Education in Modern Society free essay sample

Others see it as being biased towards a certain kind of social or ethnical group, and even gender groups, while another crowd might argue that it is actually fair for everyone. A specific group could say that some forms of education can be meaningless, while others possibly will interpret it in a wrong way, although a group of scholars might find a deeper meaning for it. Ken Kesey, author of â€Å"One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest†, uses various themes, characters and symbols to describe that he believes education can influence mental instability among certain people. Other authors are far more direct about their views and opinions on the same matter, for instance Jon Spayde argues in his short essay â€Å"Learning in the Key of Life† that informal education can lead to a rich and full life, one that formal education could possibly not reach; and then we have Christina Hoff Sommers, who carefully and logically contradicts the feminist belief that girls are treated poorly in schools and universities by arguing that they actually have far more advantages than boys in today’s society in her short essay titled â€Å"The War Against Boys†. Ken Kesey expresses throughout his book â€Å"One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest† that education can lead in some cases to mental instability. Kesey illustrates it in such a way through his narrator, Chief Bromden by writing â€Å"I want to look at one of the books, but I’m scared to. I’m scared to do anything. I feel like I am floating in the dusty yellow air of the library, halfway to the bottom, halfway to the top. The stacks of books teeter above me, crazy, zigzagging, running all different angles to one another† (157). The author indicates with Chief Bromden, a character that is in a mental institution, how visual his mental instability is pertaining books from his college years by picturing them having their own motion. Kesey describes the books as being frightening which can point out that he believes people who have a mental illness might look at a book or other source of information and be scared at the fact that it drove them into sickness and misbehavior. He indicates that his character is in a zone with lack of gravity, representing that he does not feel as if he has control of some of his movements. It also implies that the facility where the source of information resides is filled with a sort of toxic gas, which signifies that the atmosphere around a learning facility can nauseate one to the point of hallucinatory episodes. Kesey then immediately proceeds to validate his argument at the same moment with Bromden and his view of the books by illustrating: â€Å"Some of them are leaning over me, and I don’t see how the books keep from falling out. It goes up and up this way, clear out of sight, the rickety stacks nailed together with slats and two-by-fours. Propped up with poles, leaning against ladders, on all sides of me. If I pulled one book out, lord knows what awful thing might result†. (157) It is important to note that everything seems to be dangerously placed, giving in clear detail an almost cartoonish view of the books and its stacks. The stacks of books on all sides of the character might imply a form of a controlling being overlooking from every direction, while it might seem fragile as it is formed by various pieces, one recognizes it’s power, and might feel dwarfed by it. Viewing static objects as having motion can be seen as a form of mental instability, as most people can comprehend that most items cannot change their form, grow tall or defy gravity. Kesey is trying to illustrate that people who are formally educated tend to have a different view to things, especially if faced with objects reminiscent of education itself. Kesey then further explains his meaning by using a different character, Harding, in an argument with his wife. I didn’t intend nothing by it except what I said, Dale—â€Å"â€Å"You didn’t intend anything by it, sweetest; your use of ‘didn’t’ and ‘nothing’ constitutes a double negative. McMurphy, Vera’s English rivals yours for illiteracy. Look, honey, you understand that between ‘no’ and ‘any’ there is—â€Å"â€Å"All right! That’s enough! I meant it both ways. I meant it any way you want to take it. I meat you don’t hav e enough of nothing period! † Kesey points out a level of rudeness and elitism portraying how people who have been educated view others at a lower intellectual level. The corrections that he makes can be seen as Kesey’s view on legislative changes that a part of the more educated population might try to impose over the rest of the society because something logically just ‘makes sense’ instead of viewing them in a more emotional and personal level. This in part signifies a more compulsive form of manipulation and unrealistic control over a certain part of a society, which can indicate mental instability within a culture. Jon Spayde contends in his short essay that informal education can lead to having a social, more passionate view of the world than formal education could ever do. He claims that â€Å"(we are) ignoring all the richness and meaning slow knowledge adds to our lives†, meaning that we, as a culture, are focusing too much on non-important subjects, which might lead to a very plain and poor life. Spayde also suggests that informal education, or in this case slow knowledge, can bring abundance of pleasure and understanding to everyday happenings that one might encounter in a very profound way; then further explains how such education can fill in a gap in our lives, as if something was missing before, closely related to a form of understanding that cannot be taught in a formal education facility. Spayde then further suggests his point by stating that: â€Å"We need to take seriously the proposition that reflection and knowledge born out of contact with the real world, and education carpentered out of the best combination we can make of school, salon, reading, online exploration, walking the streets, hiking in the woods, museums, poetry classes at the Y, and friendship, may be the best education of all – not a makeshift substitute that must apologize for itself in the shadow of academe. Spayde proposes that in order to inherit the ability to comprehend that education does exists outside of an education facility, we must understand that education is present everywhere, even in places that would make schools hard to reach, which he then proceeds to explain. For example nature allows us to understand more about life without people, or the changes that humans bring to live ecosystems; he also talks about technology and how it brings in a whole another level of information just floating about wanting to be understood; in addition, Spayde indicates that formal education could never compare to the heights that informal education puts up, as it is expressed as something that society loves and find deep interest in. Christina Hoff Sommers, a second short essay author, illustrates a different predicament about education in our society by pointing out that female students are given needless advantages over male students, whom in retrospect are the ones who need support the most. She begins by explaining that: â€Å"The idea that schools and society grind girls down has given rise to an array of laws and policies intended to curtail the advantage boys have and to redress the harm done to girls. That girls are treated as the second sex in school and consequently suffer, that boys are accorded privileges and consequently benefit – these are things everyone is presumed to know. But they are not true. † Hoff Sommers indicates the fallacies that society has implanted into people’s minds to lead them to believe that girls are severely discriminated against in school system since they are seen as delicate and conservative in their form of expressing themselves. This also implies that the general public appears to wrongfully understand that girls are far behind boys in educational terms, pushing the idea that they need additional support from secondary sources, for example government in an educational aspect, and sub-cultures, like feminist groups. Hoff Sommers believes that the myth of education being biased towards men is wrong, and in reality it is the complete opposite, which in part shows that our society is not well informed about very important subjects, one of them being education. The author then proceeds to indicate that â€Å"today’s girls outshine boys. They get better grades. They have higher educational aspirations. They follow more rigorous academic programs and participate in advanced-placement classes at higher rates†. Hoff Sommers understands that girls outperform boys in most academic fields, that they are more dedicated, that they have higher goals and ambitions than boys, and that they attempt more challenging courses than men do. This all comes to show that in the big educational picture, girls are further ahead than boys; consequently they will be more successful in their future educational and career targets, and tells us that we as a big community should try to improve our education methods so that it can be balanced between the two genders. These arguments all come to make us realize how we see the education system we now have. Some methods of education might drive one to an unstable state of mind, leaving us to be careful with what kind of education we choose. Education can also be outside of a school or college in various forms, for example nature, technology, socialization and others. It can also lead to preference over a certain group of people, which should make us reflect upon ourselves as a society what the flaws of education are and how to fix them In the United States, education takes a huge role in one’s life, but many examples show that it is still flawed. For example, in Wisconsin, education now prefers sex education to focus more in abstinence s the favored method of birth control; and other laws are being pushed for a certain group of society to become legalized in terms of citizenship be successful in school. These problems exist because two groups disagree with each other while the nation’s kids are the ones that suffer I believe that at least in the United States, the people should focus more on education than it already is doing, as we can obviously see a lack of concern for it in major parts of the country, or just seeing a population making incoherent choices for tomorrow’s leaders. Isn’t education supposed to be for the good of a countries’ future, and not to hurt it?