An Honest Interview With My Son

How to change the ‘modern’ American school system

“Creativity is as important as literacy.” ― Ken Robinson

My son has been studying at home this past year. As a result, we have had many honest conversations about the school system. I love we can discuss these things together, and he has some great ideas for changes that would benefit all of us.

He is 12 years old and in the seventh grade this year. I am so impressed by how resilient he has been over this past year, despite frustrations with school.

I appreciate he can speak out so eloquently about the failings of the school system and how it can be improved. Here are his thoughts.

What is your overall opinion of the school system?

One of the main problems is that it isn’t that modern. Fun fact, the school system was invented in the 1800s, and it was built to make factory workers.

Also, back in the 1800s when the school system was created, the creator of the system was using the Prussian model of schooling. They went to Europe, and they took a look at all the different models of school, and they thought that model was the best one because of their standardized educational experience.

The only problem with that is that the entire system is based on creating citizens that will be obedient and it is literally made for dictatorship.

The U.S. clearly isn’t that. But, the school system really makes it feel like that’s what it is about, even though it isn’t.

Although the equipment used in the school system is getting more advanced, the actual system isn’t.

Every hour of your school day is planned out, and you are directed on where to go and what to do by the bell, and whistles, and stuff like that.

In the old times when they made the school system, it was effective in creating factory workers, and that’s what most people were. But now, the world is a lot different.

It’s been over two hundred years, and the school system still hasn’t evolved.

Despite all this fancy digital equipment they are using, they’re still teaching kids the same way. With boring lectures and useless material that just stifles creativity.

Honestly, in real life, your day isn’t just automatically planned out for you. You need to create your schedule. Because, nowadays, there are a lot fewer mindless factory workers.

You’re going to have to do your scheduling and creativity. And you’re going to have that stuff. But, the school doesn’t teach you that stuff.

Although they have been integrating things like art classes, and music classes, it all pales compared to all the other subjects.

Just the way the school system is designed overall, despite the material, all the creativity is just stifled by the blandness of the system itself.

Tell me about a frustrating experience you have had?

So, in third grade, I had a teacher, and we were doing a watercolor painting activity.

The activity itself wasn’t the problem, but the teacher told me to get all the jars of watercolor and bring them over to the sink for them to put away the jars and stuff for later.

So, I did, and I accidentally slipped and I spilled some of the jars onto the wall. My teacher got mad at me, and I ended up getting in trouble for an accident.

If you are in a factory, and you do something wrong, then you are going to get in trouble. But, the world has changed a lot.

The most frustrating part of this experience is that I didn’t have any power or control over it. I couldn’t speak my opinion.

I didn’t speak my opinion, not because I didn’t want to, but because I knew that if I tried to speak out, the teacher would yell at me for talking back to her.

The school system is all about having your students under lock and key and having complete control over them.

But, the modern world isn’t like that at all.

America, for example, is a democracy and it’s all about freedom and where everyone’s vote counts. But in schools there, it’s the opposite, because it’s basically a dictatorship.

Basically, the students are the citizens with zero power and if they act out or speak against any of the people in power, then they’re going to get punished. It’s pretty awful.

What would you change?

If I were to change something about the school system, I would make it so that instead of students being automatically punished if they do something wrong, they should be able to provide a defense for it.

They should have more power. There’s actually a type of school where the students have the same amount of power as the teachers. For example, there was a student they were thinking of expelling.

They had a long conversation, talking about it, and the students and the teachers could have equal input over whether the student got punished. It was just like a court of law.

In the real world, you don’t just immediately get sent to jail if you do something wrong, everyone gets a fair chance at a trial. But, in school, you don’t. It’s immediate punishment, and I think that’s pretty awful.

Kids are taught to fear adults because they have all the power, but in the real world, you shouldn’t be constantly afraid of your boss. You should be able to talk to them and express your thoughts and feelings.

But in school, you don’t have time for that.

Also, schools are all about students not talking out of turn. The number of times I’ve been in elementary school and one of the kids was talking out of turn, the teacher would yell stop talking.

It basically teaches kids to stay silent, which definitely isn’t what you want to do during a meeting at work where you want to share your thoughts and ideas.

I think this is one of the biggest failings of the school system because they’re teaching kids to just be quiet and obedient. But that can only get you so far in life.

Sure you shouldn’t just be constantly yelling around. But, a lot of kids at school have just learned to stay quiet and try their best not to talk.

How do you see the future of the school system?

I’m hoping that the next generation will change things. With the internet, more people get to express their thoughts and opinions every single day.

I think people have hated school for a long time, but they just don’t really have the ability to unionize and actually make a real difference.

But, with the power of the internet and people being able to communicate with just the single push of a button, people now can hear a lot of different stories and opinions. They will really start to realize how bad the school system is.

I’m doing my part right now helping with this article.

I’m thinking that schools are going to have more of one student and one teacher model, or at least a small group of students for a teacher.

Most classes have 20, 30, sometimes even 40 students, and lots of students get left behind because just one teacher cannot communicate with every single student.

If one student is struggling in a 20 person class, the teacher isn’t really going to have time to talk to them. They won’t really notice that they’re not getting the material.

But, if it’s one student and one teacher, and the student isn’t getting the material, the teacher will talk to them more. This way, the student will form a better bond with the teacher.

The student will feel less shy about talking to them and presenting ideas.

Schools have tried getting students to ask questions but after all the stuff that they’ve done to discourage it, now trying to encourage it really isn’t working.

In fact, lots of online and other institutions have attempted this like for example Kahn academy with the one teacher one student model.

It’s a lot better, and I’m hoping that the school system can make a big change. I don’t think it’s really any one person or group of people’s fault. I think that the fact that the school system is just so deeply rooted, that it’s really hard to pull it back up and try to change it.

Hopefully, if we all work together, we can make a difference.

What your thoughts about the school system in your area? What changes would you like to see? Let me know in the comment section.