The Failure of the American Public Education

Francis Keppel once said that "Education is too important to be left solely to the educators." Such words have never had more meaning than they do today. The American public school system is in shambles and unless someone toughens up and takes a good hard look it can only continue going downhill. We of course begin with the schools. What's wrong with the schools? Well what's right with them?! There are more problems with the American education system than can possibly be discussed, but let's just try to lump them all into basic categories, shall we?

The first problem that one sees in American public education is the contradictory discipline system. From the very first day a basic system of punishments and rewards are laid out, and children are expected to catch on. Do exactly as teacher says, give teacher exactly what he or she wants, and the child will be rewarded. Do anything else (such as question teacher's opinion, or, perish the thought, have a different one) and the child will be punished.This applies throughout elementary school. Thinking is not encouraged. The generally accepted way of teaching is for students to memorize the material and be able to deliver it back, word for word, exactly as it was learned, with no thought involved. This of course leads us to the touchy subject of: Curriculum.

Most things learned beyond middle school are purely trivial in nature. Of course if one is studying to become a mathematician, one must learn higher math skills, and if one is planning to become a scientist, one needs higher sciences, but what use are these skills to most people? Why learn things that are meant to be forgotten? Does the manager of a restaurant need to know trigonometry? Couldn't the time invested in that have been spent on a more reasonable skill? Of course any teacher will tell you that one is not required to take these courses, but this is untrue. If one is place into a colleged program, one is forced to learn impractical information. Which leads us to yet another aspect of public schooling: The segregation by IQ.

We are that much better as a generation that we no longer segregate people by the color of their skins, but we now segregate them by a far more subtle feature: Intelligence. Of course, this does not mean true intelligence, but rather the ability to conform and succeed in this twisted system. Those who do well are separated from those who don't. "Exceptional" and "Gifted" students are placed in different classes. These classes are more challenging, but also less practical. They are intended to prepare one for college rather than for vocation. Do we so easily forget that college is not a career but another step towards one? The real world looms all the more harshly to one who knows nothing of it. Marcy took college level chemistry, and therefore could not take home ec. Marcy may be able to compute scientific notation, but she cannot balance a checkbook. But of course if Marcy hadn't chosen college chemistry she would have slid to the back of the pack and been low on: The beguiling social order.

Humans are not herding creatures by nature. Cramming thousands into a building ultimatly leads to social disorders. Little wonder the youth of America is so confused, schools are more crowded and less productive than ever. They've become less of an educational institution than a place in which to mill free thinking children into basic drones, fit for menial labor and military service. Those who are different are quickly shunned and pushed to the edges of society. The school system caters to the c student who likes sports, listens to pop music, and doesn't want to plan life past college major. Conform, conjoin, contentedly sift through the system.We forget that great minds think for themselves. Without individuality and free thought, nothing will ever change. Without change we cannot grow...

So if schools are the problem, then is there a solution? Yes. One that our parents and grandparents have always known about. It's called parenting. As the old adage states " It takes a village to raise a child." So perhaps we shouldn't rely so much on the inadequate school system. Perhaps we should take responsibility to educate our children ourselves, the way our ancestors did. Old ways are better, and new ways are failing. So, victims of the American public education, heed these warnings and listen well, for without change in the system, we have no tomorrow. School alone cannot teach a child how to interact with society. School is not enough, Americans have forgotten that.

A child needs to visit libraries instead of arcades. A child needs to be taken to plays instead of movies, museums instead of malls! Oh how wreched are those who haven't known the joy and the thrill of true discovery. Knowledge is power, the only true weapon against ignorance. No amount of political correctness can guard against hate as well as a measure of truth. To learn is to know, and to know is to begin to understand. Education isn't about schooling, or doing well on tests, or having high grades, or knowing mountains of inane facts. Education is haivng the knowledge to think for oneself, to act unpon one's thoughts, and to voice one's opinions. We educate our children that they may change the world, and if each generation knows no more than the last, we have failed.

Learn to think, think to grow, grow to change, change to learn. So is the cycle and the proper way of things. Unless we change our system to reflect this basic need for discovery we'll just slip deeper into the lazy, inefficient, content, rather stupid society. So stand up, take notice, and be aware that we're sinking slowly into the quagmire of mediocrity. DOn't let it happen to you. Humans are meant to be individuals. Where are the Martin Luther King Jr.s of the 1990's? Where are the Thomas Edisons, the Ben Franklins? Who do we respect? Who in our world is great? Greatness cannot be taught in school, though we may try, and fail. Life is hard but life is good. Nothing in the real world comes free and everything has a price. Today is merely the preleude of tomarrow. Are we ready?

~Back to main~

Fabric Sliding Panel | Blinds | Search Promotion Quote Seo Quote Search Engine Marketing Services Increase Search Listings | Jewelry Directory | Yahoo Personals.Com