Before this topic was brought up in class today, it had never even crossed my mind. I assume that I never thought about this idea because I never thought of attending school as something that I was forced to do, but more of something that I was willing, as well as expected to do. Although I didn't consider myself to be forced to attend school, on a differect perspective, i'm sure that many children did feel this way. Considering that this country is considered to be a "free" country, it's odd to think about us being forced to do anything, but in reality, it does exist. I'm positive that many children despised attending school, for reasons that are not known by most, and could not wait for the opportunity to make the decision to drop out and not to further their education, but at the same time there are children that enjoy school and are grateful for the opportunity to become educated, which they may not have had if they were not forced to attend school. As a citizen of this country, I am grateful for the opportunity to attend school, and I am glad that I was forced to go to school, who knows, if I hadn't been I may not be where I am today. I believe that our country forces children to attend school for several reasons, one being that young children should not be left to make the decision whether to attend school or not, and two to give each person a fair chance at the quality of their lives. It is very possible for someone from a low income family to attend school and come out wealthy in the end, with hard work and determination of course. Because we are forced to attend school as children, everyone has the opportunity to be educated, and the decision is not left up to anyone, it is already made for them. As these children get older, they are provided with personal choices, rather than being forced, as to whether they want to further their education and what they want to further their education in. We are not forced to attend college and we are not forced to major in any particular subject. Overall, even though this is a free country, there are certain issues that are more of forced decisions rather than free decisions, but I believe that it pays off in the end.

I completely agree with Dana that children being forced to attend school pays off in the end. However, I don't view America as a COMPLETELY free country. If America was completely free and citizens could do anything they wanted, then it would be chaos. Instead I would classify America's freedom as creating an equal opportunity for all. There are laws made so people do not intrude on other people's rights. Education is one of these rules. By forcing students to go to school, it gives everyone the right to a free and equal education. From there it is up to the students to use it as they will. They can ignore their classes and drop out, or choose to learn and create something of themselves. They do have the freedom to choose.

I too agree with the fact that children should be forced to attend school. Without a proper education our government and society could not successfully survive as it is or be able to grow. By allowing kids to not have that one freedom we are in turn allowing for the greater overall lasting freedom that makes our country thrive. Any society would fall apart without any guidelines or laws. So in order to have any freedom certain aspects of ones life needs to be guided to some life long success, like education. For those students who are struggling with how the school systems and teachers are, it is our jobs as future teachers to be able to provide a better learning experience and attitude for our school systems.

I agree that children should be educated and compelled to go the school by law up to a certain age, but I do think our education system could and should do a better job of educating all of our children. I think we need an educational environment that meets all kids needs, not just a select few. Some children may like the order and schedule of a regular classroom. They may have no problem following a routine and sitting still for eight hours a day. Other children, however, have to be active and would prefer a more creative, hands-on system that would allow them some of the creativity and freedom I think all kids crave. I do agree with John Taylor Gatto (Bitter Lessons: What’s wrong with American Teachers) that our system is flawed; we are forced to succumb to the Hidden Curriculum as teachers and I think it is very frustrating. I do disagree with him, however about absence of good teachers today. I think good teachers do exist and often do find away around this, a way to work new ideas and activities into their classroom that will get kids thinking and creating rather than memorizing and copying. It is my hope as a future teacher that I will be able to provide this for my students.

I agree that education should be compulsory until a student reaches the age where they can understand the ramifications of giving up schooling on their future. This is the system we have in our country. Compulsory education has been around long enough in this country that I wonder whether or not many students actually think about school as an option. Yes, I remember the high school days of dreading school and wishing to be anywhere but sitting in a classroom but I personally never once wished for school to not be a part of my life. I think more of our students view education as an opportunity rather than a forced place for them to be for hours each day. Working in classrooms with students who are from countries that don't have compulsory education after an earlier age in life (Mexico 4th grade, and Brasil 12 years old) I gained a new perspective on compulsory education in this country. These students are grateful for the American system where children are required to go to school and thus are given the opportunity to learn for that many years because where they moved from kids can't go to school after 4th or 6th grade because their parents make them get jobs when schooling is no longer required. I believe that the freedom in our compulsory educational system exists in what we do with our educational opportunity rather than in the option of whether or not to get our education.

Personally I believe that the right to education is one of our freedoms. Getting an education is one of the most benefical things one could do to further thier life. Children are not at a level to were they could make the best desicion for themselves of whether or not to go to school and sadly some parents wouldnt make the best descion to send thier children to school if we had the freedom to choose. Education is a privilege to living in what we call a free country.

I agree with what Hannah said above me. I believe that in order to maintain a level of freedom, there simply has to be something thats that help freedom live. If children were not put through school, our society would not have the knowledge and tools necessary for dodging persecution from foreign nations. There is a level of power amongst the crowd that comes with freedom. Many of the countries which do not have solid education systems struggle greatly to stand up for themselves on an international level. Personally, I do not look at freedom as simply being able to do whatever you want do whenever you want do it......rather, freedom in my mind is the ability to think for yourself. Are we a completely free country in my mind, no, but relative to other countries around the world, we are allowed more choices. I believe school and education are essential to maintaining the level of freedom we do have.

With America being a free country, school existing as a requirement is good because of the benefits children get out of it. If going to school was by choice, I feel a lot of children wouldn't go, not because it would be the up to the children but because some parents wouldn't care to send them to school. Those parents wouldn't care even if they knew it would benefit their children. Since going to school is a requirement, a lot of children get an opportunity to be very smart and get into a good college, no matter what their parents' social status remains or if their parents care to support them. These smart children can get scholarships and federal grants if they are from a low income family. Now, children can turn their lives around because they have been required to go to school. They are not bound to a certain social class from which they will never escape. It use to be that the wealthy and social elite were the only people who could further their education due to their monetary status. In the past, there had been no requirement for children's education. Most of those children (barely making it to the eighth grade) grew up as farmers and in the working class. As time wore on, education became more important to be hired for a job. First, the high school degree was required to get a well paying job. Then, the associates degree became favored. Now, just to be in the middle class of our society, it is almost a must have a BS degree. Having that BS degree is possible due to the requirement for children to attend school, whether some see it as an infringement on our freedom or not. It is for the well being of America's future society.

So I think that everyone has agreed that because children are forced to go to school it takes away from the "freedom" aspect of our country. I just had this thought: Even though I may have not have had the freedom to choose whether or not I went to school, I did have the freedom to choose how hard I worked, how well I did, and how much I learned. Isn't that a freedom we have in the middle of a "non-free" education system?