A Failed School System!
Go to School, get good grades, so you can get a good job. Have you ever heard your parents say this to you? Have you said it to your kids? In this article I want to explore the truth behind this statement. Is it true? Do we have a successful or failed school system?
Go to school
The idea of a school has existed since the earliest recorded history dating back to ancient Greece, ancient china, and India. There is even evidence of schools existing in the Aztec communities of Central and South America. These ancient schools served vary different purpose. From teaching the political sciences to teaching sports and training the military these these ancient school systems were reserved for the elite classes in society.
The concept of the modern western university is a relatively new idea. It began in the middle ages, was usually connected to the church and the teaching had a strong Christian element. Again, education was usually driven around the liberal arts and was reserved for the social elite classes. As a result, very rarely did anyone not of status attend a university.
This leads us to the modern public school system we are accustomed to today. Also known as the Factory Model of education, it was brought to the North American culture by Horace Mann as he visited Prussia in 1843. Fredrick the Great had instituted a school system that was designed around obedience in order to solidify his control over his country. The United States saw this system as an efficient form of education that could elevate literacy and make the Republic work more efficiently. They chose to implement this system and at the turn of the 20th century, schools were described as “factories in which raw products (children) are to be shaped and fashioned into products to meet the various demands of life”.
The failed school system doesn’t work!
As you can see the roots of the school system in North America aligned very well with the industrial revolution of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The industrialist of the era needed a workforce that would fit their model of manufacturing. Therefore “Factory Model of Education” fit just perfectly with the assembly line model of manufacturing.
- Show up for school.
- Break for recess.
- Take your lunch.
- Break for recess.
- Go home.
The result was the root of the phrase: “Go to school, get good grades so you can get a good job!”. You can see why at that time, it made sense. Factories were booming. As a result, you could be employed by the Ford Motor Company for 40 years and be rewarded with a pension. It was the industrial age and the system worked.
The School System Today
Fast forward to today. How is it working? Today our economy has shifted and we are now in the information age. The old manufacturing jobs have moved off-shore and there is worldwide competition for business. Companies are full of greed looking for way to list themselves on the stock exchange. Now they are driven by the shareholders who want a return and are cutting expenses to do it! Do you know what the most expensive line item is on their balance sheet? Employees.
The end result is that jobs are no longer what they used to be. We have been marketed, told, coerced by our peers, into thinking that the answer is to get MORE school. So we think that we are failures if we don’t go to college or university. We go into debt (see more about that) to get more “education”. Four or five years later we graduate only to find out that the jobs that are available are the ones we could have got without the EXTRA education. We have a failed school system!
What are your options?
The average Generation Y graduate from university can expect to have 7 different careers. That is they will change jobs an average of 7 times. Here’s the crazy thing. Many of them will GO BACK TO SCHOOL because they think they need it for a new job.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result.
Please recognize the secondary school system for what it is – a business. Their goal is to take your money in return for giving you a piece of worthless paper called a diploma. If you want to change some things in your life, you have to change some things in your life.
My suggestion is start a business. Start a business of your own that will give YOU control of your life. Where you own it and no-one can fire you except you. That’s the answer.
More to come on this one.
Until next time,
Wealth and Free Academy
