I wish I were given a choice

So, I am going to get a little weird on you. Earlier this week I came across a post on Seth Godin’s blog called “Back to (the wrong) school”. He talked about the purpose of schools; which is not to educate students and turn them into scholars,  but to condition their minds into workers. He also talked about how sending children to school is an investment in the economic future. It enables schools to produce better workers by teaching students to sit still, raise their hand, and follow the rules.

This wasn’t the first time I heard about the real purpose of the school system. Someone read to me a snippet from the book The Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin.  Here is what Griffin said about the General Education Board that was created by John D. Rockefeller and Frederick T. Gates:   

“The object was to use the classroom to teach attitudes that encourage people to be passive and submissive to their rulers. The goal was—and is—to create citizens who are educated enough for productive work under supervision but not enough to question authority or seek to rise above their class. True education was to be restricted to the sons and daughters of the elite. For the rest, it would be better to produce skilled workers with no particular aspirations other than to enjoy life.”

It just never occurred to me to ask why things are the way they are or how things came to be. When did this happen? When did I stop asking “why?”

 This is what I love about children. They are so awesome! I love how their little minds work; how they are so inquisitive always wanting to know the purpose of an object, why the sky is blue, or what will happen to them if they swallowed a watermelon seed. I remember my friend Dave telling me about is son Harry. He said Harry was always breaking his toys, which really upset his wife. They asked Harry why he kept keep breaking his toys. Harry replied, “I just wanted to see how it worked.” Dave totally understood because he use to do the same thing when he was Harry’s age. He took is toys apart and then tried to put them back together too. Harry’s little inquisitive mind wanted to know how things work; exploring on his own, trying to get down to the bottom of something. I’m sure, with each passing day Harry, like most children, will become less curious and more compliant.

I am for education. No really I am. Reading, writing, arithmetic are all very important.

 History? Absolutely important.

 Sports, recreation? Yeah sure, a little exercise will do me some good.

 Physics, geometry, pre-calc?  No thanks. I’d rather take business math.

  I wish I were given a choice. I wish when I was in school the teachers asked me if u wanted to be a worker or an entrepreneur. From there they would figure out which classes to place me in. Instead my little mind was conditioned to be a proletarian (a wage-worker).

 I don’t think that there is anything wrong with churning out generations of productive workers because not everyone wants to venture into entrepreneur- ship. But what happens to all of the students who have the potential to be great leaders and innovators? Why are they being discouraged from asking the question “why”; and encourage to ask “can I.” Reprimanded for bring home a C grade instead of congratulated for doing his/her best. I heard Larry Winget say:

“Being the best isn’t important, but doing your best is.”

 Still, I wonder, what will happen when we have all of these workers and not enough creative minds to create jobs and opportunities. Wait a minute…that’s already happening.

Next week I am reading Mount Pleasant: My Journey from Creating a Billion-Dollar Company to Teaching at a Struggling Public High School by Steve Poizner.