The war on kids

Imdb

"One had to cram all this stuff into one's mind for the examinations, whether one liked it or not. This coercion had such a deterring effect on me that, after I had passed the final examination, I found the consideration of any scientific problems distasteful to me for an entire year." - Einstein

Today's schools only create workers for the machine. Einsten ran away from school - to find time to write his first scientific paper. Tesla - did not do well in school also.
Schools destroy natural curiosity. Einstein said it best. Some more links :

Zero tolerance

John Taylor Gatto

From Separation to Boredom

Who controls our children

Major international players are reshaping public education to suit their own self-serving agendas, without regard for the wants of parents and the welfare of their children. This video lecture documents how today's educational system dumb down kids deliberately, making zombie-like people who don't ask any questions but just follow orders.

Molding Minds

Early industry faced a problem. Mine and factory work was dull, repetitive, arduous, and dangerous while offering wages barely high enough to sustain life. Office work—the work of clerks, scriveners, and accountants before computers—was equally dull and dehumanizing, if not so dangerous. Factory discipline was alien to the independent, self-directed farmers and artisans that made up pre-industrial society, and the question of how to instill labor discipline was discussed at length by the intellectuals of the day. One solution was outright force: the driving of peasants off the land through enclosure, the use of militias to enforce strike prohibitions, and mostly the motive of extreme economy exigency. However, the inhumanity of this solution offended the conscience and besides, it was potentially very explosive as a series of insurrections, revolutions, and bloody labor strikes throughout Europe and North America attested. Wouldn't it be better to somehow condition people from childhood to accept, and even to desire, work that was partial, trivial, mechanical, dull, repetitive, and unchallenging to thought or creativity?

Is this description already reminding you of school? Where learning arises not from curiosity but from authority's agenda; where achievement is adjudged by external standards; where human beings, like so many objects, are numbered, "class"ified, and "graded"; where knowledge is reduced to answers, right and wrong; where children are confined to a classroom or desk except when authority allows them "recess" or a pass; where problems are solved by following teacher's instructions; where free speech and free assembly are suspended—where, indeed, there are no freedoms at all but only privileges; where bells condition us to follow a regular external schedule; where fraternization is surreptitious (as my teacher once said, "You are not here to socialize!"); where none outside the hierarchical structure of authority have the power to make or change rules; where we must accept the tasks given us; where work is arbitrary and meaningless except for what external reward it brings; where resistance is proved futile in the face of a near-omniscient, omnipotent central authority. . . what better preparation for adult confinement to offices and factories could there be? What better preparation for accepting unquestioningly the lives given us? Where else can students "learn to think of themselves as employees competing for the favors of management"?

I am not against learning. Kids are curious - by their nature. An environment where they can just go and ask about what they are interested in would be best. But no, we keep them in these machine factories. Not all are interested about science - as Einstein was, and even him did not like school. So - schools are not there to produce more Einsteins. A genius appears, and studies - because that's his passion. Schools are there to control, dumb down and make kids forget about what they like.

The Pressure to Break Free

They know that there is a way the world is supposed to be, and a magnificent role for themselves in that more beautiful world. Broken to the lesser lives we offer them, they react with hostility, rage, cynicism, depression, escapism, or self-destruction—all the defining qualities of modern adolescence. Then we blame them for not bringing these qualities under control, and when they finally have given up their idealism we call them mature. Having given up their idealism, they can get on with the business of survival: practicality and security, comfort and safety, which is what we are left with in the absence of purpose. So we suggest they major in something practical, stay out of trouble, don't take risks, build a résumé. We think we are practical and wise in the ways of the world. Really we are just broken and afraid. We are afraid on their behalf, and, less nobly, we are afraid of what their idealism shows us: the plunder and betrayal of our own youthful possibilities.

[edit on 9-3-2010 by pai mei]

i am so glad you posted this,

i absolutely hated high school, all the jocks, cheerleaders, and athletes got all the special treatment, didn't have to make it to class, or turn in assignments, just "win the big game", or there was the rich kids who's parents pulled strings at the school, or donated to the school and somehow their kids would make it through classes without ease, but it was US the majority, the average Joe's who got the short end, you put one toe out of line and you were on their radar, one missed class, bad grade, late homework and it turned into hell, the social structure and the treatment of children in schools these days is just disgusting. it did feel like a prison to me, if you left the grounds, you were suspended, detentions for expressing your opinion? i think the school system here in America needs reform, more freedom, and then maybe kids will want to go to school

That movie is much needed today. Sadly, many parents do not see any other option. I homeschool my kids because I do not want them part of that prison system. I want them to love learning and life and not be beat down by the system. I don't want them to be a product to be used. That is what the school system does to them. That part of the trailer where the kid talked about summer was great and everything was good, then school starts and he said something like, life is not worth living anymore. I felt so sad to hear a kid say that.

I don't like to sound cliche, but really kids are our future and I wonder how it's gonna look down the road. It really does look like a war on our children, but really, are they able to fight back? Not when parents buy into the system mentality. They will tell their kids that they have to do it. Don't worry when you are 18 you can do what you want... but for now you must do this. Do parents ever say, "I want you to be in that prison until you are 18. You must do what they say and learn what they tell you to learn and learn it the way they want you to. I will not stand up for you as a human being" Yes I feel that strongly about it. I don't think I'm better than other parents though. I feel sorry for them, but I also feel so much more sorry for the kids.

Star and flag for you...
I have believed this for the past decade.
I used to home-school my children..till social workers intervened and for no reason other than I was following a curriculum that was not the same as the school system, I was forced to place my kids in school.
They are unhappy, depressed, and fearful of both teachers and bullies.
Tell me how they are better off?

reply to post by l neXus l


Wow, kind of like the real world, huh?

While most kids are trained for factory work. The school doesn't limit you. Many successful people went through public school too.

It is easy to blame it all on schools, but much of it is intelligence level, a child not finding their strengths and enhancing it, and the big one: parental involvement.

It is easy to blame a lot on schools, but parental involvement is the number one factor in how kids do.

The problem isn't school.

It is your unwillingness to commit real finances to it, so that it accomodates real learning.

School is fine.

It is your incredible lack of care to it that is deeply offensive.

reply to post by nixie_nox

True. I went trough school, escaped "almost" unharmed. Because I was taught not to respect anyone just for his title. Or believe everything I am told. My dad always made fun of political figures - during the communist time, here in Romania. In school the president was worshiped as a god, but I liked better the way my father described him.
I had teachers I really liked, and respected they treated us like humans, and talked with use like a human to another human. Told us stories from their youth and so on. .

Still - the fact that you are made to sit there for 12 years, no allowed to move from your chair, made to learn stuff you don't care about - is evil. Destroys curiosity. As Einstein said it. All I remember from school - is what I read from myself, because I was interested in. Can;t remember a thing I learned just for the exams. So - what's the point ? To control, and manage. That's the only function of schools. Teach children to accept boredom as a fact of life, prepare them for boredom.
Boredom was not around until we invented it, see the link from the first post.

Soon we won't be allowed to teach our children religious values, because that supposedly means projecting our beliefs unto them. So? No individual is born as a blank slate. If you grow up to become religious, you probably have a genetic disposition for that. Since you're going to teach your child what's morally right and wrong anyway, why is religion suddenly so dangerous? And who's going to make sure you don't violate this principle? The Nanny State, of course, that knows how to create good citizens out of any child.


Anyone who's passed through high school knows that unless you defend yourself, you'll be the eternal victim of other children who want to dominate you. Not very convenient to mention among teachers, I know, but it's true. Anti-bullying movements miss the point, because the problem isn't bullying itself--like death, this will always exist, even if we think it's nasty. The problem is that children are growing increasingly defenseless against bullies. If I teach my child to defend itself, why punish it? The bullies should be punished, not the victims.


No one really believes hitting children anymore. I don't either, at least not violently. But why should people press charges on a parent that slapped his child or locked him inside his room for a day or two? These things can't possibly hurt children, and if they have at some occasion, that's a whiny child in the first place. My dad gave me a soft beating or held me down to the ground when I was out of control as child, and I learned my lesson. Contrary to popular wisdom, I haven't grown up to become a gay pedophile with leather bondage leanings.


Our liberal educational system is so afraid of classifying children these days. No one is better than anyone else. So children grow up to whine over low grades, become lazy over trivial tasks, and feel down whenever they engage in competitions or fights. No wonder--they've been told since day one that they are special, unique and best in their own regard. Why not teach them some reality: there will be many people better than you, my son, so go out there and kick some ass to get ahead in life. Without self-confidence, children grow up to become underconfident--a fate worse than losing any competition.


Everyone's got preferences, even ethnic ones. I want my children to respect people regardless of race, but I also want them to abide the cultural norms I teach them, like I abide the norms my parents gave me. That's how you build and sustain a civilization. But the progressive government would rather have you teaching your children diversity, e.g. the culture of no cultural standards at all. That's not a platform, that's chaos..

There is also the added side effect of children being unable to cope with everyday problems because they will meet people who are not politically correct, upstanding citizens that let them do whatever they want, and they are unable to deal with the emotions of being told "no". There is a fine line between smacking your child upside the head when he mouths you off and beating him with a 2x4 when you discover dirt under his fingernails. Discipline for our children will mold them into better human beings, people who understand the world does not revolve around them, and that they need to have self discipline in order to achieve these goals.

reply to post by nixie_nox


I agree parental involvement is key to raising intelligent children, however when children are placed in artificial environments day in and day out with peer group think mentality the world outside that bubble begins to seem like the artificial one. The schools are designed to reduce parental involvement. It takes constant deprogramming once they get home, and lots of lessons in logical thinking.

[edit on 9-3-2010 by recycled]

reply to post by Aeons


commit finances to it? and lack of care? I care. I also pay my taxes... even though I get no breaks for homeschooling. So I am receiving none of the benefits of the funding for school, yet my kids consistently score well above their age on their yearly testing. SAT's for my one son were very good I'm told. I didn't even know what was good until someone asked what he got and said wow that's really good. So my point is, it's not the funding. With minimal supplies (pencils, paper, notebook) and a library and the internet (which can be accessed by the library), and a couple text books bought off ebay for very cheap, my kids have learned what they need to know according to state law, and I live in a state where homeschooling laws are strict. The problem is with the school system, notice I say system. There are many great teachers, but their hands are tied because they have to do what the system tells them to. They don't have a lot of freedom to help kids sometimes. That is my experience, and before I homeschooled, my kids did go to public school and I also worked as a teacher's aid. So I do indeed know of what I speak.

You benefit from people being educated. Your children will benefit from a populace that has a basic education. You pay taxes towards it becaue that is what helps your nation maintain and grow, and therefore not stifle your children and grandchildren potential by being dragged down when the lowest common denominator is higher.

You make a choice to get out of the system. And blame that system.

But that system is crippled by warring politics, and resource funding, and worse accomodations to real learning.

If *YOU* cared, it would be reflected in your political choices. Those political choices would choose to campaign and instill real bureaucracies that have the best interests of STUDENTS and the future of their country in mind. If you were willing to put your money where your mouth is, and your votes reflected it, the truly HORRIFYING state of many of your schools would not be what they are.

So yes. I point fingers, and I point them at the populace.

You all like your easy answer - IT IS THE SYSTEM IT IS THE GOVERNMENT Only the system reflect YOU and the government is YOUR CHOICE.

So, in the long run, it all comes to sit back in your own laps.

Prove you care. Fix it. Expecting homeschooling and private schools for rich people's kids to be the answer is ridiculous, and will hamstring your country in the long run. It is a solution tried in history - and the population it creates is easy to find. It creates a political class, a voting class, a servant class, and slaves. Every time.

Apparently you can all homeschool and send to private schools, and you aren't smart enough to look at what your choices MEAN and that those choices have been made before. You're just hoping that you and yours end up on the side that isn't the slave class.

reply to post by Aeons


So you really think we have a choice when "our choice" of folks in office like the Bushinator go in a totally revamp the public education system with systems like No Child Left Behind with or without the consent of the general populous. The American public school system was an experiment modeled after the Prussian model which they use to train soldiers. The U.S. Department of Education makes the decisions for American public schools. We the tax payers are merely the funds for their decisions. And are indeed not asked to participate in the process in any other way than paying our taxes, buying our lottery tickets, and keeping out of the way.


[edit on 9-3-2010 by recycled]

reply to post by nixie_nox


I would suggest reading the book as schooling and its history is but a small part of the thesis. There is a difference between schooling and education, intelligence and competence. The book is rather well written and sources information far better than most of the posts here and certainly does not offer an oppinion without substantiating how and why the conclusions given, was made.

Cheers

reply to post by Aeons


You don't get it. School is just a part of what's wrong. How to change it : first teach children to read and write. Should not take a long time. Then let them free, to follow their passion. Make school more like a library with teachers - where children can go and ask stuff and learn what they are interested, and leave when they want to. To keep a child in one place is evil.

There are a few things to consider here. For now I'll focus specifically on the schools that have implemented fences, metal detectors and security officers.

These schools are not located in nice, suburban areas where everyone is safe. These schools are located in or near ghettos where violence is an every-day event, where even 10-13 year old kids start selling drugs on the street and at school to other children. They bring the violence off the street and into the school system. Since schools are held responsible for the safety of all the kids who attend, they take precautionary measures to avoid lawsuits against them. It's a double-edged sword.

Nobody enjoys working or learning in an environment that resembles a prison, but some schools in some neighborhoods begin to resemble prisons, because it is that difficult to keep certain kids in line. Where does the problem truly begin and how do we solve it? Is it the child's upbringing? Is it their environment?

I attended a couple of different high schools. One of them was an open campus. We were allowed to leave at lunch, we were allowed to wander between classes, and we didn't have cops harassing us. It was located in a nicer neighborhood with very little crime. We had the opportunity to learn about things that interested us, such as the arts of our choice (music, acting, fine arts, dance, etc.)

The second high school I attended was located in a more dangerous area. We didn't have metal detectors at the time, but we did have fencing around school. Too many people tried to ditch school during the day, so one way to prevent that from happening was putting fences up and leaving only one or two secured areas as a possible exit. In this high school I had the opportunity to experience both the "regular" classes and the "Honors" and AP classes. The regular classes were full of students who just didn't give a damn about what the teacher was saying. They were throwing spit balls at each other, talking, etc. In the honors classes the students were listening and participating. It was nice, and I was glad I didn't have to be in the regular classes where I could barely hear the teacher speak.

My ideal school environment would be a beautiful place, clean, with nice architecture, open campus, gardens, some classes being held outside on a nice day, and being able to use my brain for more than just memorizing. The question is are students from a violent background interested in a better environment and more likely to attend if the environment looks/feels more positive? Someone would have to try it.

School diet also has something to do with it. I've noticed that many schools feed their kids junk food. Although delicious on occasion, junk food shouldn't be the norm. We used to have to live off chicken nuggets, tater tots and all that other crap with hardly any nutrition. It's been studied and suggested that a healthy diet has a lot to do with positive human behavior. If we combined a healthy diet with a positive environment I wonder if that would change anything, maybe even reducing crime.

On one hand I see fencing and metal detectors as a necessity. On the other hand I believe that if a child was accustomed to a positive environment form a very early age, they would grow up to be less violent and more likely to take an interest in learning. It is extremely important to teach children from a young age that there is hope, and not treat them like criminals unless they truly deserve it.

Fantastic thread

I agree that school is part of whats wrong with todays society. Schools don't allow children to learn. Instead they are battery farms that push the "work, provide, consume, die" agenda expected in modern society.

You might be interested in a couple of my threads about homeschooling in the UK, where the British government has, in full view of anyone who was actually paying attention, trumped up the idea that Home Education - traditionally the place of autonomous learning and free thinking - is linked to child abuse in order to impose restrictions on how kids are taught at home as well.

British Government declares war on Home Educators

IF you tolerate this, then YOUR children will be next

The agenda there is quite clear, conform or be smeared.

Kids are expected to almost be machines - and their minds don't work that way.

Its odd that in a society where everyone seems to want free-range produce because its seen to be a healthier alternative most people don't see that they battery farm their kids in a school system.

Originally posted by Aeons

If *YOU* cared, it would be reflected in your political choices. Those political choices would choose to campaign and instill real bureaucracies that have the best interests of STUDENTS and the future of their country in mind. If you were willing to put your money where your mouth is, and your votes reflected it, the truly HORRIFYING state of many of your schools would not be what they are.

My political choices don't make a difference in my opinion, because all the candidates are chosen and we make the choice between the options that the powers that be have given us. In short, I believe there is an agenda and I don't choose to support the candidates presented to me. They are merely puppets. So, no, I don't see that as a solution. I also don't approve of the bureaucracies that you mention, because I also don't believe they have the students' best interests in mind. Maybe the future of my country, but that doesn't mean that the future they (tptb) have in mind is a necessarily beneficial one, or a 'good' one if that's the word some would use.