Ban compulsory education everywhere!

If ignorance is bliss, then education is the government's attempt to rob citizens of their happiness, which is an inalienable right according to the Declaration of Independence. Knowledge is tyranny! Down with booklearning!

If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding

I do not believe there is an ulterior motive; compulsory education is supposed to be for the good of everyone. But really, who are they fooling? A lot of people. But we are not going to put up with it. The education revolution is near.

Yes, lets create a society of dumbasses

In all seriousness I think this is a great idea. Compulsory schooling has not made us smarter, only insured that the smart, responsible kids are dragged down by the thugs and others who don’t really want to learn.

Also guarantees that a lot of kids will wind up in public school who would benefit from an alternative environment.

"Yes, lets create a society of dumbasses"

Compulsory education has made the world a dumb society. Most people do not even know how dumb they are, but they do feel it. And can see it when made present - like getting rid of compulsory education.

jamin wrote:

If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding

How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat.

Ban compulsory education wrote:

"Yes, lets create a society of dumbasses"

Compulsory education has made the world a dumb society. Most people do not even know how dumb they are, but they do feel it. And can see it when made present - like getting rid of compulsory education.

I agree

But who will babysit my kids?

Mikeh33 wrote:

In all seriousness I think this is a great idea. Compulsory schooling has not made us smarter, only insured that the smart, responsible kids are dragged down by the thugs and others who don’t really want to learn.

Also guarantees that a lot of kids will wind up in public school who would benefit from an alternative environment.

In all seriousness, you're wrong. It has made us smarter. That is undeniable. To say otherwise is really ignorant. Here's a basic fact..

Percent of Americans age 14 or older who are illiterate.

1870: 20%

1979: 0.6%

I think at age 16 kids should be allowed to start taking GED prep classes and once they've completed those, they should be allowed to take the test and move on with life.

A 16 or 17 year old kid with 3 credits being forced to attend school is asinine. It makes everyone involved miserable. The kid doesn't want to be there, the teacher is now forced to deal with a discipline problem, and the parent has to deal with the kid and the school, sometimes it even ends up with involvement with juvenile court.

It's a colossal waste of time, effort and money.

Not only does schooling help give kids exposure to a wide variety of ideas and role models that they would never see if they sat at home with their parents - it also gives them a place where they can learn social interaction in a minimal-risk environment. Do you want to share society with bunch of kids who are less socially well adjusted than the average LRC user and dumb as a stump to boot?

Didn’t think so.

I think we should add compulsory education on money management, good parenting and being a decent human being

Removing education just makes the most vulnerable in society even more vulnerable. It's not the kid's fault if the parents aren't good role models.

Northest Republican wrote:

Percent of Americans age 14 or older who are illiterate.

1870: 20%

1979: 0.6%

How will the LetsRun boards survive if we ban compulsory education?

doctorj wrote:

Yes, lets create a society of dumbasses

"create"?

Most states allow voluntary withdrawal at 16, most that don’t allow for parent exceptions.

As someone who has taught vastly different levels of students (a school with 95% free lunch and another school with billionaire parents) I can assure you that almost all children need school. We can do a better job to provide options for students who don’t do well at a typical public school, but before anyone says “charter schools” I’ll tell you that they will only exacerbate the problem. They can pick and choose which students they want (unlike public schools that have to take everyone) and at least in my state have almost no oversight or accountability.

Ban compulsory education wrote:

"Yes, lets create a society of dumbasses"

Compulsory education has made the world a dumb society. Most people do not even know how dumb they are, but they do feel it. And can see it when made present - like getting rid of compulsory education.

Good thought!

Northest Republican wrote:

Mikeh33 wrote:

In all seriousness I think this is a great idea. Compulsory schooling has not made us smarter, only insured that the smart, responsible kids are dragged down by the thugs and others who don’t really want to learn.

Also guarantees that a lot of kids will wind up in public school who would benefit from an alternative environment.

In all seriousness, you're wrong. It has made us smarter. That is undeniable. To say otherwise is really ignorant. Here's a basic fact..

Percent of Americans age 14 or older who are illiterate.

1870: 20%

1979: 0.6%

https://nces.ed.gov/naal/lit_history.asp

Not sure I totally buy those stats. But assuming they are right, I think what we have is an increase in very basic literacy amongst The general population, but a vast decrease in literacy among the educated class. Consider that Ben Hur was one of the most highest selling books of the 19th century. It is hard to read, and frankly beyond the comprehension of almost everyone in 21st century America. Yet it was very commonly read in the 1800s. I suppose it is possible that we have more basic literacy today, though I am not prepared to completely concede the point, but the mean level of education has gone way down.

You're actually half on to something.

Compulsory primary education is a very positive thing in virtually all cases. Compulsory secondary education, on the other hand, can cause problems due to kids being forced to stick around school when they're either not good at it or don't want to be there, thereby causing disruptions for students who are trying to learn. This brings down the entire system and does in fact make us stupid and less competitive on a global scale.

Other countries have various early cut-out options to get these crap students out of the system. I think the US went the wrong way with No Child Left Behind. We should be focused on making our best and brightest even better -- not on helping our least successful barely slip through. Better to help those kids who can't or won't learn by getting them into job training programs in separate facilities. This would fix a lot of problems.