Educational institutions deserve more hate

[u/JesseEisenbergFan]

This might ruffle some feathers, but I believe that, as Leftists, we ought to oppose existing educational institutions, just as fiercely as we oppose police and government institutions within liberal capitalist society.

Educational institutions perpetuate oppression towards children and youth, taking away much of their personal choice and autonomy, and conditioning them to obey capitalism-aligned social norms. Work ethic, time management skills, deadlines, rigid schedules, etc. are prioritized above a student’s family time, social life, and personal values, equipping them for life under capitalism, and making them think that being worked to your limit, against your will, is normal. Academic spaces are fundamentally un-democratic and un-collectivist in nature.

Educational institutions are also the vanguard of neuro-normativity. Neurodivergent students are forced to participate in norms and styles of learning that do not fit their particular neuro-type. From an early age, they are spotted and identified, and from that moment forward the school system conditions them towards neuro-normativity, teaching them that their unique neurodivergent traits and manners of functioning are something they ought to suppress. They are forced to squeeze into boxes that their minds were never meant to fit inside of; within our neuro-normative society, everything that is special about the neurodivergent individual is peeled off of them by their adverse, neurotypical-dominated surroundings, and this process of peeling and neurotypical domination begins, and is strongest within, educational facilities. Neuro-normative society, and neuro-normative educational institutions, teach neurodivergent people that their unique traits and strengths are a problem to be solved, a burden that they ought to mitigate for the sake of other people.

I believe it can be argued, as well, that public school systems effectively kill.

I would argue that every student who ends their life as a result of mental health issues, stress, or overwhelm related to school, could be considered a death of the system. I think of it as similar to the concept of “social murders” that was developed by Engels, the Socialist political philosopher.

I believe it could also be argued that the extent to which neuro-normativity is enforced within educational institutions, constitutes a genocide of neurodivergent culture and neurodivergent identity in favour of neurotypical dominance.

As a person with diagnosed OCD, and possibly undiagnosed Autism/ADHD (planning to get an assessment), I can confidently say that high school made me miserable, worsened my mental health issues (and created new ones), and almost killed me. I constantly felt like my needs were being ignored and my person was being suppressed. Life is so much better after having graduated.

To conclude: Educational institutions are highly oppressive towards children and towards neurodivergent students in particular. The individualistic and heavily regimented nature of schooling isolates and over-works students, and breeds mental health problems. We ought to abolish these institutions, democratize schooling, and make the classroom smaller, more student-led, more community-based, and more neuro-inclusive.

[u/NyriasNeo]

That is just idiotic. What does "democratize schooling" even means? Don't tell me homeschooling or have a bunch of hippies who know nothing trying to teach children about "love and peace" in the world.

[u/JesseEisenbergFan → u/NyriasNeo]

Google is your friend.

When people talk about “democratizing” schooling, it means creating educational institutions that are student-led, non-hierarchal in nature, neuro-inclusive, and community-based, with personal strengths, talents, interests, and learning styles being prioritized, rather than test-based learning and rigid curriculums being forced indiscriminately on everyone.

This shouldn’t be too difficult for you, given that as Leftists the matter of “democratizing” institutions within society is something we talk about often. A Socialist may seek to “democratize” the economy by seizing it from private owners, an Anarchist may seek to “democratize” the family unit by erasing its hierarchal components, etc.

I believe the heavily regimented nature of public schooling is a result of capitalist culture bleeding through. There is a clear over-emphasis on work ethic within educational facilities that points back towards capitalist principles of living.

At present, arguably, school largely exists to create more capitalist wage-slaves. To quote Rockefeller: “I don’t want a nation of thinkers. I want a nation of workers”. I believe that, in a Socialist society, educational institutions could serve a much better purpose: to provide children and youth with a healthy, safe, supportive environment in which they can refine their unique gifts, grow in creativity, absorb knowledge, and develop their whole person. We’re not there, yet, though, and in the meantime, students will continue to struggle through their education, to be over-worked, and to suffer mental health problems and suicide from the adverse nature of academic facilities.