Failing schools
The primary aim of the education system is to ensure that people gain knowledge and apply what they have learned in real life situations. However, many public schools around the U.S are failing in this role. Most of these schools are the public schools located in poor neighborhoods. Compared to their peers from well-off families, students from poor families are more likely to drop out of school (Neckerman, 2007). Apart from having inadequate resources, schools in poor neighborhoods also fail due to the poor strategies that the school administrators use (Wolk, 2011).
New technologies such as smartphones and personal computers promise to improve the effectiveness of education. However, most schools still utilize resources and ideas that are way past their time. The utilization of these old ideas and resources in the current academic environment has also contributed to the failing of schools. Tough (2013) discusses the case of Fenger High School and shows how the society also contributes to the failure of schools. The society has created an environment that is not conducive to successful learning. Such an environment includes poor neighborhoods where the students have to worry more about the socio-economic problems they face than their academic performance. Apart from that, schools are also failing because they don’t take into consideration the character strength of individual students (Tough, 2013).
Why is failure important?
Failure is the first step towards success. Additionally, it is not unusual for one to fail. Most successful people around the world have had an experience characterized by failure. In most cases, these successful individuals credit these events to their success. It is quite difficult to avoid failure. By failing, we get to know our weakness and identify where we went wrong (Harford, 2011). Failure makes it possible for an individual to learn from and avoid the mistakes they made in the past. Failure also teaches us to pursue those things that we hold dear.
People are most likely to give up on the projects they are doing if the said projects do not interest them. Additionally, failure teaches people to push themselves even harder. It is possible for one to recognize his or her hidden abilities by failing. Success means to achieve a certain objective within a set period. There are different areas in which people can succeed. These fields include academics, sports, leadership, and business. There are numerous character traits that develop with success. These characteristics include working hard, being passionate about what one is doing, taking responsibility, attention to detail and a passion for improvement (Petroski, 2006).
What helps you to be successful?
Having a good mentor is one thing that can help us be successful. A mentor is a person who is in a position to offer guidance. Mentors alone cannot help one achieve success. To be successful, one also needs support from peers, including friends and family members (Kavanagh, 2012). One should always seek support from those people who are willing to share their frustrations and who are ready to offer a piece of advice from time to time. Additionally, it is important for one to seek help. It is difficult for an individual to become successful without assistance from others (Petroski, 2006).
References
Harford, T. (2011). Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure (3rd ed.). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Kavanagh, J. (2012). The failure of success (4th ed.). New York: John Hunt Publishing.
Neckerman, K. (2007). Schools betrayed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Petroski, H. (2006). Success through failure. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Tough, P. (2013). How children succeed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Wolk, R. (2011). Wasting minds. Alexandria, Virginia, USA: ASCD.