The first time that I read “Against School”, by John Taylor Gatto, I found myself very bored, due to the amount of tangents and extra information thrown into the article. But, I came up with a plan that would help me to maintain focus and therefore abstain from boredom when re-reading this article. One of the things that I will do is to make a mental analysis of the main idea of every few paragraphs. The purpose of this is to ensure that I am being constantly reminded of the main idea of Gatto’s words, instead of getting lost in the text. The next step that I will take, that will ultimately help me with getting a better grasp of the article, is making sure that I am not tired when re-reading. If I am awake and alert when reading, it is only natural that I will better understand what I am reading. This is opposed to rushing through the article, simply to get it over with.
One of the new things that I learned when re-reading this article, and applying the methods listed above; is the point Gatto makes about kids and boredom. “Well-schooled kids have a threshold for boredom…dread being alone…seek constant companionship through th TV, Computer…”(5). This quote speaks volumes for me due to the reason that it is something just about everyone can relate to. Gatto goes on to talk about a method that could be considered controversial. Gatto stresses that kids should be “challenged with solitude”, so as to learn to “enjoy their own company”(5). What this means to me is that if a kid, or a student learns to naturally function while being by themselves, they are way less likely to get bored. This method, if proven true could change the lives of countless of people, unaware that the simple solution to preventing boredom was right under our noses.
