Education: What's the Deal

There are a lot of people out there who want to change the world.

There are people who spend their whole lives working with drug addicts, broken homes, or welfare families. There are entire professions built around enacting empathy and thousands more that can be used as methods of care and compassion.

Bringing these people out of the bondage they are in is a noble act, but it only addresses the symptoms, not the problem. We have to stop the systems that put these individuals in bondage in the first place, otherwise there will simply be more that fill their shoes.

There are very few things in society that reach almost every person and affect almost every aspect of life, but the most prominent of the few is public education. Think about it. From the time a child enters this world, their life is dictated in some manner by education. Socio-economic status, living situation, and opportunities for this child are determined almost entirely by the education of his or her parents. From the day the child starts school, he or she is shaped and formed by the perspectives of those around him or her, the stereotypes and the treatment he or she receives, and the quality of the support he or she receives in school.

We all know that there's inequality. We've all heard about the problems that students face with standardized tests and funding and teacher apathy. And we all assume that, well, such is life.

But is it?

We assume that it has to be that way because that's how it's always been. But if we only took the time to imagine something different, then maybe we could get one step closer to a truly free America.

Why can't education be the force of equality and not distinction? Why can't our schools empower and motivate our kids instead of classifying and indoctrinating them? Why can't a high-school education actually remove its graduates from the cycle of poverty?

If we could only harness education, we really could change the world. As the only thing all citizens are guaranteed to experience, it's the only thing that can really make a difference.

Over the next few days, I will be posting several blogs about education. Each one will address a single problem that we face and provide a multitude of solutions. And I hope that, someday, education really will change the world.