How Do You Refute Common Pro-school Arguments?

Common Pro-School Arguments (and how to refute them)

1. "If children didn't go to school, how would they socialize?" - Social variant of the inept minor argument

Answer: This argument is based on the assumption that children are incapable forming relationships outside of a certain building. School can allow socialization but children can also socialize outside of school.

2. "If children didn't go to school, how would they learn to do X?" - Basic skills variant of the inept minor argument

Answer: Parents teach children to read all the time and parents could probably teach other basic skills as well. More complex subjects would require a knowledgeable individual, but those individuals are everywhere. Also realize that if school is voluntary, it does not mean that everybody will stop going.

3. "If children didn't go to school, how would they become responsible adults?" - Responsibility variant of the inept minor argument

Answer: What is "responsible"? At school it seems that responsibility is the ability to shut up and do what you're told. School can have the effect of reducing responsibility. Students are pressured to get high marks so they can "succeed" in life but this pressure drives some to cheat. The meaning of responsibility doesn't seem to apply to most people at school: "Worthy of or requiring responsibility or trust; or held accountable".

4. "You should be glad that you have schooling, what about the millions that don't?" - The count your blessings argument

Answer: Just because a country is relatively free from trespassing on rights, does not mean that its citizens should ignore breaches of their rights because "at least you have some."

5. "School is just something that everyone has to do." - The rite of passage argument

Answer: The only reason that minors must go to school is because adults have decided they should.

6. "Without a high school diploma getting (a job)/(into college) will be very hard." - The practical necessity argument

Answer: Society commonly, and in many cases rightly, believes that drop-outs have a lack of motivation and so they are not easily employed. But just because someone hasn't completed school does not mean that the person is an idiot. The argument can be considered to be against school. If completion of high school is not a completely accurate indicator of intelligence, then initially judging intelligence on completion of high school would be stupid.

7. "You kids are just spoiled and rotten, quit whining and get down to work." - The kids are just whiney brats argument

Answer: Whining? This is not whining, these are legitimate complaints. We are being forced to go to a place were we don't want to go and have a miserable time. Our civil liberties- no, our rights as human beings- are being ignored.

"If a bunch of actual adults suddenly found themselves trapped in high school, the first thing they'd do is form a union and renegotiate all the rules with the administration." - Paul Graham