Is School like Prison?

Negative reinforcement, emphasis on silence and order, abridged freedoms, no input in decision-making, dress code/uniforms, and more, are all similarities that you can see between school and prison. Overall, both industries suppress people into conformity.

In school, you must arrive at the same time and leave at the same time, day after day. You are given a schedule to follow and rules not to break. You are expected to follow the rules built into the school and expected not challenge the infrastructure of the system. Teachers are all-powerful. They control what your mind is being fed, and other school officials decide what your body is being fed as well. We have no control over how they go about our everyday lives because such a huge part of it (eight hours of school) is being controlled by others.

We don’t have a say in what we are learning. Our knowledge is what empowers us, and because there is such a strong disconnect in what is being taught, we no longer feel that knowledge and education are important in our lives. The biggest reason for learning and putting effort into our work is the why factor, why is what we are learning important to us? So many curricula do not answer the most important question, therefore we don’t care about what they are learning because there is a good reason to be learning it. Instead of teaching lifelong skills, like handling personal expenses, growing your own food, health, and wellness, how to change the oil in a car, etc., we are being taught information that will never matter in the real world. 

In my opinion, school is like a prison, but we are allowed to leave. If we do decide to leave early, we get a detention, which would be like getting more added to your sentence. I definitely think, as high schoolers, we should be able to have more say in what goes on in our lives. Do we need all 3 years of math that we will never use? In English we go through the same thing year after year, but with different projects. 

 

Questions 

Do you think we should have more say about what goes into our lives? 

Is school like Prison? 

If they taught life skills, would you actually listen? 

How do you think we could change this? 

How do you think school prepares us for the real world? 

 

Sources 

https://fee.org/articles/policing-the-public-schools-how-schools-are-becoming-even-more-like-prisons/

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2015/11/11/when-school-feels-like-jail

https://www.mackinac.org/blog/2022/whats-the-difference-between-school-and-jail

 

 

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Replies

    • Actually, in prison, you can learn life skills. They have different classes and taking life skills classes can also shorten up their sentences. There is actually a firefighting program, and they go and fight wildfires in California, and it shortens their sentences while teaching them a life skill. As for us leaving school, if we do it enough, our parents can eventually go to jail for us leaving. Its called truancy 

  • I personally don't think that school is like prison. Even if I don't like having to get up early in the morning and having to sit in a desk listening to a teacher for 7 hours, I think it is part of the learning every kid should have before working in life. I think that they should teach mroe life skills which would help prepare more for the real world.

    • While I agree with you to an extent, I also believe that we should have more freedom, and the food should taste better. I agree with teaching us more life skills because most kids can't even count change anymore, whereas we were taught in school. Most kids also don't know how to read a clock, and I was taught that for 3 years in a row. 

  • I think that the three core classes math, english, and science are good classes to go to, as they raise your thinking skills. I think that students should be given more elective class hours because then students would actually pay attention and care about school. School prepares us for the real world by teaching us critical thinking skills, and basic problem solving.

    • I agree, While core classes are necessary we should be given more elective options during the day. During Woods and Welding is when I am the happiest and the most productive. I am happy to be in those classes, therefore I will be more productive. 

  • I think that students should have more than 3-4 elective classes they can desire over. Student should be able to chose more not not be forced to learn thing that are not useful like the history of rocks. The school provide a class that can help you learn how to wright checks and handle money wich is one usfullthing about school. School kind of is like prison because you can't leave with out permission, you can't go to the bathroom without permission, and you eat what ever they desire they want to serve.

    • I understand, I remember in 6th grade we literally learned the history of rocks in science. I would only use that (maybe) if I went to the Grand Canyon. I agree, we should have more of a choice on what we eat. We shouldn't be served mystery meat at least once a week 

  • I wish schools would push for more useful knowledge that we can use later on in life. Studies have shown that you really only use 37% on average of what you learn in school in your life later on. I think that school somewhat prepares us for the real world but at the same time it also kinda just wastes our time teaching us thngs that we really don't need instead of things we do need.

    • I definitely can believe that. School will sometimes prepare us for the real world, but in reality, people look to see if you can just follow instructions, when they look at your high school record. They don't care if you were an average student, and most the time they don't care if you were an honors student. 

  • I sometimes feel like school is like a prison, especially the food. The food is terrible and sometimes its not even cooked enough that students get sick. Also I think that the students not only have to work on assignments in school for 7 hours a day but also out side school at home. 

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