Is This Acceptable?

No, I said "How come you have a university degree and yet you don't know who is the president of the United States, who might be impeached?" and he said "I know plenty about chemistry, and nothing about anything else".

Don't be ridiculous. You're just blethering. If this kid is statemented or if he is not there are appeal rights. Look up the SEND Tribunal. If he can't hack a normal school he could go to a special one.

He's not that bothered, and the option to contest it is not available.
My point is - Should we not guide the minds of our young in accordance with their career-interests, rather than dumb-them-down with nonsense?

I'm not contesting math, english (Whatever primary language) geography, gen science, art, pe, economics, social studies, metal/woodwok, etc - I'm contesting the purpose of being taught a subject that serves no purpose.

He's chosen 'welsh' as his 'enforced' 2nd language option - "Welsh" is a language of Wales that only 10 % of (antiquated nationalists) Welsh folk even use - I am born/bred here - NOONE speaks it - Everyone speaks english - So why does anyone need to learn it (Curriculumwise)?

Does the average us citizen need to learn Sioux or apache...?

He can 'hack' his school, btw - He's years ahead of others, and knows exactly how to achieve his ambitions - This is why he's dumbfounded by the system's 'requirements'.

This is an interesting topic that you raised, Mark. How far should education fit a person for life, and how far should it concentrate on just the things needed to get a job? It's a debate that is always going on. I think the best thing is a good balance. A bit of music and art is a good thing if we don't want to end up with a population of complete yahoos, and I personally think a foreign language is a good thing for a person to be exposed to. Not everyone is going to go on to become fluent or even carry on with it into adult life, but at least it can give a person a glimpse of another kind of way of thinking. Nothing is more dangerous than "Everybody speaks English anyway". Mind you, the way things are going, if the Brexit brigade have their way, young people should be learning how to pick broccoli and gut chickens in East Anglia or pack football shirts for Sports Direct on zero hours contracts with no rights because the country will be right up the Swanee. And nobody will be able to say they weren't told.

I agree.
And by 'Everybody speaks English anyway' - Not being generic - Even the 10% Welsh speakers - Speak fluent english - They are 'Nationalists' and demand the preservation of their ancestral tradition to the extent that every streetname, directional-sign, grocery item...... Every sign imaginable - Is twice as big, bold and expensive because it is written in 2 different languages - We have far more pressing issues that expense can be applied too.

But I would like to see brexit occur - And for trump to prevail.
Yet I see both issues as deferring our attention from real matters of interest.

My guess is that the school system requires students to take a variety of classes to be exposed to some studies they might not otherwise know about or perhaps realize they could excel at or would have an interest in.

That being said - if a student really knows what they are interested and sees no value in another class -- I can understand why it is a dumb rule and why you and he would be against it. Unfortunately some systems are so strict there is no chance of fighting it or making exceptions. I guess in one respect your nephew is learning a life lesson in that sometimes you have to comply with dumb rules. Seeing it isn't hurting him in any way - you could also spin it as a life lesson in red tape and how you need to decide what things are worth fighting for and what things are better to just deal with.

He's only 13 . Don't all 13 year olds have to do compulsory classes? He can specialise when he gets to university. There will be many kids in his language class who can't see the point in having to do science or maths either. My adult son has autism/intellectual disability and I know quite a lot of young people on the spectrum. It's right to value their interests and talents but it's also good to encourage them to see beyond those interests as well. My train and bus obsessed son is very proud of his gardening work and is loving his African drumming classes.

You can not be considered educated without having some mastery of at least two languages. The reason for this is that education requires the ability to be able to see things from different perspectives and express them with different vocabularies.

A second language is more important to the development of an intelligent mind than math, science or history.

He's my girlfriends nephew, not mine, never met him.
I'm not against - I just believe parents should have absolute 'voice' in such issues, Not the state - At least not a state that is clearly broken.

Do you think 'competitive' sport should be compulsory also?
I don't.
I believe 'Cooperative' sport is apt.
Consider the mindset aquired from each.

Your proclamation is flawed - A. Because it's complete bollux - B. Because it's complete bollux.
The ability to alternate your perspective is not dependant on bilingualism.
And a 2nd language has far less value than any subject I could list, especially math and science (Accurate science preferred).

No other animal or plant wastes its brain-quotient on traversing multiple languages. Now (IMO) that's 'Intelligence'.

The problem is a lot of parents are complete thickos.

Maybe, they're 'thickos' because they were forced to learn Welsh and, by doing so, 'Welsh' now occupies the quadrant of the brain intended for their IQ?

This guy entirely agrees with me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSmwMikf6ic

I think it's more likely that thickos have that quadrant occupied by "Engerland" flags, football, and Sports Direct clothes.

I don't think that the brain is so simple that if you learn one thing it "takes a spot" thus not allowing any additional learning. As it is you only use a portion of your entire brain's ability. There is plenty of room for things less important.

I wouldn't worry about taking a language filling up a part of the brain so you are now unable to use to for more advanced math. Not to mention language is more than likely using a different part of the brain than what you are deeming is more important learning like math and science.

Absolutely. There is a lot of evidence that learning anything at all helps you learn other things. Anyhow, learning is not just about cramming facts into a brain rather like stuffing a chicken, it's about learning to think, to marshal your thoughts, to learn about yourself, to use your brain effectively. School subjects, even widely diverse ones, reinforce each other. Regarding the usefulness (or otherwise) of learning (or at least studying) a second language, doing so can improve communication skills including in the first, native language. I would have thought this would be especially important if the pupil is on the spectrum.

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