School Is Bad For Children: How The Disadvantages Of Schooling Outweigh Its Benefits

It has been a tradition for many years that our children go to school. Every day education is evolving. It is obvious that schooling has many advantages. A well-educated person can solve any problem in the world. Humankind has come a long way with knowledge. There are also downsides to school. For example, mental health problems have not been given the same attention. According to “College and Teen Suicide Statistics”, suicide rates among teenager girls increased by two-thirds between 2007 and 2015. We should also consider the possibility of traditional schools being less beneficial. I believe that schooling has many disadvantages. The first problem with schooling is the gradual loss of natural learning abilities. At school, children are passive learners. Learning is like a meal where students are served the knowledge food by their teachers. Children learn by watching others cook and find the ingredients. The result is that children learn by memorizing what others tell them to. John Holt (1969), says, “He feels that learning is passive, something that someone else does for you, rather than something that you do yourself.” If we tell children what they should do, then they won’t do it. This situation can have devastating consequences for children. They may lose interest and not be able learn new skills. Next, schools often lack equal cerebral development. This means that children are less likely to be able to fully develop. Morrin (2012) explains that Maths and Languages can be more valuable than Music and Art. It is impossible to imagine a world without musicians, writers, actors, dancers and performers. These subjects are often the least important, if any, at school. Albert Einstein once stated that “Everyone is genius.” However, IQ is the only way to judge one’s intelligence. Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory reveals that there are eight types. It seems unfair to consider children with special talents that are not academic as airheads. This idea of education could lead to a world where scholars have never worked (Morrin 2012). This is a bad situation for children and society. “The diversity of talents” at school is not well appreciated. School provides knowledge and motivation to learners by assigning tasks, goals and assignments. To measure student progress, tests are created. To help children understand the subject matter and retain all knowledge, homework is essential. Sometimes, though, these measures can be too stressful for children. Over-expecting the test score will cause children more harm than they realize. So school may not be as helpful for children than we believe. Although school has its benefits, there are many researches that have shown its drawbacks. Schools can gradually dismiss children’s abilities and not value their talents. We must take immediate steps to help children learn confidently, and challenge them to become the people we want.