Issues With The Public Education System
The public education system is an aspect of everyday life that is commonly overlooked. However, the public education system is the root of many issues that both individuals and society as a whole are experiencing. With its small amount of growth over the past few hundred years and its ability to go under the radar as one of the most prevalent torturous authorities in today’s world, the public education system is only getting worse as the years go on.
More and more students are experiencing the harsh abuse of America’s plan to domesticate society into 9–5 mechanical sheep.
History of the Public Education System
From the start, the public education system was designed and established as a form of social control. Today, society sees this as progress in bettering the lives of many. However, that is not the case.
Compulsory education was first established in Ancient Greece. However, the modern look of compulsory education can be traced back to the 16th century.
“I maintain that the civil authorities are under obligation to compel the people to send their children to school. … If the government can compel such citizens as are fit for military service to bear spear and rifle, to mount ramparts, and perform other martial duties in time of war, how much more has it a right to compel the people to send their children to school, because in this case we are warring with the devil, whose object it is secretly to exhaust our cities and principalities of their strong men” said Martin Luther, a primary figure in the Protestant Revolution, to the German government.
Martin Luther had dreams of indoctrinating young children into the Lutheran church through state power. With some protest and persuasion, the German government helped fund and establish compulsory schooling.
Many other governments and individuals expanded upon this idea which led to the factory model of schooling. This model helped train children to become obedient factory workers during the industrial revolution. The factory model of schooling believes in standardized teaching and tests, emphasis on respecting authority, and limiting ideas that are not in line with their standards.
In the United States, Massachusetts was the first to officially adopt state-sponsored education. By 1900, all other states had followed.
Where are we now?
Not much has changed since Martin Luther wrote to the German government and the factory model of schooling was developed. The Public Education System continues to forcibly house children within factory-like buildings, teaching them how to obey the bell and their “superiors’’ while mastering the life of a robot stuck to the 9–5 mindset. Most people will blindly accept this form of authoritarian torture deeming it as the norm and unchangeable. However, educating yourself on the truth of this horrid system is more than necessary. To help others learn more about the faults of state-sponsored schooling, below will be a compilation of argumentation.
Learning vs. Memorizing
Due to the requirements and the standards the system has imposed on children, there is more of a focus on mastering memorization skills rather than learning the topic at hand. Students are expected to take weekly quizzes and tests, midterms and finals, the SAT, and other state-sponsored exams every year. If they do poorly on the exams then they are punished with bad grades. To combat this, students skip learning the subject and practice memorizing it. This creates an unhealthy, toxic culture of not truly learning what one is being taught.
While a few people may have a passion for learning or tremendous memorization skills, most will forget what they had temporarily memorized for a test. If this is the case, then why are individuals even required to learn? It seems that the state is putting kids through unnecessary stress and the possibility of a bad grade. With this stress comes mental health issues, limited personal times to sleep or better relationships with family, and more.
The Various Learning Styles
Each individual has their own way of learning. Not everyone learns the best by sitting at a desk being lectured for an hour. According to the VARK system, there are four types of learning styles — visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and reading/writing. On top of that, some learn at a faster rate than others. One may be able to immediately comprehend science or math, but if they move at a slower pace in English then they are seen as a failure.
Students should not have to force an entire topic in one semester. Alongside that, students should not have to stretch a topic into a two-semester class. Students are given no choice or flexibility to learn the way they learn. This makes schooling not a matter of who is smart or not but a matter of who learns by the school’s way and who does not.
Compulsory schooling is limiting the growth of kids by an immense amount. One can not complain and deem society as dumb if they do not actively advocate for the ability of students to choose how they learn.
Class Requirements and Options
One would think that maybe since students are not able to choose the way they learn, they might be able to select the material they learn. However, that still is not an option. Most public high schools require 4 English classes, four math classes, three history classes, three science classes, two foreign language classes, and several electives. That essentially implies that even though a student may be tremendously gifted in math and science with the potential of becoming a top-tier engineer or chemist, they are still required to take an English class and a history class.
Basic arithmetic, an understanding of the English language, and some writing skills are more than necessary, but not everyone needs to know the history of France and that the atomic mass of Carbon is 12.
Plenty of students have dreams of becoming a specific major. These dreams make the idea of required classes obsolete. The school is more focused on giving homework to students and limiting their precious childhood.
Limited Room for Passion
Since the public education system expects more exams and better grades, time outside of school is continually decreasing. Each member of society has their own interests. However, the school does not help them build on this. Interests are commonly shut down or suppressed. If one loves to study philosophy or cryptocurrency but is not able to due to the standardized curriculums, then they will exile their hobbies in hopes of a better grade. This is unbelievably disappointing because it is only shutting down curiosity and creativity.
Many individuals would do wonders in today’s world if only they were able to practice, learn, and strive for those wonders. The successful dropouts or “failures” (in the school’s eyes) can attest to this. As the years go on, school becomes more obsolete in the chances of one becoming successful.
Someone who loves something other than what the state loves should not be forced to attend unnecessary classes but rather encouraged to further their interests.
Lack of Autonomy
As stated earlier, the public education system was founded around the idea of state-sponsored compulsory education which beliefs are focused on obedience, authority, and strict rule. With these ideas come a severe lack of student autonomy. In school, the students have to obtain permission to use the restroom. Using the bathroom is natural and necessary. Students also have to obtain permission to get food or drink water from the water fountains. If a student is restricted from obtaining food or drink then how will they perform well in class? The student is going to be more focused on their thirst or hunger.
The authoritarian issues do not stop there. If a student has feedback or a concern about a recent school policy or lesson, they are only shunned. Students should be able to self-govern themselves and may only receive authority upon objectively negative behavior.
State-sponsored compulsory schooling has reflected a toxic culture since the start. The implementation was designed to stunt growth and discourage creativity. The negative impact on society has gone under the radar for too long. While overthrowing the system is unlikely, educating society on the reality of the situation is more than necessary.
“By morality the individual is taught to become a function of the herd, and to ascribe to himself value only as a function,” Nietzsche wrote.
Continue to challenge the unchallenged. Life should not be lived inauthentically in a state of apathy.
