I Do Not Like Public Schools

I've always been critical of the American public school system. Individuality is not tolerated, the usage of critical thinking to solve problems is rejected and they teach useless facts rather than real world skills that could actually be of use to someone, like how to balance a personal budget or be successful in a job interview. Bill Watterson, who's also been vocal about his criticism of public school in America, said it best in one of his Calvin and Hobbes strips: "For some reason, they'd rather teach us stuff that any fool can look up in a book." Of course, what Calvin was asking his teacher was totally ludicrous (a debate on whether or not cannibalism should be grounds for leniency in murders, since it's less wasteful), but the end message is the same.

Another good C&H strip that dictates the sorry state of the school system in America is one in which Calvin answers a test question, and follows his answer with "As you can see, I've memorized this utterly useless fact long enough to pass a test question. I now intend to forget it forever. You've taught me nothing except how to cynically manipulate the system. Congratulations." The school system teaches how to take tests. Nothing more.