School Sucks: Higher Education For Self-Liberation
Summary: We need 150 monthly subscribers! If you are employed and you listen to the show and enjoy the videos, please consider making a commitment of $6.00 per month, or about $.20 per day. When we launch the new site, you have access to a bonus content section that will be updated weekly. Please click here to sign up. $6.00/Month Subscribe! You can help the show grow by committing to one of these monthly subscription levels (demonstrating how inflation affects the price of another source of knowledge). It is greatly appreciated! A New Book!(in 1960) $3/ mo A New Book! (in 1972) $6/mo A New Book! (in 1981) $9/mo A New Book! (in 1995) $15/mo A New Book! (Today) $25/mo Angel Investor $999.99/mo Contact Brett, leave comments and view shows by series: schoolsucksproject.com In my 10+ years of teaching, "school sucks" is perhaps the most common phrase I've heard students use to describe their feelings about public education. But this seemingly bitter and reductive slogan is actually quite clever. When taken literally, "school sucks" is perhaps the most accurate and astute synopsis of the system I've ever heard. Here's why... 1. The twelve-year process of an American public education has a dramatic effect on the mind of a child. When we first enter school at age six, many of our best personal attributes are already in place. We are curious, innovative, unique, creative and hopeful in ways that we will rarely be able to replicate throughout the rest of our lives. But over time, school sucks those essential attributes out of too many of us...and replaces them with predictability, obedience and apathy. 2. The public school system sucks off the productive capacity of hard-working people. The system is coercively funded through taxation. In other words, whether public education succeeds or fails (spoiler alert: it fails) at providing real education to the public, the cost goes up every year. There are no refunds. The END of Public Education? 1. END: It's over, irrelevant, useless, needs to be done away with. Does more harm than good. 2. END: (As in means to an end) We'll also explore the true intentions behind the system, which have very little to do with real education. There is substantial evidence that its failure to educate is no accident. Above all, this is a show about what one might do about these problems...
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(Kids Are Not Defective Part 7) Topic: Dr. Bruce Levine joins me to discuss his article, How Teenage Rebellion Has Become a Mental Illness. It turns out that pathologizing or "diseasing" rebellious behavior is not a new trick for those who hold tenuous power over others. Please visit schoolsucksproject.com for full show notes, references and links.
(Kids Are Not Defective Part 6) Topic: There is a phrase, "hole in the soul," that describes how a person may feel incomplete, unworthy, or dependent on external things. While much of this is probably rooted in family, I believe that school can contribute to one's sense of personal emptiness. This is a long and winding show that covers a valedictorian's brave and moving graduation speech, leading into a discussion of the problems created for all students by the carrots and sticks of school. As Alfie Kohn points out in his book (linked below), even the rewards are a kind of punishment, robbing us of our own purpose and intrinsic motivation. Whether we are the "overachiever" who gets the carrots or the "underachiever" who gets the sticks, these metaphors for the management of our lives tend to leave some holes, or even emptiness, in who we are. Please visit schoolsucksproject.com for full show notes, references and links.
(Kids Are Not Defective Part 6) Topic: There is a phrase, "hole in the soul," that describes how a person may feel incomplete, unworthy, or dependent on external things. While much of this is probably rooted in family, I believe that school can contribute to one's sense of personal emptiness. This is a long and winding show that covers a valedictorian's brave and moving graduation speech, leading into a discussion of the problems created for all students by the carrots and sticks of school. As Alfie Kohn points out in his book (linked below), even the rewards are a kind of punishment, robbing us of our own purpose and intrinsic motivation. Whether we are the "overachiever" who gets the carrots or the "underachiever" who gets the sticks, these metaphors for the management of our lives tend to leave some holes, or even emptiness, in who we are. Please visit schoolsucksproject.com for full show notes, references and links.
Most of this show was my original attempt to begin the Kids Are Not Defective Series, but it just turned into a rant about the mainstream media. A couple months ago I decided to watch a little cable news. MSNBC to be precise. They were running a story/series called "V Is For...Violence." It focused on the inability of adolescents to handle the stimulation they get from the technology of today. From Scientific American: Bully or Victim? More Similar Than We Might Think Please visit schoolsucksproject.com for full show notes, references and links.
Most of this show was my original attempt to begin the Kids Are Not Defective Series, but it just turned into a rant about the mainstream media. A couple months ago I decided to watch a little cable news. MSNBC to be precise. They were running a story/series called "V Is For...Violence." It focused on the inability of adolescents to handle the stimulation they get from the technology of today. From Scientific American: Bully or Victim? More Similar Than We Might Think Please visit schoolsucksproject.com for full show notes, references and links.
Part one of two somewhat related installments. With all this concern about the violent behavior of teenagers, and subsequent crackdowns, would you be surprised to learn school administrators are actually encouraging even more widespread aggression. How about mandating it? JROTC obligation is stirring discomfort From mysanantonio.com By Lindsay Kastner - Express-News
Part one of two somewhat related installments. With all this concern about the violent behavior of teenagers, and subsequent crackdowns, would you be surprised to learn school administrators are actually encouraging even more widespread aggression. How about mandating it? JROTC obligation is stirring discomfort From mysanantonio.com By Lindsay Kastner - Express-News
My response to the recent arrests in Greenfield, MA, coupled with my leftover resentment from two years of living in the Commonwealth, which includes my quarrel with Salem bureaucrats over what excise tax is and why I "owe" it after I moved out of state, and being ticketed in 2006 for riding my bike without a helmet. Please visit schoolsucksproject.com for full show notes, references and links.
My response to the recent arrests in Greenfield, MA, coupled with my leftover resentment from two years of living in the Commonwealth, which includes my quarrel with Salem bureaucrats over what excise tax is and why I "owe" it after I moved out of state, and being ticketed in 2006 for riding my bike without a helmet. Please visit schoolsucksproject.com for full show notes, references and links.
A Free State Project Edition of School Sucks Podcast Due to my Porcfest vacation, new shows are not ready yet. In the meantime, here is the audio version of my speech from the 2010 NH Liberty Forum, "The Catastrophe of Conventional Wisdom." I'm pretty sure most people who listen to the show have not heard it yet. I also include some thoughts on my recent experience at the 2010 Porcupine Freedom Festival. Please visit schoolsucksproject.com for full show notes, references and links.
A Free State Project Edition of School Sucks Podcast Due to my Porcfest vacation, new shows are not ready yet. In the meantime, here is the audio version of my speech from the 2010 NH Liberty Forum, "The Catastrophe of Conventional Wisdom." I'm pretty sure most people who listen to the show have not heard it yet. I also include some thoughts on my recent experience at the 2010 Porcupine Freedom Festival. Please visit schoolsucksproject.com for full show notes, references and links.
(Kids Are Not Defective Part 5) Topic: in·cu·ba·tor (noun) 1.An apparatus in which environmental conditions, such as temperature and humidity, can be controlled, providing suitable conditions for a chemical or biological reaction. 2. A place or situation that permits or encourages the formation and development of new ideas Forced Associations Adolescence is plagued by an artificial, society-created extension of childhood dependence. This is time where people can certainly begin to achieve greater self-knowledge and emotionally maturity, unless they're trapped in place that prevents it. There is no escape from the negativity; school is compulsory The Hypocrisy of Adults What's even worse: in this place, some pretty abhorrent behavior is modeled for kids on a daily basis. This behavior violates all three of the kindergarten rules: don't hurt others, don't steal, tell the truth The same people benefiting from this behavior are the ones tasked with making children "good" Please visit schoolsucksproject.com for full show notes, references and links.
(Kids Are Not Defective Part 5) Topic: in·cu·ba·tor (noun) 1.An apparatus in which environmental conditions, such as temperature and humidity, can be controlled, providing suitable conditions for a chemical or biological reaction. 2. A place or situation that permits or encourages the formation and development of new ideas Forced Associations Adolescence is plagued by an artificial, society-created extension of childhood dependence. This is time where people can certainly begin to achieve greater self-knowledge and emotionally maturity, unless they're trapped in place that prevents it. There is no escape from the negativity; school is compulsory The Hypocrisy of Adults What's even worse: in this place, some pretty abhorrent behavior is modeled for kids on a daily basis. This behavior violates all three of the kindergarten rules: don't hurt others, don't steal, tell the truth The same people benefiting from this behavior are the ones tasked with making children "good" Please visit schoolsucksproject.com for full show notes, references and links.
(Kids Are Not Defective Part 4) Topic: My thoughts on bullying. It's not a problem that always begins at school, but that's often where it ends. Tragically. We all understand that bullies seek out victims. But do victims often seek out bullies? Do victims wish to be bullies? Almost all bullies are the victim of someone else. This is a quick look at root causes, but there is more to come on this topic. Please visit schoolsucksproject.com for full show notes, references and links.
(Kids Are Not Defective Part 4) Topic: My thoughts on bullying. It's not a problem that always begins at school, but that's often where it ends. Tragically. We all understand that bullies seek out victims. But do victims often seek out bullies? Do victims wish to be bullies? Almost all bullies are the victim of someone else. This is a quick look at root causes, but there is more to come on this topic. Please visit schoolsucksproject.com for full show notes, references and links.
