The old saying "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink"
doesn't apply to compulsory schooling where children are routinely forced to take in what they may have no appetite for whatsoever.
Forced learning is harmful: it's demeaning and smacks of arrogance and authoritarianism which are built-in to the system enforced mostly unwittingly.
Growing up, I had my favorite subjects: music, art and English (I loved math in K to Grade 1). I could have stuck happily with these three throughout my entire educational career.
Instead I was overwhelmed with so many irrelevant subjects that I couldn't focus and get really good at the few that interested me.
In Grade 7 I applied to take 'home economics' to learn how to cook. No other boys had applied, and my teacher came to me during recess- I guess he was on recess duty- and coerced me to withdraw my request because I'd be the only boy and 'that would not be for the good of the class'.
Later in life I was a chef for 10 years- my second career after being a full time musician for 3 years.
Now I'm not against any individuals as much as the system as it has evolved (and has dubious beginnings*). And so many great teachers and administrators are certainly not trying to inflict any harm on the kids.
But the compulsory education system is likely beyond reform given it's premises.
The growing popularity of homeschooling and unschooling are a great boon and perhaps a hint at a growing loss of confidence in a system gone wild.
How is it gone wild? It breeds hardness of heart, boredom, segregation, classism, depression, sense of imprisonment, judgement, bullying, intolerance to uniqueness and individuality and most dangerously: unquestioning obedience to oppressive authority. Is short it provides little of the necessities of life: a sense of meaning and purpose in life beyond being penned in like animals and trained to jump through hoops hopefully without questioning what it's all for.
*(check out the writings of former teacher of the year for New York State and New York City John Taylor Gatto)
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