Should education really be compulsory?

Pre-College Topics High School Life
1

<p>Just a question to consider, because I'm bored and procrastinating on my World Lit paper. Why compulsory education?</p>

<p>Arguments against (a non-exhaustive list that I thought up rather hurriedly):</p>

<p>--It takes up large portions of childrens' days, when they could be doing other things of their choice (maybe joining the workforce to feed their family, etc.). It does so without the consent of the children or their parents (unless you consider the implied consent one gives by remaining in this country).</p>

<p>--Large parts of it may be irrelevant to what a person does in later life. Does a garbage-collector really need to learn how to read? Must a shopping clerk learn math? Often skills, such as driving or facility with calculators, can be taught on the job rather than in school. And what about those girls (or guys) who seek only to hone their beauty and social skills in order to marry a well-off man?</p>

<p>--Education reduces the number of people willing to perform menial tasks -- many people get the impression that they HAVE to do a desk job, or something that will earn them a high salary, so they won't be like one of those uneducated lowlifes (and believe it or not, our country actually needs uneducated lowlifes).</p>

<p>--Along these same lines, education tends to forcibly draw children towards common values. Perhaps it is not inherently "good" to learn math, or be successful by the standards of today's society. In the Spartan world, physically weak children were thrown to the bears. Why must intelligence (as opposed to physical prowess, beauty, etc.) be a metric of success? Certainly schooling, at least at the level most people attain, encourages these values (again, without parental consent).</p>

<p>--Although homeschooling partially remedies this problem, most of the time it creates large demands on the parents, and many may not be willing to sacrifice their job, etc., to educate their children.</p>

<p>--If education was made free but not compulsory, it would help ease the burden of large class sizes, inadequate facilities, etc. by providing education only to those who want to learn. The children left might be significantly more motivated -- if they didn't want to be there, they'd just leave.</p>

<p>--Oh, and check [url=<a href="http://www.thememoryhole.org/edu/school-mission.htm%5Dthis%5B/url"&gt;http://www.thememoryhole.org/edu/school-mission.htm]this[/url&lt;/a&gt;] out.</p>

<p>Arguments for (again, a non-exhaustive list):</p>

<p>--It's already in place, why fix a system that's not broken?</p>

<p>--If a significant fraction of the population stopped using the educational system (which probably wouldn't happen at first due to America's current values, but might in later years), it's likely that (a) the government would be less concerned with it, and/or that (b) general educational standards would be higher, and thus not truly available to all who want to learn (the stupid, for instance). Of course, people could start making private (or even public) schools for stupid people.</p>

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<p>That link is scary. I think it is important for our garbage collectors and McPloyees to know how to count and read!</p>

<p>What, half of kids at least are freshmen in colllege after HS [someone correct my data]? How much do you think would be there if we let kids do what they think is happy and fun for them (drugs, blowing stuff up).</p>

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<p>Also school is there I say to help you choose what job you want to do after school and to get you educated about stuff. If you stayed home what would you learn? Nothing. Also VERY few kids are in a position that they need to work to support their families. </p>

<p>And besides I think society would be happier that kids are somewhere safe doing something productive.</p>

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<p>Eliminating compulsory education would greatly reduce social upward mobility.</p>

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<p>"Also VERY few kids are in a position that they need to work to support their families."</p>

<p>Very few? I'd say many are below the poverty line. Go otside and look around. Unless u live in some upper class city. Do you realize many people have a hard time affording college? Do you know that many people have to make their decisions based on tuition? Even with financial aid there are these problems. But if people know wat they want to do then they should get their GED rather drop out.</p>

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<p>Why would you want to live in a place where ordinary people lacked the tools and skills to educate themselves about issues that concern them?? </p>

<p>It would be impossible to maintain our democratic systems if we didn't educate people to the level where they were at least able to make their own decisions at the poll booth. Would the intelligent tell the non-educated masses how to vote? Would the non-educated be allowed to vote? How can somebody vote if they can't READ the ballot? </p>

<p>Back to Sparta? Not practical! </p>

<p>Education might promote certain "liberal" values, but this is because the dominant institutions in our country require an understanding of these values as they are currently employed. </p>

<p>Also, your argument here is flawed. Intelligence is one measure of success in our society, but physical beauty and "prowess" is another measure that people often use (for example - paying extravagent salaries to athletes, the rise in demand for plastic surgeries to attain a beauty "ideal", etc).</p>

<p>edit: I realize that not everyone "wants" to vote, but the decline in civic participation is another issue altogether, and a very important one, imo</p>

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<p>should education be compulsory?! wow for someone living in the 21st century, that's a stupid question to ask.</p>

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<p>Reppintha415dime, what I said what that few need to get jobs to support their family. Even if they are poor they shouldn't work full time. In a family the parents should work. If the kid is working a lot then there's a problem. Either the family has an expensive lifestyle or they aren't getting paid enough. </p>

<p>Also having a job is okay. But it shouldn't be your main or only thing. You are still going to work for 40+ years. </p>

<p>People may have a hard time affording college, but just cuz of that they should not not go to school. They can work and go to school. </p>

<p>So therefore YES YOU SHOULD GO TO SCHOOL. ELSE OUR SOCIETY WOULD BE FILLED WITH UNSMART PEOPLE AND think how the US would do against rival countries.</p>

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<p>I second thecalccobra, w/o edu, what would one nation/people/society would be relying for developements? (Now, I find that question pretty absurd)</p>

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<p>American education K-12 provides a thoroughly destructive environment for children and hinders the students transition into the work place, snuffs out the natural curiosity that is so beautiful in little children, and manufactures either a "successful" student who is left without the ability for abstract thinking, or, a student who is a "failure" who is truly just expressing his frustration with the twelve years of crap jammed down your throat. The school system of America is a breeding ground for vile, mean, self-centered teachers and some brilliant life-changing ones. And as for the quote about preparing a bored child structure for a monotonous work place...well who is to say that the work place is flawed also. Some of the most productive companies in the world are the ones that function like a kindergarten: Google anyone?</p>

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<p>^Umm...your either/or situation of being a 'successful student' who supposedly can't think or a 'failure' is a little extreme...I'm sorry don't feel that I have been thoroughly destroyed by my education.</p>

<p>As far as making education compulsory-it's important for people to learn how to read. And make decisions. They should learn this skill somewhere. A few years of school seems necessary.</p>

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<p>Sheesh, fizix. Bored much?</p>

<p>And education should most definitely be compulsory for a number of reasons I am too lazy to enumerate at the moment.</p>

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<p>cowgirlatheart, voting isn't just about being able to read the ballot. If no one takes the time to think about and analyze the issues, then democracy isn't much more meaningful than just randomly selecting policies out of a hat. Unfortunately, it is possible to finish public education without learning to think.</p>

<p>I think a better reason for supporting compulsory education is:</p>

<p>
[quote]
Eliminating compulsory education would greatly reduce social upward mobility.

[/quote]
</p>

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<p>Education should be compulsory for the first years of school and then people should specialize into what they expect to be their career. It is important for people to be educated (upward social mobility, understanding in voting, etc.), but few are really going to use the knowledge they gained in high school.</p>

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<p>Compulsory education is necessary in order to shape effective and thoughtful citizens. If you know nothing about the legal system, etc., you will not be able to participate in it as knowledgeably. It is dangerous to democracy to allow large groups of uneducated people to particpate.</p>

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<p>I think High School is used to help you gain Basic Knowledge and help you decide what career you want. Like if you didn't go to school then you wouldn't be able to really know about jobs in chemistry or physics etc.</p>

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<p>There are only two groups of people in America who are required, by law, to be in a certain place at a certain time: children and law breakers.</p>

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<p>yup im glad education is compulsory, society would suck even more otherwise. i was listening to NPR the other day and a bunch of motorcyclist activist groups were going on about how evil and paternalistic it was to have helmet laws. they were complaining that it wasn't the state's job to protect them or tell them what to do.</p>

<p>they ignored the fact that a full 43% of motorcyclists in accidents are uninsured, and the cost of treating a motorcycle injury is tens of thousands of dollars. wearing a helmet would significantly lessen the chance of injury and therefore lessen the cost of treatment. treatment for the uninsured (and for insured people too) costs soo much. the treatment of uninsured people is picked up by innocent taxpayers. and even if motorcyclists have insurance, their injuries cost the insurance corporations lots of $, driving up premiums for other, innocent customers. the conclusion--wear a helmet, not for your sake, but for the rest of society.</p>

<p>so, the point of my analogy...go to school. i don't want to have to pay for all the crap you cause as an uneducated adult.</p>

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<p>Education, in any form, and having limits set upon children helps build strong confident adults. You have to consider that development continues on into the early 20s for some people. That being said, if we let kids loose at the age of 10 or 12, do you honestly think it won't affect their view of their own selfworth? Sure, it's important to read and write and be literate, but I think it's even more important to understand oneself and ones place in society. By allowing children to essentially be "adults," we are telling them that they ARE adults...that they need not depend on their parents any longer. Can you see what kind of problems that could cause, not only now but also once these children reach their 30s and 40s?</p>

<p>Also, by not making education mandatory we would simply be dividing the economic gap in this country faster than it already is growing. The middle class is disappearing, and that's a serious problem. What class of families would have their children drop out of school to earn money at a job? Low-class families, of course. America is supposed to be a country where you can be born to any family and have a chance to suceed, but by not educating children in poverty we are never giving them this opportunity. They will be stuck in poverty, and so will their children, grandchildren, etc.</p>

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<p>wait, why shouldn't the cashier know math?
wait, why shouldn't the garbage man know how to read?</p>

<p>to count my change.
to read street signs.</p>

<p>this is BS.. lets stop wasting our time..this is one of those stupid threads that's intended to provoke conflict.</p>