Impact of Education on Soceity

1125 Words5 Pages
Children receive education at some point in their lives to enhance their social and intellectual abilities. Lynda Barry's The Sanctuary of School and John Holt's School is Bad for Children are two essays that meticulously examine the impact education has on individuals in society. In her personal narrative, Barry describes school as a safe haven for her, one that comforted her from the turmoil and pain she faced at home. On the contrary, Holt views school as an institution that deprives children from freely exploring the real world; he presents readers the falsity of our current educational system. While Holt documents the corruption of schools, Barry argues that her past experience illustrate that school is not a place that academically and socially harms the youth, but a place to enrich personal morals and values. Civilization perceives education as an essential tool to maintain a normal civilization. Holt's claims state otherwise, "...learning is a passive process, something that someone else does to you, instead of something you do for yourself." Through examples, he shows the audience that a child attends school with the intention of learning something new, to broaden his intellectual ability. While a child does expand his skills in language, mathematics and other school subjects, Holt feels that a child is fed with the thought that he needs to be this certain type of individual to satisfy society; he is not presented with the opportunity to be who he truly is. Holt exemplifies, "Given no chance to find out who he is-and to develop that person, whoever it is-he soon comes to accept the adults' evaluation of him." Holt attempts to point out that students cannot fully express or show their true individuality to the world. Therefore, students cannot fully obtain what they want out of school and find their individual interests. In spite of Holt's convincing
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