by Sylvia Harrison

Created on: December 31, 2009

Commentary: Raising the age of mandatory school enrollment to 18

Schools, public schools in particular, are extremely overrated.  That is not to say that they do not serve a purpose.  Of course they do.  Unfortunately, that purpose is not being adhered and making school enrollment mandatory until age 18 would be totally unfair to, not only our students, but our teachers!

School is not a place where we teach the basics of education anymore.  There are too many government regulations to enable our teachers to teach, as they might need to, in order to reach our young people.  The younger grades are still taught basics like reading, math, English.  Those are the milestones of all education.  Those are the things that schools need to teach.  

There are students who truly wish to continue in high school and beyond and do have the motivation and technical skills they need to rely on for that continuation.  However, due to the versatility of our student base, (learning disabilities, ADHD, autism, etc.), and the tying of our teachers' hands to follow all the newest rules and regulations (concerning what must be taught, when, and to whom), to demand and make mandatory school enrollment to our young adults is a fruitless endeavor.  By the time a young person is 18 years old he is, by all accounts, an adult.  He can vote, drive, register for our armed forces, etc.  He has a general idea of what he wishes to do with his future.  He has, in essence, learned all that the public school system can teach him.  

Our 18 year olds have lots of choices to make.  They can continue their education (if they can afford it!), they can go through a technical school or trade school, they can enter the armed forces and then get an education in a field of their choice, they may have an apprenticeship lined up, or they might have an employment option immediately. (Yes, there are still some of those!)  Many of our young people, like a lot of folks before them, do not know what they wish to end up with as their life's work.  School is not for everyone.  Yet, sometimes a year or two in the workforce will provide those young people with the mindset they need to continue in education and some of the funds to get that education.

Bottom line is, if a young person does not get anything but boredom and repetition from the schooling that is already mandatory for them until at least 16, forcing them to remain in that environment until the age of 18 is a waste of their time, their young energies, and our taxpayer dollars.  That statement doesn't even begin to touch on the issues of self esteem, self worth, and volatility of emotions that comes along with forcing someone into a situation that is abhorrent to them.  There are already programs in place to guide our youth forward after public school.  Our young adults should have the options they deserve when deciding whether to continue in school or not.  It should not be left to our government or "higher up" officials to decide what is best for all of our young people.  We gave our young ones the opportunity to vote, let's let them think for themselves a bit.

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