Compulsory Schooling, Essay Example

While almost everyone could agree that getting an education as a child is important because it contributes to an individual’s ability to perform well as an adult, many people believe that compulsory schooling is detrimental. Ultimately, experience can be gained in a variety of ways, which includes the traditional school setting and work experience. Many students do not remain in school because they are not able to cope with the current educational system and do not have patience to sit in class or study. However, many of these individuals are successful in vocational programs that are more immediately relevant to the line of work that they will be entering. Therefore, schooling should not be compulsory based on the fact that different individuals learn differently. No matter how hard some students may try, they will never be successful in the traditional school setting.

It is important to emphasize that the way that schools currently train students is in a manner that allows them to continue to be successful in school (Gatto). Much of the information learned is useful to help students understand the world around them, but past a certain point, the lessons are just an exercise in critical thinking and have little to no real world applications. Therefore, it is important to provide individuals with an educational option that is more immediately relevant to their lives. We cannot assume that the goal of every student is to attend college and then professional school. In reality, very few individuals achieve these high level jobs and prefer to enter a field that they can reach a high level in without this type of training.

We must consider that failing to train individuals in the areas of expertise that they wish to participate in is holding back the progress that the country as a whole is making. In the past, students have been able to leave junior high school or high school already being well-skilled in their trade and being able to enter a field right away. However, many beauticians, mechanics, and the like, are forced to finish high school before they enter these careers today. This sets back valuable experience that they could have gained in the field. Instead, they spent time learning information that would not be relevant to them. Furthermore, many of these individuals became frustrated with the information that they were required to learn, and refused to study it or couldn’t understand it. Therefore, requiring individuals to attend school past a certain age is a major disadvantage both to them and to society.

In addition to preventing young adults from immersing themselves in their choice of knowledge, requiring conventional school learning is essentially a waste of resources. Since many schools are publicly funded, the state or city must provide money to the schools to keep them operational. It is important to consider that these resources would be more concentrated towards those who wish to succeed in school, which would be possible if the funds were not evenly dispersed for the whole population. It will allow the students who wish to attend these publicly funded school programs a better education, while the individuals that opt out of this education will be able to enter their chosen field immediately. This will help those who stay in school be better prepared for college or academic careers.

Many individuals argue that school should be compulsory because everyone has a right to an education. However, it is important to stress that the way that the current school system works makes it appear that everyone is required to have an education. Thus, the right to education is not a decision that students are able to make on their own, which they should be able to without outside influence. However, they should always be provided the opportunity to return to school for free if they decide later in their life that this is the best option for them. Since the current education that is being required of students is not the education that everyone wants, the system needs to be made more flexible to ensure that each student could choose their own path and use their time effectively (Epstein).

Many supporters of compulsory school believe that the more individuals that graduate high school and college, the better off the country as a whole will be. While more education is certainly associated with a higher degree of success and economic stability, it is important to consider that it is likely that this trend will be true regardless of the type of education presented. For individuals who wish to become scientists, for example, their ability to succeed will be dependent on the amount of formal school years they would have finished. Those with just a high school degree will likely become lab techs, while those with graduate degrees will become leaders of the lab. This trend would also be true for cosmetologists. An individual with a few years of basic salon training will not make as much money as an individual who has been in the field for a decade or more. It is therefore important for these individuals to begin their training in the field early so they will be able to reach this point in their lives sooner.

The benefits of compulsory schooling outweigh its negative consequences for only a few individuals. It is therefore our responsibility to ensure that individuals are able to choose their own path through the education system, whether this will involve participating in the traditional school process or leaving school early in order to pursue a vocation. While it is necessary to instill critical thinking skills in young children, compulsory school is not needed to achieve this. Children can learn the ability to think critically in a variety of ways. We traditionally think of these skills as being built from practice doing math, reading, and writing. However, it is important for us to consider that mechanics use critical thinking every day in order to determine what is wrong with cars and why. Sometimes, this may not be simple, as there may be more than one issue with overlapping symptoms. We cannot assume that the individuals that do not wish to participate in compulsory learning are any less intelligent than those that choose to. We must assume however, that these are individuals who learn and understand the world differently, and to ensure that they are able to achieve greatness, we must allow them to pursue the specific knowledge that they know they want to and are capable of learning. In conclusion, the compulsory education system is too restrictive. We can avoid this by allowing students to make more of their own educational choices (Fukui).

Fukui’s arguments effectively summarize the argument against the requirement for school for all children. He states “The common belief seems to be that schools should be like a factory” (Fukui). Ultimately, we create a very few number of programs that are meant to satisfy the education requirements of all students. As we consider compulsory school policies, it important to keep in mind that education cannot be a one size fits all process. Rather, we must make it so that education appeals to each individual and provides them what they believe they need to succeed in life, whatever their individual goals may be. It is therefore our job as educators that their needs are met and doing so will be able to enter the career of their choice upon graduation or continue their education by entering college. For this to be possible, it would be necessary to re-implement vocational training programs to ensure that even the students that wish to enter trade will be adequately prepared for their future. Doing so will benefit the country as a whole because this will mean that each individual in every job has received a greater amount of training for their jobs, which will help speed up the progress and evolution of the country as well.

Works Cited

Gatto JT. “Against School”. 2003. Web. 4 December 2014.

Epstein A. “Let’s Abolish High School”. N.D. Web. 4 December 2014.

Fukui I. “Why Education is Broken”. N.D. Web. 4 December 2014.