It's interesting how even extracurriculars are getting competitive. I feel like extracurriculars should not really stress students out because they are activities purely out of interest. The competition for extracurriculars puts another level of pressure and discourages students from developing real interests. Students are already stressed from school, and so extracurriculars would put more force on both students and their parents.

I feel like the quality of education in a school really impacts the cost for attending the school. Especially in private schools, they are known to be expensive because of the reputation of the education quality and the teachers experience. I also think the variety of extracurriculars available within the school and in the community has some value to the price of the school. Schools that have access to more resources for students' education and activities will tend to be surrounded by families in the wealthier side.

This is very important for students, especially when they are still developing and growing up. It is vital for them to be in an environment that is encouraging for their learning and accepting of their skills even if they aren't the most excellent skills. The idea of helping one another and spending time not only to learn, but also to get to know each other really impacts the student's confidence and will for learning.

Not only is the actually learning materials important for the students, but also the learning environment and how the teachers encourage their students. A lot of the times, students are always afraid to speak up in class or even take a hard course because they aren't confident about their skills. However, if the people around them are supportive and acknowledging, then it really becomes easier for them because they feel more comfortable being themselves in that class.

I do think that lack of books could contribute to the corresponding reading scores in school. However, in my household we had a lot of books, but it was always overwhelming to pursue and interest in books because I was just not wanting to read. I think academic success also depends on personal interest and self-will because without it, even if you are put in a situation with learning opportunities, it is difficult to use it effectively if you don't have the will to learn.

This is interesting how math and foreign language correlates with one another because looking back, I do think this is true. When I was in high school, I was in honors french and honors math, and a lot of the students who were in honors math were also in my french class or accelerating in another foreign language. It could be because there are similar skills used in these two subjects or the learning environment is similar.

As talked about in Duncan and Murname's article, there is a significant difference in academic success based on the children's socioeconomic status. Another factor, such as the structure of the school may have an impact on the student's academic success as well. In high school, I remember it was pretty diverse, but the students still separated among themselves into racial groups. I think it is inevitable for these groups to not be created based on specific traits since we are naturally attracted to others that have similar traits.

I agree with this. As I mentioned earlier, it is not always the money that fully provides for the children's development. There should also be other factors within the family, such as emotional support, doing activities with the family and allowing the children to have the freedom to do things they want. It shouldn't always be the parents putting all their money on their children's education.

I feel like this often happens to lots of families that are determined to giving all in for their children. I think it's because parents automatically think that whenever money is utilized for their children for their education, it will always be useful. But, all these extracurriculars may actually also deteriorate from their study habits for school since they are involved in so much. Parents should reconsider these activities and not go too overboard because using money doesn't always mean it is academically useful.

I am also a first gen, and I can relate to this. It is pretty difficult trying to figure some things out by yourself because your parents aren't fully knowledgeable of certain things, especially when it has to do with American education. My parents are very traditional in terms of educational values, so there are some struggles understanding each other.

There should be a lot of consideration that comes into these decisions for borrowing money even if it is coming from parents. Parents do, indeed, have a lot of sources to get money and let their children use it, but there is a lot of responsibility that some adults don't have. And, other adults shouldn't give these naive advice because it is different for every family and how much they can afford to borrow/use.

I believe the effort to prevent these disadvantages would start with societal/governmental funds that help these children in poverty. There could be many ways to prevent these if the government provided more funds for education and specifically to children in poverty, and less on other issues that already receive a lot of funding.

It's weirdly not surprising how the part of population that believe to be in poverty are very racialized. As stated after this sentence, poverty originated from the descendants of African slaves, so I believe it is simply inevitable that communities in poverty are very racialized. It is saddening to know about this, but I believe the society has been creating a lot of reforms to reduce this racial disparity.

This is true. As a student tutor, I noticed that encouraging the student to do better even when they seem like they won't do well is much better than losing hope in them. Because even if it is predictable that they won't do well, they would still have the persistent effort to try working hard.

I remember in my writing class last quarter we talked about the racial inequalities in the society. Although our class focused more on racial disparity after rehabilitation, it's important to note that this issue exists post incarceration. I think when it comes to children, they experience the same circumstances. The issue or racial disparity does last a long time like stated here and impacts a whole variety of the population.

This sentence has a very strong connotation. It is true that schools should allow students to explore different study areas, but it is also the place where students lose the most motivation when they do things that they don't want to do. I know a lot of my friends who have found their passion in a specific class that interested them a lot, but I also know a lot of people who have struggled their years in high school and who continue to struggle and have difficulty catching up.

This is an interesting idea. I always thought that all the schools had a similar nationwide education system. But the differences in these schools is probably why the government struggles to make policies that have a good general consensus. Each school has different goals and different types of students.

When teachers really lack the ability to teach their students and create a welcoming learning environment, the students either dislike the teacher and spread the news to other students, or they would actively do something about it. I know it goes in these two ways because I have had bad experiences with teachers in high school and over time, the majority of the students knew who the good and bad teachers were.

I agree, there shouldn't be a hierarchical relationship with everything we do on a daily basis. Professionally, it is understandable, but there should be the freedom of exploration with young people's lives and experiences outside of their work life. I also think that there should be a balance of these different types of relationships.

I like to think of teachers as mentors. They are educated people who are knowledgeable of what they are teaching and I like to see them being passionate about it because then I can always ask them questions as a mentee. It shouldn't be a relationship where the student is absolutely uncomfortable with their teachers, but there should be some sort of friendliness and appreciation for one another.

I think so, too. I really do believe that it is a draining battle because there really isn't many opportunities for these people, which is unfair for them.Not only do they need the education for their children in disability, but also other therapeutic appointments and other things that may disrupt their education.

Multiculturalism really allows both students and teachers to understand where some boundaries and disadvantages come from. It is important take advantage of this knowledge because it can really impact the overall reputation and appreciation of a certain education institution. I noticed that when students and teachers are inclusive and have a lot of diversity really helps with recognizing the biases and the differences in everyone and how to appreciate it all.

The feeling of community is so important in any social/group setting. The primary reason why some campus organizations and other clubs catch my attention is because of how close they are as a community and have the will to be inclusive with everyone. Safety is a good factor, but even when there is a good community surrounding you, safety is normally not a problem.

I agree with this. Discussions about race and sex are topics that could be sensitive to certain people, so there's always consists a boundary of how in depth these things can be discussed. Thus, I understand why there is fear within the instructors and why they are more unwilling to teach these subjects.