Schools interfere with education

July 13, 1:59 PMAtlanta Homeschooling ExaminerAndrea Hermitt

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Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) is the author of the quote "I never let my schooling interfere with my education."  To understand why he said it, it helps to know that his education did not extend beyond elementary school.  This did not, however, interfere with his success. Besides the quote mentioned above, he has penned numerous other quotes that are cynical of education.  Some of these are: 

God made the Idiot for practice, and then He made the School Board.

and...

The very ink with which all history is written is merely fluid prejudice.

How many of us had a teacher who got annoyed when a student asked too many questions?  How many of us had a teacher who did not like it when a student offered an unsolicited answer?  How many of us learned the old quote "you don't get paid to think" in school?

While school in and of itself was a good idea, the present outcome is quite sad. If you look at the history of American education, you will find that the reason for mandatory schooling was to help enforce the end to child labor.  If children had to be in schools by law, then they could not be forced to work. In addition to that, it was believed that the original purpose of public schools was to prepare students for blue collar, i.e. factory work.

Early compulsory education focused strictly on rote memorization.  The New England Primer, the book used across the country to teach students from the mid 1600's -- through the 1800's held a set volume of information that all students needed to learn.  Rather, this information had to be memorized and ingrained into them.  While our wealth of information has changed due to the passage of time, increased understanding in subjects, and just history, not much more is expected of students today. 

If you were to compare students who did not or could not survive in such an educational system with the biggest innovators and artists of our time, you will quickly find that these students did not have a traditional education.  Some names that come to mind are Albert Einstein, Bobby Fischer, and Ansel Adams.  One might notice that the list of geniuses has shrunk since school has become widely mandatory. Fortunately however, a new generation of geniuses and high achievers are rising out of the homeschool movement. They include Olympic Athletes like Venus and Serena Williams, writers like Christopher Paolini, Business leaders like Aaron Fessler, CEO of Allegro Group, and Mathematic geniuses like Erik Demaine.  Let's not forget a wealth of musicians and entertainers.