textfiles/politics/educate

                                     Chapter 15

                              EDUCATION AND GROWING UP

              The  Chinese royalty used a disciplinary technique that would
         straighten out any modern kid. A prince would be raised along with
         another child.  If the prince misbehaved, it was the other  child,
         not  the prince who was punished. A child might be willing to risk
         a spanking for outrageous behavior, but even  a  young  kid  would
         feel some guilt if his spanking was administered to another kid.

              "Whether  a  school  has  or  has  not  a  special method for
         teaching long division is of on significance, for long division is
         of no importance except to those who want to learn  it.   And  the
         child who wants to learn long division will learn it no matter how
         it is taught." - A. S. Neill

              The famous philosopher, Socrates, was illiterate.  Of course,
         this  is  no  excuse for modern kids to drop out of school, unless
         you want to be a philosopher when you grow up.

              Mark  Twain,  Charles  Dickens,  Thomas  Edison  and   Andrew
         Carnegie never made it through grade school.

              Thomas  Edison's  total  school  education consisted of three
         months.

              When Martin J.  Spalding  was  fourteen  years  old,  he  was
         appointed  professor  of  mathematics  at  St.   Mary's College in
         Kentucky.

              At the age of ten, Francois Auguste  de  Thou  was  appointed
         Chief Librarian of France.

              Sweden  once  had  a  supreme  court justice who was nineteen
         years old. When  he  was  ten,  he  could  speak  fluently  in  12
         languages.

              Law   professor  Ericus  Aurivillius  at  the  University  of
         Uppsala, Sweden held lectures for eighteen years, even though only
         one student ever showed up in all that time.

              Braille was invented  by  Louis  Braille  in  1824.   He  was
         fifteen  years  old at the time and blind since he was three years
         old.

              The United States spends $353  billion  for  education  every
         year. That's $1,452 from every man, woman and child in America.

              And here's what we get for our money:

              Over  two thousand random American adults were surveyed about
         their understanding  of  science.   21  percent  thought  the  sun
         revolves  around  the earth, and 7 percent were unsure whether the
         sun goes around the earth, or if it is the other way around.

              The National Science Foundation conducted a study  and  found
         that only 33 percent of Americans know what a molecule is.

              Every  year  700,000 students graduate, but when tested, they
         cannot read as well as fourth-graders are supposed to.

              Three out of every ten  American  kids  drop  out  of  school
         before graduating.

              It  is  tempting for American kids to drop out of school. Who
         would want to finish school if their plans are only to build  race
         cars  or  marry  somebody rich? But sometimes plans don't work out
         the way you expected. More  importantly,  in  the  United  States,
         school  is  free, supported by taxpayers. It's free!! You might as
         well take as much as you can get.

              In parts of the state of Mississippi, 44 percent of the adult
         population is illiterate.

              In  a  recent Gallop survey, Americans were asked to identify
         America on an unmarked world map. 14 percent couldn't do it.

              According to the  Oregon  Department  of  Education:  "...For
         every  100  pupils in the 5th grade... 99 enter 9th grade 88 enter
         11th grade 76 graduate from high school 47 go  on  to  college  24
         earn a bachelor's degree"

              World  wide, the figures are like this: For every 100 people,
         30 are literate, 1 goes to college.

              In Gujarat, India, school supplies are in short supply.   The
         kids  write on their thighs with sharp wooden splinters. The marks
         are good for about 12 hours before they fade away.

              There are 800,000 American  children  currently  on  Ritalin.
         That  is  approximately  one  out  of  125  kids.   This  drug  is
         prescribed to slow down "hyperactivity."  Many  doctors  currently
         think hyperactivity is normal in some children and they should not
         be  routinely treated with drugs. With other children, it has been
         discovered  that  by  eliminating  refined  sugar  and  artificial
         chemicals  from  their  diets,  their  behavior  becomes much more
         acceptable.

              Seventy-five  percent  of  parents  never  visit  their  kids
         school.

              There are 35 million step-parents in America.

              At  graduation a child has logged 13,000 hours of school, and
         15,000 hours of television.

              Television sets outnumber bathtubs in America.

              If you paid $1 for every murder a child  has  watched  on  TV
         until the age of 18, that child would have $15,000.

              13,500 kids take guns to school everyday.

              Every  day,  200  teachers  are  physically attacked by their
         students.

              Of the 156 women who are college presidents, 105 are nuns.

              Approximately 66 percent  of  average  prisoners  end  up  in
         prison  again  after  release.   In  San Quentin prison where they
         teach some of the prisoners computer programming,  less  than  six
         percent return to prison.