MeShell Hellon A3

Shaming People for Their Education

In Bruce E. Levines article 8 Reasons Young Americans Dont Fight Back: How the US Crushed Youth Resistance He explains, in the fifth reason, that people who dislike school dont have to dislike education. Even though more people graduate high school now than in 1900, its still not considered enough. People who dont attend college are shamed, even though the only difference that it should make is the person in college is pursuing a certain pathway, or career. One of the main problems that show up in most schools is that students, even early in their school careers, own opinions dont matter and theres only one way to find an answer. They do it to make it easier to test students. Important disciplines can be streamlined is that there is only one right answer to questions on tests, and so a computer can easily grade these courses. (changing universities.blogspot.com) We are only steering people towards knowing how to take a test, but not knowing any skills. It drains people of creativity and individuality. Critical thinking is then taken out of what they are learning at the time. ...students learn that math and science are impersonal, value-free fields founded on established, unchangeable truths. (changing universities.blogspot.com) They only want to find the correct answer, not needing anything else to pass a class, test, graduate, etc Schools dont reward students for taking the time to really learn something, even if the outcome is wrong.

School, as a whole, teaches children that they cant question authority, even though questioning what youre told is how you start to think about the world . I began to discover that whos right and whos wrong is not the most important issue. The most important issue is the unquestioning respect for authority. (patheos.com) While respect may be due to the people who prove they deserve it, the youth who sees them should be taught to question the motives, ideals and thoughts of others. You know what its like to raise questions with those in authority. Even harmless questions. What receives the greatest attention is not the question itself but the fact that you asked it. (patheos.com) If someone is taught that whatever their teacher says is true, they wont have the motive to find out the truth for themselves. In a sense, this also shields them from the outside world; our schooling doesnt teach us to find out current events for ourselves. The things we do here are trivial and unimportant or have been changed by biased people to make it easier to hear, instead of giving us the full truth. There are students who prefer to learn on their own, and dont wish to be dragged down by the school systems, or pay for the immensely expensive tuition of college. tuition expenses have increased 538 percent in the 28-year period, compared with a 286 percent jump in medical costs and a 121 percent gain in the consumer price index. (Bloomberg.com) It is becoming almost impossible to afford, and is dis-service to people who are barely out of high school. An autodidact is a person who learns on their own, without a teacher to hold their hand the whole time. Not everyone can learn like this, but they should not be looked down upon because they didnt officially get an education.

As students currently thinking of going to college, many would agree with Levines argument that people who dislike school dont have to dislike education. Most students have the desire to obtain knowledge, but through their own means. School isnt for everyone and it shouldnt dictate someones entire successful future.

Works Cited
-Bloomberg College Costs Surge 500% in U.S. Since 1985. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-26/college-costs-surge-500-in-u-s-since-1985chart-of-the-day.html -Changing Universities Monday, June 3, 2013 Is There Only One Right Answer?: A Challenge to the teaching of math and science in higher education. http://changinguniversities.blogspot.com/2013/06/is-there-only-one-right-answer.html - April 6, 2013 By David Hayward how dare you question authority even if its wrong http://www.patheos.com/blogs/nakedpastor/2013/04/how-dare-you-question-authority-evenif-its-wrong/