I’m sorry to blog about school in the middle of summer, but this is such a discovery I’ve made today.
American schools are far better than Irish schools. No joke.
I was talking to my friend from San Francisco today and she was telling me and my other friend about her school. They have 300 Apple Mac computers, then 20 Apple laptops for each classroom. Seriously. We have battered old block computers from the 90s.
And they have a GYM. A real, proper gym for their “gym class” (me and my friend bust ourselves laughing at this fancy name for PE hehe) We use our assembly hall.
And as for school trips, they have it all. They have Spirit Days (another laughable moment, but they’re real) where the 8thGraders (Year 10s) decided whether to have Character Days where you come in dressed as a cartoon, or theme days or whatever. Sounds UNREAL. We’re not allowed non-uniform days, not even for charity, in school.
On their last day, instead of going on a trip (we went for the second year running to a OE Centre..fun.) they hire a bouncy castle, candyfloss machines and game stalls and put them in the gym. No way would our school even DREAM of that. “No, no,” they’d say. “Too dangerous.” Too dangerous my arse. What they really mean is, “Sorry, we can’t be bothered to fill out the necessary paperwork for you to have a good time for once.”
Also, all 8th Graders have the chance to wander around Washington DC for a week, just to dander around the city having the craic. Again, UNREAL! Imagine use being let loose in Dublin for a week?
But there is one downside to all of this. The fees are high; below 80% is considered a fail; and 9 ‘slips’ (like bad notes) results in suspension. Three suspensions equals expulsion.
Still, which would you rather have? A crumbling old school with fungus on the ceiling and trips to the local shopping centre, or a modern school that likes to pitch bouncy-castles up in their hall? I know which one I’d pick.
The Ins and Outs of Everything 