School. It is loved and hated, desired for and feared by the whole world. Some say it is the most important thing in the world, others would disagree. However, one of the biggest questions has been whether or not schools should go through a major change, and adapt to society's needs, or whether it should keep the school standards, and the required government tests and such. 

My biggest question for me throughout the years has been, what does school mean to me? I’ve pondered this throughout the free time, and have come to this conclusion. Some of school is useful, the rest is not. Some things should be taught, like reading, writing, and basic math. However, sciences, as well as advanced classes, even classes like algebra, and physics, should not be required. You will use them once, in those classes. Instead, require classes that teach you life skills, like making appointments, fixing vehicles, banking, and other things like that have to be done regardless of occupation. If we were doing this, we could leave advanced classes for those that actually want to take the classes. That way most teachers won’t waste their time with students who don’t want to be there. That brings me to my next point. 

School should be optional. That way, again, we have people who want to be there. This could prove a minor threat to the economy, but then it will leave the true hard workers of America which we are always bragging about. Hence the point of capitalism, which is the workers prosper, and the lazy bums don’t do as well, and have only themselves to blame. This could potentially leave more, or bigger gaps in the social classes, but if one is truly a hard worker, then this is not an issue. Now, none of this is to say that school is entirely bad. There are pros and cons to school, just like anything else. It gives you an understanding of how the world works, and teaches you how to interact with other people and how to build relationships. Unfortunately, not everyone has the same experience with school. Some people are quieter and don’t build those strong relationships. Some get bullied, get their trust broken, or other things along that line. The best and worst memories are often made at school. If school was optional, there would be more natural meetings happening, like meeting at a coffee shop, or on the street, or even at the gym. Not forced interaction in a classroom.

One problem with the school system is the vision. The last vision of school as of recent is to prepare students to work in factories. Hence, rows of students, a short break to eat, and no talking, just working, and for 7 hours a day, this is how you think. A car from 150 years ago looks different, runs different, than today.  A phone from 150 years ago looks different, runs different, than today. But a classroom from 150 years ago does not look different today, does not run different today. If technology changes as time goes on and we become more advanced, shouldn’t our schools change as well? We don’t need people to work in factories anymore. Now we need people to think creatively, more innovatively. We can’t just give everyone the same goal when there are hundreds of thousands of even millions of different brain structures in the world. 

Think of it like this. Our school system gives every student the same teachings. Essentially, that would be like a doctor giving every patient Sudafed. It wouldn't work, that would be catastrophic! Everyone has a different brain with different needs. You can’t give every brain the same thing and expect the same result. That is exactly like Albert Einstein said in one of his best quotes. “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.” This powerful quote is saying that you can’t judge something, or in the true meaning, someone, on a specific ability when there are many variables thrown into the mix. Every animal would perform differently because of what animal it is, so while you can try and judge it’s ability on climbing trees, that doesn’t mean it is stupid. Intelligence of animals is determined by seeing how they react to a person. But come to think of it, that is also how we judge another persons’ intelligence. Think about that. How bad does that sound? But it’s true. Now unfortunately, there isn’t much to be done about that.  

What I am trying to say isn’t that school is bad, just that it needs a change because it’s outdated. It is our duty to change our education as we see fit, and as our society changes as well. Needs are different throughout time, and we must be prepared for changes. Those changes must be started with our education.