America’s current public education system teaches kids to obey.
Of course, learning to take instruction has its place. Wisdom comes through the instruction given by your parents. Safety comes through compliance to municipal codes which are instruments of peace and order.
Both are important, but because innovation is so highly esteemed this teaching of mindless compliance is counter to what is demanded to succeed today.
David Brooks writes in The New York Times’ in 2012: “The American education model…was actually copied from the 18th-century Prussian model designed to create docile subjects and factory workers.
This is a result of the conveyer belt nature of our public schools.
This structure of submission has proven an intrusive filter to prevent advances in modern technology to empower our youth. You won’t receive a promotion for being the most obedient person at your job.
Clearly, this school system is outdated for current generations. The negatives of training kids to sit in the back seat are seen today.
Students are unmotivated. Because students have almost no input over what they can learn, aside from the choice of a few extracurricular classes or activities they are disengaged. Similarly, teachers have little to no control over what is to be taught.
Thus the epidemic of creating followers.
Our current era is one of leaders.
This structure of submission has proven an intrusive filter to prevent advances in modern technology to empower our youth.
The skills that should be taught are ones of innovation. Not to take instructions but to give them. Not to follow a leader but to become one. Not just to simply identify a problem but to solve it.
Now more than ever is the time for independent thinkers, entrepreneurs, and self-directed learners.
Elizabeth Beeli 