Structure and Support

Unlike Gatto, I think school is very well needed and it serves a great purpose even as it is right now. Without school education would be tough and dependent on the parents for their kids to learn. Sadly many kids wouldn't have that scholastic opportunity simply because their parents might not believe that education is necessary and kids should go straight into the workforce. The education system that we have this day and age teaches necessary skills and basic knowledge to prepare young adults for the real world. Without those general teachings throughout elementary school, middle school, and high school, student would not have the proper tools and knowledge to fully integrate with the real world and be a proper contributor to society. Math, Physical Education, Science, and Foreign Language are all terrific subjects to learn; however, the way we teach them and to the extent, I believe, is very unnecessary and we should be using those extra classes to be teaching kids how to do their taxes, pay their bills, manage credit, and other useful knowledge that helps integrate kids into the real world. 

I agree that these subjects are definitely important for anyone to learn. They can help with future business opportunities, simple problem-solving, everyday life, and similar things of that nature. The problem with our education system is that it spends too much time focusing on particular subjects that become too specific to use in everyday life. Kids should be learning basic math because it is used in all aspects of life. Adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing are things that we use everyday just to get by. Math could even go as far as learning intermediate problem solving. Developing problem solving skills creates intricate thinkers and our society could always use more of those. The problem with our education system is that we push this idea too far. We go beyond what is crucial to know to a point where there is no where to implement these new skill sets unless you end up in a career like engineering or statistics. That is what college is for, not high school. I believe that math could stop at simple algebra and there wouldn't be any problem whatsoever.