Why go to school?

The reading for this week was very interesting and helped introduce me to an idea that I never considered. The way that children are taught in schools starting from a young age predetermines the type of jobs they can apply for when they get older or excludes the wide range of opportunities that they can consider. The education system has turned into a business and I feel that many of these corporations feel very little shame for what they’re doing. On pages 97-98, Kozol comments on how the head of a Chicago school replies to the accusation that the instruction style was turning these children into robots. Instead of denying it he tried to rationalize the situation by stating, “Did you ever stop to think that these robots will never burglarize your home?” and “will never snatch your pocket books…These robots are going to be producing taxes…” The fact that he would actually continue to call these students robots shows that he is dehumanizing them and therefore they don’t deserve what a human child receives. They don’t need to understand what they are learning, they don’t need nutritious meals to fill their stomachs, they don’t each need a desk, they don’t need books that don’t have pages falling out of them, they don’t need to be respected, they don’t need affection, and they just need to learn the repetitive motions that are being engrained in their minds without questioning the system. School officials rationalize their behaviors and actions towards students that attend schools that lack a lot of resources by saying that they wouldn’t appreciate it anyway and don’t even give them the chance to experience something new or to gain any kind of hands on experience. If people truly believe that all children or the majority of students in working class schools are naturally going to steal your purse the moment they get the chance or burglarize your home when you turn your back then it shows how ignorant you really are. There are so many factors that lead to children having to turn onto this dangerous path in life. I’ve never heard a child say that they wanted to be a professional purse-snatcher or burglar. Here's a link to a youtube video of kids in a kindergarden class saying what they want to be when they grow up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZP7MiflWcY.
These children have goals, aspirations, and dreams. It’s not fair that they have strikes against them just because of the type of school they go to and I know life is not fair but that’s the point. If other countries can guarantee their population quality education why can’t we? The Anyon article was an eye opener because I never realized the exact differences between certain schools such as working class and affluent professional schools and how the teaching methods differed so drastically. The main point that hit home for me was that in affluent schools the students reached answers independently and understood the process. They were allowed to question the materials and were honing skills that are applicable to everyday life. They’re given the tools necessary to excel in their fields while the working class is taught to follow directions and be submissive. I think someone said in class that the purpose of education is to ensure that there will be people to perform tasks that no one else wants to because the skills they are taught only allow them this option while others are taught to run these companies. In our country a thousand people have to be at the bottom so that one can be on top. So in education is important to get the right answer or to understand the process of reaching that destination?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZP7MiflWcY