Americans Are Prisoners of Compulsory Education

The point of having an education is to have knowledge, but what happens when this knowledge is taught forcefully? Shouldn’t learning be a decision rather than a requirement? Things such as wealth, politics, and religion are some examples of things that are slowly corrupting students from the age of five until they graduate from high school. The reason why this happens is because the schools allow this corruption to occur, and for that I don’t blame students for rebelling against compulsory education. I believe the American population is disempowered by compulsory education because students are forced to attend school, and public schools are lacking funding and an emphasis on individuality.
Compulsory schools have too much authority over attendance. Students are dropping out since they are forced to attend school. This authority is so outrageous in some schools that it could be described with “enough reason to think of our schools ---- with their long-term, cell-block-style, forced confinement of both students and teachers ---- as virtual factories of childishness” (Gatto 153). Locking up students inside a classroom all day, teaching them the same repetitious lessons does nothing but shelter them from independence and adulthood. In addition, every school has a different curriculum, which means that there are different classes and graduation requirements for each region. If a student attends a school in Nevada and only needs 21 credits to graduate, but then moves to California, he/she may need 3 more credits than what was originally required in the previous school. This is a factor that the student has no control over. It’s almost like punishing the student when they did nothing wrong at all. Unnecessary consequences such as a lowered G.P.A. from moving and so forth discourage students. Eventually, many end up with a lower income job if they drop out, meaning a lower standard of living. This increases the number of Americans living in poverty.
Every public school is lacking funds in one department or another. Some examples of this, including insufficient amounts of textbooks, desks, and even sanitary products such as toilet paper, lead me to believe “American schools are literally falling apart” (Moore 140). Inadequacies such as these make it difficult to learn. If students didn’t have to worry about having a desk or a book, it would probably be easier for them to focus more on learning. Keeping in mind schools can barely afford sanitation products, it is understandable that with little funding a large amount of teachers are underpaid. Teaching is an important job, yet Michael Moore reminds us, “ we somehow can’t find the money to pay a starting teacher more than $31,900 a year. And we act surprised when we can’t get results” (Moore 140). If teachers were paid more money, society would consider them more valuable based on this higher level of income. Teachers would be more motivated to teach students more effectively if they had a higher annual income, even with the rigid structures they must teach under. Besides teachers not getting paid enough, the facilities teachers have to teach their students in are overcrowded and unsafe. Too many students are crammed into tiny classrooms with capacities that are meant for only a small number of children. These students are supposed to be the product of America, but the government doesn’t seem to be investing any time or money in them. It’s simply easier to take advantage of uneducated people rather than educated ones.
Most importantly, compulsory education is lacking individuality because most schools are promoting conformity. Consequently, students are taught to imitate “so the kids learn to submerge any personal expression. They learn it’s better to go along so that you get along” (Moore 147). For example, almost every school has some type of dress code or uniforms that students must follow. Conforming to promote equality is fine. However, as an adult in society, I learned it is better to have students differ in thoughts, emotions, and actions. Since students are limited on how to dress in school, it also limits how students think and act. Limiting such things makes it easier and more efficient to be followers rather than leaders. Not only are students being taught to conform, but they are also being taught the to bored. No one ever said that learning couldn’t be fun. Instead of focusing on test scores or standardized testing, they should be more focused on students individually, allowing them to be creative. Schools should realize education is about the students learning important things that benefit the students rather than what school officials think is beneficial to the students. This lack of individuality leads many students to feel uncomfortable. It is hard to do anything when you feel uncomfortable, especially learning. Letting students be more individual would make compulsory education and possibly higher education more desirable. Americans that have a good education usually have higher paying jobs that contribute to the economy.
Ideally, an education involving less authority and more freedom, the correct amount of funding, and individuality is one only obtainable in one’s dreams. The real solution is change. In a complex society such as ours, it is hard to recognize this. The benefits that all students should have will undoubtedly take years to arrive. It’s disappointing, because by the time these benefits arrive, it will probably be too late.



Works Cited

Gatto, John Taylor. “Against School.” Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical
Thinking and Writing. 7th Ed. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. Boston:
Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2007. 152-159.
Moore, Michael. “Idiot Nation.” Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and
Writing. 7th Ed. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. Boston: Bedford/ St.
Martin’s, 2007. 132-149.

Mormon Missionaries And How They Harass The World!!

Mission Impossible

Every weekend at my home in Las Vegas until I moved to Texas, Mormon missionaries would knock on my door while I was in a deep sleep guaranteed before ten in the morning so they could try and convert me. Overtime this became very annoying and I felt as if I were being harassed. One would think after the fifth or sixth time that I told the same little missionary boy "No thank you, I wouldn't like any information about the Mormon religion," that he would stop coming to my house but it never phased these people one bit. I mean how would they feel if I went to his home almost every day or weekend and said " Excuse me sir, would you like any information today about converting to Satanism ?" I'm sure if I did this, it would seem as though I were wrong, almost like I was committing a crime in the eyes of these people. Just for the record though, I am not a Satanist. In the first two minutes of the video that I am posting, it shows exactly the kind of harassment I dealt with weekly. While watching this video think of how it would feel if this happened every weekend at someones home.

Elmira

Elmira is not a very lively looking woman. In fact, in this portrait of her she looks depressed, hopeless, or possibly pained with anguish. Her facial features are soft and sensitive and very feminine, however, her expression is strong and serious. Empty is the only word that could describe her eyes. Western garments cover her body. She is wearing a brown bonnet that articulates her face, and a matching yet ragged brown dress. These articles are not the most glamorous of a western-style wardrobe but she is as fashionable as any other woman from the west. Her presence is powerful.

Kiddie Propaganda

Last class we discussed how American popular media portrays the wealthy and the middle class through mainly the mass medium of television. I never realized until recently how it is common to portray a middle class man as a fat, alcoholic, idiot parent or American man. We also mentioned that most often the middle class on T.V. are portrayed as violent. At first, I overlooked the violence in our video games, and T.V. shows as harmless, that in almost a jokingly matter I would laugh about a show persuading someone to kill someone else. I thought that it was dumb to think that a T.V. show or a video game or even a song could persuade someone to do something.
Then one day I remembered babysitting my nephew who at the time had been about 4 or 5 years old. He constantly was playing a video game that had violence in it or watching a T.V. show that had some form of violence. Never once did I think he would imitate any of it, but he did so with his brother. In fact, it scared me to realize that he was imitating professional wrestlers on T.V. with his older brother. If he imitated that he could imitate almost anything.
Hopefully, he won't always imitate everything he sees on T.V. What upsets me is the fact that some of these shows on T.V. are there to influence little children and if they can get them to think they can wrestle like a pro who knows what else they might idolize. It might be saying its okay to be a fat slob, or an alcoholic father. So what if you can block the channels, there are always video games, songs, and new shows on different channels that are just as bad as the others. Some of these trashy shows have trashy characters that these kids are going to idolize and I just wish there was a way to stop it.

My One and Only 1986 Camaro

It was a cold winter and a typical Christmas in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 25, 2005. There was a fire going in the fire place, and I could hear crackling from the fire. From time to time I would see the flames out of the corner of my eye get large and then small, repeating this pattern so erratically, that in my mind it was entertaining. Eventually, it came time to open the presents, and my focus slowly drifted back to my family. Slowly, that is, until I saw him. He was a handsome, white, 1986 Camaro, with all original parts and furnishings. I believe I received the greatest present of all. All that mattered was that he was mine. I could tell this was going to be a long lasting, satisfying relationship. I had fallen in love. Indeed, he certainly was perfect for me.

Before Christmas arrived, my father and I had talked about him and other cars that were similar to him. We even went and looked around at a used car dealership. For example, there was a bright red Chevelle that we had observed, but she was much too elegant for me. She looked more high maintenance than a supermodel. I certainly wasn’t going to compete with her, so she was crossed off of my list of dream cars without hesitation or regret. Most of the cars were in such horrible condition, that the car salesman had a better chance selling them with LEMON written all over them in big, bold, black lettering. In addition to the Chevelle, there was also a pitiful El Camino, a hazardous Firebird, and a Corvette rustier than the tin man. Basically, the salesman was concerned about selling any car to me, especially a lemon. I knew he wasn’t looking out for my best interest, so I made sure not to let my guard down. After looking at many cars, I became hopeless. Luckily, my father found him for me.

I wasn’t expecting much, but something decent. He had exceeded my expectations. Much trust had been put into him by my father. My father and I had no oppositions against him, if anything we were very pleased. Father seemed to be especially pleased with him. Obviously, my father trusted him and if my father trusted him, then I too trusted him.

For many days and nights, I pondered the places he would take me. Instinctively, I knew he would come as my father had promised me. I imagined us taking a cruise to California down by the beach, or maybe even a drive to a lake. I pictured myself sitting in the driver’s seat feeling a light breeze of air sift softly through my hair from the open windows of the car. Maybe, I would drive him on a cool summer evening, while trying to listen to music at a medium volume. Sometimes I thought of his engine as powerful and loud. I worried his engine would roar so loud that I would be officially deaf before I was a senior citizen. Worst of all, I worried that the engine would be so loud that I wouldn’t possibly be able to listen to music while driving him. Undoubtedly, I knew that he would take me anywhere that he was capable of reaching. If, perhaps, he were capable, he would take me to the moon and back. I would be naive to think such a thing. After all, he wasn’t the Apollo 13, but he could take me to places that I’ve never been before and that’s better than nothing at all.

However, he had limitations. Nothing is completely flawless. He wasn’t in the best shape, and he wasn’t as good looking as George Clooney, but he was physically attractive. Not surprisingly, he had a very rugged look comparable to a lumberjack or a construction worker. The rear view mirror was missing, the air conditioning didn’t work, and the interior was more worn than a twenty year old baseball mitt, but I didn’t seem to mind. Somehow, I think these faults made him attractive and unique. Surely he wasn’t perfect, but you could tell from the looks of him that he could clean up nicely. When I first touched his body, I felt a surge of energy pulse throughout me. The feeling was quite exhilarating and it seemed as though butterflies were fluttering around in my stomach at the speed of light. We had a connection and it was a strong one.

Overall, he had been beautifully crafted by some of the finest automotive technicians. A true classic he was and remains. He no longer belongs to me, but I hope that whoever possesses him has the opportunity to experience him as greatly as I had once before, in all the beauty that he represents.

Segregation Is a Problem We Live With

The setting in The Problem We All Live With is in the early 1960's when public schools had finally become desegregated. It commemorates the beginning of desegregation. I think the painting's title is very truthful. Unfortunately, even though according to the law segregation and discrimination are no longer allowed people seem to fall back on segregation because it is something that was taught to be okay. Therefore, over time it wasn't a matter of what was right or wrong, all that mattered was that previous generations were too stubborn to accept change. According to Norman Rockwell's painting and title the problem we are all living with is inequality whether it be racially, economically, or ethnically. This is one of the many problems that we all seem to be living with. There are still forms of segregation that exist today, the only difference is that this segregation is visibly through actions that are more indirect rather than directly.