The child, so full of natural curiosity and with seemingly boundless energy, is now made to go to school, to be “educated.” It’s funny how we use that word — as if the child was not getting an education before they went to school.
Think about it. Even before going to school, your child has figured out how to crawl, stand, walk, run and climb. They have learned how to form syllables, words and sentences, and have mastered the art of asking “Why?”
Have you ever known the difficulty of learning another language? When adults learn, they already have a native language to serve as a reference — thus “why?” in English is “pourquoi?” in French — and still it takes us a long time to learn. Yet, children seem to easily pick up a language even without any prior reference, and can even learn 2 or 3 before they are five.
And we think they have to go to school to be “educated?”
What really happens in school? In plain and simple language, here is what happens: The child’s natural curiosity and interest is curbed in favor of the adult’s agenda. You now have some adults saying, “this is what kids ought to be doing” and if your child happens to be doing something else (like drawing, or skateboarding, or climbing trees), they are told to put those aside because it’s now time to learn their ABC’s or some other things that the adult has decided is “more important.”
In this day and age, much importance is given to academics. Yes, people have made a lot of noise about multiple intelligences, and being well-rounded, and so on but look at the actual weight still placed on academics — on math, science and language — and you’ll understand that all that noise is just what it is — noise.
Just a few decades ago, adults openly coerced or forced children into their agenda. “Sit still or you get put into the corner with a dunce cap on, or get your hand or butt slapped with a stick.“
When I was in high school, we had punishments called a “jog” and a “post.” A “jog” was a minor punishment where you had to write a sentence x number of times on a piece of paper while a “post” was a heavier punishment that meant suspension and cleaning the toilets.
I learned much later that in the “good old days” a “jog” literally meant that the student had to run around for x minutes, and that a “post” meant tying the student to a post to bask in the heat of the sun. (I don’t know how accurate this is, maybe someone my senior can verify this).
Today, adults have learned that coercion rarely works in the long term and use methods of enticement and seduction instead. Children are put in a classroom and made to feel like they are in control. Teachers are trained to engage the students in whatever interests them at the moment, but then to slowly steer the conversation towards a more academic context.
Email me at andy@freethinking.me. View previous articles at www.freethinking.me.