Should school be compulsory ?

Answer 1

Education education education. That is the key to the future. So yes.

But think of school if it wasn't compulsory, more than likely most children would choose not to, only to regret it later in life. As when you are young, you don't really know any better. School not only provides you with education, it can help you integrate and adapt to social surroundings. School maybe the only time a child would see the light of day, and meet new people other than their own family.

The argument really is, is what they teach in school relevant for their future? Should they teach more skills rather than subject theory?

Answer 2

Historically, education has only been compulsory since around the 1930's and the time of the Great Depression. In 1920 only 17% of American's were graduating high school! Today it is only about 80% that graduate high school (that should scare you!)
It is true that, in history, the average educational level of people can be attributed to the level of industrialization in the country. I would love to go further in depth on this but I spent an entire 16 week semester in graduate school looking at this information and it is very hard to deal with. But, I do think compulsory education served more of a purpose than to just educate. During the great depression you had a lot of kids on the streets involved in crime, hustling, and other activites. Schools were seen as a way to get them off the streets and to help them learn so they could be productive pieces of society. I think education is so much more important today than most people think it is. It has nothing to do with individual needs and desires but more to do with the economic market and what it requires. There are virtually NO jobs for non-highschool graduates these days. High school has become necessary. The trends in education are what change not the need for it!

It is a way to control the youth, imagine if the millions of kids in school were on the streets doing what they wanted to do?!?!?!

Anyways....yes compulsory is necessary for economic and social reasons.

Answer 3

Ooh that's a good one! OK, well I think that it should be, defiantly. Although I recognise that there are other ways of learning than in a school setting I think that school is very important for children, not only to learn academically but also to hone their social skills. School can teach children a lot of skills that they will need for their future lives such as how to react to an authoritarian figure and it is very important for children to mix with others of their own age. An education provides opportunities and allows a person to make their own decisions about their lives rather than being stuck in a rut. I can't see any other way of providing all children with this necessary experience except by having compulsory education. Children can be educated that their is another world than that which they are aware of at home, if children have a difficult home life then by providing a secure environment for them at school they will know that there are other ways of living and that they don't have to follow their parents' example.

Answer 4

The obvious answer to this is "of course" it should, but I suppose when you think about it, why should it? I think at the end of the day it would seriously disadvantage children if their parents chose not to send them, through no fault of their own, so the government makes it compulsory for "the greater good". I would assume most parents would send children to school, but perhaps not...

I think if a parent wants to educate their child at home then that is ok, as long as they are getting an education.

Answer 5

On one hand, compulsory education tries to guarantee that all children have the chance to study irrespective of whether they or their parents happen to think it's useless or something else is more important. As long as the education is compulsory, it's also reasonable to expect the government to provide it for free, or ensure the parents are able to pay for it.

On the other hand, compulsory education limits the freedom parents to raise their children them as they see fit. Schools have a hard time trying to be inclusive and useful to all kinds of students and learning styles. The compulsion involved is one of the causes of or motivations for rebellion and truancy in adolescence

Answer 6

yes school should be compulsory, without a doubt.
school extends the learning that are parents teach us from a young age, and opens up knowledge of a much wider extent.

however, the teacher /child ratios need to be changed. there are far too many children in one class to one teacher.

Answer 7

No. I believe strongly in home schooling, but I do not like the California requirement that the home schoolers must be "supervised" by the public schools. They don't do much, but they are still imposing their standards on the parents who are willing and able to set their own standards -- almost always considerably higher than the public school's.

Answer 8

Yes

If parents here were made to pay for primary, secondary and further education. People would study harder.
When I was in Africa, my parents had to pay fees for each term
and ...'BOY' did we study.
When I came to Europe though, education at that level was free and I was under no pressure so my grades dropped a bit.

Thats why you'll find that kids of Asian or African south American backgrounds (that were not born here) work harder at school because their parents know the price of 'lack' of Education.

Answer 9

It is compulsory as those parents who allow their children to abscond from school know when they are taken to court.

Answer 10

School seems to be a western man´s necessity , some things could be learnt in different ways and not taught education but thats the only way we know so far and takes too much of our time
I guess it is also a substitution for nurseries but for bigger kids.and Im sure there is a way to make learning more effective and faster, but what would you do with so many iddle kids on the streets? or where would working parents leave their children,,