The Shock of Education: How College Corrupts
In “The Shock of Education: How College Corrupts” Alfred Lubrano uses his personal experience with college education and his parents to come up with the statement: “Every bit of learning takes you further from your parents". In his writing, he goes over how his eyes were first opened to the idea that school could bring you further from your parents, when he read a book titled “Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez”, where the writer was quoted as saying: “Home life is in the now, school life exists on an altogether different lane, with an eye towards the future”. Alfred’s belief throughout his article is that school brings you to a reality that separates and distances you from your parents and home-life.
Regarding the article, there’s aspects that make me both agree and disagree with his statement. I’ll touch on how education can interfere with religion, how education can bring you closer to your parents, and why your relationship with your parents is almost entirely in your control.
Firstly, I’ll touch upon how education at a public university could affect a child’s relationship with god. After middle school or high school, one’s abilities to make assumptions and decisions for themselves start to rise; they learn about evolution and other religions in school, and they start to think for themselves and develop an identity. For a parent who raised a child under a religious household, this could cause
Andrew Simmons published his article for The Atlantic, “The Danger of Telling Poor Kids that College is the Key to Social Mobility” on January 16, 2014, which raises his concerns that higher education is only being promoted as an opportunity to increase their economic status, when it should be an opportunity to experience an education (Simmons). Through the use of students such as Isabella, Simmons disagrees with the way students now look at higher education and blames the educators through the students’ lives for this view. Instead, Simmons views education as an intellectual opportunity rather than a way to elevate ones economic class which is all people see when they see “higher education.” He believes that education, ambition and work ethic is how you have a satisfying life, not with how much you make. He makes the point that when economics becomes the main goal of education it’s all children begin to think about and they might not pursue something that they are truly passionate about or what they want to learn about, which then does not create an intellectually awakening experience (Simmons).
In Richard Rodriguez essay “Scholarship Boy,” he explores his past, now as a thirty year old man, and gives his readers a very well painted picture of what a scholarship boy truly is. Rodriguez mentions that from an early age he had put a boundary between his school and home life. However, it is worth mentioning that in his younger years he almost seemed to attempt to force both lives together. He mentions how he would constantly correct his parent’s grammatical errors, or tell them what he had learned in an effort to hurt their feelings. In this way he had taken on a superior attitude towards his parents and did his best to shame them into becoming the type of parents he had yearned for; the parental figures he had come to find in his teachers.
Lubrano explains how middle-class children understand the importance of receiving higher education, while working-class children fail to see the purpose of preparing for a higher level in the short term. According to Lubrano, “Middle-class kids are groomed for another life” (534). Author Patrick Finn states, “Working-class kids see no such connection, understand no future life for which digesting Shakespeare might be of value” (534). In answering this question, Lubrano must look at the various circumstances that account for the poor performances among working-class individuals, the supportive relationships middle-class students have with their parents and teachers, and how children of working-class parents struggle when preparing for later life. In the address, Alfred Lubrano must address the difference in treatment between working-class and middle-class children attending
In “The Shock of Education: How College Corrupts” Alfred Lubrano uses his personal experience with college education and his parents to come up with the statement that “Every bit of learning takes you further from your parents". In his writing, he goes over how his eyes were first opened to the idea that school could bring you further from your parents, when he read a book titled “Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez”, where the writer was quoted as saying “Home life is in the now, school life exists on an altogether different lane, with an eye towards the future.” Alfred’s belief throughout his article is that school brings you to a reality that separates and distances you from your parents and home-life.
Marty Nemko, in the article, “We Send Too Many Students To College,” acknowledges that colleges have become obscenely expensive and that it is possible to be successful without going to college. Arguing that too many students are sent to college without realizing that it is not imperative, Nemko targets parents in his claims that colleges focus on educating in the cheapest way possible and most importantly, that the advantage of past college graduates in the job market is declining. One of his main reasons is that even though the average college graduate makes more money, hundreds of thousands of students in the bottom half of their high school class do not succeed in higher education. Nemko’s article is the most persuasive article on whether college education still has value as he argues that college is not beneficial to everyone through demonstrations of hyperbole, and figurative language.
In addition, schools are like assemblies that are require to follow procedures. Assemblies follow ideas or rules to have organize the people, for this reason schools due the same thing. However, those who don’t follow the procedures would show a low progress in class. For example, in the article “Kid, I’m sorry, but You’re Just Not College Material” by Michael J. Petrilli shows how students perform low in their academics’ level, and instead they decide to work because its less challengeable. As a result, not every college student is capable of attending and graduation from college because of their education level. However, everything leads back to when the college students were children. Their academic preface in college show a negative path
Richard Rodriguez?s essay, Hunger of Memory, narrates the course of his educational career. Rodriguez tells of the unenthusiastic and disheartening factors that he had to endure along with his education such as isolation and lack of innovation. It becomes apparent that Rodriguez believes that only a select few go through the awful experiences that he underwent. But actually the contrary is true. The majority of students do go through the ?long, unglamorous, and demeaning process? of education, but for different reasons (Rodriguez, 68). Instead of pursuing education for the sake of learning, they pursue education for the sake of job placement.
In the essay “College Value Goes Deeper Than the Degree” author Eric Hoover claims a college education is important to one 's well-being so they can get a job and be productive in other parts of life. Promoters of higher education have long emphasized how beneficial college’s value and its purpose. Many believe the notion that colleges teach students are life skills to apply anywhere, they also work hard to earn a degree and learn specific marketable skills which they can use to get a good job. Though obtaining a college education and a degree is helpful in countless of ways, it is not necessary to pursue a college degree in world where a college degree is seen different now, people without turn out fine, the growing average of debt that students who attend college have to pay off and people without a degree can obtain many jobs that do not require college degrees.
Parents believe their kids are too young and immature to make a decision by them selves, therefore they pressure their kids into attending college believing it is the best thing for them. The author does not agree with these actions and thinks that students should decide for themselves whether or not they want to continue their education. If students feel that college is not for them, they should not stay there just because somebody expects them to. Furthermore, she states that if everyone got a higher education everybody would be on the same intellectual level, and there would be no difference in people.
In ‘Abolish high school’ by Rebecca solnit, she writes “High school is often considered a definitive American experience, in two senses: an experience that nearly everyone shares, and one that can define who you are, for better or worse, for the rest of your life.” which means high school isn’t wonderful for many people, it has a lot of challenges for teens, maybe some of them ‘kill’ by pressure and challenges, it would affect their rest of life. The high school is not a wonderful place for everyone. People should skip it and escaped it that you would don’t be suffered by it. However I disagree with her, because I believe high school is a indispensable place for students. It is a place for students, they can find a great relationship and an unexceptionable place to learn. On the other hand, I believe the high school is the key to definitive teens who they are in an great way. For example, Teachers would shape everyone’s identity, make you strong to face challenges, and open child’s heart. For example, in my childhood, when I lived with my parents, I was happy to learn, because my parents always encourage me to learn. Also, they want me learn from mistake, because It is a way to learn. They want me to be someone. However my parents left me at 12 age, they have to work more hard to support this home. I can’t focus on learning, I was playing video games every day, because I think I was ‘release’ from my parents. I have no ideas about my future. There is no one like my parents to guide me , I feel alone and confuses. Until I was be a part of high school.The high school make me stronger and hopeful. Teachers guide me walk on the right way again, they talk to me about future and how wonderful thing would happen in high school. I
Did you know that in the US, only 16% of household include a married couple raising their children (Krogstad). Alfred Lubrano in his work “The Shock of Education: How College Corrupts”, talks about the changes he experienced in college and how it affected his relationship with his parents (531-537). Lubrano claims that the enrichment of education expands the distance between the college students and their parents (532). I disagree with his point and suggest that it is not the college education that creates the distance, and in some cases the aloofness is caused before reaching the college age. Several factors contribute to dissonance in parent-child relationship.
Education is an ongoing process that one can never escape form. Whether if it is in an educational institution, exploring a new topic in the news, or hearing about different cultures, global or local, education fails at being able to completely leave someone alone. However, an end of education also depends on how someone defines it. Rodriguez defines learning as a desire to escape. It is an escape from family by abstracting himself from normal family/home habits - “he takes his first step toward academic success, away from his family,” (page 341). It is an escape from the life everyone expects of him especially being from a working class family to excel beyond the primary education his parents have had set for him, “He cannot afford to admire his parents,” (page 341). This “habit of abstracting from immediate experience” encloses Rodriguez in his lonely environment that he once craved into a community where communication between a reader and writer is nonexistent. By doing so he makes education and learning a chore or a task to strain to be
The subject of religion in public schools is one that has been debated vigorously and passionately. The warriors from the Right and Left fail to appreciate the facts because they are caught up in the rhetoric and have difficulty viewing this emotional topic dispassionately (Haynes, 2011). Both sides are right about one thing: this is an important subject.
As we know, parents and their children ad a strong raltionship. Especially the children with their mom. Usually, children always hear what their parents say. When will they go to school, what school will they attend, what will they do after passed Senior High School. Even when the children was born, their parents have to choose what religion will their children have. Usually, the children will agreed what their parents say. They will think that’s the best choce for themselves.
Parent’s play a vital role in their children’s lives, ultimately to create the foundation for later success in not only their learning but their beliefs. While it does not have to be denominational, parents should give their kids a sense of faith.