Preview

H. L. Mencken's Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1487 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
H. L. Mencken's Analysis
Picture thirty desks, a chalkboard with a teacher standing in front of it, three students sleeping, eleven students on their phones, six students paying attention, and ten students daydreaming; this is a typical classroom in the public education system. In 1924 H.L. Mencken, a German-American journalist and a cultural critic, wrote about what he felt the objective of the public school system was. He stated that public education was a means to push many down to the same level and to put originality at rest. In agreement with H.L. Mencken’s statement it is evident that in classrooms all across North America students are continuing to be taught in an atmosphere of an old educational model. This is not allowing students to open up to their full …show more content…
Mencken said, “That the aim of public education is not to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence”, (Gatto 35) and we see this evident in classrooms all across North America. Students are becoming increasingly bored with the standardized way of teaching, where a teacher stands in front of the classroom and teaches the lesson plan, using an old curriculum model which has not been updated to meet the needs of today’s world. If you look into any classroom today you would find many students on their cell phones texting, sleeping, or being disruptive in class and they are uninterested in what is being taught. More and more children are being prescribed medication for ADHD as stated in Ken Robinson’s Education: Changing Paradigms lecture for reasons that they are becoming distracted and disruptive in class (Robinson, Education: Changing Paradigms). The reason why students are becoming easily distracted in schools is the fact that the education system is not teaching them what is relevant in today’s society and the lessons being taught are not being taught in a way that students find interesting. The public education system needs to be updated to become more modernized to meet the needs of today’s students. This assembly line way of learning does not help the students achieve what they set out to achieve and also, it does not refrain from the copious amounts of distractions the students have
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    And Contrast John Gatto's Ideas On The American Education System
    • 470 Words
    • 2 Pages

    And Contrast John Gatto's Ideas On The American Education System

    Many people of all ages have different views on education. In the following essay I will compare two authors’ ideas on the educational system in America. I will share my thoughts from the essays titled “Against School” by John Gatto and “I Just Wanna Be Average” by Mike Rose and how they relate to my experiences and schools today.…

    • 470 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Horace Mann Flaws
    • 1415 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Horace Mann Flaws

    The American education system has drastically declined due to a rise in mediocrity. At one time, America was the world leader in technology, service, industry, everything, but it seems that overconfidence and dormancy has caused our nation to fall behind the progressively growing competitive market in the world in regards to education. Other countries have a national standard for goals, requirements, and regulations. Currently, our education system is regulated by the states which implement their own curriculum, set their own requirements, and these findings reflect the need for change. Problems in education never end, so we need to keep changing and adapting. In this essay I will discuss the problems Horace Mann had with education, along with…

    • 1415 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Fahrenheit 451 Quotes Analysis
    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Fahrenheit 451 Quotes Analysis

    A yougn woman by the name of Clarisse McClellan describes school as being.’’An hour of TV class, an hour of basketball or baseball or running, another hour of transcription history or painting pictures, and more sports, but do you know, we never ask questions, or at least most don't; they just run the answers at you, bing, bing, bing, and us sitting there for four more hours of film-teacher.’’ Books don’t exsist in this societie they arent importent, people can’t read or writte wich is the bass of all knowledge. In are society if you can not read you can not work, you can not be independent in are society and survive with out being able to…

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Article Analysis: From the Land of Frankenstein by John Taylor Gatto
    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Article Analysis: From the Land of Frankenstein by John Taylor Gatto

    Mark Twain once observed that a cat that jumps on a hot stove, it will learn a valuable lesson and in the future will not jump on hot stoves. Twain wryly points out that the cat will not also jump on cold stoves, either. The lesson it learned - -just as humans learn - - rather than make informed distinctions, it becomes easier to simply avoid the situation altogether. In John Taylor Gatto’s article, “From the Land of Frankenstein,” the former award winning teacher condemns the integrity of the American public education system, asserting it. In actuality, focuses more on training students for obedience rather than attempting to develop each individual’s talents and abilities. The American public education system destroys individual initiative in order for students to become more manageable parts in the overall social order in the country accomplishing this goal by rewarding compliance and discouraging individuality and ensuring dependant and obedient response to authority through curricula enforces students to respond passively to governing entities, and finally punishing those individuals who resist or refuse to assimilate the lessons with escalating levels of negative reinforcement. How much more evidence is necessary? Good schools don’t need more money or a longer year; they need real free-market choices, variety that speaks to every need and runs risks. We don’t need a national curriculum, or national testing either. Both initiatives arise from ignorance of how people learn, or deliberate indifference to it.” Our schools need to teach the values of free speech and individualism. Why do they continue to provide teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, or Abraham Lincoln who were big on freedom for mankind? But contradict by not allowing our kids express themselves openly. Dr. King once said “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Our children need to be taught the values of being able to make right choices and to be an…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Against School By John Taylor Gatto: Influences Of Public School
    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Against School By John Taylor Gatto: Influences Of Public School

    In the story “Against school: How public education cripples our kids, and why” the author, John Taylor Gatto, establishes the idea of how public education can lead to a negative impact on students. School train kids, “[to become] employees and consumers…” (Gatto 231) instead of teaching kids how to deal with certain situations that my come across in life. The story was directed to parents with kids in elementary school.…

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Horsey's Satirical Cartoons
    • 838 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Horsey's Satirical Cartoons

    Today's society greatly impacts the way our children learn. The main reasons behind this is State Standards, Unfocused Children, and School Boards. In this satirical cartoon, the author Horsey uses a serious tone. This can be seen by looking at the unhappy children and how the teacher has a conversation with the student. The target in this cartoon is American Schooling and how they are teaching our children. The purpose of this cartoon is to show people how we are learning in schools and why students are not doing so well. This is how State Standards, School Boards, and Children themselves are affecting their learning capabilities…

    • 838 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    John Gatto Against School Summary
    • 1173 Words
    • 5 Pages

    John Gatto Against School Summary

    John Gatto is the last one would expect to be a retired school teacher, as he preaches the flawed ways of the public school system to anyone who will listen. In his 2003 essay, Against School, Gatto interprets six ideas from Alexander Inglis’s Principles of Secondary Education. These concepts were founded on the basis that with a large Prussian influence in American culture, an educational system was founded with the goal of rendering citizens less capable. Gatto witnesses this in the first of Ingis's purposes, titled “the adjustive/adaptive function.” The adjustive function describes how schools are designed to teach students to properly…

    • 1173 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Allan Bloom's The Closing Of The American Mind
    • 855 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Allan Bloom's The Closing Of The American Mind

    The reputation of the modern education system has been damaged by the deterioration of student and instructor performance, leading people to question the validity of education as a whole. Many professionals in the field have speculated about the specifics of the problem, but few have offered well-constructed alternatives to resolve them. Of these few, Allan Bloom’s book The Closing of the American Mind (1987) directly diagnoses the pitfalls of modern education, offering multiple solutions to this poorly executed system that is failing students across the country. Bloom discusses the lack of truth and literature in the educational sector, and he states that the human soul is incomplete as a result. He believes that the system requires reform,…

    • 855 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    John Gatto’s “Against School”
    • 1386 Words
    • 6 Pages

    John Gatto’s “Against School”

    John Gatto’s “Against School” is a persuasive essay arguing both the ineffectiveness and negative outcomes of today’s public school system. Not only does Gatto provide credibility with his experience as a teacher, but he also presents historical evidence that suggests that the public school system is an outdated structure, originally meant to dumb down students as well as program them to be obedient pawns in society. Fact and authority alone do not supplement his argument. Gatto also uses emotional appeals, such as fear and doubt, to tear down the reader’s trust in the schooling system. Although it may seem to be so, Gatto’s argument is not one sided. He also offers suggestions to make the educational system more efficient at the hands of positive reinforcement and the employment of more motivated teachers. Through the effective application of ethos, logos, and pathos, John Gatto provides a well-rounded argument against the public school system that would cause any reader to question the goals of modern schooling.…

    • 1386 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Examples Of Failures In The American Education System
    • 1789 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Examples Of Failures In The American Education System

    It is dumbing down our children by focusing solely on reading and mathematics. By ignoring everything but basic skills, it is not preparing students to compete with their peers in the high-performing nations of Asia and Europe, nor is it preparing them for citizenship in our complex society” (Ravitch). Some of the contributing factors to the failing education system can be described as far back to 1837 when the famous American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson addressed the essential influences on a man’s education in his speech “The American Scholar.” In this speech, Emerson describes several aspects of how students should learn and these points can still relate to today’s education system. The American education system has many lacking aspects and Emerson addresses some of these issues in his speech. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “The American Scholar” describes the problems with today’s American education system by explaining the lack of creating well-rounded students, the confinement of…

    • 1789 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    College Education Flaws
    • 1299 Words
    • 6 Pages

    College Education Flaws

    Martin Luther King, Jr., an American minister, activist, and leader in the Civil Rights Movement, once said, “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.” King is pointing out that education is meant to challenge people in order to shape their minds and thoughts. The importance of education has been written about countless times. Many intelligent writers have written articles on higher education, such as Horace Mann’s “From Report of the Massachusetts Board of Education, 1848,” Jean Anyon’s “From Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work,” and John Taylor Gatto’s “Against School.” In their writings they point out the flaws in the…

    • 1299 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    What Are the Effects of Adhd in the Classroom?
    • 5045 Words
    • 21 Pages

    What Are the Effects of Adhd in the Classroom?

    Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common and most distressing disorders amongst school-age children, yet it is probably one of the least well understood. It has received a lot of awareness mainly because of the large numbers of children receiving drug treatment for the disorder. Where children have behavioural problems and parents are finding it hard to manage, it is expected that they will turn to teachers for guidance and help. ADHD can drastically affect children's development at school, not only their work but also their social progress and the relationships that they have with teachers and their peers. If not identified early, long-term problems can lead to poor educational achievement and social seclusion. For these reasons, it is crucial that teachers know about the disorder and are able to offer proper support to children in their classes and guidance to parents, as well as helping them access other sources of information and direction. In this essay I will examine the prevalence of ADHD, its signs, symptoms and the challenge these pose to teachers. I will outline what research says about managing and teaching these children in today's classrooms.…

    • 5045 Words
    • 21 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analysis Of America Skips School By Benjamin R. Barber
    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Analysis Of America Skips School By Benjamin R. Barber

    Educational programs demand effort and dedication to be successful. Barber expresses his concern for the lack of literacy in America. In Barbers essay, he states, “As America’s educational system crumbles, the pundits, instead of looking for solutions, search busily for scapegoats” (Barber, 2014, pp.210). America’s government takes minimal actions toward the educational crisis. The situation resembles a hole in the wall that needs fixed, but instead of fixing it America’s society hangs a picture over the hole. The lack of educational reforms causes the America’s youth to fall behind other countries youth in literacy. The lack of effort from the government, from schools, parents, teachers, and students put a strain on learning. Some American citizens proclaim that they want a change in the school systems, but nothing results from it. Barber states, “With all the goodwill in the world, it is still hard to know how schools can cure the ills that stem from the failure of so many other institutions. Saying we want education to come first won’t put it first” (Barber, 2014, pp.217). Society labels schools as “prisons,” and sadly, some are less safe than actual prisons. The lack of safety forces students to focus on their own safety rather than learning. Not all schools provide safe environments for students; The result of this problem is conflicts and disinterest for learning. The lack of effort put forth by America’s society and government is only one factor in this multitude of…

    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Responce to John Holt's "School Is Bad for Children" in My English 098 Text Book
    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Responce to John Holt's "School Is Bad for Children" in My English 098 Text Book

    To say school is completely bad for children would be ignorant. Without schools children would lack the discipline, focus, and life skills that you would need to survive in the real world. Although I agree partially with John Holt’s “School Is Bad for Children”, I disagree with many of his ideas of how we should fix our schools. Holt makes many good points of how school is bad, or at least the way they teach is, but also fails to take into perspective other points of view about the education system, and the possible consequences of some of the changes he would like to make to the school’s.…

    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Expository Essay
    • 365 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Expository Essay

    Everyone needs some sort of schooling to be successful in life. In school, students learn to read, write, process thoughts and ideas and apply knowledge to outside situations. No one can argue the point that school and education aren’t necessary, because the thought is absurd. In my opinion though, school had become a competition instead of an education. Students have become so focused on being the best in their class, having a GPA a hundredth of a point higher than their friend, being involved in extra-curricular activities, and obtaining as much knowledge to the point of just memorizing rather than understanding. Believing that an average public school education will give you the knowledge you need to be successful in everything that you do in order to make a living is an incredibly false perception. Schooling gives you an education which sets a foundation for like, but how will you live if you’ve never had to think about living? Life lessons are important, but if you’re too busy focusing on schooling and memorizing pointless information, when will you learn to live? You wont get anywhere without having a basic knowledge of people skills and what you should expect from life once you turn 18. These days, the prestige universities are more interested in students who are well rounded and have an understanding of the world around them. Having an understanding of how the world is and will be is ultimately the most important idea you could ever learn. In order to bring education back to its sole purpose, we have to drop the constant competition. The issue with trying to back off competition and return to the original purpose of an education is who will start the trend. People can’t drop what they’re doing and back off to think about the real meaning of education. Because of selfish ambition, that’s impossible. Reevaluation of the system of schooling and learning…

    • 365 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More

Related Topics