Like machines, students are rolled through schooling as if they were in a manufacturing company being processed to be and think a certain way. John Taylor Gatto questions if we truly need schooling due to education’s failure to meet their standard goals and the happiness of homeschooled children. To Gatto, our education system has failed. And school is no longer a necessary function in order to make good people, make good citizens, and to make each person his or her personal best.

However, our country needs a system. A structure where children can get an education, while having a social interaction, and learn basic life lessons they will use in the future. School is very key to helping someone learn and gain attributes such as responsibility, hard work, learning to work in group settings, how to deal with adversity under pressure, and much more. Yes, there are blockages in the system set forth, and traditional schooling is not for everyone.  Here at Williams, there is a presence of always having the pursuit of an A, however, it is not so much as the robotic and machine like students Gatto describes. People are striving for knowledge. And that should always be the ultimate goal in a progress and fully functioning society.

– Lauren Barry