Do Schools Help Or Hinder School. It's a phase everyone's gone through. But looking back, did school help you? Did it push you towards what you wanted to do? Or did it lead you to conform? That may have sounded very accusing and direct but even though I am young I can see that school hasn't really helped me develop as a person. I am trained to pass an exam not to live if that makes sense. Admittedly that's what the world wants: high grades and intelligence, but why base it on exams? Why purely test short term memory on a limited subject? A lot of exams, particularly GCSEs, seem not to be about understanding or skill, but rather whoever has got the best memory or whoever puts in the most time. However, some subjects, like english, are ones where I think the exam boards have got it right (a lot of people do disagree with me though). That's my opinion anyway. I personally think exams should not be what they are and should be changed. Changed to what though? I myself can only see the problem not a full-proof solution. Testing understanding over time would be more effective as would focusing predominantly on coursework rather than whoever can cram the best at the end of it all. I think this opus is becoming dangerously close to a full on rant so before I go into rage mode I would like to ask a few questions. Does anyone else think school prepares you for exams not anything else? I would be interested in any suggestion to a solution to what I think is a problem Much appreciated David