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

    • I agree we can't leave. If I have a study hall I feel that I should be able to go home if I want to, along with lunch. IF I prove that I am responsible I should be able to leave. 

  • I can see a lot of similarities between both school and prison. But there is a huge difference between how you get into school and how you get into prison. School will never teach life skills so they never prepare us for the real world. So I see a lot of similarities and differences between both. 

    • I agree, there are some differences, but when prison food is better then school food, I think that crosses a line. Prisons actually get paid more a prisoner each year, then schools do per child. 

  • yes it you cant do anything without getting yelled at you can even wear a hat in school . Cant even make the most out of high when they limit how much fun

    • I agree, You can't wear a hat in school and that is stupid. People can wear Dog Muzzles but we can't wear hats. They do limit how much fun we have, they limit what we learn and what we access also. 

       

  • I agree that there are some similarities between school and prison but in the end, I think that school is a bit different. School is preparing us for our future and we definitely have more freedom than a prison would. School is for education, therefore I don't consider it to be like a prison.

    • I agree with you to an extent, while school is for education, we do have more freedom. What I'm learning in High School will not help me whatsoever in the real world. The 2 classes that will help me right now, are Woods and Welding. I'm going to be a welder when I get out of highschool, so learning how to use a quadratic solution isn't going to help me get places in my life. Maybe in others, but not mine, and it seems pointless to learn it in my opinion. 

  • I think we should have a little bit more to say about what goes into our lives, and shcool is a little bit like a prison but prison seems like it's much worse. Yes, if they taught more life skills then I would definetly listen because you never know when it could be very usefull. I think we could change this stuff by voting on it. I think school prepares us for the real world everyday by teaching us social skills, how to work with others, how to do our finances, math and other subjects for your future job, etc.

    • I agree, we should have more say. We shouldn't have to learn things we won't use. It does teach us social skills, but we don't really work well with others. If I have to work with a group, especially with none of my friends in it. I will often ask to just do it by myself. Most of the time teachers will put me with people who don't like to work anyway. Why should they take all my credit for my work when they could very well do it themselves? 

  • I agree schools are a little bit like we are in prison. I also think we should have more say in what we get teached. If they taught us more life skills, I think many more people would get a better education. I think all the school is doing is making everyone that goes to school a good employee and not preparing anyone for life.

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