I am currently a 17 year old female working my way through the UK's corrupted education system whilst Michael Gove (God save us all) messes around with not only my future, but that of my younger siblings.
The first time I ever heard about Michael Gove was at the end of Year 10 when I was informed that my classmates and I would have to take all our controlled assessments again in Year 11, ruining the original plan set out by our teachers. Why? Because Michael no-idea-how-to-run-the-education-system Gove decided to raise the English grade boundaries by 9 marks leaving me with a grade that was two marks less that I should have got (I went down from an A to a C).
The original system would have meant that we would have done most of our CAs in Year 10 and then one or two in Year 11, leaving us with plenty of time to prepare for our exams. Seems fair enough right? Not for Michael Gove.
The new system meant we had two or three weeks after our CAs were all finished to prepare for the exams and I came out with a horribly low grade. You see, I got an A* in my CAs, but with my exam grades taken into account I got a B which isn't bad, but take into account that my exam would have had to be a very low C at the most to bring it down that much.
Which brings me onto the second part of the education system that annoys me, the exams. While I am aware exams are a good way to determine who tests better than others, I don't agree that we should base our entire future off of a grade we got from writing for up to 2 and a half hours without any available resources. That isn't going to happen in real life situations is it? Coursework and CAs are definitely a more reliable representation of how well we will perform in the workplace, especially for subjects that involve essay writing (English, Philosophy, History etc.)
Therefore, another reason for me to take a strong dislike to Michael Gove is his policy to get rid of all forms of CAs and Coursework and leave students with exams at the end of both GCSE or A level years. This means that students will have to remember all of the information for the entire course after two years. I could barely cope with one and before my year they had January exams to split it up as well. Even they found it difficult. Exams are getting harder than ever and the world of work is restricted to those who do well in them, but there are plenty of people like me who can't succeed in exams. I just can't, no matter how much time I spend revising, do well in exams and I feel as though alienating others like me is the wrong way to go.
The next, and most recent development in education policy I want to complain about, is the banning of any literature that isn't British English. This means Classic American Authors such as John Steinbeck, Harper Lee, F.Scott Fitzgerald and J.D Salinger, will not be taught to the children of England. Whilst there are some fantastic English authors such as Shakespeare, Dickens, Austen etc, there is so much more to the world of Literature that needs to be taught to students to prevent them from becoming close-minded adults who are unaware of the amazing literature that exists outside the borders of a, frankly, quite racially elitist country.
Finally, I want to talk about tuition fees, this is one of the most famous decisions made by the current government in Britain and is one of the reasons the Lib Dems will hopefully not be in power after the next election. In the UK we went from a £1,000 tuition fee in 1998 to a £9,000 to date. I am aware in places like the US it gets even worse than this and I think it is one of the most frustrating part of being a student.
We are told from a very young age that we need to go to school, get good grades, go to college, get good grades, go to university, finish with a degree, go into the world of work, pay off all the money you owe now you have achieved what they practically force you to achieve. I have found, after researching other countries where I can study that there are places in Europe where the students get a free education right up until the point they choose to leave the system and there are multiple routes into the top positions.
For me, England has become a very unattractive place to study my chosen degree and I would rather study somewhere like Germany or Holland where there system, though different, is less corrupted and focuses more on the students than the fat cats who have too much power.
As always feel free to ask me any questions in the comments,
Until next time,
Stephanie
Wednesday 25 June 2014
Sunday 22 June 2014
My Relationship with a Working Mother
My mother is a retail worker, always has been, probably always will be. I don't have the normal relationship with my mother most teenagers have with their parents, but that doesn't make it any less special to me.
Let me explain.
This is a very personal topic for me to address online, but I feel that society often thinks of the types of relationships you can have with one or both of your parents is either very loving and providing or abusive and disconnected. For me, this hasn't been the case.
For as long as I can remember I have always wanted more attention from my mum than I receive, this comes partly from the amount of children she had to raise (3 from my father's previous marriage for a while and then 4 of her own) and the fact that both of my full-brothers have behaviour problems. Add onto that that I am one of the middle children, the results are conclusive, I didn't receive that much attention.
I am not saying in anyway that my mother neglected me, she was brilliant, kind and, above all, she cared for all of her children and this is where the problem lay. Whilst my mum was out working I would be in school, but when we (me and my siblings) were all old enough to walk home and be left at home on our own my mother would take on longer hours and would work for more days so that she could afford to send us all on school trips, buy our clothes, food etc.
During the first four years of my life my mum and dad went through a divorce, I have never been able to remember my dad being a full-time part of my life and a part of me will always grieve that, but we still went round to his for the weekends and slept over every other weekend (Boys one week, girls the next and so on). For my mum this meant 4 hours of peace (which usually meant housework) and then only half the kids to deal with for a night. This did result in me getting more attention than I would usually so I was happier with that, but I never really cared or realised this was as good as it got.
At the time this was all happening I was blissfully unaware of how it would affect my relationship with my mother, as she strove to make sure I had the same chances all the other kids had, in the future.
Now I bring you to present day.
I am working every Saturday, at least, for four hours, earning my own money so my mum doesn't have to take on the hours at work to provide for the family as I can now provide for myself, but she still does because she still insists that I don't have to pay any rent for living under her roof (Despite my offers of money) this is why I say, my mum's intentions have only ever been to care for her children.
However, I would argue me and my mum have a relationship with no obvious signs of love. If you were on the outside looking in the only thing that really connects us is the way we look similar. I love my mum more than anyone else in the world and I am thankful for every day I get to spend with her, but it isn't something we say to each other a lot.
Me and my mum don't sit and gossip about who I like, who is annoying me, any boys or girls on the horizon for my love life. She isn't always there for me when I need a shoulder to cry on and I can't rely on my siblings for help as the only two who live with me are younger and don't really understand. I can't vent when I get home if something happened at college that has particularly set off a nerve because I do the dinner every night for my family and, yes, sometimes I feel like a second mum, but without the financial burden. When my sister wouldn't go to school I sat down with her to find out why it was she didn't want to go in and convinced her to go in the end.
I don't want my mum to feel bad for this happening, but the fact is, it does and I understand while I am the one my sister might choose to go to when it comes to emotional support, without my mum I wouldn't have been able to go on all of the school trips I went on and I probably wouldn't have my friends I have now as the independence and confidence I have gained from taking on the role in my family I have taken on is a huge part of my personality.
I digress.
The point is, me and my mum have a complicated relationship that works as almost equals, until I do something wrong then she is the parent and what she says goes. All I can hope for is that, once I have moved out and my siblings are earning their own money, my mum can cut back her working hours and relax because she has done so much for me and I couldn't possibly thank her enough.
As I am literally crying I say to you, find someone you love and tell them. I am trying to build up a new relationship with my mum where I can go to her for gossip sessions like my friends inform me they do with their respective guardians or find the time to sit with her and chat, but it is hard work and I think people are often too focused on their own lives to look at the relationships they hold with those closest to them.
As always if you have any questions then feel free to ask me,
Until next time,
Stephanie
Let me explain.
This is a very personal topic for me to address online, but I feel that society often thinks of the types of relationships you can have with one or both of your parents is either very loving and providing or abusive and disconnected. For me, this hasn't been the case.
For as long as I can remember I have always wanted more attention from my mum than I receive, this comes partly from the amount of children she had to raise (3 from my father's previous marriage for a while and then 4 of her own) and the fact that both of my full-brothers have behaviour problems. Add onto that that I am one of the middle children, the results are conclusive, I didn't receive that much attention.
I am not saying in anyway that my mother neglected me, she was brilliant, kind and, above all, she cared for all of her children and this is where the problem lay. Whilst my mum was out working I would be in school, but when we (me and my siblings) were all old enough to walk home and be left at home on our own my mother would take on longer hours and would work for more days so that she could afford to send us all on school trips, buy our clothes, food etc.
During the first four years of my life my mum and dad went through a divorce, I have never been able to remember my dad being a full-time part of my life and a part of me will always grieve that, but we still went round to his for the weekends and slept over every other weekend (Boys one week, girls the next and so on). For my mum this meant 4 hours of peace (which usually meant housework) and then only half the kids to deal with for a night. This did result in me getting more attention than I would usually so I was happier with that, but I never really cared or realised this was as good as it got.
At the time this was all happening I was blissfully unaware of how it would affect my relationship with my mother, as she strove to make sure I had the same chances all the other kids had, in the future.
Now I bring you to present day.
I am working every Saturday, at least, for four hours, earning my own money so my mum doesn't have to take on the hours at work to provide for the family as I can now provide for myself, but she still does because she still insists that I don't have to pay any rent for living under her roof (Despite my offers of money) this is why I say, my mum's intentions have only ever been to care for her children.
However, I would argue me and my mum have a relationship with no obvious signs of love. If you were on the outside looking in the only thing that really connects us is the way we look similar. I love my mum more than anyone else in the world and I am thankful for every day I get to spend with her, but it isn't something we say to each other a lot.
Me and my mum don't sit and gossip about who I like, who is annoying me, any boys or girls on the horizon for my love life. She isn't always there for me when I need a shoulder to cry on and I can't rely on my siblings for help as the only two who live with me are younger and don't really understand. I can't vent when I get home if something happened at college that has particularly set off a nerve because I do the dinner every night for my family and, yes, sometimes I feel like a second mum, but without the financial burden. When my sister wouldn't go to school I sat down with her to find out why it was she didn't want to go in and convinced her to go in the end.
I don't want my mum to feel bad for this happening, but the fact is, it does and I understand while I am the one my sister might choose to go to when it comes to emotional support, without my mum I wouldn't have been able to go on all of the school trips I went on and I probably wouldn't have my friends I have now as the independence and confidence I have gained from taking on the role in my family I have taken on is a huge part of my personality.
I digress.
The point is, me and my mum have a complicated relationship that works as almost equals, until I do something wrong then she is the parent and what she says goes. All I can hope for is that, once I have moved out and my siblings are earning their own money, my mum can cut back her working hours and relax because she has done so much for me and I couldn't possibly thank her enough.
As I am literally crying I say to you, find someone you love and tell them. I am trying to build up a new relationship with my mum where I can go to her for gossip sessions like my friends inform me they do with their respective guardians or find the time to sit with her and chat, but it is hard work and I think people are often too focused on their own lives to look at the relationships they hold with those closest to them.
As always if you have any questions then feel free to ask me,
Until next time,
Stephanie
Apologies
It has been so long since I updated, but just letting you know that I have a new blog post in the making called "My Relationship with a Working Mother" and I am excited to see the reaction so stay tuned!
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