John Gatto's "Against School"

This essay was very interesting to read because it showed a different perspective against school. Gatto thinks of school as "...labaratories of experimentation on young minds, drill centers for the habits and attitudes that corporate society demands (Gatto - 5). He views schools as institutions that brainwash children in order to provide for society. As people, we know not to buy things that we do not need. However, society needs to profit from us. How do they do that? They use schools to bring children into the equation. As a result, we, humans, start craving for things that we want but not need. Another interesting point Gatto mentioned was that school was a "selective function." This refers to Darwin's theory of natural selection. To help the human race be more superior than previous generations, the school is used as an eliminating institution. "Schools are meant to tag the unfit" (Gatto - 4). Poor grades, remedial classes, detention and other punishments are ways of tagging inferior people. After this process, they are eliminated in the reproductive sweepstakes. Once the inferior people are out of the equation, a small fraction of children will be trained to continue this ongoing cycle and control the population.

When we think of school, we connect it to success. Society now requires children to go to school to be successful. Jobs, nowadays, require a minimum of a college degree. As time goes on, the standards keep increasing their expectations. We think school is what leads us to have successful, happy lives. We assume that the schooling system are supposed to: 1.) Make good people. 2.) Make good citizens. 3.) To make each person his or her personal best. However, many people before us managed to become successful without a formal education. "If Thomas Edison could publish a broadsheet at age twelve... there's no telling what your own kids could do" (Gatto - 4). Gatto believes that the solution to this entire problem is to let children manage themselves.

I found this to be a very interesting essay to read because it showed me a side that never came across my mind. I believe it to be a little on the extreme side however, some of the points mentioned made me stop and think about our educational system. Perhaps some of these points could be valid in certain schools. In schools that do not care for their students and such. I never been in a school with such condition, so I cannot confirm this. I was fortunate to have been in schools that cared for every student's education. Even fellow classmates that were not doing well were cared for, the best the school could offer.