School's Out Forever?

Gatto’s essay was quite fascinating. I know little about the history of America’s schooling system and was interested to find out that it is based off of Prussia’s schools. That being said, I think Gatto is mildly insane. The concept that America’s schools are “laboratories of experimentation on young minds, drill centers for the habits and attitudes that corporate society demands” (159) is absolutely ludicrous. I think America’s schooling system needs to be rethought and reformed, yes, but Gatto’s statement borders on conspiracy and paranoia.
I absolutely believe that schooling is necessary. Twelve years of it is extreme, but elementary and secondary schools are certainly essential. As Gatto mentions, schools teach their pupils to respect authority and follow directions, skills necessary to maintain jobs. He fails, though, to recognize that schools provide an environment in which to learn social skills and acquire friendships. Furthermore, schools expose their students to subjects that otherwise might have remained veiled. To become a chemist, you first must know that atoms exist. In school, I’ve learned to share, play nice, and create friendships. These are life skills. In second grade, I made my friend Kelly cry because I told her I was prettier than her. Not only was this statement selfish, it was rude and untrue. I felt awful for quite some time. So, at seven, I came to know that praising yourself is horribly self-absorbed and, often times, hurtful. Without school, this lesson, and other lessons like it, would have come later in life. Through school, we learn to interact with people everyday. We learn to suppress our feelings around those we do not like, and we learn to value the friendships we are able to make. In kindergarten, there was a kid named Jeff in my class. Jeff was reclusive and quiet. He never wanted to play blocks with me. The next year, when I was in first grade, Jeff was still in kindergarten. He had been held back because, as my mother later found out, he wasn’t considered “socially ready” for first grade. School is tedious, and this needs to be, and can be, changed. School, however, should not be abolished all together for a multitude of reasons, including, but not limited to, how it teaches social skills.