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Brett ButlerProfessor Jan RiemanEnglish 1101XNovember 17, 2009 John Taylor Gatto for President 2012!In the essay “Against School: How Public Education Cripples our Kids,and Why”, John Taylor Gatto tries to explain to readers how he believespublic education effects the lives of the children, of this nation. Gatto hasmany effective and smart arguments in his essay, and if you really try tothink the way he does, you will begin to believe what he says. Some of Gatto’s best arguments in this essay are; that not only are students bored inschool, so are their teachers, many greats in history did not need 12 years of schooling, so why do we have it now?, and that school is only brainwashingchildren into becoming servants. If these statements that Gatto has madeare true, what will become of the future of the United States? We havealready begun to see changes, and people like Gatto are only trying to provethat we are headed downhill.One of the first arguments that John Taylor Gatto presents in his essayis the argument that students as well as their teachers are bored in school.In the text Gatto says. “They said the work was stupid, that it made nosense, that they already knew it. They said they wanted to do something
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real, not just sitting around. They said teachers didn’t seem to know muchabout their subject and clearly weren’t interested in learning more.” (1).Basically, Gatto has asked children how they feel about the way theirteachers teach, and with what Gatto says in the text, the children want to bemore hands on, and to be taught about an interesting subject. Children areeasily bored, especially at a younger age, and if teachers are not able toteach and keep them interested, they will not pay attention. The teacheralso has to be well informed on the subject they are teaching and they haveto be interested in learning more, because if the teacher doesn’t care tolearn more, neither will their students. Going through school, I have alwaysblamed the teacher for the class being boring. It is not the fault of thestudent. My junior year of high school I had a great U.S. History teacher. Heinvolved the class all of the time, and he had a great sense of humor. Iended up making a B+ in his class and before that class I hated history. Theteacher makes the difference, not the student.Also, in his essay, Gatto makes it very evident that some teachers arevery boring people, which also can prove it is their fault that their classes areboring. In the essay Gatto says, “Boredom is the common condition of school teachers, and anyone who has spent time in a teachers’ lounge canvouch for the low energy, the whining, the dispirited attitudes to be foundthere.” (1). Teachers choose their presence and attitude. If a teacher comesin with a cup of coffee, a frown on their face, and begins teaching inmonotone, no one is going to be interested. Teachers have to be excited
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when coming into a classroom or they will get a terrible response from thestudents in the classroom. In my schooling so far, the most recent teacher Ican think of that was really boring is actually a professor I have right now. The class is American Politics. He comes in everyday wearing about thesame thing, and he gets up on the stage area and stands there for an hourand fifteen minutes, and flips through powerpoint slides and talks the entireperiod. Its because of teachers like him that I, and many others, struggle inclass. It is almost impossible to pay attention to this guy! This experience Iam having with this professor proves that what Gatto has stated in thesecond paragraph of this essay, is very true.Also, in this essay, Gatto tries to explain that we don’t need 12 years of schooling and/or more. His best argument for this is that some of thegreatest inventors, and greatest Presidents in American history never wentthrough this much education. Gatto says, “George Washington, BenjaminFranklin, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln? Someone taught them, to besure, but they were not products of a school system, and not a single one of them was ever ‘graduated’ from a secondary school.” (2). Many people willargue that the reason that these men did not have to attend secondaryschool was because they were either very smart, or gifted. That is notrelevant. What is relevant, Gatto says, is that these great men here andmany other men and women in the past did just fine without 12 years of schooling. If you ask me, I don’t think that 12 years is needed. If these mencan make a living off of a lower education so can I. I may be wrong about
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Brett Butler Professor Jan Rieman English 1101X November 17, 2009
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