Holy pennyloafers, we're busy. I really can't believe how busy Melanie and I are. The last time I was this busy, I was a student at El Modena High School (School Motto: "Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Herein"), and we all know what THAT did to my sanity--or, I should say, to my guitar amplifier, which took the brunt of my catharsis.
I've been thinking a bit about high school lately; I read an article in my Salt Lake Community College classes this morning about abolishing high school, and all my students seemed to agree that the author was full of horsepuckey. (They said as much.) I've also been trying to disabuse all my students--BYU, SLCC, Westminster--of the False Traditions of the Fathers taught to them in high school English classes, like the idea that "I" shouldn't appear in an essay. (Now that's horsepuckey.)
Perhaps because of this, or simply perhaps El Modena High School (School Mascot: Whatever costume got stolen this week from McDonald's) was a trying (HA!) experience, I confess to supporting--at least in small measure--the notion presented in the article of abolishing high school.
I also support the idea of abolishing junior high school. No--I support the idea of burning junior high school to the ground. Goodness knows the students are always setting fires on campus anyway--just don't put 'em out.
In his immortal "Allegory of the Cave," Plato argues that everything we see in this life is but a mere imitation, a representation of a higher form of that particular thing. We want to see the truth--the "real" thing--but, due to our human nature, our mortal circumstances, we can't. This is why he was largely against art; it was another layer of representation, another step away from the "real" world.
Well, ol' Plato was wrong, because art occasionally works; every so often, it shows us the real state of things. To what do I refer? The Lord of the Flies. That's junior high; that's high school, the real deal Holyfield. Think of poor Piggy and his asthma, and then ask yourself: Did I really like high school that much?
Some people would answer yes, and I want to believe that. I'd love nothing more than to believe that the system works, that I was an anomaly. All I can say is that I was sure glad to get to college.
Of course, in order to function in American society, it's a given that someone's been to high school. Such is my critique of home-schooling: it doesn't prepare kids socially. Sure, they're well-versed in the required curricula; however, that's not everything. Thus, perhaps we should abolish high school and mandate, instead, military service--the climate would be remarkably similar! The kids could safely vent their destructive urges on the rocket-launcher range, and the end result would be of infinitely greater worth than AP credit. And kids would learn, like in high school, to survive socially. Maybe, instead of beating up on each other, the teenagers would focus all their aggression on the drill instructor, thus forming a comraderie not usually encountered in high school.
Perhaps. And, yes, I know I'm rambling, and this is largely composed of the aforementioned horsepuckey, but it's at least something to think about.
Friday, October 12, 2007
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