While the current education system in the United States is churning out test takers and degree holders, there is a much more important part of the process that is missing. Thomas Jefferson believed that an educated public (albeit one of white, land-owning males) was necessary for a functioning democracy.
What he was not asserting was that a voter should be solely prepared to take a standardized test; those really didn’t exist in the 18th century. Education itself extends beyond the realm of what can be learned from a textbook or in the classroom. Instead, education is about creating and moulding dignified, respecting, rational individuals.
At the basis of such an education is not math, science, reading, or writing, (although all of that is a necessary foundation for the furtherance of one’s own education in respective fields of study), but at its core true education involves knowledge of human dignity. The concept is inherent to human rights, which is fundamental to the well being of members of a society.
If, instead of such superfluous topics in schools, we introduced the concept of human rights, then I am convinced that people would actually begin to respect one another.
Education is key to solving world problems, societal problems and interpersonal problems, but simply learning the most basic parts of biology, algebra, chemistry or American history is never going to be applied by today’s youth to create solutions to those issues.
There is no fervor to the way in which those subjects are taught today. Because America is so steeped in pragmatism, straying away from altruism, kids cannot understand the reasoning for teaching those subjects. Under the guise of the “well-rounded individual,” we regurgitate the facts, which are in turn regurgitated and never truly used in our lives. What if we concentrated on the ideas that actually mattered as opposed to the facts that have no credence?
What we are creating in today’s graduates is something more akin to machines as opposed to people that can think. Not only that, but in creating machines, instead of developing morally upstanding human beings, we leave any sense of respect for fellow human beings to the household upbringing, which tends to be sorely lacking in any notion of human dignity.
While human rights are in one regard a set of international laws signed into effect by countries taking part in the United Nations, there is much more involved in such a concept as human rights, such as their moral and philosophical underpinning. That is where the value of educating youth in the value of human rights lies. I am sure most of my parents’ generation would agree with me when I say that there is a general lack of respect, ethics, and sense of responsibility among my generation (the “millennials”).
While the causes of such a travesty are many, there is obviously not enough of this type of education within the home so, sadly, it falls to the education system to fill the gaps in the moral education of individuals.
No, the school system is not meant to raise kids, but there comes a point when an “educator” ought to do more than an attempt to teach the facts. Educators are now mentors as well, and as such should be at least touching on matters of grave moral importance like human rights.
First, human rights are connected to tragedies like genocide and the Holocaust, but the issues of human rights even permeate American society. Issues of maternal health and mortality, rape, police abuse, and immigration are all human rights issues that happen here, not just on another continent.
These problems are not going away because no solutions have been introduced, and soon it will fall to my generation to fix those problems.
I would rather like to have a populace that is at least in the process of being educated in something that applies to their livelihood and inculcated the concept of a moral community that we are all a part of in the world, and especially in this country.
Education is in a sad state right now. We need to question the very definition of education and examine its purpose.
There are infinite possibilities for those questions and the outcome is, I am sure, better than what we have now.
What worries me about the current state of education is if we cannot even answer the question of what education is or what it is for then there is something more wrong with the education system than falling test scores.
Michael Dearman is a sophomore majoring in philosophy, English and political science. He can be reached for comment at [email protected]
