The quote indicates that in order for a student to be educated they must become the person they want to be not society’s version. It discusses the school’s contradictory intent for being built. Childhood is an important part of ensuring a healthy future. The teacher has a significant impact on the growth of a child. The present-day education system is failing. The broken education system is negatively affecting the outcomes of students in their future by enforcing their values. Students aren’t given the right tools to be properly educated and prepared for the real world. Creativity and out-of-the-box intelligence are not promoted and students are disciplined to follow society’s standards to live life. Schools teach students to obey authority. They hinder their maturity and send incompetent students to face the real world with enough knowledge to become the country’s labor force. Schools need to step up and try to change the education system to benefit the students even if society’s way of life is challenged.
Historically, black children were not given a proper education, which caused them to be confused. They were unable to properly investigate their identities due to societal norms and only believed what society imposed on them. Schools strip them of the knowledge of their ancestry to keep the populace manageable. Black people are constantly fighting stereotypes that are harshly imposed on them. The children don’t know who they are because society confuses them so they grow up to be uneducated individuals. Society treats them like they aren’t citizens and because of that, not many become successful. Regardless of race, everyone should be treated equally since we are all humans.
Through ethos, pathos, and logos, Baldwin employs a wide range of rhetorical situations. One example of pathos is on page 2 paragraph 4 “A black child, on the other hand, seeing the world around him and not knowing what to make of it, realizes that there is a reason why his mother works so hard and why his father is always on edge. He is conscious that whenever he sits in the front of the bus, his father or mother slaps him and drags him to the back of the bus for whatever reason. He is well aware that he is bearing a huge responsibility.” Another example is on page 1 paragraph 3 “On the one hand he is born in the shadow of the stars and stripes and he is assured it represents a nation which has never lost a war.”
I have always felt the school system was broken. Every teacher I had taught meaningless subjects that won’t be used in real life. In school, we waste so much time on useless subjects when we could learn useful skills that will benefit us in society. The school system needs to be fixed so that every child can find a path to success.
