Publication: THE NEW YORK TIMES
 
From the article “against school”, we learned about all the concerns Gatto had about schooling in general. From have to go through for that long time is very difficult and were basically setup by a system in order to take advantage of kids in the long run. Furthermore, he also expressed his concerns about school system and how kid are prepared for a future labor force. Is that true and how come the vast majority of kids are still applying to school? It is obvious that school is a very convenient way of success nowadays and the department of education and teachers put a lot of effort for kids to learn and become better tomorrow. School is a bigger path no matter what one is planning to accomplish in his life. However, public schools still have a lot to do in order to improve the overall learning experience. In my opinion, Gatto probably experienced some of the worst school systems and generalizes his opinion accordingly. The way classes are dispensed can seem overwhelming and this may give some students very different thoughts about school. However learning can be more interesting if the department of education and the teachers load more learning topics because one cause of boredom is repetition.
In the article “against school”, John Taylor Gatto explains that public school system are meant to condition children to be gullible and mindless consumers. In my personal opinion, Gatto’s thoughts about school in general is exaggerated. Everyone has his own experience about school, and all I can say is that it is difficult and takes a long time. After all, there nothing easy about life and school is just one of the many paths available except that it is more likely “promising”. Not saying that one hundred percent of those who go to school succeed, but saying that they always get something out of it. They get education, they learn how to write and read they make friends, relations and many will build professional careers. As far as I’m concerned, schools, especially public schools need improvement. That is probably what Gatto should be expressing are way to make school more enjoyable for children instead of scarring young people. Gatto said that “School has done a pretty good job of turning our children into addicts, but it has done a spectacular job of turning our children into children”. In my opinion, this is a wrong perception of the main objectives of school. First, “addict”, I doubt that and considering how mature children get for going to school, it is safe to say that Gatto probably went through some less common situation and it affected his opinion.
Furthermore, Gatto stated “Even if they hadn’t, a considerable number of well-known Americans never went through the twelve- year wringer our kids currently go through, and they turn out all right. George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln?”, like I mentioned before, school is not the only way to succeed, but one of the best ones. One may be successful without this world most basic knowledge (good reading and writing skills), he will still struggle and be dependent to other people who went to school. Imagine the struggle of someone who doesn’t have good reading and writing abilities in this world where everything tend to be on paper and on the Internet. The jobs industry is now equivalent to paper work and have been to school is not just an advantage, it is also a requirement. Most of those in todays society without jobs or decent jobs are those with lower academic background. Some of those people might also be complaining that the society does not take them into consideration. But the reality is that nowadays in order to be a professional, one needs to have the required diploma which is only available after career completion.
In my personal opinion, I think that school prepare children to be better tomorrow, by making them go through challenging experiences which can be seen differently from one person to another. School is also a sort of security to young people. By that I mean instead of hanging in the streets, if they go to school, they will have a better chance of success. I mean, if they don’t drop off. The school system is here to guide children, not to use them. In fall 2018 more than fifty six and half million students will attend elementary and secondary schools. This show how parents are really willing to engage into it no matter how hard it can get later on. I encourage the department of education to keep assisting students and improving their learning experience.  Gatto has his own point about school that I believe is exaggerated and I hope he does not spread those thoughts to children because it may affect their feelings about school which can lead to them adopting the same thoughts about school and that is not a good thing for upcoming generations “academic education” wise.
