Introduce Mandatory Adult Education!
This text is part of: "I would never send my kids to school" by Piotr Wozniak (2017)
Proposed legislation: compulsory adult education!
One of my colleagues, a straight A student, tossed an idea: mandatory adult education.
A proposed mandatory adult education legislation would have many advantages:
- with mandatory mixed-race mixed-gender classes, we would teach adults how to socialize together and how to build a coherent society
- with some classes in ethics we could reduce crime and other unethical behaviors
- with lectures in medical sciences, we might reduce smoking, and other addictions
- with extensive training in civics, we would strengthen the democracy
- with well-designed classes in philosophy and religion we could make a Muslim, a Christian and an atheist think alike
- with courses in math and engineering, we could redirect adults towards better paying jobs
- with education on climate change and environmental science, we could help society switch from petrol to electric cars
- we could explain the value of universal vaccination programs
- we could teach responsible gun ownership
- we could reduce the number of unwanted middle age pregnancies
The opposition
When I asked around about the above idea, someone noticed, "adults are not kids, they have work and responsibilities, they cannot afford education". This seems like a weak excuse. In many countries, we force people to military service, or jury duty, and we even make voting in elections compulsory. Mandatory education would be less harsh in comparison. Moreover, kids are forced to do homework in the evening. Perhaps adult education could also take place in the evenings after work. There are also weekends.
There is a problem though. This would never work in a liberal democracy. Even if some totalitarian-minded politician tried to introduce mandatory education, there would be riots. Enforcing the law would be impossible. The system would collapse along with the government that would try to enforce it.
Why do we then lock kids in the prison of school for 10-15 years? Because kids have no vote and they are helpless. Our motivations are good and they are ignorant. For many kids, schools do more harm than good.
The Future: Liberty
The biggest ally for kids against school imprisonment is their own parent. In most democracies, the parent holds they key to freedom.
Powerful movements of homeschooling, democratic schooling and unschooling are the best hope for the future. The best hope for the young generation. However, parents as liberators aren't always reliable. Many career-oriented adults are happy to use school as a storage space for kids. The idea of 24-hour daycare is already a reality too. In Poland, some kindergartens accept kids for three long days and nights. This is inching onto the destruction of the concept of parenting! Some highly developed countries like Germany or Sweden imposed a ban on homeschooling on the assumption that mandatory curriculum is the best way to shape model members of society. Do you know that Hitler extolled the power of schooling in Mein Kampf? I am not a fan of Reductio ad Hitlerum, but there is a clear correlation between totalitarian thinking and the dream of using schools to shape minds.
I asked some kids about mandatory adult education. I was amazed. They supported it! Why would they support school which they hate themselves? Evil sparks in their eyes told me their true motivation. They confirmed. Compulsory schooling for adults would be a form of justice. Let the old folks taste the same medicine they dispense eagerly to the young generation.
The Present: Back to the Soviet Era?
In case you mocked mandatory adult education as science fiction, beware this will befall you! It is already happening! The right to education has been perverted and transmuted into oxymoronic "mandatory right".
Conclusion