Really Texas Law Makers? Taking technology and health requirements from high school graduation requirements is simply not a smart move.
Yes, we here in the journalism department are somewhat happy to have two less requirements and hope students choose to take a media class. But the bigger picture is fat and pixilated.
Health class teaches students the basics of healthy eating, the side-effects of drug use and basic sex education. In a country with some of the highest obesity rates and the highest teen pregnancy rates in the world, removing them is not a good idea.
The credit is only a half semester, so it easily paired with a speech credit. Now counselors will be scrapping to find a half-year class to fill the space.
Students can operate Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube and other social media sites. However this social media knowledge does not equal the skills learned in a BCIS class. Texas will soon graduate students with no idea how a spread sheet works or how to formulate a proper letter or how to mail merge for a mass letter or how to adjust margins on a resume or how to format a photo for the web. Students won’t even know what’s in a resume. Just because students are always on the computer, our law makers should not assume we know everything. The change should have been made to include more technology classes.
Another problem we’ve already seen is the vulture mode electives have created. We, at The Rider, sent a Tweet and FaceBook message saying, “now that Texas cut health and tech credits, take a cool elective like broadcast journalism or any media class.” A cheap shot; we know. But like health and computer teachers, we’re fighting to get people to take our class. (By-the-way, we’ve already apologized to these teachers for our recruiting tactics.)
The state did not lower the total number of credits needed to graduate, but they did up the number of core classes required for everyone with the “4×4” schedule program. This makes it even less likely for students to choose health or technology over an elective like band, athletics or journalism when there is less room for electives in their schedule overall. While not as fun or exciting as the others, the knowledge from health and tech are even more important for life after high school, and arguably more useful than that advanced calculus class Texas has decided you should take, except for the select few who are able to become engineers or architects.
Texas Law Makers need to relook at the graduation requirements and keep a health and technology class in the graduation requirements.
Meagan • Dec 11, 2009 at 2:49 pm
I dont understand why people are trying to make things harder than they have to be. Health should be a required credit, because that will absolutely help you in the near future. As for tech class, what theyre doing to that is dumb. Once these credits are removed, NO ONE will take them. What will happen there is that no one will know how to work a computer. They should reconsider…
Drew Gassiot • Sep 1, 2009 at 6:32 pm
I kind of like it. All of the information from the classes that take care of the credits can be learned in a matter of days using google. So anyone who doesn’t want to know doesn’t have to know. Anyone who wants to learn about how their body works, basic health knowledge, or how to have 1337 h4x0r skills on a computer can take the classes, or just look them up.
Jackie • Aug 30, 2009 at 8:44 pm
@Russell they’re thinking about making TCC classes only get 5 points extra instead of the 10 extra. Who knows, AP classes could be next.
Russell Kirby • Aug 28, 2009 at 6:14 pm
jeeze. what’s with all this dumb legislation? “Let’s add ‘God’ to the Texas pledge!” “We should make all students take four years of math! (even the ones who aren’t any good at it!)” what’s it coming to? No more extra ten points for AP students?
Allex • Aug 28, 2009 at 2:05 pm
if they remove these classes nobody will take them. there’s no point. i had to take them. so should everyone else!!!!