No School

I agree with some of Gatto’s points about how we do not need school. Without school, some people would educate themselves and would find solutions and figure out how things work. They could become great leaders from this and they would think independently and critically. These people would challenge themselves and would have time to think. They would also have more time to do other activities they enjoy instead having to do homework all the time. I believe this can happen but only in isolated circumstances. I think if the majority of society did not attend school, it would only learn the bare necessities needed to carry out their daily lives or perform the tasks needed for their jobs. People would not be motivated or exposed to different subjects so they would not learn much, for example, about math, science, English, or history.

Another point Gatto makes which I generally believe is valid is that people should not go to schools if their main purpose is to make them conform and be as similar to each other as possible. These schools’ environments will make people think its better not to act independently or to voice their opinions. By the school exerting this influence, it makes the students easier to control and takes less effort for the teachers to control the class. The view is that if a student speaks out in class or does not follow the rules, then their grade will go down or a note will be sent home. This will make people become followers, and not leaders. This will make people be afraid to think independent thoughts or to have views that are different than what are accepted. Also, by the school being controlling, the kids could lose their curiosity in things or they might not have time to explore things they are interested in. It could make them dislike learning, which could lead to them not learning anything.

However, I think there are schools that do not make you conform and that these are the schools people should go to. If kids go to schools like University, they are not forced to conform. Students are shown different sides of conflicts and are able to decide what they believe in themselves. They can stand up for what they believe and it’s ok. There isn’t a note sent home and their grade does not drop as long as they have backing to their argument. Also, students have a chance to take a J-term class that allows them to study something different than the normal boring classes. In these types of schools, the teachers guide the students, but the students have to take the initiative. The teachers challenge the students to think critically and to think for things on their own. The students could become leaders.