school is to make sure you're out of serious trouble for sev

[MOLOTOV]

What I generally love about history courses is the way they generally gloss over [read as: censor] any part of history that may "corrupt our innocent, impressionable minds". For instance, right now we are studying the Greeks and Romans [again], and yet we have had no mention of their laws. Why? They were, in some cases, much more liberal than today's. Pericles himself said, to crudely paraphrase "That which your neighbor does to pleasure himself is none but your neighbor's business" We had a discussion on Alexander the Great the other day, and I, tirred of the good little christian talk, stood up and told the class that Alexander was bisexual. I mentioned his various prepubescent sex slaves, and the fact that Greek culture completely accepted this as natural. Med them think twice about [no, not really, i'm just bull-shiting my self again] Clinton's hanky-pank. That raised a ruckus. I live in hick central. I have only found two teachers on the entire campus who knew anything about Deism, and it certainly wasn't mentioned in Amerikan History. damn conservatives. Just the other day my librarian had me talk to my counselor at school because i was on "un-amerikan" websites while sporting my Che shirt and long rebel-assed hair. I knew Communism had Mao's Red Book, Anarchyhas it's cookbook, and Juvenile Delinquency has Hoffman's "steal this book", but my counselor handed me the little blue book of capitalism. "song of Amerika", or some shit like that. I should sell it back to him at aprofit to show i understood it.

[canikickit]

Everything you say is true, but school is good for you.

[ThunderStrike]

capitalist education has a dilemma, people/future workers should be taught just enough to perform good quality labour, but they shouldn't be taught too much so they become thinkers/revolutionary's..

[BOZG]

canikickit,

education is good for you, school is not.

[Mazdak]

I agree. In my opinion... school simply takes away a child's curiousity and willingness to learn. I agree that education is of the utmost importance, but school teaches in such an impersonal way and makes things that used to fascinate you disgust you. I learn far more studying things on my own then in school.

And, another thing is : why should someone who wants to become a garbage man need to learn about advanced chemistry? I could see learning things like this, but shouldnt schools focus on necessary subjects firsT?

[canikickit]

I don't think anyone wants to be a garbage man. And I don't think any schools teach advanced chemistry.

I disagree that school is not good for you. I would imagine it is far better than being home educated. You get to make friends and learn how to act in an atmosphere where you don't get on with everyone. As this is what your workplace has a ninety percent chance of being, I think there are essential social skills you pick up in schools. I think you'd be crazy to say school is bad for you.

Education is probably the main advantage of school, though.

I think the reason they teach more complicated stuff than how to empty a bin into the back of a truck is because there are certain things you can learn from learning. The more you learn, the easier learning becomes.

[Mazdak]

Make friends? hahahaha! It forces you to deal with other people. Even if you don't want to.

And I was only using garbage man as an example. Anyone who doesnt want to go to college, why should they need to learn subjects that have nothing to do with what they are going to deal with at work.

[BOZG]

Education is probably the main advantage of school, though.

School is not an educational facility. It is a factory for mass producing the next generation of workers.

[redstar2000]

Comrade Molotov, I couldn't agree with you more. ALL of the time I served (as in jail) in schools I was in trouble...not for any so-called delinquency, but just for raising questions that my "teachers" could not answer. I was told to "sit down and shut up" so many times that the other kids made an acronym of it--SDASU.

The myth of "education" in school is exactly that: a myth! (Exception: what schools sometimes do well is vocational training--if you want to be an auto mechanic or a brain surgeon, school of the appropriate type is not a bad place to learn how to do something to make a living.)

But learning for the sheer pleasure of understanding something...schools are declared enemies of such wasteful pursuits. Indeed, in the U.S. school has become a training ground for trivial pursuit...kids are being taught how to take multiple-choice tests so that the politicians can say they've "raised test scores" and therefore have "improved education". It's enough to make a sensible person puke!

So you will have to do it the hard way. Educate yourself. Use the net; it's incredibly rich in resources. Use the public library; there's gold amidst the shit. Ask questions on this and similar sites; there are comrades who'll help as much as they can.

The bastards in authority over kids make it as hard as they possibly can for kids to learn anything real. But if you really want to learn, the bastards can't stop you! Go for it!!!

By the way, the same folks who tell you that school is "good" for you will soon be telling you that military service will "make a man out of you"--that's a lie, too.

Good luck! :-D