Johnny doesn't do well in school. All he wants to do is smoke weed and write beats.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development released a comparative study of educational rankings by country sometime last year. The U.S. ranked 20^th, right above Lichtenstein. Most people know about the failing U.S. educational system and it’s falling ranking in the world. The fact usually leads to a recitation of the usual litany of ills including teenage pregnancy, drug use etc.

That is not what this blog is about.

Those who know me have heard my ongoing soapbox stance about how education should be changed for years. I will speak about this to begin with, but as I began to write this piece, it quickly lead me to a greater issue, the issue of what our lives should and could look like.

For Part One, I’ll casually outline the education spiel.

I participated in a number of educational systems, primarily public. I received very little support in my educational goals and a notable lack of guidance. My overall experience was that schools were holding pens for people’s offspring; a place to stick the sub-people while their Moms and Dads went to work. Education was required by law, so that was the solution.

It was depressing.

Below is a quote from Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr., a politician I know nothing about. It comes from a speech he made at a University.

If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow wherever that search may lead us. The free mind is not a barking dog, to be tethered on a ten-foot chain.

I don’t know whether he lived his life in light of this truth or it was just one of those things you annoy students with. Either way, the quote speaks to me.

One day, I was confronted by a frustrated teacher. He said:

“You think the rules don’t apply to you. You think you’re special.”

I replied:

“I think everyone’s special.”

A pretty profound response.

What could be simpler? Education needs to be focused on the individual. People pursue what they’re interested in. Let’s run a few hypothetical examples:

Johnny doesn’t do well in school. All he wants to do is smoke weed and write beats.

Bingo! Johnny already knows what he wants. He is interested in music, electronics, horticulture, plant biology, psychedelic culture, consciousness expansion and so on. If he’s lucky he will continue to smoke weed, get good at writing beats, learn computer software, sound engineering, networking and self-promotion. If he’s unlucky, he will get indoctrinated into believing that he’s a stoner loser who’s a failure and end up getting a juvenile record for grand theft auto and possession.

Johnny doesn’t do well in school. All he does is draw funny pictures in the margins of his work.

Again, Johnny is already on track. He’s an artist who practices all the time. What dedication!

I think you get the idea. Rather than belabor the issue, I’ll leave you with that core concept. There are a million reasons why it can’t work or why it’s an oversimplification, but since the system is failing already, why not head towards something different. Education should be an empowering, self-motivating exploration of the self, facilitated by all of society.

As you can see, we’re already touching on the larger issue. Why would we discourage Johnny from writing beats, and force him to memorize presidents?

I think it’s because of these reasons:

1.     Johnny needs to do what he’s told.

2.     Beats are cool and that means drugs and sex and bad things – basically the same argument used to stop white kids from listening to “race music.”

3.     I had to learn the fucking presidents, so he has to too!

4.     It’s my job to bore Johnny. I need my job.

The less cynical version might be:

1.     Education is important. Americans need to know their history.

2.     Discipline is character building and will serve Johnny in the future.

3.     I am an educator trying my hardest to instill important facts in Johnny’s mind.

4.     Once Johnny has completed his education, he can pursue all those frivolous interests to his heart’s content, but he’ll learn once he has to get a job!

To be continued…