Starting first grade at the age of 5, graduating highschool at 17, and currently being a sophomore university student at 18 is an ongoing cycle of stress that seems so never-ending — until we’re hit with a 4 month long summer break. The constant pressure behind achieving “perfect” grades and never allowing oneself to face a downfall in our GPAs is what our education system has let us fall into. The constant need to be busy, the constant need to be motivated, and the constant need to thrive toward this so-called success is what holds us back from taking a break. It is what stops us from taking time off to relax, de-stress, and unwind; dismantling every soul, physically and mentally, in the supposed “best years” of our lives.
The banking system is one which lacks the necessary creativity needed for individuals to learn at their own pace, through their own ways, and in a method more effective than the popular memorization technique used to force information into the students’ brains. Not only does this defeat the purpose of having an education, it also, quite quickly, destroys one’s love for learning; thus leading us to the misconception of education being boring, uninteresting, and something we “just have to get over with”.
Teachers being considered “figures of authority” is such a familiar yet strange concept to me personally. Of course, it’d make sense for someone to have to “watch over” us when we’re little kids, but how is it so commonly accepted for teachers to look down upon highschool students, belittle them, and refuse to hear what they have to say — based solely on their stance in the classroom. Why is the concept of teachers having full control over their students’ opinions, work, and life outside of school, not crippling enough to fight for change? How are we, as a society, accepting the cruelty of silencing others and stepping on everything one has to say because they can defend themselves by pulling out the “figure of authority” card?
Between graduating high school and entering university is such a short amount of time to adjust (for most), so how, or why, is there such a dramatic change in how we, as students, are treated by our professors? Not complaining, of course, and in fact, I’m incredibly grateful for this change, but I’m completely astounded by how aging a few months seems to make this big of a difference. Clearly, age is not directly correlated with the level of respect we receive… but then what is? Transitioning from a toxic and somewhat mentally abusive environment to a university in which I’m genuinely comfortable in being transparent about topics from A to Z is a transition I wasn’t expecting to experience.
This is not to say that I think the banking system doesn’t exist at university, this is just to say that the level of authority one has does not line up with the level of the respect the students receive. I feel like, although this system is so corrupt, it’s unlikely to change. We, as humans, enjoy the familiarity of things, and most of us don’t necessarily like changes being made to how we live, and so we stick to what we’re already comfortable with. Does the banking system have any positives? It definitely has a few, if we look at things statistically, but I’m also positive that if we were to try to change the system for the better, it’d almost certainly be possible for us, and our future generations, to adjust soon enough.