Do We Really Need Education?

As a kid my parents preached education was a key to success 

As did my priests, teachers, coaches, and janitors 

But who ever knew it could cause so much stress

12 years of our lives spent sitting behind a desk

Which most of the time is helpful, but what about the rest?

There are people like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates with no college education

But combined make more money than most of our nation

Knowing this, many take high school for granted and drop out

Well that really sucks

Because most of us don't have a great skill and a lot of luck

They end up in factories or on the side of the street

Just because they were too impatient to stay in their seat

Those of us who wait have a higher success rate

but you have to wait 2,4,7 or 8 years longer

The longer you stay, the higher the rate you have of doing great

But at the same time, you unnoticeably dig a deeper and deeper hole

One you won't fill back up again until you're too old

Some people lose hope, and stay at the bottom their whole life

Others scratch and claw at the wall only to see themselves fall

The ones who stay longer fill it up quicker and quicker

Shoving in more and more dirt making it thicker

But why do we even start this?

To be happy but are we really?

Too busy filling the hole we lose our sense of feeling

I want to be happy, this is my goal

And I’ll find my own way, I don't care what I'm told.

Reviews

[Riv]

It's funny, the actual people who created school was prussia and it was a form of mind control to brain wash young men into being obedient soldiers who wouldn't question their authorities. I love this poem because it shows us all sides of how most people feel about education. Those who don't want it are still getting it, and those who are too poor and want it so badly aren't getting it at all. I'm just about to graduate I'm a month and a half away from graduating high school and I plan to go to college. Because ultimately I don't have strong labor skills to handle going off on my own. I also enjoy learning and hope it will be much better than high school, 8-12 more years of school. And I will fight and struggle, and claw my way through. Thank you for writing this poem, sorry for the long review.

[Satan]

Education is vital but the system needs to be restructured. There doesn't need to be this unnecessary pressure with learning, it needs to be fun in order to encourage more people to engage in it. It's just made stressful to groom us for a stressful reality. No one should have to pay for it, and it should be accessible to people of all ages.

[Nene]

You know I've always thought about what education really is...... Its actually knowing (or identifying ) what you already know......

[jacob erin-cilberto]

as pink floyd sang "we don't need no education/ we don't need no thought control/ no dark sarcasm in the classroom/ teacher leave us kids alone."

[wordman]

it will refine you,define you teach you how to read and write and arithmetic
how to treat other people, if nothing else

[Nini]

The exact sentiment I have discussed with my students for the past 18 years :-)
Education is essential, and a very much needed part of our lives. That being said, I do like the way you presented all of the questions, thoughts, opinions on education. It's a great read to spark some good debate :-)

[Jamestown]

Education is extremely important for several reasons and the grades are just a small part
of the equation, I agree with what Dan says and I believe that education really speaks for
itself when it comes to finding a career, the average college graduate
makes close to 50,000 more then a high school grad, yearly income,
and with technology flourishing education is a must, just to keep
pace with it's expanding market, I could go on forever on this topic
great thought provoking piece, STAY IN SCHOOL!!! Thanks for sharing and b-blessed!

[dan]

Education is about so much more than ABC's. It's more about learning life/social skills needed to assimilate without surrendering your own identity. Geography? Does anyone think that it's important to know the state capitals? What it is really teaching you is how to learn. Algebra may seem useless but every day one encounters a need for some type of math knowledge, however unnoticed or seemingly irrelevant. That's MY take on education, but I'm wrong a lot of the time. Age does not necessarily = wisdom. A very nice write. take care...dan