American education is in a
nosedive. The perpetuation of economic principles and media influence has sent
American education, public and private, into a downward spiral. Fueled by capitalism
as well as the policy makers of our country, the next step our nation needs to
take for its education system is shrouded by doubt and uncertainty. Not only is
our floundering education system one of the roots of domestic troubles it is
only perpetuated by the overmedication of children in our country. The two
issues our country is now facing are inherently tied together. Both serve to
reinforce the idea of school as a political and social tool rather than a
learning environment. About one in five males and eleven percent of school age
children overall have been diagnosed with ADHD and receive medication for their
supposed problem. This issue ties directly into the problem of our education
system as both highlight conflicts of the system rather than the individuals
operating within it. The reform of education has long been a heated subject
dating back to the late 18th century and early 19th
century. Men with noble intentions attempted to change and improve upon the
model, but for all their work we are still stuck in the mud with our industrial
based schooling system. The principles by which decisions about schools are
made need to change, not the application of those principles. Our crippled
system relies on standardized test, made to fit the dying ideal of objectivity
(Brookhart). To truly move or country in the right direction, a comprehensive
system needs to be put in place, one that teaches students how to learn instead
of what to learn. There is no right way to answer the question of how to educate
children, but there are vast improvements to be made. A need to break down the
blocks upon which our education systems rest is essential to the future of the
country. Our capitalist education system, as well as the overmedication of school-aged
kids, is crippling our country by producing generation after generation of
children whose lives revolve around the capitalist principles of our nation.
The American Psychiatric Association plans to change the definition of A.D.H.D.
to allow more people to receive the diagnosis and treatment. With an
astronomically large number of children already receiving drugs, this spike
could have dire effects. The issue is again in the principles of diagnosis
rather than the application. If children are not sitting quietly at their desks
doing their work it is seen as abnormal. That very idea is absurd. To believe
that the root of the problem is pathological rather than children being
children is a notion that requires debate. In our country, however, there was
no debate. The quick fix was to diagnose and prescribe ADHD medication. The
dispute of the overmedication ties into the conflict in our education system as
both can be traced back to the same root issue, that is, the problem in the
principles and foundation of our system rather than its application. The causes
of our modern system can be traced back to the influx of immigration that
occurred in the late 1800’s.
As more
and more immigrants arrived in America, bringing with them a plethora of
languages, cultural traditions, and religious beliefs, American political
leaders foresaw the potential dangers of Balkanization. The public education
system, once designed primarily to impart skills and knowledge, took on a far
more political and social role. (Hood)
This quote explains
the idea that the homogenization that swept the nation during the late 19th
century still exists today. The fact of the matter becomes that what the
leaders of counties and states want to see is high-test scores, not smart kids.
The problem is in assuming smart kids and high-test scores correlate. This idea
of the objectivity of education needs to be dismantled. But the conformity that
the overmedication of children perpetuates is in the same vein. Just as policy
makers believe that the smartest kids get the highest test scores, physicians
and parents hold the belief that any difficulty focusing equals a need for
medication. Both ideals put trust into a system that has been dropping steadily
in the global ranks. There has been a shift in public consciousness that good
kids and good students sit quietly at their desk and do their work; which is
the exact opposite of what most kids want to do naturally. What is interesting
is the lack of empathy involved with making ADHD diagnoses:
In a 2010 study in the Journal of
Health Economics, researchers found that the youngest children among U.S.
kindergartners (those born in August) were 40% more likely to be diagnosed with
ADHD and twice as likely to take ADHD medications as the oldest kindergartners
studied. (Koplewicz)
The study described above, performed by Dr. Koplewicz of New York
University, presents the case that the ADHD that is “diagnosed” can be
influenced by a variety of factors. Rather than thinking a child is innately
inattentive, doctors should look at a variety of factors. Obviously in Koplewizc’s
study, age plays a role. Eleven months should not make up for a forty percent
hike in diagnoses. But the production of student-drones will not so slowed by
easily. It will take change in the stringency of FDA laws, as well as a shift in
the public understanding of education. Neither of these goals will come easily.
But when our system of education and overmedication of children are placed side
by side with European countries the difference is obvious to the most oblivious
of Americans.
In most European
countries, schools are privatized. Kids are not locked into districts as they
are in America. With the competition that the privatized system brings schools
are forced to meet the needs and demands of student and parents. This differentiates
from our system because of the fact that our students and parents must conform
to the school rather than vice versa. In their framework of European schooling,
the students attending the school and the parents of those students are catered
to and are put in the power position (Shedlock). Their system, however, is not
without fault. In our understanding there is no route for those without the
money to attend private schools or the location to go to a decent public one.
Their privatized system is also unable to escape the idea of the objectivity of
standardization. Standardized tests are not built for the student; they are
built for the individuals who buy into the hegemonic idea that objectivity
reigns supreme: that SAT score and IQ test results prove one’s knowledge. This
idea is the very essence of the social authority that our society has come to
accept and be restrained by. Knowledge, true knowledge, can be defined as the
set of relationships one attains and nurtures with the world around them. When
the standardization of education is viewed from a perspective beyond the scope
of it’s role in politics and economics, our system seems outdated. Everywhere,
in all schools, children have it drilled into their minds that they need these
standardized tests and information to succeed in college and in life as an
adult. But it is becoming increasingly clear that critical thinking and problem
solving, paired with the relationships one develops over the course of their
young life, is what is important later in both life and in finding work. But
still the federal and local governments cling to uniform teaching policies “in
which students become receptacles” (Freire). With the issue of standardization
comes the debate of overmedication. Both issues maintain the conception that
conformity and objectivity produce the best results, that students should all
be taught the same way, no matter the situation. With this issue, there is a
muddying of the waters because of uniqueness humans are imbued with. No two
children are alike, yet how do we differentiate and to what ends?
Because of the
inherent acceptance that comes with the hegemonic ideals of consumerism, the
answer does not lie in the privatization of the system. The answer can be found
when examining the teachers. Our government has tried to just throw money at
schools with the hope that it would solve America’s spiraling test scores. More tests have been mandated to determine
which schools get what amount of money. In doing this, a broken system is
crippled further because the less successful schools get less money, and as a
result, worse teachers. The fact that the best teachers only go the best
schools is a consumerist ideal hidden in our education system. The difference a
teacher can make in a child’s education can make or break a classroom. In
Finland, teachers are required to have a master’s degree, paid for by the
state, before they can teach at any level. Obviously, our country could not
take the added weight of paying for teacher’s education, but even a two year
graduate school requirement to teach could make all the difference.
In terms of what there is to be done outside
of the shift in consciousness of the teachers, there is the matter of school
day structure. America has a lot to learn from countries such as Finland. In
Samuel Abram’s article he describes the fact that “Finnish educational
authorities provide students with far more recess than their U.S.
counterparts—75 minutes a day in Finnish elementary schools versus an average
of 27 minutes in the U.S.—but they also mandate lots of arts and crafts, more
learning by doing” (Abrams). There is no busywork and no burnt time, because
children are engaged in play, hands on activities and engaged learning. In
Finland, just one out of a thousand children receive medication for ADHD. Just
as our system produces conformity, theirs nurtures creativity. A documentary,
titled “Stupid in America” Mike Shedlock, the filmmaker, sheds light on our
floundering system. When making the film, producers ran into a problem. Most
states would not let them into their public schools to film. The states that
obliged to the filmmakers still only let them into a few of their top ranked
schools (Shedlock). What is amazing is the fact that the creators of the
documentary were still able to get their point across. Not only is our system
failing the poorer schools, even the well-off establishments are stifling the
abilities of students.
To revamp the system, overhaul is required. An arduous
process to be sure, but well worth it. A country lives and dies by its
education of youth. By imbuing students with outdated ideals as well as a lack
of critical thinking, we are crippling our country. And yet, this idea is
reinforced everywhere. Kids are being prescribed ADHD medications in
Kindergarten, parents are sending their kids blindly to whatever schools is
closest, teachers are handing out worksheet after worksheet. Everywhere, the
consumerist, conformist ideals are being ingrained in children’s heads, and
those that stick out are diagnosed with ADHD. The overmedication of children
completes the circle, bringing it to a never-ending loop. The capitalist and
conformist ideals that dictate our education system as well as the
overmedication of children work together to close the loop on American
children, giving them no choice but to buy into what has become an economic and
political system. In doing so America is crippling itself. Our country’s
increasing problems cannot be solved by instilling our future leaders with the
same ideals that have failed over and over again.
Works Cited
Abrams, Samuel E. "The Children Must Play." The
New Republic. N.p., 28 Jan. 2011. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.
Brookhart, Susan M. "The Public Understanding Of
Assessment In Educational Reform
In The United States." Oxford Review Of Education 39.1 (2013): 52- 71. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 3 Apr. 2013.
Freire, Paulo. "Chapter 2." Pedagogy of the
Oppressed. [New York]: Herder and
Herder, 1970. N. pag. Print.
Hood, John. "The Failure of American Public
Education." : The Freeman : Foundation for Economic Education. N.p., 1
Feb. 1993. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.
Koplewizc, Harold S. "Are ADHD Medications
Overprescribed?"
Http://online.wsj.com. N.p., 14 Feb. 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.
Shedlock, Mike. "Stupid In America; What's Wrong with
the U.S. Education System?" Safehaven.com. N.p., 15 Mar. 2010. Web.
03 Apr. 2013.
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