According to the article, I found it interesting that many American youth are affected by institutional influences… We’re all practically screwed. Yup, I said it: SCREWED. It doesn’t really seem like these institutions are helping us, even though they’re supposed to get us ahead in life.
Take for instance, student loans for pursuing higher education. Many younger adults are knee high or more in debt as they pursue their degrees and come out with pieces of paper that certify the worth of what they’ve learned in four years or more. What about “No Child Left Behind?” That’s screwed us over too; no student learns at the same pace as their fellow students, but we know that it’s working toward making every student equal in the eyes of the law.
Well, hold up right there! Although yes, students are all equal, some may need more attention, care, or must be approached differently BEFORE they can be integrated with other students in the same classroom. Institutions may seem like they mean no harm, but they do more harm than good. Tying this in with the amount of education an individual receives, we label people as ‘educated’ or ‘uneducated’ simply because they don’t make it past a certain level of schooling. Why does that matter?
It’s because institutions train us to think that way. If you look at all of the infamous individuals throughout life that we’ve encountered so far, like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and other success stories, they’ve made it farther than we ever could without college degrees or technical training. Life isn’t like that anymore – we need those skills, education, and experiences that they lacked. It gets even worse when we take an arm and a leg in costs to have to get it.
I agree with the article, in that I know that it’s disappointing to come to the realization that institutions affect us so much, and that we need to make more of an effort to satisfy institutionalized requirements in our lives.
Here’s a punny photo for No Child Left Behind:
@Yooojin09 