Photo Credit: Jon Friedman

Government teacher Diane Martinelli interacts with her class.

Since the dawn of time, Government and Economics have been a mandatory part of M-A curriculum, requirements that every senior must fulfill in order to graduate. Or at least, almost every senior.

There are those ambitious few who take on some extra work junior year and teach themselves enough Government and Economics to take the AP tests in those subjects. If they pass, they are exempt from the Gov/Econ requirement (though sadly not the research paper). This seems like a reasonable enough idea to me—I mean, I would never do it, but I applaud those with the initiative to teach themselves a subject and voluntarily take a three-hour test.

However, an anonymous junior who inquired about this option was treated to something of a tirade about rich kids who do not want to associate with those of a lower socioeconomic status, who avoid taking Government and Economics senior year because they are, to be blunt, too snobby.

This came as a surprise to her—she just wanted to make room in her schedule to take Cold War. But it is unsettling that taking the AP tests for Government and Economics is so heavily discouraged. Why discourage someone from fulfilling a graduation requirement and taking a class they find interesting?

In the land of ideal scenarios, I would have a class for AP Government and AP Economics. However, this is apparently an impossibility at M-A, and I suspect it’s for the same reason that junior was rebuffed for asking about taking the AP tests: avoiding regular Government and Economics makes you closed-minded and stuck-up.

However, in my experience, taking AP classes or extra AP tests has never been about prejudice. Students choose (or force themselves to take) AP classes in subjects they like in order to challenge themselves, not to avoid anyone. Having AP classes allows students to pick a level best suited for their abilities and interests, and discouraging that choice seems a tad silly for an institution whose goal is to educate young people.

After sophomore year, I took regular science classes to reduce the stress that accompanied my stint as “most dangerous chemistry student in the history of mixing chemicals incorrectly.” This was the best idea I’ve ever had, as I then ended up in classes I could handle as opposed to classes I might accidentally blow up.

On the other hand, I’ve always loved English, so taking AP English classes was almost as obvious a choice as avoiding the potentially dangerous subject of science. If I had taken AP Physics, I would have keeled over with shock on day one. Same goes for taking regular English and risking a boredom-induced coma.

Whatever the subject, I want to be with people who are on the same page as I—not a future scientist who knows everything about Physics already, or an uninterested sloth who doesn’t have quite the obsession with the English language that I do.

For this reason, I wish AP Government and AP Economics were available at M-A. Those are subjects in which I think I could do reasonably well, or even like; and yet everyone has to take them and everyone, interested or not, is thrown into the mix together. Those who want to debate constantly or discuss oligopolies are frustrated; those who are trying to sleep are rudely awakened by the noise. No one is quite where they’d want to be, and it’s just not as interesting/restful as it could be.

If having AP Government and Economics is just not possible, it would at least help to allow students to pass the related AP tests and take classes they’re actually interested in without judgment. But I think fulfilling graduation requirements could be a lot more effective with AP classes in Government and Economics.