The Solution to Fix the Education System

When speaking to young adults fresh out of college, many will attest that although some of the information they learned was helpful, sitting in a classroom did not prepare them for the real world. Meanwhile, the number of unemployed adults in the U.S. seems to be growing faster than ever. Burned out from years of juggling school, extracurriculars, and work, many of the young people find themselves too exhausted to commit to a long-term career. Yet the U.S. continues to duct tape tape over the crack in its crumbling education system. This national narcissism spreads a red white and blue blanket over the sinkhole of illiterate adults, unrealized potential, and underpaid staff expected to manage everything from overcrowded classrooms to active shooters.

It is a common belief that the best way to learn is by doing. And what is more preparatory for the real world, than the real world itself? I propose we dissolve the traditional classroom school system entirely and place children in an actual environment that teaches them how to work. These children should hold real jobs where they can meaningfully contribute to society. Naturally, some reforms to the child labor laws will need to be instilled— but let’s be honest, most of those laws exist to prevent kids from missing school. If their job is their school, then those protections become superfluous. Of course, the portions about keeping children out of hazardous environments such as industrial factories or mines should remain in place— for obvious safety reasons.

Every child will be advised to have a typical 8 hour work day; however, if they are so inclined, they can work overtime to earn some extra experience. Children ages around 3-4 will enter their first childhood occupation, where they could count office supplies, sort them by color, practice writing the name of supplies on inventory sheets, among other extremely exciting and entertaining experiences. These children will be allowed two snack times— each one 30 minutes long— one hour for lunch, one hour recess, and one hour for naps.

Children ages 5-14 will have the opportunity to work as an adult’s “special helper.” It is common for children around these ages to want to play doctor, astronaut, hair stylist, etc. With this in mind, children of this age range and development will help out in any non-hazardous profession they choose. Don’t worry— the children will not be performing your surgery or shooting rockets into space. Instead, they will dress up for their job and help with rudimentary tasks, such as recording data or copy what the adult professional is doing but on a dummy. Additionally, children at this stage are welcome to jump around from profession to profession, they will be encouraged to make at least one major switch in their career around the age of 11 or 12, to try new experiences and build a diverse skill set. There will be a preliminary interview before any job placement, designed solely to give the child experience and ease the stress of future, more competitive interviews. At this stage, children will have two 30-minute snack breaks, 40 minutes for lunch, and 30 minutes for recess. Children of this age occasionally present behavioral issues, and since detention is no longer an option, the misbehavers will give up some or all of their recess time to sit in on an informative human resource presentation.

Finally, children ages 15-18 will be ready for higher management. They will apply the skills acquired through their earlier careers to areas of personal interest at a more advanced level. Most teenagers struggle to manage school, extracurriculars, and a part-time job— but having only a job takes away from stress without having to sacrifice a paycheck. By the age of 19, these new adults will be more than capable in taking on the excitement of a full-time career that aligns perfectly with the passions they’ve explored and love.

This solution is the only viable option for actually making a difference in youth education. Allowing children to choose a class they are interested in once a year in elementary or middle school would never work, because having reading, writing, spelling, and grammar as separate subjects is far more important. Abandoning the “zero tolerance policy” when referring to compliance issues such as dress code, attentiveness, and participation would lead to the students feeling they are far too human— and is a proven segue into revolution against authority, something that is simply not tolerated at a “real job” in the “real world.” Addressing a student’s misconduct and figuring out specific ways to move forward— instead of shipping them away to detention, suspending or expelling them— would lead to all out anarchy. Making tutoring for standardized tests like the SAT more accessible to people who can’t afford to pay for a better score is simply a ludicrous notion. This process would only poison children’s minds that equity should be supported.

Some adults may argue that they don’t want their children entering the rat race so young, but these are selfish viewpoints rooted in a hidden trauma inflicted by the very institution to which they now send their young, susceptible, precious babies. The adults who make these uninformed arguments often work in jobs where they feel unappreciated, unfulfilled, and unenthusiastic. According to one adult, she grew up dreaming to be a great physicist— but in school, she found she lacked the rapid comprehension other children seemed to possess. There was no further support to help her rediscover her passion. Instead, only a series of tests for “comprehension purposes” which ultimately destroyed any motivation or happiness she once had in the subject. She now works as an accountant and could not be less passionate about it. Hey, but the system said she was good at tracking expenses and numbers, so it must be good! Don’t let the school system crush your child’s dreams the way it crushed this adult’s. By allowing young children to explore their passions through the hands-on practice of working a job, they are given the room to make mistakes and fail without the overwhelming fear of a percentage ruling their lives and determining their future success.

Think of it like this: the best way to clean up a disgusting, unsafe park is to bulldoze over it and build a pristine, gray parking lot. Bulldozing the entire school system is exactly what this country needs to monetize American youth and bring the country into the future. According to the wisest people among us— our elders— the best time in American history was when children knew their place in the workforce. According to one wise elder, 102-year-old Clarence Elderson, “Back when I was a kid, we didn’t have those darn child labor laws. I dropped out of school when I was eight. I worked four full-time jobs. I turned out just fine.” Mr. Elderson is one among many intellectuals who are a living— sort of breathing— testament to the promises of allowing children to join the rat race.