Misconceptions Regarding the Schooling Process

Over the years, I have been writing about misconceptions regarding the schooling process. These were never meant as conclusive proofs, but I wanted to further streamline. This page provides a quick summary of each item in my list.

Misconception #1: Education is synonymous with schooling

Some people differentiate between schooling and education. I prefer to use the term to refer to use the term to refer to mental development, which is contrary to schools that refer to themselves as education.

Misconception #2: Teachers struggle to teach because kids don’t want to learn

We are all born with a natural desire to learn, which can be seen in how we learn to walk and talk. The reason it appears that kids don't want to learn is because we force them to view learning as a chore. This is further complicated by teachers thinking that not wanting to do schoolwork is the same as not wanting to learn.

Misconception #3: There are some good teachers out there

If someone truly cares about education, they will not enter the teaching profession. Just to enter the profession, they must prove their loyalty to the anti-educational status quo of our schooling system. By contrast, anyone who truly believes in education will have no problems seeing the anti-educational values embedded in the foundation of our schools. They will not agree to perform anti-educational job duties required of the profession.

Misconception #4: Teachers don't get respect

Yes, there are people like me, but we are clearly the minority. Many businesses offer teachers special discounts, politicians have used ties to teachers as a shortcut to respect, and who hasn't heard of teacher appreciation week? Teachers are frequently given credit for the work of others, sometime leading to the absurd claim that teaching is the most important profession.

Misconception #5: The schools are being held responsible for the failures of parents

Since parents have more schooling than ever before, they are lousy scapegoats for the failings of our schools. Teachers have seized control of children from these parents, and there are many tasks parents now fear. For example, teachers will tear apart any parent who puts training their children to be decent humans over living their lives for schoolwork. Instead of criticizing parents who no longer have any rights over these children, we need to acknowledge the abundant shortcomings of our schooling system.

Misconception #6: Schooling is for intellectuals

To maximize the number of students who can succeed in the environment, schools aim very low. Mentally advanced students will struggle to suppress enough to succeed in that environment. This could explain why a lot of graduates are mentally deficient while some people who are mentally strong don't fit this singular model.

Misconception #7: The schools need to keep lessons simple enough for all of their students to understand

Not all students have the same needs. Teachers' attempts to keep things simple enough for everyone means that they must aim beneath even below-average students. 100% of all students are exposed to a single approach that meets 0% of the students’ individual needs. Instead, schools need to do a better job of meeting students where they are at and adjusting for individual needs.

Misconception #8: The graduation rates are too low

What's the ideal graduation rate? Considering there are numerous individuals who do not learn well in a schooling environment, it's clearly not 100%. Unfortunately, we seem to view anything less than 100% as a crisis. The real dropout crisis is that we don't have nearly enough people dropping out to pursue the educations that are right for them.

Misconception #9: We need to eliminate the achievement gap

How do you close the achievement gap? There is no simple solution. Most ideas require hindering the more advanced students. Ideally, students don't have unfair advantages over others, but it's not the end of the world if a gap persists. Our solutions are so much worse.

Misconception #10: We need to emphasize the most important subjects

An argument can certainly be made that some subjects are more important than others, but what are these subjects and how important are they? This actually varies from student to student. We should also support rather than destroy the natural desire to learn. Give students the freedom to learn what works for them rather than cramming literacy down their throats, and you will see that they actually want to learn how to read.

Misconception #11: Teachers are experts in educating their students

Nobody takes education for granted more than the teaching profession. If they cared, they wouldn't enter the profession. People with a practical understanding of education are prohibited from entering the profession because they don't invest time, money, and effort into the anti-educational status quo. More importantly, learners should be the biggest expert in their own unique needs.

Misconception #12: Businesses are reliant on the skills learned in school

Businesses adapt to what the schools produce far more than schools adapt to businesses. This includes easily interchangeable and obedient workers. Actual skills such as the ability to think are being hindered by schools, which is likely why our rate of progress has plummeted.

Misconception #13: Free or affordable college will help reduce the gap between the rich and poor

Subsidized college (which is actually quite expensive) would strengthen credentialism and lead to credential inflation like what we have seen in the K-12 schooling model. Many jobs currently requiring college degrees will start requiring advanced degrees. This would put more desirable opportunities further out of the reach of the people we claim to be helping, and rich families would be in a better position to buy success. Instead of this approach, we need to improve opportunities for people who learn outside of a restrictive and expensive schooling environment.

Misconception #14: Athletes are better paid than teachers

The average pay of the highest paid athletes is paid better than the average teacher, but that's not how this argument is worded. The average of all professional athletes has typically been less than the average teacher. If teachers embraced the model used by professional sports, which involves people competing for a small number of jobs, they would make substantially more than athletes. They would never go for this.

Misconception #15: Money will magically fix everything

Throwing money at our flawed model has always been the solution for our educational crisis. This approach has failed every single time. Money was never the problem. In fact, increasing funds as a result for poor performance provides a disincentive to fix our problems. We need to stop trying to strengthen our educational crisis and start looking for a way to actually address the crisis. This will require developing an entirely new educational model.

Misconception #16: Getting rid of the paddle was a mistaken

We didn't get rid of the paddle. Instead, we switched from a literal paddle to a metaphorical paddle. Emotional abuse has become the primary motivational tool used by teachers, and it has been a disaster. Regardless of the nature of the abuse, the purpose is problematic. We are abusing children to force them to give up their childhoods entirely to their teachers or else live every minute of every day of their miserable lives as failures who can’t afford the necessities of life. This is not honorable. Instead of focusing on which form of abuse we should use, we need to end the abuse.

Misconception #17: School years are carefree

In school, unlike jobs, you really aren’t given the opportunity to quit, and if you can’t handle your teacher’s way of doing things, you don’t have any choices. The schools pressure you to do all sorts of impractical busywork under the threat of destroying your entire future. This is not carefree.

Misconception #18: Stress in school is beneficial

Some people feel that children should be stressed to help them learn how to deal with stress. There is a huge difference between stress for the sake of stress and learning how to handle stress. Unnecessary harm of mental health should never be praised.

Misconception #19: Schooling is effective at reducing crime rates

It's difficult to isolate various influences on crime rates. People like to cite the difference in crime rates among different schooling levels, but correlation does not establish cause. There are actually a lot of ways in which we can push dropouts into criminal behavior. In fact, a lot of defenders of the schools have resorted to insisting that staying in school may not keep people from becoming criminals, but dropping out pretty much guarantees it. How does that make sense unless the schools are increasing crime rates?

Misconception #20: Children learn through sight and sound

The idea that children learn through sight and sound is based on imperfect observations about memorization rather than practical learning. When it comes to practical learning, learning is highly variable. Taking an item from a list of two is insufficient to describe the unique learning styles of each student. We need to stop using these corny shortcuts to actually getting to know what students need.

Misconception #21: With the decline of intelligence, we need to push schooling more than ever before

Yes, people are defending schools by insisting that the most heavily schooled era in the history of humanity lacks intelligence. If the schools are such a good solution, how come we haven't already seen results? There are reasons to believe that the schools were legitimately designed to dumb down society. Even if you don't believe me, it's clear that even more schooling won't fix the problem.

Misconception #22: Funding the schools benefits everyone

Should we be forced to subsidize other people’s children? We need to take a look at the impact that the schools have on society and how the schools spend money before they insist that it benefits everyone. If the schools did what they claimed, subsidizing children would make sense. Instead, we are throwing a fortune into a system that doesn't even benefit the students.

Misconception #23: We don't support the schools because we have a tendency to take education for granted

If you assume schools need support for no other reason than they claim to be education, you are guilty of taking education for granted. If you care, you are far more likely to identify the abundant and enormous flaws in the system, greatly decreasing your odds of supporting the system. Simply put, people who take education for granted are far more supportive of the schools than people who care.

Misconception #24: If kids want to learn, they will do well in school

There's a difference between wanting to learn and wanting to get good grades. Kids who want to learn will find that schoolwork gets in the way of learning. What teachers really want is for students to do whatever they are told.

Misconception #25: College graduates should be entitled to higher pay

Pay should be based primarily on the value of the work. Degrees don't measure the value of work. They measure the investment in time, money, and effort made to buy opportunity. This form of discrimination means that you could be the world’s greatest at a task, and have your employer insist that they can’t pay you as much as a potentially incompetent college graduate.

Misconception #26: If you can read this, thank your teachers

Some people clearly learn to read outside of the schools. Even if the schools didn't exist, an overwhelming majority of the population would be literate. This is an outright defiance of common sense that would only be valid if you could establish that 0% of the population would be literate without the teaching profession. This also completely undermines the role of the learner in the educational process. If you can read this, there's only one person I can reliably thank, and that's you.

Misconception #27: Teaching is the profession that makes all other professions possible

What's really annoying about this argument is that teachers aren't even arguing that schools are beneficial to certain professions. They are claiming all professions would be impossible. Many of these professions predate teaching, so they can clearly exist. If we didn't have schools today, it would be possible to contribute to society. Professions would clearly be possible without teachers.

Misconception #28: You can’t learn outside of school.

The nature of schooling only allows teachers to pass along what is already known. How did the information become available to the schools in the first place? Everything learned in school must be possible to learn elsewhere.

Misconception #29: Babysitters are paid better than teachers

Some teachers like to use a convoluted comparison of their per hour per child wages versus babysitters. If we pay babysitters more than teachers, then why don't teachers leave the profession to become babysitters? The money isn't there. This absurd argument completely overlooks such things as watching smaller groups, working shorter hours, and the lack of benefits.

Misconception #30: We need to push kids to meet high standards

Children are highly variable and should not be pursuing the same standards. Pushing for high standards would ensure that students aim for predetermined goals that were not customized for individuals. Rather than pursuing personal interests or strengths, students are chasing after conformity.

Misconception #31: To stay in power, dictators tear down schools

Overwhelmingly, dictators embrace the power to control and restrict education. Also keep in mind that schools legitimately train citizens to show obedience to authoritarian figures. This is something that dictators love. To date, I have yet to find a single example of a dictator tearing down schools.

Misconception #32: Grammatical errors from the anti-schooling crowd proves the value of schooling

Nobody is perfect. Much like the pro-schooling crowd, critics of the schools periodically make spelling and grammatical errors. These mistakes are used to debunk arguments against the schools. Mistakes in how something is said is insufficient to disprove what was said. In fact, most of these arguments are made to change the topic when someone can't counter a point that was made.

Misconception #33: All graduates need to prove that they meet graduation requirements

Children are highly variable and should not be pursuing the same standards. Graduation requirements require all students to pursue predetermined goals that were not customized for individuals. If schools want to graduate a reasonable percentage of their students, they must aim low. Graduation requirements require students to learn well below their potential.

Misconception #34: Schooling is vital to the future

We have been making this argument for decades, but past teachers don't seem to want credit for the present. Can you blame them? The most heavily schooled era in the history of humanity is also the most mindless. We have become regressive. I value the ability to move forward far more than the ability to obtain a piece of paper.

Misconception #35: Students should not have an option to evaluate their teachers

Teacher evaluations have a lot of problems, and we shouldn't take them too seriously. That doesn't mean that we should eliminate one of the very few options for students to have a voice in their own educations.

Misconception #36: Grades reflect intelligence

When I was in school, I observed an inverse relationship between my mental ability and my grades. As it turns out, grades primarily reflect obedience and conformity. It's far easier to do well in school if you think what your teachers want you to think rather than think for yourself.

Misconception #37: Schools are innovating to meet the needs of their students

We tend to put schools under a microscope, making insignificant changes look big. In reality, the schools haven't changed in any meaningful way in well over a century. The few changes that they have made are miniscule changes on the surface just to say they are innovating. It's never about actually meeting the needs of students. At this point, we need real innovation.

Misconception #38: Some children have special needs

All children are unique. All children have special needs. Schools are putting a negative connotation on something that is true of everyone, potentially pushing children to suppress what makes them unique. We need to change how this term is used.

Misconception #39: Boredom in school is caused primarily by Attention Deficit Disordern

Prior to school, children have little constraint on their thought processes. This changes in school. The primary cause of boredom isn't a disability. It's the struggle with the level of mental inactivity demanded by the schools. Teachers are trying to blame students for boring them. Instead of chemically altering children, we need to become more tolerant of mental activity.

Misconception #40: The teachers job is to teach, not raise children

Parents are handing their children over to the government to raise their children. The primary job of teachers is to raise children. Their job was never to teach. What they call teaching is actually forcing a strict curriculum filled with propaganda to mold minds.

Misconception #41: Schools encourage children to do the right things

Schools promote mindlessness, greed, corruption, and selfishness. They cause mental health issues that can cause children to act in a manner that clearly does not qualify as the right things. The schools should encourage children to do the right things, but that's not what they're doing.

Misconception #42: The reform groups out there can fix our problems

Reform groups are pushing insignificant and ineffective ways to salvage a schooling model that is impossible to turn into something useful to society. For example, standards-based reform tries to strengthen the flawed idea that all children should be pursuing the same educations. Instead of reforming the system, we need to completely replace it with something that will actually work.

Misconception #43: Schools are underfunded

We keep setting records for inflation-adjusted per-student spending. By no stretch if the imagine are these money pits underfunded. Money is not the problem, and we need to stop throwing money at a disaster.

Misconception #44: You personally benefitted from schooling

If you went to school and are doing well, that doesn't mean that you are doing well because of the schools. Thanks to abundant propaganda, most people simply assume that they benefitted. Realistically speaking, you should have been able to exceed your education if you took full charge of your own education.

Misconception #45: Businesses need products of the schools

There is nothing that can be learned in school that can't be learned elsewhere. Businesses that require any form of schooling are guilty of discrimination. Schools might make hiring decisions easier for businesses, but businesses don't actually need employees who are products of the schools. I would like to see more employers looking for quality workers rather than pieces of paper.

Misconception #46: Students need to respect their teachers

Respect is something to earn, not something to demand. I refuse to embrace the idea that students must respect a profession that is so disrespectful to them.

Misconception #47: Everyone with a degree is better than everyone else

There are good people who don't fit our single rigid schooling system. There are horrible people out there with PhD's. Degrees do not provide any evidence of superiority over those without degrees.

Misconception #48: There's a school that's right for you

Not everybody learns well in an environment that tightly restricts what, where, when, and how they are allowed to learn. This is why some people learn best outside of schools. In these cases, there is no right school.

Misconception #49: Those who claim teachers are lazy have never observed the profession

You could argue that a lot of critics haven't observed the behind-the-scenes elements of the profession, but it's an outright lie to insist that they haven't observed the profession at all. Most criticisms aimed at such things as laziness are actually based on observations people make of the profession.

Misconception #50: Schools are vital to mental development

Mental development existed prior to the schools. Even with the schools, most mental development comes elsewhere. There are plenty of signs that indicate that schools are actually detrimental to mental development.

Misconception #51: Teachers are faultless

There are many disputes in which people assume teachers are right simply because they are teachers. Bad news. Teachers are frequently wrong. I have personally seen plenty of examples of teachers being wrong when people assumed they were right, but I'm not going to list them here.

Misconception #52: Teachers care about education

Nobody takes education for granted more than the teaching profession. They don't actually care about education. They care about appearing to care about education.

Misconception #53: Schooling is a need

I agree when people insist that education is a need. The issue here is that I differentiate between schooling and education, and most people making this argument do not. While education is a need, schooling is not.

Misconception #54: Teaching is a noble profession

Teachers are doing more harm than good to society. Destroying minds, emotionally abusing children, and punishing individuality are not noble acts. A lot of people assume that teaching is noble, but appearing noble is not the same thing as being noble.

Misconception #55: The key to being a good teacher is to make learning fun

Failing in an entertaining way is still failing. You also have to wonder about the performance of teachers if their students can't come up with their own reasons to like them. They are not actually making learning fun. They are making their low-value schoolwork a little less boring. To be a good teacher, they would have to deviate from conventional schooling. This means that good teachers wouldn't be able to keep a job within these schools.

Misconception #56: The best parents push their kids to do well in school

When people talk about modern parents, they frequently criticize their parenting. Parents aren't doing enough to make sure their children do their schoolwork. Schooling should not be the entirety of childhood. The lack of concern for such things at developing strong morals and ethics is disturbing. Raising children to be good people should be valued more than raising children to be good students.

Misconception #57: Children who fail need to repeat classes

There are multiple reasons children fail in school. Among them is struggles with excessive repetition. In these cases, repeating a class will not help the student. If we did an adequate job of meeting the unique needs of individual students, no student would benefit from repeating a full year as a consequence of falling a little behind.

Misconception #58: More prestigious colleges appeal to intellectuals

Intelligence is impossible to measure in an accurate and objective manner. Prestigious colleges can make someone look good, but it's not a valid measure. Intelligence should be valued more than schooling history. Prestige is not a valid replacement.

Misconception #59: The reason some students don't keep up with the pace is because they are slow learners

Schools intentionally aim low. To maximize the number of students graduating, the target pace is usually below even the slowest students. If a student seems to be struggling with pace, it's a safe assumption that there's something else going on.

Misconception #60: Progress in society proves the schools work

We progressed as a society before schools even existed. Since we started a hard push for schooling, our rate of progress has actually declined. The idea that the schools didn't completely eliminate progress does not prove their value.

Misconception #61: School funding can be justified by future savings

There is no evidence that schools reduce crime rates. There is also no evidence that schools benefit the economy. Graduates tend to do better in a discriminatory society, but shifting who does well is insufficient to establish societal benefits. This includes ways that people claim that investing in schools provide savings for taxpayers.

Misconception #62: Schools have significantly progressed over the years

Schools have not changed in any meaningful way in over a century. We frequently get this wrong because we put the schools under a microscope, making insignificant changes look far bigger than they really are. There are also mechanisms in place designed to protect the status quo.

Misconception #63: Teachers deserve to be among the world's most respected professions

Respect is something to earn, not something to demand. Teachers are doing more harm than good to society when you look at such things as the destruction of individuality, the harm they are causing mental health, and the drastically reduced rate of progress they have created. This is among the world's least respectful professions, and they don't deserve to be among the world's most respected.

Misconception #64: The schools are failing

Schools were primarily built to help the government control the public. They were designed to destroy thought and individuality while promoting obedience to the government. In this regard, they are actually quite successful. The reason so many people think the schools are failing is because they don't understand the purpose of schooling.

Misconception #65: The schools are responsible for everything that you learn

Even with the existence of schools, most practical learning occurs elsewhere. Even within the schooling environment, the schools can't learn on your behalf. Schools need to start acknowledging the role of the learner in the educational process.

Misconception #66: The schools should deny freedom to make people appreciate it more

Some people feel that children can develop appreciation of freedom thanks to the schools taking it away. Rather than appreciating freedom, this trains people to be satisfied with what little freedom still exists. This can actually lead to an increased tolerance of oppression.

Misconception #67: Skilled and unskilled work should be defined by their schooling requirements

All jobs require at least some skill. Skills shouldn't only count as skill if they are obtained in a schooling environment. There are also people with extensive schooling (including college) with seriously limited skillsets.

Misconception #68: Teachers firmly believe in standing up to bullies

Teachers usually like to tell students not to confront bullies. Instead, they tell students to tell a "trusted adult." Teachers are the biggest bullies at most schools, and they have an obvious reason to convince students not to stand up to them.

Misconception #69: If teachers aren't worshiped by the media, then the media wants them to look bad

The media is clearly on the side of the teaching profession. There have been a few occasions in which they shared an alternate perspective. This is rare but frequently called out as proof of bias against them.

Misconception #70: Striking and similar actions are always "for the children"

Demanding more money for yourself is not "for the children." What's truly best for the children is not the same as what's best for teachers. In fact, these are frequently contradictory concepts. Investing in harming children is certainly not "for the children."

Misconception #71: Teachers are better than you because they're teachers

Teachers are in love with themselves, and they don't hesitate to boast about their profession as proof of their value to society. I have heard teachers insist that teaching is the most important profession. In reality, they are doing serious harm to society.

Misconception #72: Teachers are only in it for the money

Despite what teachers say, money is definitely a factor in their jobs. Some people have inaccurately assumed that this is consistently the most important thing for teachers. The primary reason most teachers enter the profession is because they want to feel important, although their sense of their own importance is clearly overestimated.

Misconception #73: Increasing credentials increases opportunity

Credentials can shift who has opportunity, but I have not seen any evidence that new opportunities are created by schools. In a credentialist society, we are slamming doors shut on those without credentials with the promise that we will reopen some if they gain credentials. Overall, credentialism is closing more doors than they are opening.

Misconception #74: Teachers don't care about money

Teachers are paid far more than most people realize. Usually, when teachers are insisting that they don't care about money, it's when they are asking for more. It's hard to believe them under those circumstances.

Misconception #75: Teacher evaluations are valuable measures of ability

There are numerous factors when it comes to standardized testing scores. Test-taking skills are valued more than practical skill development, and most learning is not reflected by these tests. I would say evaluating teachers based on the performance of their students on these tests makes more sense than going by seniority, but it's still seriously flawed.

Misconception #76: Unions represent teachers

If you visit the websites for the NEA and AFT, it becomes clear that they expect teachers to represent them rather than the other way around. They are not gathering views nearly as much as they are trying to control the views of their members.

Misconception #77: Layoffs and transfers should be based solely off of seniority

Seniority says absolutely nothing about performance, so we shouldn't be using that as the basis for so many decisions.

Misconception #78: Teaching is a higher calling

Teaching is a choice. There is no higher power calling teachers to the profession, and teachers aren't inherently superior to others.

Misconception #79: Teachers are underpaid

The belief that teachers are underpaid comes from two frequently erroneous assumptions about the teaching profession. With all the misleading stories about teachers struggling, people think that teachers make less than they do. These same people also overestimate the value of the teaching profession. Considering teachers are doing more harm than good to society, I don't hesitate to say that teachers are clearly overpaid.

Misconception #80: Nobody should be allowed to learn because not everybody wants to

This has come up when I made an argument about not being allowed to learn in school. Someone insisted that the reason for this is because not everybody wants to learn. Sorry, but students whose desire to learn has been destroyed by the schools is not a valid argument to prohibit learning for those who have maintained the desire.

Misconception #81: Teachers can always be trusted

About half of everything my teachers told me when I was in school turned out to be false. The reason people think teachers are trustworthy is because they never question what their teachers tell them.

Misconception #82: Teachers are respectful

I never had a teacher who showed respect for students. Overall, I would say that teaching is among the world’s least respectful professions.

Misconception #83: Support from their students proves the value of teachers

There are three big reasons students supporting their teachers shouldn't be taken seriously. First, students are provided with an intentionally skewed narrative that can sway their perspectives. Second, the culture of fear means that supporters of teachers are more likely to share their views than the critics. Third, people who are critical of the profession are generally not given as much of a voice as the supporters.

Misconception #84: It's racist to want options for children

Although it's true that some states pushed vouchers as a way to avoid integration, it's absurd to frame the entirety of school choice around that one item. Choice was also promoted as a tool for integration, and minorities are more supportive of choice than white families. By contrast, government-controlled schools had to be forced by the supreme court to allow black students. Simply put, I reject the idea that it's racist not to be on the same side of history as the Ku Klux Klan.

Misconception #85: We need smaller class sizes

Technically speaking, the implications of student-to-teacher ratio vary drastically based on such things as methodology and even the strengths of a specific teacher. If teachers are abusive to students and counterproductive to the educational process, which was common when I attended, smaller class sizes can actually allow teachers to cause more harm.

Misconception #86: People need the schools because they can't get a job without them

There is nothing that can be learned in school that can't be learned elsewhere. The idea that people can't get a job without schools is due to discriminatory practices that put the value of schooling above the value of education. People are frequently deprived of opportunities if they learn outside of a restrictive schooling environment. We should be addressing this form of discrimination, not strengthening it.

Misconception #87: Over-education is bad for society

One of the understated goals of our schooling system is to prevent over-education. I reject the concept of over-education. Yes, picking education over schooling can cause problems, but that's due to problems with living in an anti-educational society. We should maximize educational opportunities instead of using schools to suppress education.

Misconception #88: The increased number of jobs requiring college is proof that we need more people to graduate from college

Most jobs that require college didn't used to. The increased demand for college does more to prove that we are discriminatory against those who learn elsewhere more than they prove the value of college. The solution to the increased demand is not to push more people to go through college regardless of whether or not they learn well in that environment. Instead, we need to stop slamming doors shut on people, some of them highly capable, who learn elsewhere. Don't forget that more degrees will lead to credential inflation, which reduces opportunities for people without the degree and people without advanced degrees.

Misconception #89: Children should actively pursue what they want to become

We have fixated so much on what children will become that we neglect who they will become. For those of us who view people as more than their jobs, who they will become should be the higher priority.

Misconception #90: Literacy is the most important lesson to learn

If I had to choose between working with an illiterate genius or a literate imbecile, I wouldn't hesitate to pick the genius. Literacy is important, but I value developing the thought process more than becoming literate.

Misconception #91: Emotional abuse isn't real

You can have hurt feelings without being emotionally abused. Because of how some people have misused the term for things that clearly don't qualify as emotional abuse, some people are under the impression that emotional abuse isn't real. Emotional abuse is not only real, but it is the most widely used motivational tool used by teachers. They are creating a culture of fear to scare children into letting the schools control their childhoods. This has serious negative implications for the mental health of students.

Misconception #92: Changing books is changing a teaching system

Misconception #92: Changing books is changing a teaching system
Schools have become so incapable of change that we tend to exaggerate insignificant changes. I saw this with a change in math books. Changing books has been thought of as changing systems regardless of how little the teachers actually change. Changing systems takes more than changing books.

Misconception #93: There is always a right way to accomplish tasks

Due to the variability of individuals, the best way to accomplish a task won't be the same for everyone. Pushing a so-called right way undermines individuality. We need to help people find what works for them instead of pushing everyone to do things the same way.

Misconception #94: We need to finish our educations

You can finish your schooling, but you can't finish your education. We should always strive for more. This won't happen if we view our educations as complete.

Misconception #95: High schools should align their requirements with college entry requirements

Educations should vary from person to person. There shouldn't be a set end point for high schools, and there shouldn't be a set starting point for college entry. Set requirements require high schools to aim for attainable, which forces us to aim below the potential of every student. If a college can't meet needs of students with variable starting points, there is no reason to believe they will meet individual needs when they arrive.

Misconception #96: It is unfair to use subjective measures on teachers

Everybody has to deal with subjective measures. There's no reason to make an exception for teachers, who happen to use subjective measures themselves. This is especially true when you recognize that we lack reasonable objective measures.

Misconception #97: Schools are doing far more good than harm

The schools are systematically destroying minds while devastating mental health. An argument can be made that they have put us in the second dark age. What positive do they do? They ensure that people who graduate are on the right side of discrimination. Overall, the harm is far more substantial than the good.

Misconception #98: Credentialism is a tool for economic mobility

In the early days of credentialism, academic credentials provided a shortcut for families who were well off to succeed. Increasing access to low-income families leads to credential inflation, putting desirable jobs further out of their reach. Low-income families will never win in a credentialist arms race. Credentialism has been a disaster for economic mobility. If we want economic mobility, we need to restore pathways for people to work their way to the top rather than buy it.

Misconception #99: Everything teachers do is for the children

Teachers demand money for themselves, not the children. They have found success in framing their demands around children, but these demands are never truly for the children. In some cases, they are actually making demands that are detrimental to children. Destroying the minds of American youth "for the children" is certainly not for the children.

Misconception #100: Students should be required to maintain grades to participate in sports and other extracurricular activities

It might sound good on paper that extracurricular activities can be used to push students to do the required work for the academic side of things, but there are multiple reasons that students struggle in school. If a student's needs aren't being met by the schools, should that student be prohibited from unrelated opportunity? I say no. Using these requirements for sports is problematic because failures of the schools can be used to prohibit children from living physically healthy lifestyles.

Misconception #101: Students should be required to maintain grades to participate in student government

Student government might be the worst activity to attach to a GPA requirement. Students who are struggling are more likely to understand the problems. Students who meet GPA requirements are more likely to act as pawns of their teachers since grades require obedience to their teachers. Personally, I would rather give a voice to someone who can make a positive difference.

Misconception #102: No Child Left Behind is responsible for all of the schools' problems

No Child Left Behind was designed to strengthen and enforce what the schools were already doing. The law didn't add a single new problem. Teaching to the test has been a frequent criticism but this was already a problem before the law took effect. It was a horrible law, but it shouldn't be used as a scapegoat for problems that predate it.

Misconception #103: Thanks to the schools, we can work our way to success

Credentailism has displaced the ability to work your way to the top in favor of connecting success to obedience, conformity, and even ability to buy opportunity. We need to maintain a pathway for people who work hard outside of a schooling setting to prove their value. Instead, we are slamming doors shut.

Misconception #104: The schools can fix all of society's problems

There are numerous claims about how schools can fix society's problems such as lowering crime rates and improving the economy. There is no legitimate evidence backing any of these claims, and some evidence is even contrary. The contrary evidence may be insufficient, but it would be unlikely to appear if the schools provide the solutions we claim.

Misconception #105: Minorities would benefit by reducing the achievement gap in schools

We have narrowed the achievement gap in schools, but minorities haven't seen the benefits. This could be because we are strengthening credentialism, which has been a catastrophe for economic mobility. If we want to help out minorities, we need to ensure there are alternative pathways to success other than just buying pieces of paper.

Misconception #106: The importance of addressing learning styles has been disproven

The ridiculous anti-individualistic concept of learning through sight and sound has been debunked (sort of). That doesn't mean that all students have the same needs. In reality, learning styles are unique to the individual. Instead of shallow and inaccurate one-word labels, we need to do more to acknowledge the considerable variability of educational needs.

Misconception #107: The schools train people to be average

If the schools aimed for average, graduation rates would be less than 1%. This is because they maintain multiple standards, which means that an overall average would be insufficient, and because there are multiple reasons that students fail. To maximize the number of students who graduate, schools are not aiming at average. They are aiming for attainable.

Misconception #108: Education is a right in America

There is a difference between treating education as a right and forcing children through schools. There's no question which one our country has embraced, and it's contrary to treating education as a right. If we really want to treat education as a right in America, we have no other choice than to dismantle our disastrous schooling system.

Misconception #109: Schooling is the great equalizer

Schooling has been disastrous for economic mobility, which has primarily benefited those who are already well off. Increased schooling leads to credential inflation, increasing requirements for more desirable jobs. For proof, just look at our K-12 system. We have narrowed the gap between the rich and poor, but we drastically devalued a high school diploma in the process. If we want a more equal society, we need to promote alternative pathways to credentialism.

Misconception #110: Teachers should feel free to teach to their strengths

Education is more about learning than teaching. It doesn't matter how well a teacher teaches if a student can't learn in that manner. We need to focus more on what's best for each child.

Misconception #111: Child abuse is more common when children are removed from schools

Although there are legitimate reports of parents removing children from schools to hide child abuse, this is actually quite rare. By contrast, emotional abuse is abundant in schools. There are also issues with sexual abuse in that environment. Rare instances of abuse at home is no excuse for trapping children in an environment in which abuse is a certainty.

Misconception #112: Teachers need to mold children's minds

On behalf of everyone who understands the meaning of those words, molding minds is a downright despicable act. It's not even spin. It's less warm and fuzzy than washing brains, which at least comes with a sense of cleanliness.

Misconception #113: We need to address the teacher pay/wage penalty

The teacher pay penalty is a 100% credentialist argument dependent on the idea that people should be paid based on how much was invested to acquire the job rather than the value of the work. If you believe that people should earn their salaries rather than buy them, this is an absolutely ridiculous and inequitable argument.

Misconception #114: Multiple learning styles do not exist

We do not learn through sight and sound. Some have misinterpreted this as proof that learning styles don't exist. All children have unique educational needs. They do not learn in identical manners. Instead of two learning styles, there is an infinite number of possibilities.

Misconception #115: If you can establish how someone learns, you can apply that to all forms of learning

We have defined learning far too broadly. This includes skill development and memorization. Some teachers embrace the idea that studies on learning, as in memorizing, should be applied to helping kids learn, as in developing skills. These are not closely related, and we need to stop basing skill development off studies on memorization.

Misconception #116: The idea of learning through sight and sound took off because students like to think they are all unique

Two learning styles do not reflect students who are all unique. In reality, sight and sound became popular because teachers are hostile to individuality. Two is the minimum required to say variable needs are being met without having to actually adapt to individual needs.

Misconception #117: Children should have ten minutes of homework per grade level

Just looking at what would happen if you extended this concept either way should reveal enormous problems, but the worst part of this comes down to variables. How much time a student has available and personal thresholds ensure that the number is not the same for all students. Additionally, teachers don't change homework assignments based on how fast students can finish their homework, so they aren't really embracing this rule.

Misconception #118: Oppressive governments tear down schools

Oppressive governments may replace curriculum, but I have struggled to find a single example of an oppressive government tearing down schools even though many have argued that this happens every time. Overwhelmingly, oppressive governments embrace the power to control and restrict education.

Misconception #119: We can't have choice because it funnels money from the schools that 90% of children attend

If 90% is the basis for funding, why would you give them 100%? 90%, which fits the concept of choice, is far more logical. It appears that people are trying to use the high number to convince school choice supporters that we can't help children leave because they can't leave now. If we prioritized children, we could look at this as whether we should funnel money from children and their educations for the benefit of government-controlled institutions. Ultimately, the 90% argument is a compelling argument in favor of choice being oddly framed as an argument against.

Misconception #120: Schools are fundamental to democracy

Democracy predates forced schooling. The schooling system we have in place has government workers boasting that they are molding the minds of 90% of future voters. Not only do I not see how this is foundational to democracy, but the government manipulating voters clearly undermines the principles of a healthy democracy.

Misconception #121: We need the schools to fulfill the right to literacy

Not only can literacy be developed outside of the schools, but learning elsewhere is more efficient and less likely to result in a hatred or reading and writing. The best way to pursue a right to literacy is not to force everyone through the same approach even if they would be better off free from these constraints. If schooling does not work for students, those students need to be able to pursue literacy without the government getting in the way.

Misconception #122: We need to move to year-round schools to address the summer slide

The summer slide relates entirely to low-value memorization. Practical learning is not forgotten. The only way we can have a problem with a summer slide is if the schools are doing a lousy job of prioritization. Children need time away from schools that tend to cause them harm. Getting rid of that because they are forgetting things that lack practical value is not the right approach. I should clarify that I am open to alternative models that make resources available year-round.

Misconception #123: The schools embrace a one-size-fits-all model

There aren't any students who are legitimately learning well within the conventional schooling model. These schools are better described as a one-size-fits-none model.

Misconception #124: We need to address mental health in school by increasing our investments in mental health professionals

I agree that we have a mental health crisis, but I disagree with the idea that we should keep assaulting mental health and then undoing the harm. A better option would be to stop harming children in the first place.

Misconception #125: Systemic racism in government-run schools proves that we need to strengthen the government-run model

Teachers like to think they are enlightened. They embrace the idea that systemic racism can be found everywhere, including their own schools. What's their solution to this problem? Insisting that it's racist not to want to strengthen this model. I shouldn't have to explain how strengthening something associated with systemic racism is not a valid solution to systemic racism.

Misconception #126: Government-run schools should be thought of as public schools

So-called public schools are not truly public. They are publicly funded, but so are prisons. We never call them public prisons. The general public is prohibited from entry, so this is inconsistent with how we otherwise use the term.

Misconception #127: Government-run schools don't discriminate

The government-controlled model openly discriminates based on where people live, their age, and who people are as individuals. These schools are highly discriminatory, and we need to stop letting them get away with lying about it.

Misconception #128: Teachers should earn more because their graduates make more money

Although it is true that people with more credentials earn money, that doesn't prove that schools deserve a piece of that money. Most of this apparent increase in earnings is due to discrimination. This doesn’t prove that teachers are improving worth. Part of their job is reducing the earnings of people who learn elsewhere. Increasing the wealth of some while decreasing the wealth of others is insufficient to prove that teachers deserve any more money than they are already receiving.

Misconception #129: College is for everyone

There are numerous people who learn best outside of an environment that tightly controls and restricts the educational process. We need to stop pushing the idea that everyone should go through a collegiate system that clearly doesn't meet everyone's needs.

Misconception #130: We need to strengthen regulations on homeschooling

Regulations in regard to education are all built around the flawed conventional schooling model. One of the reasons to homeschool is to find a better model for a child. It defeats the purpose of homeschooling if you subject homeschooling to regulations intended to get them to perform the same as conventional schooling.

Misconception #131: All kids thrive on structure and routine

I keep hearing that children need structure and routine, but I have yet to see a single piece of evidence to back the claim. All children are different. Structure and routine did not work for me, and I know I'm not alone. We need to be more supportive of children who learn best away from structure and routine.

Misconception #132: Anyone who homeschools needs at least a diploma

Academic credentials are not a valid measure of educational attainment, and quality homeschooling embraces more than just parents in a child's life. A highly educated parent who learned outside of credential-issuing institutions should not be prohibited from homeschooling children. By contrast, I had plenty of credentialed teachers who were completely incompetent.

Misconception #133: Schools are useful in ensuring children are exposed to diverse viewpoints

People who all have the same perspective but mark off the right boxes are not nearly diverse enough. If the schools want to expose people to diverse perspectives, they need to expose them to more than just the perspectives of mindless liberal conformists. Instead, they actively fight to suppress viewpoints that are different from their own.

Misconception #134: Instead of investing in choice, we need to invest money to ensure all children can be well served through government-controlled schools

This has already been tried, and it has failed miserably... repeatedly. All children can't be served well by institutions that don't even try to meet individual needs. We need to stop punishing children for leaving these schools.

Misconception #135: There are good schools, and there are bad schools

Our schooling system was built on top of a disastrous foundation. Nothing resembling a school will ever do a good job. There are no good schools. There are only bad schools.

Misconception #136: Children belong to the state

Government workers keep referring to them as "our children." No. They don't belong to the government. They are people who shouldn't be treated as anyone's possessions.

Misconception #137: Schools have been defunded

When adjusting for inflation, we keep setting records for per-student spending. I have absolutely no idea why anyone believes schools have been defunded.

Misconception #138: Education is about the teachers

Education is more about learning than teaching. When we overestimate the role of the teacher, we effectively diminish the role of the learner.

Misconception #139: We need to fully fund our schools

It might sound good to fully fund our schools, but it's an impossible target. No amount of money will fix the current schooling model, and schools are always finding new ways to spend money. An argument can be made that schools are already fully funded, but we redefined the term because fully funding schools predictably failed... again.

Misconception #140: Teaching is the best, most important job

If teachers did what they claimed, they would be important. Instead, they assault mental health, create a fear of thought, suppress education, and damage quality of life.

Misconception #141: Teachers should have the only voices in education

People should have a say in their own educations. Some people know what's wrong and refuse to invest the time, money, and effort into the status quo to get the piece of paper required to enter the profession. We need to listen to more than just people who are part of the problem.

Misconception #142: Teachers paying for supplies is further proof that we need to increase teacher pay

If we addressed teachers buyiong supplies with their own money by giving them all the money in the world, teachers would still buy supplies with their own money. If you really want teachers to stop spending their own money on supplies, then it would make more sense to put funding into supplies instead of teacher salaries.

Misconception #143: Schools are important for creating lifelong learners

Schools destroy the natural desire to learn. As a result, schools are more likely to keep people from becoming lifelong learners. If you really want people to embrace lifelong learning, it makes absolutely no sense to add the condition that learning should be confined to a restrictive schooling environment.

Misconception #144: Schools need to embrace an age-appropriate curriculum

Students are unique individuals who should be seen as more than just their age. Children should be learning what is best for them, not what is best for a number.

Misconception #145: Learning loss is a serious problem

Learning loss is a ridiculous term. You don't lose what you learn. You can forget low-value memorization, but that's different. It's also a sign of poor prioritization of the schools.

Misconception #146: We need to protect children as much as we can

If you become overprotective of children, you are effectively protecting them from life. Yes, we need to protect children against abusive teachers, but some areas of protection are absurd. For example, there's nothing wrong with children playing sports with winners and losers. Keep in mind that all these children will play games that they lose at some point.

Misconception #147: Children aren't people

I once read something from a teacher talking about watching children become people. How can they become people if they are already people? There are differences between children and adults, but that doesn't mean children should be treated as less than people.

Misconception #148: Education is an equal partnership between students and the teaching profession

Learning is more direct than teaching, and teachers can't contribute without the work of the student. If you view teaching in a manner that is equal to learning, then you must acknowledge teaching outside the teaching profession. If you view teaching as an external influence, then teaching is less substantial than learning. Either way, the role of the student will always exceed the role of the teaching profession.

Misconception #149: Schooling is vital to the future

This argument has been made for a very long time, but schools don't want the blame for the most heavily schooled era in the history of humanity. Why is that? Increased schooling has actually been detrimental to society, and there's no reason to believe that more of the same will change that.

Misconception #150: You can trust teachers because teachers are honest

Roughly half of everything my teachers told me turned out to be false. Coming out of school, I would trust a used car salesman more than I would trust a teacher.

Misconception #151: Schools are important because they develop critical thinking skills

If schools are good at developing critical thinking skills, then why are teachers insisting that we need them due to the lack of critical thinking skills in this highly schooled era? Actually, what do they even mean by critical thinking? A lot of teachers feel that critical thinking means deferring to teachers to tell you what to think. Is that really a form of thinking?

Misconception #152: Community colleges are America's best kept secret

If a saying has reached the status of cliche, it can't be classified as a secret. Additionally, referring to these schools as America's best kept secret implies they are positive. I attended a community college and found it to be the exact same mind-numbing environment as high school.

Misconception #153: We should support all teachers because we have all had teachers who have touched us in a positive way

When I was in school, my teachers were consistently anti-educational, intolerant, and abusive. We shouldn't evaluate the entire profession by only the best, but even the best tend to be problematic.

Misconception #154: Ed tech always fails because it deviates too far from the model that works.

Ed tech overwhelmingly fits one of two types. One is technology designed to assist with the conventional schooling model. The other consists of attempts to digitize the conventional model. Technology can be useful, but it should be about what's best for education rather than building on top of the disastrous conventional schooling model.

Misconception #155: Testing proves people are better off if they are homeschooled or attend private schools

As much as I would love to use testing as proof of the value of homeschooling, the tests we use are seriously flawed. They are built around the conventional schooling model. Although they aren't measuring how conventional a school is, different approaches aren't optimized for these tests.

Misconception #156: Educated voters are more likely to be Democrats

There are two primary ways to look at educational attainment, and both have variable levels. Neither one can be reasonably diminished to a binary concept where people are either educated or uneducated.

Misconception #157: Children should be raised to embrace the views of their parents

Children are unique individuals with a right to their own beliefs, thoughts, and opinions. They should not just embrace the views of their parents.

Misconception #158: Children should be raised to embrace the views of their teachers

This is pretty much the same issue as above. Children are unique individuals with a right to their own beliefs, thoughts, and opinions. They should not just embrace the views of their teachers.

Misconception #159: Agenda-driven history is honest history

Agenda-driven history requires emphasis of supporting information and deemphasis of contrary points. Even if everything is technically accurate, the narrative is intentionally skewed. Agenda-driven history, by its very nature, can never be honest history.

Misconception #160: Teachers teach students how to think rather than what to think

Teachers train students from a young age to defer to authoritarian figures to dictate their views. I saw this as a student. My grades were a lot better when I thought what my teachers wanted me to think than I did when I dared to deviate from what they wanted me to think. If schools taught students how to think, there would be far more mental diversity coming out of the system.

Misconception #161: We must support our schools because they are sacred ground

I have heard this argument multiple times. Sacred is a religious term. It's time to stop using the tax code to force low-income families into an established state religion. Even if you strip the argument of religious implications, something that important should not be controlled and restricted by the government.

Misconception #162 You can't teach what you don't know

This is a regressive mindset. Over time, learning opportunities should expand beyond what's already known. For that to happen, you have to accept that at least some learning must come from other sources. This includes teaching yourself what you don't already know. There's also the issue of the first time something is learned. It can never come from an existing source.

Misconception #163: Chat bots such as ChatGPT are threats to education

If we care about education, then people using chatbots as a shortcut are only cheating themselves. Chatbots are not a threat to education. The only issue is if we put the value of academic credentials above education. In that case, some might cheat for the credentials. Complaints about these chatbots show little more than messed up priorities.

Misconception #164: Red states are responsible for the state of government-controlled schools

I live in a state controlled by Democrats. Our schools are blatantly anti-educational and could be classified as mental genocide. This isn't a red state problem. It's a government problem.

Misconception #165: Books have never killed anyone

This argument is used to compare so-called book bans to unconstitutional gun control. They're not saying guns are more dangerous. They insist that books have never killed anyone. Religious books have led to war. Some books are used for radicalization. Forcing books on people that push or attack certain beliefs can have implications on mental health. These problems can be lethal. Yes, books have killed people.

Misconception #166: Schools are safe places

Schools assault mental health. This can lead to suicides, violence, and substance abuse. These supposedly safe places can and occasionally do have lethal consequences. An environment that kills children should not be considered a safe place.

Misconception #167: Teachers want children to be their authentic selves

Schools are hostile to mental diversity. Teachers try to be supportive of certain checklist items, but they are not supportive of legitimate individuality. They push over-the-top conformity. They do not support the right of children to authentically be themselves. This is especially obvious if you see children as more than just gender and sexuality.

Misconception #168: Privatization is inherently evil

Privatization simply means that something is moved from the public sector to the private sector. If the private sector is better suited for something, privatization can be beneficial. In the case of education, the government (public sector) has a legitimate incentive to hinder education. An educated society is a threat to their power. By contrast, the private sector is accountable directly to the families they are supposed to serve.

Misconception #169: Without sitting down and shutting up, children can't develop social skills

The government-controlled model of schooling is downright horrible when it comes to developing social skills. They generally only allow students to talk when explicitly granting permission to the student. Socialization is allowed during lunch and recess but only with the same students in age-restricted groups. Recess is only in elementary school, and lunch splits time between socializing and eating.

Misconception #170: Private schools lack accountability

Government-controlled schools are only accountable to bureaucrats. Private schools have a reduced but not non-existent accountability to bureaucrats, but they are directly accountable to the families they serve. Ultimately, they have higher accountability standards than the government-controlled model, which has a complete lack of accountability to the people they are expected to serve.

Misconception #171: Fill-in-the-blank is a gift teachers give to children

You can't simply give learning to children. Children must be involved in their learning. We need to stop undermining the role of learning in the educational process.

Misconception #172: When students are chronically absent, we need to get them to return to the schools they were attending

We are assaulting the mental health of students. The mental harm we are causing can and occasionally does have lethal consequences. In many cases, chronic absenteeism is resistance to mental harm. When that happens, we should not push kids back into the schools that are killing them. Instead, we need to give them the right to leave in favor of a healthier educational environment.

Misconception #173: Children can't learn if they're not in school

Children are already learning outside of schools. How do they learn to walk and talk? Even beyond that, everything had to be learned elsewhere before they could be taught in school.

Misconception #174: Covid-19 proved that parents shouldn't homeschool

The pandemic was not a good evaluation of homeschooling due to all of the closures. When compared with the disaster known as distance learning, parents actually appeared to be doing a better job than the teaching profession during that time.

Misconception #175: Keeping things the same is a threat to the status quo

Yes, I have heard the argument that people fear the status quo schooling model because they fear the status quo is a threat to the status quo. In reality, it's people protecting the status quo that fear threats to the status quo. Personally, I want to move away from the status quo because I hate the status quo.

Misconception #176: We must trust people who have made millions by trapping children in government-controlled schools because some of their critics are billionaires

It's absurd to dismiss all arguments in favor of school choice from anyone just because there are some billionaires willing to sacrifice wealth for the cause, especially since there are also billionaires fighting choice. Instead, we're supposed to trust millionaires whose wealth depend on trapping children in government-controlled schools. This makes no sense if we are supposed to view wealth as a corrupting influence.

Misconception #177: Attempts to ban political discrimination would be disastrous

People should be open to their views changing over time. Political discrimination allows teachers to suppress perspectives they don't like, provide unequal treatment, and ultimately manipulate the views of their students. Instead, students should develop their own views based on exposure to diverse perspectives and no fear of retribution from their teachers.

Misconception #178: It would be a mistake to end the Department of Education because of how stupid Americans have become

We have become stupid with the Department of Education in place. At the very least, the department has been ineffective at ending stupidity. There are reasons to believe they are actually dumbing us down.

Misconception #179: Government-controlled schools support freedom of speech

There are very few moments in government-controlled schools when freedom of speech has any protections. Even when protections exist, they are insufficient. Teachers actively use the culture of fear to suppress speech they don't like.

Misconception #180: "Public" schools support due process

In so-called public schools, children are being held against their will without due process.

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