The Pros And Cons Of Modern Schooling

Society struggles with conformity. We accept those who are normal and those who are alike, and usually discard the more unique individuals, but it is those unique individuals who are meant to change society. Modern schooling is corrupt, as it molds us from a young age to conform so that in the future we are easy to control, and Gatto claims that the corruption of the school system was created by architects of the system themselves. Gatto utilizes evidence from history and society to prove that modern day schooling is designed to control and limit the future of an individual.
Gatto claims that modern schooling is detrimental to society. He starts off by highlighting the goals set forth by the education reform in the early 1900s that developed
our modern school system. He states that the goal of school is to “1) To make good people. 2) To make good citizens. 3) To make each person his or her personal best.” But the reality of modern schooling is that they train each child to be the same person, so that they are easier to manipulate and control in the future.
Success is dependent on education, but not on schooling. Gatto utilizes examples of non-schooled individuals throughout history that have made a large impact in our world, such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, Carnegie, and Rockefeller. All of these individuals, along with two million home-schooled children today, did not receive a ‘proper’ education but made a difference in the world. These individuals prove that proper schooling is not required for success and that it is achieved when personal strengths are used to an individual’s advantage.
The designers of modern day schooling were fully aware of the true purpose of standardized education.
Gatto explains that our school system is heavily influenced by Prussian ideals, as they utilize “an educational system deliberately designed to produce mediocre intellects… and to ensure docile and incomplete citizens – all in order to render the populace ‘manageable’”. Gatto’s claims are supported by the historical influences of Prussian culture to prove that our system is no different, and the creators of our schools set up our institutions the same way to ensure a ‘manageable’ society. Gatto outlines the true ideals of our schools with six functions, as they are designed to produce students who obey authority, make each person alike so they are predictable and easy to manage, determine their role in society, determine their future based on their role to limit them, make the unfit undesirable to society, and produce a very small group of individuals who will lead and continue the cycle. These hidden ideals help ensure that society becomes one, manageable group that can be manipulated into doing anything. Gatto uses these ideals to prove that society is hurt by modern schooling because it limits the potential of an individual, which in turn, limits the potential of
society.
Gatto’s claims, backed by his strong evidence, create a persuasive argument against schools in America. It persuades me to agree with him, as the facts that support the true intentions of our school system are significant enough to prove that schools are hurting society. Today, our schools create mass-produced conformists, which limit the potential of society as a whole. Schools hinder the genius in everyone and isolate those who are unable to utilize their genius the same way as the common student. Society’s problems are rooted in the school system, and the potential for improvement is limited because children are limited in their education.