Why is school compulsory?

Question

It seems to me that it's only made people dumber, and it's a bit creepy. I mean, you're forced to hand your children over to complete strangers to be indoctrinated by the state to the point that people can't imagine a world without school. The weird thing about school is also that you don't learn anything that you really use outside of school, so why are people locked away for twelve years to learn stuff they'll never use? They go so slowly, it's scary.

To me it's obvious that school is a very bad thing. The Last of the Mohicans was a book people read for fun in the 1820s, before compulsory schooling came to America. Now it's college-level. Wtf? People can't have evolved to be dumber in 180 years.

The main reason I think school is a stupid idea: teenagers have more energy and devotion than they ever will again. Think of the effort kids can put in to video games or skateboarding. Imagine what would happen if they could go in to the real world.

I'm just looking for opinions.

What does it say about America as a society if we no longer trust the individual? People learned to read, write and figure much better before schools were compulsory. Literacy rates have dropped since school was compulsory.

Keep in mind I mean schooling, not education. I see them as very very different things, so keep that in mind.

My logic is that when you lock someone in a building, force them to do things exactly your way with huge consequences for independence, and then act surprised when they rebel, you have problems. Serious problems. I love literature, but I hate my teachers and classes. I can love Shakespeare but hate my teachers and being forced to write essays about him that are only beaurocratic paperwork.

My problem is not with the material covered in school, not by a long shot.

I have no problem with the field of history. I have no problem with physics. In fact, I'm very interested in both. The fact remains that I'm sick of being told exactly how to think about a certain time in history, as if my having a different opinion about the years leading up to the American revolution would be bad.

I have nothing against education, but compulsory schooling is stupid. Kids who want to go to school and learn would go. Kids who want to follow their own path would follow their own path, and that would be a mutually beneficial setup because the kids who wanted to be there would get more attention. Think about it; everyone wants to be there, no disruptions. The kids on their own path get to pursue their thing their way. It's what you do as an adult, why can't it start earlier?

Answer 1

"The weird thing about school is also that you don't learn anything that you really use outside of school....."

I use cursive and proper spelling and grammar and simple math and a basic knowledge of my bodily functions every day.

Answer 2

ROFLMAO………I recognize the sentiment; it was mine while I was in school. You need to learn the things you will “never” use for several reasons.

1) It gives you a broader base of knowledge than just what is in front of you.
2) You will end up using most of it, no matter what you do.
3) Helps you learn HOW to think about things in different ways.

There are more but that works for now.

Reading books that were read for fun in history will give you a glimpse into the way they thought in that time (by seeing what they reference as fun, good and bad behavior, their idea of manners and politeness, etc…). This will allow you a broader context when learning the history of that time.

History is needed to learn from our mistakes. You as an individual remember your own past experience and build upon it. How many times have you touched a hot stove because you forgot fire burns you? History is the collective memory of our species so that we do not need to relearn the same lessons every few generations.

Writing essays not only helps you with literacy but also with organizing your thoughts and ideas. It is essential for people to learn how to make sense of and organize their thoughts on any given subject. It is the difference between actually thinking for yourself and just regurgitating other people’s opinions and claiming them as your own.

Being “locked in a building” for 7-8 hours a day instead of getting to do whatever they want helps to teach impulse control and restraint. Teenagers, on the whole, do not have the world perspective, impulse control or required information to make well informed decisions yet (no matter how much they believe they know).

I will agree that the education system needs updated. There needs to be less conformity and more independent thought. There needs to be a greater emphasis on HOW to think in different way than WHAT to think. Our current system is expert in teaching the virtues of mediocrity and tends to bore the hell out of creative individualists.

That being said it is the best we have at the moment and I would much rather have it that to see the nation we would live in if everybody were left to their own devices. In this age of rapid technological advancement it is unrealistic to expect parents to be able to teach their children information THEY were taught that has become outdated and make a living in a career in the meantime.