Modern-day Public Education and Me

[Deity]

Hello RevLeft, I'm wondering what your opinions are when it comes to individuals in modern day public schooling. Do you think that school is necessary to survive? Do you believe it teaches useful skills?

I've personally lost any and all drive I had for schooling. I have no interest in what they are attempting to shove down my throat, and believe that some of these "educators" only have a very mild understanding of what they are teaching us.

I could be spending my time doing more productive, or even just more enjoyable, things instead. It's a depressing atmosphere in general where you're told to not speak and follow direct orders as they're given without question.

I know I sound like an average ignorant teenager, but I honestly learn more on my own time by just going on the internet. Education past elementary is becoming outdated. Should I continue to stress over my stacks over homework assignments? Is it truly worth it for a piece of paper? Then afterwards it's basically expected to do even more schooling at a university. It's depressing to even think about.

[#FF0000]

Welp, it isn't really your teachers' fault, usually. They're in it for the right reasons, generally, and probably themselves find themselves hella restricted by the district (part of why the burnout rate for young teachers is so high and why a lot of older ones are just resigning).

But yeah, what year are you in? Honestly, I'd try to thug it out til the end. Of course that isn't what I did at all but w/e.

[Yuppie Grinder]

I really hope I pass high school.
I feel for you.

[BIXX]

I currently have almost all D's in school, but I understand what you're talking about. I think if somehow school were converted to a more holistic approach, we might not only have higher graduation rates, better workers, and happier people.

[Slavoj Zizek's Balls]

Just push for it and keep your options open but keep your interests alive so that you can continue after high school (with your true interests).

[Deity]

I do plan on pushing through, but is it really worth stressing to get good grades? I don't really want to go on to college even though everyone says you NEED a degree to have a good life. How much truth is in that? Does formal education actually determine how much success I will be able to have?

[BIXX]

I do plan on pushing through, but is it really worth stressing to get good grades? I don't really want to go on to college even though everyone says you NEED a degree to have a good life. How much truth is in that? Does formal education actually determine how much success I will be able to have?

Only monetary success. Not necessarily success as in what makes you happy.

[Fourth Internationalist]

I don't know why some people don't like school. Maybe it's where you live but here my schools are really good. Some people just have a harder time learning and I think that's why you're so against school whereas someone like myself doesn't hate school because I find it extremely easy even in all honors classes. Just stay and try to get a good education. You'll regret it later if you leave now because, yes, you sound like a stereotypical ignorant teenager.
Edit: this is funny since I'm writing all this in study hall right now with my phone. Nothing to work on...

[Deity]

I don't know why some people don't like school. Maybe it's where you live but here my schools are really good. Some people just have a harder time learning and I think that's why you're so against school whereas someone like myself doesn't hate school because I find it extremely easy even in all honors classes. Just stay and try to get a good education. You'll regret it later if you leave now because, yes, you sound like a stereotypical ignorant teenager.
Edit: this is funny since I'm writing all this in study hall right now with my phone. Nothing to work on...

The problem isn't that I am learning slowly. The problem is that I can't find a fuck to give about the subjects they're attempting to "teach" me. I used to have As in advanced classes, then I asked myself why I allow school, which I don't care for, to dominate my life.

I love to learn, which is why it's a shame that school doesn't teach me anything.

[REV3R]

Keep pushing through school, but do your own studies to the side and educate yourself out of school. I graduated high school 2 yrs ago and didn't really come out of it with anything useful, but I have been in some very interesting classes in college. College is also tough because of the options available if you don't have money, but some state public schools are good and are cheap relative to other schools.

[slum]

school in capitalist society is not designed for learning. if you love learning, you either have to do it on your own or hope you encounter one of the few good teachers who hasnt yet been ground into paste by the system that more and more each day degrades them and keeps them from doing their jobs with any sort of reason or integrity.

public schools at this point are just there to turn you into a worker drone, or if you're part of a particular group, into a prisoner, or if you're part of a different particular group, a higher paid worker drone who will be paying for that privilege by spending a few years commodifying your future labor by going deep into debt.

best thing to do is just get through it, if you dont want to go to college dont, especially if you'd be going into debt to do it. you want a GED for a lot of jobs, but grades dont matter so long as you graduate.
if you decide to do higher education later in life your high school grades wont matter then anyways, and you can always attend a community college for a year or so to get a good gpa.

[Luís Henrique]

Your question,


Do you believe it teaches useful skills?

your answer:


where you're told to not speak and follow direct orders as they're given without question.Those are probably the two most usefull skills you have to learn in a capitalist society.

Luís Henrique

[Luís Henrique]

I do plan on pushing through, but is it really worth stressing to get good grades? I don't really want to go on to college even though everyone says you NEED a degree to have a good life. How much truth is in that? Does formal education actually determine how much success I will be able to have?

Do you like repetitive, meaningless work?

If not, going to college is perhaps the most realistic option.

Luís Henrique

[Jimmie Higgins]

I do plan on pushing through, but is it really worth stressing to get good grades? I don't really want to go on to college even though everyone says you NEED a degree to have a good life. How much truth is in that? Does formal education actually determine how much success I will be able to have?Well in the US, employment statistics show that while more education doesn't really mean much of a better (i.e. stable working class or professsional) life like it once did (aside for elietes and probably eliete universities) but it does mean you are more likely to find employment - or less likely to be the first fired - on average. So my advice would be to try and stick with it through high school and then decide what you want to do.

You're definately not bonkers or alone in thinking that public schools in the US are stiffling and not really educational though.

[Jimmie Higgins]

Those are probably the two most usefull skills you have to learn in a capitalist society.
Ha, right!

In eliete schools they teach people how to think, how to become confident and prepared to be deciders and leaders. Education for professionals teaches people critical thinking, creativity, group work, and putting in extra to compete with your classmates. And for workers it teaches people to fill out tests and participate in alienating activities - why? Because you have to: it's the way it is so don't complain, and if you fail at these innane tasks that don't seem to make sense then you will be poor and miserable in life and it will be all your fault for not filling in bubbles correctly!

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

I dropped out of highschol when I turned 18. I eventually got my ged and started looking for work after a few years of trying to drop out in general. Not getting a diploma or a degree hasn't been the end of the world, I've got a job and a salary all the suckers I work with had to go to school for, but getting here I feel was mostly chance and at least some male privilege.

When i was 17, dropping out and creating a life outside of what was sold to me while growing up seemed like such an easy and obvious choice to make. Once I had done it and lived with it for a few years, I didnt regret it so much as realize I had underestimated what kind of effort a life like that would demand of a person. I would probably make the same decisions again, but I would definitely plan it out better than I did the first time. My only advice is that you really take your time making decisions like this.

[Sea]

I do plan on pushing through, but is it really worth stressing to get good grades? I don't really want to go on to college even though everyone says you NEED a degree to have a good life. How much truth is in that? Does formal education actually determine how much success I will be able to have?College isn't like HS at all in terms of enjoyment and enrichment, so if you can afford college I'd highly recommend at least giving it a try. Even the basic classes like English etc. improved tremendously when I went from a relatively decent highschool to a lowly community college, as did my grades.

[Skyhilist]

I know how you feel dude. High school so often is just utter nonsense... especially when it comes to social sciences. I remember once my teacher even gave us all a print out of a sheet that compared "capitalism vs communism" on a scale of "completely democratic vs completely undemocratic" and had capitalism as most democratic and communism as least democratic. Nonsense, really; so much of high school is just useless bullshit.

[Skyhilist]

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MzEDL4tOPpU/UPnWNUJaPUI/AAAAAAAAC0Q/cp7iHpiMLqA/s1600/what%2Bdoes%2Bschool%2Breally%2Bteach%2Bchildren.j pg

[Skyhilist]

By the way, are you in any AP? If so, at least try to do well on the tests. At the very least it'll save you a lot of money when/if you decide to go to college.

[melvin]

Hello RevLeft, I'm wondering what your opinions are when it comes to individuals in modern day public schooling. Do you think that school is necessary to survive?that depends what you do with your life. the thing is, high school age people rarely have a solid idea of what they want to do with their life. so it is always a good idea to graduate high school.


Do you believe it teaches useful skills? no. but that's really not why people graduate. it is easier to find employment if you have a high school degree, which is the real reason to go.


Should I continue to stress over my stacks over homework assignments? Is it truly worth it for a piece of paper? Then afterwards it's basically expected to do even more schooling at a university. It's depressing to even think about.high school is hard to do outstanding in, but it is easy to be a mediocre student who gets by.

[Fourth Internationalist]

The problem isn't that I am learning slowly. The problem is that I can't find a fuck to give about the subjects they're attempting to "teach" me. I used to have As in advanced classes, then I asked myself why I allow school, which I don't care for, to dominate my life.

I love to learn, which is why it's a shame that school doesn't teach me anything.
How is it dominating your life?

[melvin]

How is it dominating your life?to add onto this, if high school dominates your life, then you are putting way too much pressure on yourself. you really don't need to work that hard to do alright in it.

[Crabbensmasher]

I'm gonna say something that a lot of you will disagree with, but modern schooling is more useful than you think.

Of course you won't remember what you did in a grade 12 calculus class for example. most of that shit you'll forget a week after the final exams.
Even English class or something. Hell, I don't even remember what I did in English class. Honestly I have no freaking clue what we did.

But it teaches you very important life skills that you probably take for granted
It's enormously important in terms of socialization, just as much when you're five as when you're a teenager.
This sounds stupid, but it also teaches you how to learn. Being able to pay attention, understand instructions and formulate your own opinions based on that. These things are all taught at school. You can't look at it from the individual classes point of view, because quite frankly, most classes are full of shit, but you have to look at the big picture. School is there to teach you basic life skills you need to live in society. You may say "Ah, but this calculus has no practical application, I'll never use it". And if you say that, good for you, but you need to look deeper.
Things like homework, deadlines, presentations, they all play a role in the larger scheme of things. And yes, of course, as you will point out, there are flaws. I had a friend who never studied for any test or exam in High school and passed with honours and scholarships to multiple universities. But at the end of the day, schooling is enormously important, and replacing that experience with something else can really fuck with people.

I only went on this rant because I'm sick of people saying how they could just teach themselves these sort of things instead of going to school, when in reality, they can't.

[Hermes]

I'm gonna say something that a lot of you will disagree with, but modern schooling is more useful than you think.

Of course you won't remember what you did in a grade 12 calculus class for example. most of that shit you'll forget a week after the final exams.
Even English class or something. Hell, I don't even remember what I did in English class. Honestly I have no freaking clue what we did.

But it teaches you very important life skills that you probably take for granted
It's enormously important in terms of socialization, just as much when you're five as when you're a teenager.
This sounds stupid, but it also teaches you how to learn. Being able to pay attention, understand instructions and formulate your own opinions based on that. These things are all taught at school. You can't look at it from the individual classes point of view, because quite frankly, most classes are full of shit, but you have to look at the big picture. School is there to teach you basic life skills you need to live in society. You may say "Ah, but this calculus has no practical application, I'll never use it". And if you say that, good for you, but you need to look deeper.
Things like homework, deadlines, presentations, they all play a role in the larger scheme of things. And yes, of course, as you will point out, there are flaws. I had a friend who never studied for any test or exam in High school and passed with honours and scholarships to multiple universities. But at the end of the day, schooling is enormously important, and replacing that experience with something else can really fuck with people.

I only went on this rant because I'm sick of people saying how they could just teach themselves these sort of things instead of going to school, when in reality, they can't.

So we're supposed to take your anecdotal evidence over another person's anecdotal evidence... because?

To be honest, I think you and User Name are being incredibly condescending. You can be intelligent, and do very badly at school. To say that you 'need' school in order to learn is infantile, you're basically discarding hundreds of years of alternative education theory, in favor of a system that is inevitably, inextricably, tied to capitalism as a system.

You say that it's useful for socialization; I suppose it depends on what you mean. If you're trying to say that it helps you 'fit in', i.e. conform, then yes, I agree 100%. Why is this a good thing, again? I know plenty of people who have been home-schooled (not a thing I'm really advocating, but oh well) who have been perfectly fine, 'socially'. You act as if there is no life outside school for those of schooling age.

If you really think school 'teaches you how to learn', rather than an informal learning process, I would really advise you to trawl through your own memories of childhood.

Oh well.

--


to add onto this, if high school dominates your life, then you are putting way too much pressure on yourself. you really don't need to work that hard to do alright in it.

Regardless of whether it actually dominates his life, if a person doesn't enjoy something it's kind of difficult to tell them that 8 hours of that thing almost every day, for the majority of the year, isn't disheartening. It'd be like telling someone to get over having to go to work, because you have plenty of time afterwards to do what you want.

Not mentioning everything the school forces you to do after school hours.

[Fourth Internationalist]

To be honest, I think you and User Name are being incredibly condescending.

How? By accepting his own words of being an ignorant teenager? A high school is by far a better way of learning than the internet. That doesnt mean you cant use the internet to learn, but you cant replace a high school education with the internet.


Regardless of whether it actually dominates his life, if a person doesn't enjoy something it's kind of difficult to tell them that 8 hours of that thing almost every day, for the majority of the year, isn't disheartening. It'd be like telling someone to get over having to go to work, because you have plenty of time afterwards to do what you want.

Not mentioning everything the school forces you to do after school hours.

Persoanlly, I'd rather work 6 to 8 hours a day doing school work for four years than a job at McDonalds for the rest of my life. So, whether it's boring or not, it will greatly improve someones quality of life.

[Hermes]

How? By accepting his own words of being an ignorant teenager? A high school is by far a better way of learning than the internet. That doesnt mean you cant use the internet to learn, but you cant replace a high school education with the internet.

In his own words, he thinks he'll "sound like an average ignorant teenager". This is very different. I have no doubt that he might think he is, and it's sick that a person can think that of himself, and of an age like that generally, simply because of how they feel about the education system. Criticize the education system? Ignorant teenager.

Leaving aside for the fact that it's not a binary between High School or Internet, why couldn't you?


Persoanlly, I'd rather work 6 to 8 hours a day doing school work for four years than a job at McDonalds for the rest of my life. So, whether it's boring or not, it will greatly improve someones quality of life.

So because you prefer school to work, school 'will greatly improve someones quality of life', universally? What kind of logic is that? I mean, sure, I suppose if you only have interest in earning lots of money, go ahead. Class mobility and all that (too bad it's by and large a myth, but if you don't want to believe that).

[Deity]

I'm gonna say something that a lot of you will disagree with, but modern schooling is more useful than you think.

Of course you won't remember what you did in a grade 12 calculus class for example. most of that shit you'll forget a week after the final exams.
Even English class or something. Hell, I don't even remember what I did in English class. Honestly I have no freaking clue what we did.

But it teaches you very important life skills that you probably take for granted
It's enormously important in terms of socialization, just as much when you're five as when you're a teenager.
This sounds stupid, but it also teaches you how to learn. Being able to pay attention, understand instructions and formulate your own opinions based on that. These things are all taught at school. You can't look at it from the individual classes point of view, because quite frankly, most classes are fu lll of shit, but you have to look at the big picture. School is there to teach you basic life skills you need to live in society. You may say "Ah, but this calculus has no practical application, I'll never use it". And if you say that, good for you, but you need to look deeper.
Things like homework, deadlines, presentations, they all play a role in the larger scheme of things. And yes, of course, as you will point out, there are flaws. I had a friend who never studied for any test or exam in High school and passed with honours and scholarships to multiple universities. But at the end of the day, schooling is enormously important, and replacing that experience with something else can really fuck with people.

I only went on this rant because I'm sick of people saying how they could just teach themselves these sort of things instead of going to school, when in reality, they can't.

I clearly don't fully grasp the benefits of the education system, which is why I made this thread, but I guarantee you it does not promote the forming of my own opinions.

Even in English classed where you read a passage and interpret it there is only one right answer. There is no freedom of thought promoted. They do not encourage creativity despite what they say. You are right, or you are wrong.

On a different note we learned about the cold war recently, and by that I mean we talked about why capitalism is better than socialism. When we wrote our essays and such mine was...less pro-capitalist than my peers, and so I got a low grade and had to redo my assignment.

The point of that is that the system we live in does not teach me to think for myself and formulate opinions, but it teaches me to think how they want me to. It teaches me to be the worker they want me to be. The teachers themselves say they are preparing for us to become "productive workers in our society"

[Deity]

How? By accepting his own words of being an ignorant teenager? A high school is by far a better way of learning than the internet. That doesnt mean you cant use the internet to learn, but you cant replace a high school education with the internet.



Persoanlly, I'd rather work 6 to 8 hours a day doing school work for four years than a job at McDonalds for the rest of my life. So, whether it's boring or not, it will greatly improve someones quality of life.

How will more education improve my quality of life is what I'm asking. Don't use the working at McDonalds argument that every person who defends public education uses because it's a bit unfair of you to assume I have no skills and will be forced to do basic labor.

I do plan on graduating high school anyways. That doesnt matter.

[Jimmie Higgins]

I'm gonna say something that a lot of you will disagree with, but modern schooling is more useful than you think.

Of course you won't remember what you did in a grade 12 calculus class for example. most of that shit you'll forget a week after the final exams.
Even English class or something. Hell, I don't even remember what I did in English class. Honestly I have no freaking clue what we did.

But it teaches you very important life skills that you probably take for granted
It's enormously important in terms of socialization, just as much when you're five as when you're a teenager.
This sounds stupid, but it also teaches you how to learn. Being able to pay attention, understand instructions and formulate your own opinions based on that. These things are all taught at school. You can't look at it from the individual classes point of view, because quite frankly, most classes are full of shit, but you have to look at the big picture. School is there to teach you basic life skills you need to live in society. You may say "Ah, but this calculus has no practical application, I'll never use it". And if you say that, good for you, but you need to look deeper.
Things like homework, deadlines, presentations, they all play a role in the larger scheme of things. And yes, of course, as you will point out, there are flaws. I had a friend who never studied for any test or exam in High school and passed with honours and scholarships to multiple universities. But at the end of the day, schooling is enormously important, and replacing that experience with something else can really fuck with people.

I only went on this rant because I'm sick of people saying how they could just teach themselves these sort of things instead of going to school, when in reality, they can't.

Everything you say here is true in the abstract, and I think we'd want to expand and enrich learning and educational opportunities if society was run by people (who would then also have an interest in knowing things to help run society as well as education for personal knowledge and fufilment). If I won the lotto and was suddenly financially independant, I probably would think about just living as an undergrad and skipping from major to major based on whatever whims or interests I had - music, history, art, obscure literature - skipping to whatever interests me, you know like people with big trust funds :lol:.


School is there to teach you basic life skills you need to live in society.Yes, but this is the contradictory part for me. It teaches us basic life-skills but life skills necissary for capitalism: how to compete, how to blame and ostricize the looser, how to do what you are told even if it's something that doesn't relate to your life, how to do busy-work, how to be ranked and set into tracts based on categories useful for employers. It is there to teach people skills necissary for capitalist society and there are problems with that.

Public education was one of the progressive gains from the reconstruction era in the US, but it was also used to try and oppress catholic and jewish immigrants and native americans (one of the arguments for public eduation originally was that it could break the Irish of their "inferior culture" and religion). My grandfather, for example, was put in a "slow class" just because he was an latino immigrant which is part of how they can keep segregation going in a "democratic" institution (and statistics indicate that this kind of segregation still happens). Systemic racism is a huge problem in US public ed. today both on the local level and through the big privitizing education reform programs and the propaganda used to argue for it. Public education was part of the nationalizing process for modern capitalist states as they turned groups of peasants with different cultures and feudal tradditions into workers who could all speak the same language - or in the US, turned a bunch of immigrant groups into national workforce; and so patriotism and national-identity and conformity have always been part of capitalist schooling.

But high school students have led walkouts from 1968 to Wisconsin, and I'm amazed at the amout of gay-straight alliance type clubs that exist in schools today because when I was in school no one dared be out of the closet. Because education in the abstract has a "use value" beyond it's form in captalism as just producing future workers, seperating out future professionals and preparing future ruling class people, education in capitalism is also contested: it is democratizing (public education that is) but it is also constraining. So it's possible to fight for better, more equal, more interesting and dynamic education (just as it's possible for the capitalists to fight to privitize and make education more eliete when it suits them). So it's default IMO is to sociallize towards conformity, but despite of the default orientation, schools can also be places where teachers and students and parents can also are socialized in how to fight for their interests and in the US I think we saw a bit of this in the 60s and 70s both in social struggle and then in labor struggles with educators fighting for more control over the cirriculum and better conditions for educators and students.

[Crabbensmasher]

I clearly don't fully grasp the benefits of the education system, which is why I made this thread, but I guarantee you it does not promote the forming of my own opinions.

Even in English classed where you read a passage and interpret it there is only one right answer. There is no freedom of thought promoted. They do not encourage creativity despite what they say. You are right, or you are wrong.

On a different note we learned about the cold war recently, and by that I mean we talked about why capitalism is better than socialism. When we wrote our essays and such mine was...less pro-capitalist than my peers, and so I got a low grade and had to redo my assignment.

The point of that is that the system we live in does not teach me to think for myself and formulate opinions, but it teaches me to think how they want me to. It teaches me to be the worker they want me to be. The teachers themselves say they are preparing for us to become "productive workers in our society"

I didn't say a word about American Schools, which I'm assuming you're referencing here. I'm talking about the educational system in general.

On a side note though, did you have at least one positive experience with a teacher? In my experience, they tend to be more open minded than most. Or am I mistaken and they are all indeed Super-Fascist boogeymen?


Everything you say here is true in the abstract, and I think we'd want to expand and enrich learning and educational opportunities if society was run by people (who would then also have an interest in knowing things to help run society as well as education for personal knowledge and fufilment). If I won the lotto and was suddenly financially independant, I probably would think about just living as an undergrad and skipping from major to major based on whatever whims or interests I had - music, history, art, obscure literature - skipping to whatever interests me, you know like people with big trust funds :lol:.

Yes, but this is the contradictory part for me. It teaches us basic life-skills but life skills necissary for capitalism: how to compete, how to blame and ostricize the looser, how to do what you are told even if it's something that doesn't relate to your life, how to do busy-work, how to be ranked and set into tracts based on categories useful for employers. It is there to teach people skills necissary for capitalist society and there are problems with that.

Public education was one of the progressive gains from the reconstruction era in the US, but it was also used to try and oppress catholic and jewish immigrants and native americans (one of the arguments for public eduation originally was that it could break the Irish of their "inferior culture" and religion). My grandfather, for example, was put in a "slow class" just because he was an latino immigrant which is part of how they can keep segregation going in a "democratic" institution (and statistics indicate that this kind of segregation still happens). Systemic racism is a huge problem in US public ed. today both on the local level and through the big privitizing education reform programs and the propaganda used to argue for it. Public education was part of the nationalizing process for modern capitalist states as they turned groups of peasants with different cultures and feudal tradditions into workers who could all speak the same language - or in the US, turned a bunch of immigrant groups into national workforce; and so patriotism and national-identity and conformity have always been part of capitalist schooling.

But high school students have led walkouts from 1968 to Wisconsin, and I'm amazed at the amout of gay-straight alliance type clubs that exist in schools today because when I was in school no one dared be out of the closet. Because education in the abstract has a "use value" beyond it's form in captalism as just producing future workers, seperating out future professionals and preparing future ruling class people, education in capitalism is also contested: it is democratizing (public education that is) but it is also constraining. So it's possible to fight for better, more equal, more interesting and dynamic education (just as it's possible for the capitalists to fight to privitize and make education more eliete when it suits them). So it's default IMO is to sociallize towards conformity, but despite of the default orientation, schools can also be places where teachers and students and parents can also are socialized in how to fight for their interests and in the US I think we saw a bit of this in the 60s and 70s both in social struggle and then in labor struggles with educators fighting for more control over the cirriculum and better conditions for educators and students.

Yes, I'd agree with you on this one. By basic life skills, I was being vague, but again, I'm not specifically talking about American Schools.
As for conformity, yes, I would also agree that they teach conformity. Everybody has a degree of conformity, and it's not wrong to want to conform to some sort of norm in society. What type of conformity is wrong though, is the things you're describing - conformity to American capitalism, work attitudes, nationalism etc.
Thanks for the info by the way. Completely agree with you.

[Alain]

Although I made my life's purpose not to die stupid, I have become disillusioned with the conventional educational system, even colleges. A few centuries ago, higher education meant a professor and 10-15 students having a talk and being treated with respect. Today, they are treated like cattle. There is a lot of indoctrination going on in all levels of education(maybe except for PhD programs).
You are being force-fed information and, come exam time, a counter is placed on your mouth(or paper) on how much of that force-fed information you can regurgitate. The grade is whatever the counter says + how much of a "good boy" you've been in classes.
Education is good, regardless of how good or bad schools are, but you can't really get as much of an education from an entire day of school as you can in an hour of study on your own. You could say that some people don't want to study on their own. Well, if they don't like reading and thinking maybe they shouldn't go to school either. Seems to make sense, doesn't it?

[nizan]

Your conclusions were natural enough, and certainly not to be questioned. All models of education are indicative of their times, those currently prevalent more so than ever. You're learning the methodology of ideological subjugation in the modern classroom, nothing more. To pay any further credence to the fabrication of 'knowledge' is to pay further credence to hierarchical society.


The student is a stoic slave: the more chains authority heaps upon him, the freer he is in phantasy.-The Poverty of Student Life