Life
Training Up a Child
By Christoper Duff
The other day I watched the movie “Django Unchained” and what resonated with me was the look on the slaves faces, during some scenes. A look of defeat, a look that reflected a shattered will.
What stopped me in my tracks was that it is the same look I see in the mornings when I commute to work. So that got me thinking. The main objective of slavery was to have a labor force that was able to keep up with market demand for particular commodities.
So, essentially it was riven by commerce. (Research ‘Cotton Gin’ to get a better idea). Then came the Industrial Revolution in the 1800’s eventually leading to the abolishing of slavery.
Further research led me to see how the origins of “compulsory education” aka public schools and the Industrial Revolution were connected.
The original concept of the “compulsory education” was developed in Prussia, but was adopted by the United States in 1852. But what most people don’t care to look at is the early objective of “compulsory education”.
It had nothing to do with intellectual growth or personal development. It was about creating obedient citizens and good employees. The objective of these schools were to teach the child fundamental skills to be able to become better workers. And this is why schools aren’t focused on personal development today. Schools focus on ‘creating’ someone, rather than developing that person you want to become. But because we are born into this structure, we see it as normal. No one questions anything about the make up of the structure.
However, what is the point in going against it, if our society is built around this form of education? Then again, that is almost like telling the slaves, why fight for freedom if the whole world is already like this? Or telling women, why fight for the right to vote, if society already says we can’t.
