John Taylor Gatto: Against Mandatory Public Schools

The United States’ school system is based on compulsory education laws which required children from 6 to 16 years of age to assist public or private school, for a certain number of years (“Compulsory Education”, 2015). In the past, these laws were put in effect to increase literacy rates and to avoid child labor practice. Unfortunately, there are many people against mandatory public education in America. This is the case of a former New York City teacher, John Taylor Gatto, who in his article “Against School”, he expresses why he believes that the school system is ineffective in helping students to develop their full potential. For Gatto, the system is intended to incapacitate students cultivate leadership skills and turn them into ordinary thinkers with a lack of passion. The

In homeschooling, children are educated at home by a parent or a tutor. There are nearly two million homeschooled children in the United Stated with the number increasing by 10-12 % each year (Campbell, 2013). Parents who homeschool their kids, they do it because they do not trust the current school system and they feel their kids will do better if they take control of their education. Others do it because they want their kids to follow their religious or moral beliefs, or they are afraid for their children’s safety since in public schools they are exposed to drugs, bulling and violence. On the other hand, homeschooling has some negative aspects as well. Some homeschooled kids lack social skills since they do not have the opportunity to interact and form bonds with kids their own age. Besides, it is hard for a home to be as well-equipped as a regular school in terms of space and having the right equipment necessary for classes, labs and sports. Furthermore, it required for one of the parents to stay at home, but in today’s economic, it is hard since in most cases the family need two incomes to