The Case Against Compulsory Education
Compulsory education doesn’t make sense. It never did.
If you attended school in the United States, or if you have children who do, you are aware that every state in the United States has a compulsory education law. Sending kids to school is not a choice. It is required. While most states do have some type of homeschooling laws, most young people go to either public or private schools. That sounds like the perfect way to educate our youth, right? Every student goes to school and receives the education that will provide them with a plethora of opportunities upon graduation.
If you believe that, you are probably still wondering how the Tooth Fairy slipped that tooth out from under your pillow or how Santa manages to make it down your nonexistent chimney.
According to DoSomething.org, every year over 1.2 million high school students drop out, one student every 26 seconds, or about 7000 per day. According to Learningliftoff.com, the reasons given for dropping out are sadly predictable. 27% leave school because they are failing too many classes, while 26% cite boredom as the factor causing them to drop out. Another 20% state school was not relevant to their lives.
It has been often said that students drop out in 7th or 8th grade, but don’t formalize it until they are in…
