Abolishing Mandatory Attendance For Schools Essay Research

Paper

“So that nobody has to go to school if they don’t want to”, by Roger Sipher states that compulsory attendance laws should be abolished. His argument is that students that don’t wish to be in school are antagonistic to the school and prevent others form learning, and therefore not be forced to attend school. There are six advantages. Although these six advantages produce “enormous dividends”, there are still some major flaws with his plan.

First flaw with the plan is where are the children going to go? The children can’t just run the streets not being able to even read or write. Therefore you need supervision, but with supervision comes money. And there are not many people who would even take this “babysitting” job because of the money. Money is the second big issue. The funds are just not there to run a quality, high-tech school and pay the teachers.

Thirdly, can children of that age make a sound decision about something as important as school? No, of course not. Children of this age just don’t have enough experience with life to make that important of a decision for their future. Another motive for children not performing up to “standards” is the pressure. Maybe to much pressure is being put on students to perform in this high-tech world. The emphasis as faded away from the basic skills of reading and writing and arithmetic and has now focused on technology. The pressure needs to be taken off the children at such a tender age in their

lives. And be put back on what really matters. The students who chose to be antagonistic can be sent to alternative schools such as Boot camps, Boys and Girls club, YMCA, and other local programs and organizations. The problem here is not attendance; the problem here is attitude.

Although this plan has great features there is however an effect that is detrimental. The ability to read, write, and even the basic arithmetic are skills that everyone NEEDS to know. What in the world are you going to do with a kid that is in his twenty’s and can’t perform these basic skills. This is not going to be good. Although Sipher’s plan is a very good idea, the cons outweigh the pros. This plan would solve many problems, but in the long run it would create more.