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> You don't have to send your kid to that kind of school or to any school at all, but you do have to educate them. Sounds reasonable on its face, but the reali

> You don't have to send your kid to that kind of school or to any school at all, but you do have to educate them. Sounds reasonable on its face, but the reality is that if you try and homeschool you will face all types of resistance from the educational establishment. Tellingly, you will encounter that resistance from public primary schools (many colleges love homeschoolers). This is because the primary goal of the system is to strengthen and reinforce itself. This is so that it may have complete power to create generations of people who contribute to making a strong country through work and capitalism. This purpose may be good or bad, I leave that judgement as an exercise to the reader. But let's not pretend that any of this is done in the best interests of children.

Nursie 13y ago
>> But let's not pretend that any of this is done in the best interests of children. Ummm, yeah it is. Without education they, individually, will find it very hard to thrive in our capitalist system. Again, I struggle to see this as a bad thing. Yes - one of the goals of the political classes in establishing a perpetuating a compulsory education system is most likely to be economic. I'm not sure I understand how "people who contribute to making a strong country through work and capitalism" are necessarily devoid of individuality or creativity. (--edit-- I agree that a lot of systems do end up becoming very focussed on self preservation and expanding their reach, look at the military and police. Education is in no way immune from this, I still don't think that suppressing individuality and creativity are key goals of the system though)
torkins 13y ago
look at it from the other side: Do you think it is criminally negligent for a parent to bring up their child without any education whatsoever? Do you think the state should intervene to protect criminally neglected children from their neglecting parents? Most people I know, myself included, would say yes to both questions, and therefore the establishment of compulsory education is at least in part directly intended to benefit the children. Education is shown to be one of the very few reliable indicators around the globe of both individual and societal prosperity. How we educate is always up for debate.. should we educate is typically not.
- randomdata 13y ago
  Being educated is the default state of being. An education is literally available everywhere, and kids especially seem to get excited about the process. Parents would have to explicitly set up an environment to prevent their kids from receiving an education of some kind, which, I agree, would be troubling. How realistic is that kind of environment though? Aside from that, it really is just a question of how.
  - no_wave 13y ago
    Well, you could start by forcing children to sit still (!) in the same room every day, lecturing them about things that they do not care about, forcing them to do things that they do not want to do, finding ways to shame them if they do not obey, and then insisting that this is what education is and what the process of learning looks like. That would be one way to teach them not to seek education.
    - Nursie 13y ago
      Not all school environments are like this. From the sounds of it you probably need some sort of therapy. Did you talk to your parents about it at the time? It's their choice how to educate you.
      - no_wave 13y ago
        To believe that there is a problem with the current system is apparently a sign of mental illness (ie, a need for therapy). Sure, why not? It's the end of history, after all.
        Nursie 13y ago
        No, to believe that the current system is a deliberate form of torture might show that you have some scars from that time in your life that could do with talking out. I didn't say (or even imply) you were mad. And you didn't have to be there, your parents had a choice like everyone else's.

Nursie 13y ago

>> But let's not pretend that any of this is done in the best interests of children. Ummm, yeah it is. Without education they, individually, will find it very hard to thrive in our capitalist system. Again, I struggle to see this as a bad thing. Yes - one of the goals of the political classes in establishing a perpetuating a compulsory education system is most likely to be economic. I'm not sure I understand how "people who contribute to making a strong country through work and capitalism" are necessarily devoid of individuality or creativity. (--edit-- I agree that a lot of systems do end up becoming very focussed on self preservation and expanding their reach, look at the military and police. Education is in no way immune from this, I still don't think that suppressing individuality and creativity are key goals of the system though)

torkins 13y ago

look at it from the other side: Do you think it is criminally negligent for a parent to bring up their child without any education whatsoever? Do you think the state should intervene to protect criminally neglected children from their neglecting parents? Most people I know, myself included, would say yes to both questions, and therefore the establishment of compulsory education is at least in part directly intended to benefit the children. Education is shown to be one of the very few reliable indicators around the globe of both individual and societal prosperity. How we educate is always up for debate.. should we educate is typically not.

randomdata 13y ago
Being educated is the default state of being. An education is literally available everywhere, and kids especially seem to get excited about the process. Parents would have to explicitly set up an environment to prevent their kids from receiving an education of some kind, which, I agree, would be troubling. How realistic is that kind of environment though? Aside from that, it really is just a question of how.
- no_wave 13y ago
  Well, you could start by forcing children to sit still (!) in the same room every day, lecturing them about things that they do not care about, forcing them to do things that they do not want to do, finding ways to shame them if they do not obey, and then insisting that this is what education is and what the process of learning looks like. That would be one way to teach them not to seek education.
  - Nursie 13y ago
    Not all school environments are like this. From the sounds of it you probably need some sort of therapy. Did you talk to your parents about it at the time? It's their choice how to educate you.
    - no_wave 13y ago
      To believe that there is a problem with the current system is apparently a sign of mental illness (ie, a need for therapy). Sure, why not? It's the end of history, after all.
      - Nursie 13y ago
        No, to believe that the current system is a deliberate form of torture might show that you have some scars from that time in your life that could do with talking out. I didn't say (or even imply) you were mad. And you didn't have to be there, your parents had a choice like everyone else's.