The Educational System Was Designed to Keep Us Uneducated and Docile

The Memory Hole ^ | July 17, 2003 | Russ Kick

[MeanFreePath]

I'm a product of the public education system. What is this guy talking about? As for myself, I don't know and I don't care...

[ladylib]

That's okay.

[ihatemyalarmclock]

Enjoyed the article, and while I don't agree with every single point the author makes, it still makes a lot of good ones.

Points I would make include:

Large class sizes and regimentation take advantage of "economies of scale" and are not necessarily an impediment to learning, provided that the teacher is allowed to keep order and not let disruptive students rule the day. I was able to learn a core curriculum in a baby boom elementary school with as many as 45 students in a room.

Sometimes, learning by rote memorization is a good thing; multiplication tables and basic rules of grammar and spelling come to mind.

All things being equal, the public high school diploma awarded to me in 1976 is worth more than whose awarded ten, and certainly 20 years later, when the touchy-feely crowd completed their takeover.

I'm a bigger fan of home-schooling with each passing year. Not only is the evidence of its success beyond amazing, what I spent 12 years learning I could have learned in eight.

[Balding_Eagle]

Later

[GOPrincess]

The amount of wasted time in bricks and mortar school has become of increasing interest to me. It is *so* efficient to homeschool. My K child has started 1st grade math and science. I like being able to move at their own pace and meet individual needs -- and do so in much less time than is spent in a classroom. So much of class time is spent on "management" issues.

[ladylib]

A lot of the time in a lot of schools is spent on a lot of nonsense and a lot of that nonsense is detrimental to the well-being of your child. But you know that already because you've made other arrangements for your child's education.

[mrustow]

This man knows nothing about the public school system.

What man? What post are you quoting? Nothing in #14.

Uh, you would not happen to be a skool teecher, wuld u?

I've got a revolutionary pedagogical tip for you, and I'm giving it to you for free, though I have a feeling you'll squander it. (After all, you think that someone else having any knowledge of a subject about which you know nothing is cause for you to mock him. Ignorance is surely bliss.) First read the article, THEN respond to posts!

If the person reading this for you doesn't have time to read the article for you, I hope she'll call Literacy Volunteers of America on your behalf.