I used to be in favor of education. It enabled individuals to do more and greater things and ennobled society by virtue of their contributions. But that was before Columbine’s Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, before Virginia Tech’s Cho Seung-hui, and before various similar incidents without body counts high enough to warrant national media attention. With all the school violence these days, the spread of education has simply become too costly a pursuit not just in terms of raw dollars but, more importantly, in terms of young American lives.
This is not the fault of the students, of course. Most of them are in school not by choice but because they don’t know what else to do with their lives, or because it’s expected of them, or simply because they aren’t intelligent or able enough to succeed in the real world. We cannot blame the students.
And the teachers are equally pitiable. They are, on the whole, a conglomerate of wholly unskilled people. If they possessed even a thimble’s full of ability in their chosen field they’d be out there making a prosperous living practicing their craft instead of merely preaching it. As the saying goes, “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.” But don’t misunderstand. I support the teachers, I just don’t support the spread of education.
Despite my opposition, however, I am a realist. We cannot simply declare an end to education and expect society to adjust in a day’s time. Children who were previously supervised by teachers seven hours a day would suddenly be alone. Parents would abandon their jobs to watch their children. Businesses would fail. The economy would suffer.
No, we cannot throw the switch without expecting disastrous results. That is why I recommend a phased withdrawal from schools and universities across the country. On a date to be set forth by Congress, we will begin with those students who are self sufficient, eventually working our way down to the pre-school level. In just a few short months we will have brought home all of the students and put an end to this dangerous and humiliating failure called “education” that has cost us so very dearly.
Comments (7)
dan added these pithy words on Jun 28 07 at 3:36 pmtee hee tee hee
by the way, I thought of you yesterday for some reason which eludes me now…
Kelly added these pithy words on Feb 14 08 at 9:12 pmEven taking into account the recent events at NIU… these massacres have much more to do with the ease with which guns can be acquired and the alienation and abuse of people with mental disorders than the failure on the part of schools.
Public education is severely lacking because of poor support on national, state and local levels, and because of prevailing sentiments like: “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.” Since you like bumper stickers so much, here is one from the teacher parking lot at my school: “Those who can, do. Those who can do more, teach.” I’d like to see you do my job for a day. Teaching is a skill, a craft, a creative practice.
Teachers would be able to make a prosperous living if we were respected enough to be given a decent, livable wage… but, rather, the people who choose the profession are ones who are willing to accept that our “volunteer” work is worth it. No “teachers don’t work full-time jobs” responses, either. Teachers do not get the full summer off, contrary to popular belief. Anyhow, we work ridiculous amounts of overtime during the school year to make up for any time off and are expected to do so without compensation! Tack on the out-of-pocket teacher spending for basic classroom materials, kids who don’t have lunch money, coats, field trip funds, etc. and society will never be able to repay teachers, even after tax deductions.
Your writing would be lovely, were it not for your writing. I guess it’s like sin. Love the writer, hate the content.
Tim Stephens added these pithy words on Feb 14 08 at 9:48 pmKelly, this whole article is written tongue in cheek; it’s intended as a parallel to the Left’s take on the war. I’m not being literal when I take those pot shots at teachers. I have a lot of respect and tremendous sympathy for them. These days they can’t just be teachers, they have to be parents and counselors as well. Teachers put up with a lot more than they should have to and it isn’t for the great pay.
These statements, however, are being made literally about the men and women who voluntarily put themselves in harm’s way to shield us from danger. In spite of this, they are constantly denigrated as unskilled, uneducated, and unintelligent. Their blood pays the cost of free speech, which Dick Durbin and his ilk use to compare the troops to homicidal maniacs like Pol Pot.
I join you in your outrage.
Kelly added these pithy words on Feb 16 08 at 1:38 pmI obviously saw the war parallel (the title was hardly subtle
) but I did not realize you were being *completely* tongue-in-cheek, and I’m not sure you totally were… isn’t sarcasm sometimes just what you see as truth, but said in jest? Those sentiments are also being made literally about teachers — even if you were using them just to make a point– and they are not so uncommon and many people have spoken very poorly of teachers and education around me before realizing that is my field. I am actually student teaching right now (long story) — in order to student teach (full time hours), I have to pay for a full-time course load, and my own insurance… so I also have to work in addition to the student teaching so I can pay my bills. My break from the long days is to eat my dinner while reading internet articles — so after a long, difficult day, that article was the straw that broke the camel’s back (did I just call myself a camel!?).
As for the military… I am one of the people who disagreed with the war from day one, even before it was proposed. I love my country and I appreciate my freedoms… but I also love the world and the many other people and cultures in it and do not feel that I am somehow better or more deserving of such freedoms just because of where I was born. I don’t believe other people –soldier or civilian– should have to suffer or die so that I can be free. I do not think killing people is the best way to resolve problems — my cousin’s husband died in Iraq and never got to meet his baby girl. How many other families – here, there, all over the world- have been broken by the war? How is that solving anything? My life is no more or less valuable than that of another and I do not believe that governments should be in the position to decide whose life is worth keeping or sacrificing. I think that, if we must have a military, we would all be much safer with them over here on American soil. Bring em home.
P.S. “Voluntarily” is so subjective… but that’s another discussion.
Tim Stephens added these pithy words on Feb 17 08 at 11:14 pmKelly, thanks for replying. I appreciate your opinion and participation regardless of content. As for my opinion, this site should make it clear that there is no need to second-guess me; if I claim that I wrote the piece tongue-in-cheek, then I did. I have no difficulty or reticence expressing my opinions and no regard for whether they are popular. If I thought teachers were hopeless, brainless zombies of ineptitude, I would say so. They (along with students) are referenced in the article as analogues to the military personnel serving in the war, which is, after all, the subject of the piece.
I respect what teachers have to tolerate from students and administration these days with little in the way of effective recourse. On the other hand, I have many gripes with public education but until I write about the subject, those issues will remain shrouded in speculation.
As for your statements about the war and the military, you appear to be making some wild assumptions about the motives of your political opposition. That said, politics are merely a derivative of our spiritual beliefs. The fundamental and irreducible question of human existence is “What do I believe about God?” Our morality, system of ethics, and political beliefs all stem from our “God premise.” If two people differ substantially on this basic premise of life then they will, ipso facto (I love saying that – it makes me feel smart), differ in their conclusions about life.
I am Christian and my understanding is that you are a Humanist so we cannot expect to find much common ground, but when we do, it will probably be for different reasons. Bickering about the hows and whys of politics is essentially pointless if we leave unaddressed the fact that at least one of us is fundamentally wrong about everything. (Of course, both of us could be wrong, but both of us cannot be right.)
Kelly added these pithy words on Feb 23 08 at 11:00 pmMm, I think the conversation ended with your last paragraph…
Tim Stephens added these pithy words on Feb 26 08 at 11:53 pmWhy is that? Have we already reached an impasse?