Why is it Illegal to Not Send Children to School?

[nanook12]

This video illustrates the problem nicely.

The children of the Tundra in the video must attend formal school by law. However, there is hardly any industry were they live, so why should they be forced by law to attend formal schooling when it really is not going to help them much in part of the world? This got me started thinking about schooling in general. Since when did formal school become so important that parents are forced by law to send their children to school or suffer consequences? And why is formal schooling so important that it is forced on entire civilizations? Is formal schooling a form of indoctrination that society imposes on children in order to further its own agenda?

In society we enshrine and worship education as the pinnacle of society, but is it really that important on the larger scale of all things?

[Coolascancer]

Because your children must be assimiliated. Educators and/or those above them can pick and choose what parts of history to teach our kids and so they grow up with a warped or incredibly misshaped view of what happened in the past and this shapes what they think about moving forwards. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if science was cherry picked.

[Orange Joe]

This video illustrates the problem nicely.

The children of the Tundra in the video must attend formal school by law. However, there is hardly any industry were they live, so why should they be forced by law to attend formal schooling when it really is not going to help them much in part of the world? This got me started thinking about schooling in general. Since when did formal school become so important that parents are forced by law to send their children to school or suffer consequences? And why is formal schooling so important that it is forced on entire civilizations? Is formal schooling a form of indoctrination that society imposes on children in order to further its own agenda?

In society we enshrine and worship education as the pinnacle of society, but is it really that important on the larger scale of all things?

Maybe if they were properly educated they could start making industry in their area.

[Nynax]

there's a number of different reasons you can pull from.

• Most importantly, a democracy requires an educated public to function. It is in society's best interest to maintain a base level of education.
• The ability to exercise one's freedom in the modern economy requires a base level of education for 99% of citizens.
• A parent making the decision to deny a child's education because that parent thinks "they don't need it," potentially robs that child of future possibilities
• Anti-Child labor laws created a situation where all the parents where at work, and no one knew what to do with the kids. School was the answer and better for society as a whole.
• Once you start allowing for exceptions on something like this, a large number minority groups (esp religious ones) are going to demand the same exception. Which is bad because of point #1

I'm sure there's more. but that should get you started.

[Daedius]

To make them into a productive member of society, i.e. another tax payer.

[nanook12]

Forced education tends to encourage people to attain higher levels of productivity than they would otherwise. Means that they are less unhappy and more able to take care of themselves, which is good for everyone else. I can believe that there are certain circumstances where that's not true, like maybe if you live in the tundra with a fixed way of life, but that's by no means a normal situation.

But why is higher productivity so important? One really only needs to produce for him or herself and that's it. Seems like there is some underlying motive that society wants people to be productive as possible because it pushes societies agenda of expansion.

[Ghostpanther]

You do not have to send your children to a school. It is legal to do home schooling. A lot of people do. More than many know. The law says children must receive formal schooling. Does not say it has to be done at a public school. You can get a exemption based on a simple religious one if you so desire and educate them at home. At least in the US.

[Eviscero]

In society we enshrine and worship education as the pinnacle of society, but is it really that important on the larger scale of all things?

Yes, dear. Why? Because I said so.

[Orange Joe]

But why is higher productivity so important? One really only needs to produce for him or herself and that's it. Seems like there is some underlying motive that society wants people to be productive as possible because it pushes societies agenda of expansion.

So your saying we shouldn't try to improve society. That the status quo is good enough so just leave it be?


Thank god people like you aren't in charge. We would still be in the dark ages.

[AlmightyGerkin]

The children must attend school to fuel the machine.

[nanook12]

Maybe if they were properly educated they could start making industry in their area.

And why is industry so important? I suppose you could argue that it increases quality of life, but industry also brings an equal amount of problems such as greed, land destruction, higher cancer rates, and class stratification and inequality. You never hear of income inequality within tribal communities because it simply does not exist in those circumstances. Furthermore, anthropologists have recorded on many occasions that tribal communities report high happiness levels that civilization dwellers. So again I ask why is industry so important?

[tankbug]

But why is higher productivity so important? One really only needs to produce for him or herself and that's it. Seems like there is some underlying motive that society wants people to be productive as possible because it pushes societies agenda of expansion.

We don't like the idea that we should all be farmers/gatherers/hunters living off what we can find from day to day. The society's agenda is to make sure people can grow up safe, healty and free to learn more about the universe, so we can harness its power to further improve our lives. We dream of a world where we can travel between galaxies in mere seconds, live as long as we'd like and fuck hot alien chicks.....ok, forget that last one.

[May90]

To answer this question, we should take a history trip back into the times when education wasn't mandatory. Turns out uneducated people tend to resort to crime, or to do shady jobs on the black market, or do just wander around aimlessly; very few of them are able to do something really productive, like being a merchant, and those tended to rely on self-education still. Not everyone needs mandatory education, but everyone needs some education, and some people wouldn't get one if it wasn't mandatory.

That said, in some cases, perhaps, there should be exceptions. And frankly, nowadays I think many people should just be able to take online courses instead. School education is very basic, there is nothing overly complicated that requires an instructor. Let kids teach themselves to rely on themselves and to manage their time without the outside pressure, and you will see the flow of talented businessmen in a couple of decades.

[Orange Joe]

And why is industry so important? I suppose you could argue that it increases quality of life, but industry also brings an equal amount of problems such as greed, land destruction, higher cancer rates, and class stratification and inequality. You never hear of income inequality within tribal communities because it simply does not exist in those circumstances. Furthermore, anthropologists have recorded on many occasions that tribal communities report high happiness levels that civilization dwellers. So again I ask why is industry so important?

Well I would say it's more about educating them so they have the knowledge to make an educated decision themselves.

[Calfredd]

So your saying we shouldn't try to improve society. That the status quo is good enough so just leave it be?


Thank god people like you aren't in charge. We would still be in the dark ages.

Well he did want another American civil war.

[nanook12]

there's a number of different reasons you can pull from.

• Most importantly, a democracy requires an educated public to function. It is in society's best interest to maintain a base level of education.
• The ability to exercise one's freedom in the modern economy requires a base level of education for 99% of citizens.
• A parent making the decision to deny a child's education because that parent thinks "they don't need it," potentially robs that child of future possibilities
• Anti-Child labor laws created a situation where all the parents where at work, and no one knew what to do with the kids. School was the answer and better for society as a whole.
• Once you start allowing for exceptions on something like this, a large number minority groups (esp religious ones) are going to demand the same exception. Which is bad because of point #1

I'm sure there's more. but that should get you started.

"In societies best interest" again society pursuing its own agenda.
What if I do not care about participating in a modern economy?
A parent making the decision to not send their children to school robs that children of opportunities within a society. Who says I want to live in a society?

[Ghostpanther]

To answer this question, we should take a history trip back into the times when education wasn't mandatory. Turns out uneducated people tend to resort to crime, or to do shady jobs on the black market, or do just wander around aimlessly; very few of them are able to do something really productive, like being a merchant, and those tended to rely on self-education still. Not everyone needs mandatory education, but everyone needs some education, and some people wouldn't get one if it wasn't mandatory.

That said, in some cases, perhaps, there should be exceptions. And frankly, nowadays I think many people should just be able to take online courses instead. School education is very basic, there is nothing overly complicated that requires an instructor. Let kids teach themselves to rely on themselves and to manage their time without the outside pressure, and you will see the flow of talented businessmen in a couple of decades.

There is and that is basically what is done with home schooling. The parent gives them assignments and the kids have to do them. Nowadays most of that is done on computers using the internet. And they have to pass a test in order to graduate.

[Orange Joe]

What if I do not care about participating in a modern economy?

Move somewhere that you don't benefit from said economy.

[xChurch]

"In societies best interest" again society pursuing its own agenda.
What if I do not care about participating in a modern economy?
A parent making the decision to not send their children to school robs that children of opportunities within a society. Who says I want to live in a society?

Kids below 18 don't get to make that choice and I doubt parents would want their kids to grow up out of society.

[Endus]

"In societies best interest" again society pursuing its own agenda.
What if I do not care about participating in a modern economy?
A parent making the decision to not send their children to school robs that children of opportunities within a society. Who says I want to live in a society?

Because your kids are citizens, too. The government is protecting them. In this case, from your neglectful parenting.