonder where my banana will go?" - The Forbidden Passions of Nemuro

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#28 | Back to Top01-23-2008 02:15:47 AM

OnionPrince
Covert Diarist
From: Nagoya
Registered: 10-28-2007
Posts: 876

Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

I wonder if the person who wrote that online text was chosen specifically because he or she was a cynical asshole, or if it just turned out that way by coincidence? (Granted, it still made me chuckle, but then again I have a thing for dark humor.)

On a more serious note, I have teaching experience in both the US and Japan from elementary to adult education, and here's how I see it: There is a vast disparity in education quality in the US. It's only partially related to what state you're in, and mostly dependent on whether you can afford a private school or top level university. If it's not ivy league, it all depends on how dedicated your teachers are, and in the end you're not guaranteed to get anything more than a nigh-worthless piece of paper.

Our current regime-- er, administration-- has responded with the "No Child Left Behind" act. I've seen this policy being implemented, reluctantly, while teaching here a couple years back. Nearly everything but reading and math got dropped at that elementary school, and even those core subjects were dumbed down. It became clear to me: "No Child Left Behind" really means "Every Child Held Back."

It's the exact opposite in Japan. I've taught English at the same grade levels at multiple schools there. They're all eerily the same. They teach nearly the exact same things. Everything is perfectly ordered and standardized. That said, they're also stifling and mediocre, relying solely on rote memorization and enforcing conformity. Of course, the poor kids eventually find out that normal school means jack shit, because they need to memorize an arbitrarily chosen set of *completely different* things to pass their barbaric high school entrance exams, and thus attend "cram school" for more rote memorization.

On a related note, Junichiro Koizumi is awesome. I nominate him for president of the world.

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#29 | Back to Top01-23-2008 10:28:14 AM

Maarika
Someday Shiner
From: Estonia
Registered: 10-17-2006
Posts: 2510
Website

Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

satyreyes wrote:

I don't know the capital, and I can't name a single cultural achievement by an Estonian.

The capital is called Tallinn and it's famous for its medieval/gothic architecture in the city centre (also known as Vana Tallinn, or Old Tallinn, as all the other districts have been built later). school-eng101
Also, in my opinion, the coolest cultural achievement we have is the Singing Revolution (and Baltic Way). Estonia gained its independence through singing. >:] Because singing and music has been part of our cultural inheritance and identity since the beginning of our history. Try surviving a more than 700 year long occupation when people have nothing that binds them together.

Also, search for "laulupidu" on YouTube if you want to hear/see some awesome choir singing. ;D

Last edited by Maarika (01-23-2008 10:33:06 AM)


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#30 | Back to Top01-23-2008 01:27:16 PM

Stormcrow
Magical Flying Moron
From: Los Angeles
Registered: 04-24-2007
Posts: 5971
Website

Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

The Singing Revolution is a pretty fantastic achievement. Nice work, folks.emot-keke

Back to education in America though, it's terribly uneven. Pretty much anyone who knows much about education will concede that American primary and secondary schools (that's K-12) suck giant donkey balls. They're terrible, for a whole lot of reasons that would take too long to go into right here. When it comes to higher education it's a different story. There are quite a few bad ones, but like Satyr says, the top tier in America is unmatched. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, University of Chicago, UC-Berkeley, MIT, etc. can't be beat. I also feel constrained to point out that Harvard is actually extremely affordable. For example, if your parents have a combined income of $60000 or less, it's free. Getting in is still a bitch of course, but their endowment is so fucking big they don't really need tuition anymore. And MIT's coursework is available to everyone online free of charge. Now I'll be the first to admit that higher education isn't very accessible for lower-income students, but the problem is about more than just money. Well, maybe it is about money more than anything else, but it's lack of money in primary and secondary schools that's the problem. And too much of the money that is available going to bullshit and not education.

Sorry, I could go on all day about this stuff, but I'll pipe down now.


"The devil want me as is, but god he want more."
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#31 | Back to Top01-23-2008 02:22:09 PM

Jellineck
Wondrous Sexual Eggplant.
From: Under your bed
Registered: 08-02-2007
Posts: 894

Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

On a little side-note that will display my brilliance and authentic thinking - fuck Harvard. Fuck it hard.


"You said you would do anything for me, right Mamiya?" Mikage purred as he slithered close. "Yes that's right" Mamiya said with a rosey blush. Mikage's smile was evil and cinister as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a banana. "Eeny meeny myny moo. I wonder where my banana will go?" - The Forbidden Passions of Nemuro

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#32 | Back to Top01-23-2008 02:39:54 PM

Tamago
God of Comedy
From: Minami Goushuu
Registered: 10-17-2006
Posts: 14280
Website

Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

If this video doesn't prove how cultured we Aussies are, nothing will. emot-rofl

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#33 | Back to Top01-23-2008 02:47:46 PM

Lightice
Azure Paleontologist
From: Finland
Registered: 10-21-2006
Posts: 1255

Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

Maarika wrote:

The capital is called Tallinn and it's famous for its medieval/gothic architecture in the city centre (also known as Vana Tallinn, or Old Tallinn, as all the other districts have been built later). school-eng101

And it's a damn cool place. I'm constantly jealous that we don't have anything like that on our side of the bay, because what we didn't accidentally burn, we mowed down. Terry Pratchett reputedly based the visual style of Ankh-Morpork partiall on Old Tallinn.

You also got the national epic Kalevipoeg, or the Son of Kaleva. Can't say that I've read it, but it uses the same ancient form of verse as the Finnish Kalevala.


Hei! Aa-Shanta 'Nygh!

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#34 | Back to Top01-23-2008 05:18:55 PM

Raven Nightshade
Someday Shiner
From: Louisiana
Registered: 12-17-2006
Posts: 2925

Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

Honestly, I think the American education system has gotten worse since I graduated high school. We didn't have "No Child Left Behind" in the 90's. If you failed, you failed. I was in 4th grade with one boy who was 13, and another boy who was 14. I was on the pep squad in 9th grade with a girl who was 20 because she'd dropped out and came back.

A lot of schools in larger cities deal with overcrowding, more than 25 students in a classroom.  I came from a city of 13,000 and I never had a class with less than 25 kids in it. This was normal. Most of us still managed to learn despite  this so-called overcrowding. A good teacher can teach a class of 10 as well as he/she can teach a class of 35. It's all about power and control. When you give the children the power, it leaves the teacher with none...and chaos ensues.

As for international relations, we epically fail at that. We barely understand the cultures of people we go to school with, so how are we expected to understand the cultures and societies of the world abroad? My high school only offered French and German for the entire 4 years I was there. My senior year was the first time in at least 5 years that Spanish was being offered. For 900 kids, there were 60 spots available. 

But that textbook is pathetic. No one I know has ever encountered a book that full of over-generalizations. I admit I didn't go to an Ivy League university or a private college, but I went to the best in-state university I could afford. I will admit that it had it shortcomings, but our textbooks don't go on that list.  Now the lack of available courses....that's a problem.


Sometimes I wonder if I'm ever gonna make it home again.
It's so far and out of sight.
I really need someone to talk to and nobody else
Knows how to comfort me tonight.

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#35 | Back to Top01-23-2008 08:26:44 PM

Giovanna
Ends of the Fandom
From: Edmonton, AB
Registered: 10-12-2006
Posts: 8797
Website

Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

I'll actually say stuff in this thread later. For now...MORE:

Interesting Cultural Patterns wrote:

Ireland : Irish are very proud of their history.

Jordan : People are proud of their Arab heritage and are tremendously hospitable to their guests. 

Mexico : “Manana” (putting of a task until tomorrow) is a prevalent norm. This does not indicate Mexicans are lazy, but shows that the pace is more relaxed than in other cultures.

Interesting Cultural Behaviors  wrote:

Thailand : Thai people greet each other with a wai greeting—hold your hands together at the chest like a prayer and give a light bow.

Egypt : Using the left hand alone to exchange an item with an Egyptian is considered rude.

France : The French expect promptness and they are not accustomed to standing in line.

One of these isn't like the others. emot-rolleyes


Akio, you have nice turns of phrase, but your points aren't clear and you have no textual support. I can't give this a passing grade.
~ Professor Arisa Konno, Eng 1001 (Freshman Literature and Composition)

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#36 | Back to Top02-01-2008 02:27:16 AM

Romanticide
Cow Bellhop
From: Mazatlan
Registered: 10-18-2006
Posts: 447

Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

That book is like a black hole of knowledge, every time I read one of those paragraphs I feel that I get dumber!!! emot-gonkemot-gonkemot-gonk Is... Is... ñya... mañana will be a better day for answeri... (Heeeeelp!!! the virus is spreading!!!! emot-gonkemot-gonk)


http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/1390/firmautenaji0.jpg

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#37 | Back to Top02-01-2008 03:35:17 AM

Lightice
Azure Paleontologist
From: Finland
Registered: 10-21-2006
Posts: 1255

Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

Interesting Cultural Behaviors  wrote:

France : The French expect promptness and they are not accustomed to standing in line.

I really want to know who came up with this. Because Paris is absolutely filled with lines in every place that is popular or interesting.


Hei! Aa-Shanta 'Nygh!

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#38 | Back to Top02-01-2008 03:50:14 PM

allegoriest
Delicious Duellist
From: Cloudcuckooland
Registered: 10-16-2006
Posts: 2507
Website

Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

25 students is considered overcrowded for a classroom?!
Well damn. I don't think I ever had a class that small.

I never understood the whole pass/fail thing. I mean, when I was younger, it made sense. If you didn't pass, you failed, and were held back. Okay, got it. Must pass.

But then, people who weren't passing started making it too!! SO many people kept getting 45s on their report cards, but they were still progressing along like I was!! Well that's not fair.

So I was placed in higher level classes, for reasons unbeknownst to me. (I'm possibly THE laziest person on earth.) Almost everyone passed. Everyone got to progress. Eventually however, in some, we progressed into areas that I just royally SUCK at (like literature from hell. I have ZERO reading comprehension.) and as such, I left some of my hard classes to go to the easier ones. (Not remedial, but like... normal classes.)

We also had books to read. Much easier ones. However, we didn't read them!! We had a tape! We followed along!! We were graded on how well we followed the tape!! (I... failed... because I read ahead. She thought I was lost, but the tape was UNGODLY SLOW. But it didn't matter!! She pointlessly raised, not curved, raised, everyone's grades! So I passed!! And some people STILL failed.)
Another book. The Great Gatsby. I have no idea what the hell happens in the Great Gatsby. Why? We never opened the book. We saw the beginning of the movie. That is ALL.

I've had classes where the teacher just sits on the phone half the class. Classes where it seemed like all we did was watch movies.
I had one class, a music theory, I swear to god, we had at least sixty people. And then, for some ungodly reason, they wouldn't let me into music theory two, because they had too many people!! (like 20.) They also ONLY let band and choir join, because, seriously, they're band and choir.

Our school was FALLING APART. We had classrooms without ceilings and doors. We had dummy fire systems. The sprinklers would FALL FROM THE CEILING in the middle of class, crashing to the ground, along with a considerable amount of fiberglass insulation. Once I saw a guy CATCH ONE ON FIRE, and NOTHING happened. We had classrooms that routinely flooded, entire wings that were possibly MADE of mildew, and God and Jesus would frequently graffiti our school. (Someone would spray paint messages from god, and crosses EVERYWHERE. and sign it something all love, God. Wtf.) People would mercilessly beat eachother, people would smoke everywhere, people even had sex, and NO ONE CARED.* Of course, when the cheerleaders asked for a new building, they got one near immediately.

To graduate highschool in Texas, you have to take a test that I swear a monkey could pass. And of course, people still failed and were held back. And then they'd have to enroll in pointless semesters until they got kicked out for being old, or managed to pass.

Of course, all these people who got carried through highschool applied to community colleges here, and an INSANE percentage of them drop out. (I'm not sure, but off the top of my head, I wanna say at least 80%.) Actually, public colleges in San Antonio are preeetty good I've heard.

Oh, also, I supposedly went to the best school district in town.




*(One guy DID try to kill himself with a plastic utensil though, and the staff flipped out, and a couch tackled him to stop him, probably doing more damage then he himself could have ever done.)


[edit:] Gyah. I wrote a novel.

Last edited by allegoriest (02-01-2008 03:59:41 PM)

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#39 | Back to Top02-01-2008 04:07:09 PM

MissMocha
Bettie Page Princess
From: Tallahassee, Fl
Registered: 10-19-2006
Posts: 4632

Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

allegoriest wrote:

*(One guy DID try to kill himself with a plastic utensil though, and the staff flipped out, and a couch tackled him to stop him, probably doing more damage then he himself could have ever done.)

This is perhaps the best part of your post, allegoriest.


The first time you looked at her curves you were hooked
And the glances you took, took hold of you and demanded that you stay
And sunk in their teeth, bit your heart and released
Such a charge that you need another touch, another taste, another fix

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#40 | Back to Top02-01-2008 04:14:07 PM

allegoriest
Delicious Duellist
From: Cloudcuckooland
Registered: 10-16-2006
Posts: 2507
Website

Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

it was quite something to actually see.

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#41 | Back to Top02-01-2008 05:53:52 PM

satyreyes
no, definitely no cons
From: New Orleans, Louisiana
Registered: 10-16-2006
Posts: 10328
Website

Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

allegoriest wrote:

Another book. The Great Gatsby. I have no idea what the hell happens in the Great Gatsby. Why? We never opened the book. We saw the beginning of the movie. That is ALL.

Don't worry, ally; I read Gatsby, and I don't have much of an idea what happens in it either.  Great American novel, my ass.  It's about this guy whose ill-concealed tendencies towards being an irresponsible douchebag make him rich and dead, in that order.  But he's the good guy because he's well-meaning some of the time, and we are supposed to see ourselves in him and such.  That wasn't my favorite book we read that year.

Seriously, though, your experience with school sounds horrid.  Was this before or after No Child Left Behind?

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#42 | Back to Top02-01-2008 06:40:04 PM

allegoriest
Delicious Duellist
From: Cloudcuckooland
Registered: 10-16-2006
Posts: 2507
Website

Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

I didn't want to read it, but its still the principal or the matter and all.

I think they passed it while I was in high school.


My sister actually goes to the same school now and she says it to be far worse. She's terrified going to school there, and has been looking around desperately for a way to get to another high school.

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#43 | Back to Top02-01-2008 06:51:56 PM

Tamago
God of Comedy
From: Minami Goushuu
Registered: 10-17-2006
Posts: 14280
Website

Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

Australian Stereotypes

Australians often show disdain for elites, intellectuals and politicians. In fact, there is a tendency amongst Australians to criticise people if they are high achievers. This is commonly called the Tall Poppy Syndrome.

Australians do not have much respect for official national symbols eg: the national flag as other cultures do.

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#44 | Back to Top02-01-2008 06:52:56 PM

Adrasteia
Memorial Hollerer
From: Newfoundland, Canada
Registered: 11-15-2007
Posts: 694
Website

Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

'no child left behind'? What bunk. emot-mad Excuse me for sounding like a nazi, but if you can't comprehend the material of a certain grade, you shouldn't advance to the next. Otherwise, what's the point of putting your kids in school? Social interaction, maybe, but I'm pretty sure there are some other important reasons being forgotten with this rule... like education and, maybe, a better chance at a future career?

Sorry for crapping all over the U.S. education system, but this is just too ridiculous. It negates the notion of 'schooling' alltogether, and it's not as if you're helping students by passing them if they aren't qualified. It just lends to a whole lot of disappointment later in life. emot-frown

Edit: I liked 'The Great Gatsby'. I studied it in my American lit class(did you know i's mandatory in my Canadian university to take an American literature class for an English degree?) and I thought it was fun.

I still think a better novel to study, though, is 'Lord of the Flies', although it can't be a great American novel because it's British. It's still quite awesome, though.

Last edited by Adrasteia (02-01-2008 06:57:45 PM)

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#45 | Back to Top02-01-2008 10:01:08 PM

mercurynin
Flourishing Verderer
From: Honolulu, HI
Registered: 10-21-2006
Posts: 638

Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

All this talk of the horrible state of the American education system post-No Child Left Behind makes me shudder to think what I'll be up against, should I take a substitute teaching job.  See, I applied for the JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) Program to be an English teacher in Japanese schools, and I thought subbing would be a good dry run for that.  On a related note, I just found out that I've been granted an interview, so all the more reason to consider it.

I know for sure that I probably shouldn't apply for a job in my city's district; they're one of the worst ones in the area.  My brother, who has Asperger's syndrome and is thus "special-needs," could write you a book about his shitty experiences there, and he only spent a year, two at most, there.  Luckily, I went to school in a neighboring district and fared pretty well, I suppose.


You know our hearts beat time out very slowly.  You know our hearts beat time -- they are waiting for something that'll never arrive.

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#46 | Back to Top03-30-2008 06:37:44 PM

Giovanna
Ends of the Fandom
From: Edmonton, AB
Registered: 10-12-2006
Posts: 8797
Website

Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

There is a Jewish adage that states "God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers."

This would explain the stereotypical relationship Jewish men have with their mothers.

school-freud


Akio, you have nice turns of phrase, but your points aren't clear and you have no textual support. I can't give this a passing grade.
~ Professor Arisa Konno, Eng 1001 (Freshman Literature and Composition)

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#47 | Back to Top03-30-2008 06:49:04 PM

Giovanna
Ends of the Fandom
From: Edmonton, AB
Registered: 10-12-2006
Posts: 8797
Website

Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

Albert Mehrabian suggests that "we tend to approach those people and things we like and we tend to avoid or move away from those we do not like."9

STOP THE FUCKING PRESSES


Akio, you have nice turns of phrase, but your points aren't clear and you have no textual support. I can't give this a passing grade.
~ Professor Arisa Konno, Eng 1001 (Freshman Literature and Composition)

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#48 | Back to Top03-30-2008 07:36:43 PM

mazoboom
The Boom King
From: New Orleans
Registered: 09-08-2007
Posts: 450
Website

Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

Giovanna wrote:

Albert Mehrabian suggests that "we tend to approach those people and things we like and we tend to avoid or move away from those we do not like."9

STOP THE FUCKING PRESSES

And this is why I could never be a PhD.

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#49 | Back to Top03-30-2008 07:42:39 PM

satyreyes
no, definitely no cons
From: New Orleans, Louisiana
Registered: 10-16-2006
Posts: 10328
Website

Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

Giovanna wrote:

Albert Mehrabian suggests that "we tend to approach those people and things we like and we tend to avoid or move away from those we do not like."9

STOP THE FUCKING PRESSES

I want to hear the next line before passing judgment.  If Mehrabian went on to say that therefore people who buy ice cream probably like ice cream, he's a blowhard.  If, on the other hand, he went on to say that we can conclude that people who work in customer service probably like serving customers, he's a moron.  There's a difference.

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#50 | Back to Top03-30-2008 08:23:25 PM

Razara
Marionette Mistress
From: Wuzzy Happy Akio Town (What?)
Registered: 10-17-2006
Posts: 4694

Re: Words of wisdom from my online Cultural Communications text.

On the subject of screwed up school systems, my school is supposed to be one of the best, yet unlike last year, the test that all the juniors took in order to determine the quality of our school ending up with the results, "School in need of improvement," which is the worst a school can get. This could mean that even the best of American schools are going to hell, or maybe it's just that my school should be putting more of the taxpayer's money towards our education instead of useless shit. But no. If the people in charge of my school have any kids, I'll bet that they would spend their kid's college fund to buy a vacation home.

Overall, I can't really pinpoint the problem. I suppose that it might be because of the teachers, but there's not a whole lot you can do about that. Apparently they're trying to raise the age in which a student can drop out to 18, which I don't agree with. Any student who does not wish to be there can have nothing but a negative impact on the education, but at the same time, at least they tend to make things more interesting.

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