Summer Heights High

It's been awhile since I have posted...Appy Polly Logies.  My time was filled with enriching activities such as watching and becoming well versed in the hit Australian comedic mockumentary "Summer Heights High".  The show highlights the dysfunction of high school.  Apparently, Australian schools have similar issues to those of American schools. The show addresses the two key issues plaguing both public and private education: socioeconomic differences and behavioral problems.

The Ja'mie King character is a well-to-do snobby private school bitch that is participating in an exchange program with a public school.  This entails her attending a public school for a semester.  Ja'mie is in her junior year of high school, the height of social competition.  Having attended a prestigious private high school, it was gratifying to see the striving, snobby, stuck-up, bitch types lampooned without mercy.  I'm also glad I didn't attend a crap public high school, no offense.  Ja'mie had the world thinking she was a good person with good intentions with all of her self-promoting speeches and bogus extra-curricular involvement.  We all knew the party animals in high school that participated in S.A.D.D., campus ministry, and such clubs and activites that had their good intentions sullied by unsavory characters.

The highly prevalent behavioral issues in both public and private schools is embodied by the character Jonah Takalua.  Yes, Jonah was hilarious but he is an exaggerated example of poor behavior. Yet, it goes on.  Public schools need to categorize their student bodies into two factions.  The first being students that are in school to learn.  These would be students actually interested in their academic pursuits.  It's not for everyone.  Education is not one size fits all.  Students that are interested in learning need to be educated in an environment that is separate from the non-academic types.  The second group are those who are not interested in pursuing academics beyond age 16.  Teach them a trade.  We have so much damn unemployment and high taxes because so much money and effort is put towards educating kids with crap they don't need or want.  They then graduate with toilet paper diplomas and no job skills.  Give all kids in the country an aptitude test at certain points in their academic career.  If they want to push a pencil for a living, pass the aptitude test. Otherwise, learn an essential skill. 

Anyway, I think this post was supposed to be about a comedy show.  Summer Heights High is unapologetic and scathing in its indictment of the education system.  It is good to know it is not only America's school systems that are totally haywire.  Chris Lilley, you're a legend, sir!!!