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Consider the school system. I won't go into how bad it is because I bet a lot of readers here already understand that. What's terrifying is not how bad it is bu

Consider the school system. I won't go into how bad it is because I bet a lot of readers here already understand that. What's terrifying is not how bad it is but how institutionalized it is. What little political will, what little realization there is that this system is fundamentally broken, becomes drowned in a sea of hopeless politics. I think future generations will view our schools as archaic and somewhat barbaric, kind of like how things like corporal punishment and child labor are viewed today. Actually, teaching a child a trade is probably less harmful to his character than sending him to the average public school.

run4yourlives 16y ago
I would think that future generations would probably see "having a school system" as the part that is ridiculously quaint. Of course, that's assuming the evolution has taken them to a better place in this regard. It's quite possible that future generations will be too stupid to think about us much at all.
jbarham 16y ago
> Actually, teaching a child a trade is probably less harmful to his character than sending him to the average public school. This is not a new idea. It's called apprenticeship and was once widespread in e.g. Europe. Why it's less common now is largely a combination of changes in the economy (fewer stable, skilled trades) and society (teenagers being less willing to accept the obligations of being an apprentice).
- xsmasher 16y ago
  Spending time in among adults and performing real work would have a great positive effect on kids. It seems obvious why teenage culture is petty, cruel, and obsessed with fashion and status; the inmates, trapped in an artificial world and forced to do fake-work, turn on each other.
- DavidSJ 16y ago
  Also child labor laws, which are not a change in the economy per se.
jcromartie 16y ago
When I listen to WAMU (the NPR station in DC) I hear some school coverage nearly every day. They have special school reporters, and school segments. I realize that these (mostly affluent and White) people just LOVE school. They think it's the most important thing in the world. There is no acceptable opinion (in the political sense) other than increasing spending and treatment through schooling. Some schools here are penalized by their local governments for failing to outspend their own budgets year-over-year. It really seems kind of hopelessly entrenched.
Vivtek 16y ago
Yeah, drugging kids to keep teacher-to-student ratios affordably low; I think there's a thing the future will judge harshly.

run4yourlives 16y ago

I would think that future generations would probably see "having a school system" as the part that is ridiculously quaint. Of course, that's assuming the evolution has taken them to a better place in this regard. It's quite possible that future generations will be too stupid to think about us much at all.

jbarham 16y ago

> Actually, teaching a child a trade is probably less harmful to his character than sending him to the average public school. This is not a new idea. It's called apprenticeship and was once widespread in e.g. Europe. Why it's less common now is largely a combination of changes in the economy (fewer stable, skilled trades) and society (teenagers being less willing to accept the obligations of being an apprentice).

xsmasher 16y ago
Spending time in among adults and performing real work would have a great positive effect on kids. It seems obvious why teenage culture is petty, cruel, and obsessed with fashion and status; the inmates, trapped in an artificial world and forced to do fake-work, turn on each other.
DavidSJ 16y ago
Also child labor laws, which are not a change in the economy per se.

jcromartie 16y ago

When I listen to WAMU (the NPR station in DC) I hear some school coverage nearly every day. They have special school reporters, and school segments. I realize that these (mostly affluent and White) people just LOVE school. They think it's the most important thing in the world. There is no acceptable opinion (in the political sense) other than increasing spending and treatment through schooling. Some schools here are penalized by their local governments for failing to outspend their own budgets year-over-year. It really seems kind of hopelessly entrenched.

Vivtek 16y ago

Yeah, drugging kids to keep teacher-to-student ratios affordably low; I think there's a thing the future will judge harshly.