By Zoe Colsenet, Year 12
I don’t know if you’ve realised it yet, but students are robots. Robots that have no creativity or individuality, and that have been intellectually harassed for centuries.
Over the years, we have improved our way of living. Our TVs, phones, cars, houses, medical treatment – almost everything has changed for the better. Except for one thing: our schools. If you look at a picture of a school from 1890, it is the same picture of a class in 2018. Students sit in rows quietly, raise their hand to speak and aren’t allowed to go to the bathroom without permission. Students are taught to compete for 7s like grade A meat. In today’s modern world, we don’t need robots to help us fight climate change or ISIS; we need creativity, independence, and critical thinking. This is not what the schooling system teaches us.
Be aware though, I am not blaming the teachers for this catastrophe we are living in. I am blaming the government officials, who have never taught a day in their lives, and believe tests and exams are what show a person’s intelligence. Teachers are often seen as the villains, but in fact they do not have many options, which is quite sad. They must follow the rules in the same way we do.
Parents tell their kids to do well in school, in subjects like math and science. “That’s what will get you far in life”, they say. The truth is that those subjects aren’t any more important than art or dance. These subjects allow students to have some creativity and freedom, but even then they must follow the rules or be kicked out of class. The harsh truth is that rules are meant to be broken, so that we can be free, because in the end, we are all in the same sad place. The people sipping fancy wine on the top of the Titanic are the same as the people below deck. Students are the iceberg that is going to break the educational rules and help the world by having a voice.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by The Update.
Disagree? All students have the right of reply – leave a comment or send us an email at theupdate.ecolint@gmail.com if you would like to submit your own opinion piece.
The Update 
While I might agree that there are flaws in the education system, you have to also keep in mind what the alternatives are and how much they could cost governments. Governments like exams (even though they tend to guage how well a person regurgitates information and not how well they understand it or can use it) because they’re a cheap, easy to mass produce and easy to grade. What is interesting is that now many universities around the world are putting more emphasis on personal essays and interviews than on grades, as well as letters of recommendation.
Regardless, however, creativity is seen as a distraction and the arts are criticized, as creatives are more difficult for governments to control, even though some of the most creative people are also the ones that have brought the biggest changes to society. But governments prefer stability, and stability comes from those who are more objective and incidentally don’t like to think too far outside of the box. Hence schools reward students that can easily learn new information and skills, but that are also obedient and conform easily because they provide less of a threat to the government.
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Basically all of this was plagiarized from https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=&v=dqTTojTija8
I would advise to credit your sources- I get that whoever wrote this added content to it to make the ideas seem original but you can tell from the difference in intellect of original points vs explanation… it’s a great concept but cite your sources… universities may put emphasis on personal essays but I can understand why if you’re stealing someone else’s words.
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