Dumbing Us Down-a sort of book review?

I just finished reading "Dumbing Us Down: the Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling" by John Taylor Gatto. I had to make myself read past the first chapter (the 7 lesson school teacher), I didn't really agree with most what he was saying in that chapter. BTW-- You homeschooler's would probably enjoy the book.

Once I got past the first chapter, I agreed with a lot more. I do agree with *some* things he says, maybe just not the correlation/causation. He basically attributes the whole breakdown of the family and community to public school. I think there are other, much more contributing, factors. (not to say that ps has not played a large part, but the centralizing of the school especially)I think TV is horrible (and yes we do watch plenty of it). Kids do not have time to think. We certainly aren't teaching them to think critically. Kids need to have down time, time with nothing to do but be creative and come up with ideas. Parental care also has certainly gone out the window. He would idyllically like to see things go back to pre-colonial times. I just don't see that happening, but maybe some sort of homeschooling phase where more private schools are grown out of necessity.

He is definitely right that we have lost the sense of community, especially in larger areas. It seems we have an advantage in this type of area (although many would say we were backward, lol), that we do have time to instill community in our kids and many families are raising their children instead of allowing public school to do so. Of course, there are people in larger areas that do also. I also believe that our kids are not taught to think, but to follow blindly-but I think that is more societal (such as news and what's considered to be politically correct, etc. If you take older textbooks, say, from when my father was in college, you can see a stark difference in difficulty and readability. He speaks of texts from 1860's and I would like to see those myself, that would be interesting. One of the things I found absurd was his objections to having to ask to go to the bathroom.? I don't think that is a real issue. In fact, kids ask their parents all the time to go to the bathroom and I haven't seen one harmed yet, lol. He says that school teaches class position (in society) and I lean more towards it equaling that out. However, we seem to be sliding back into a class hierarchical system. He also says that using grades or smiley faces teaches emotional dependence, but I also see that as a normal trait for children to want to please adults. How often does your child seek your praise? Does that mean they are emotionally dependent on you? I don't think in a negative way. Now do we necessarily want them desiring to please the teacher? Well, I guess that depends on the teacher's agenda! :-) He discusses worth and while I know that peer relationships and academic failings and affect a child's self-worth, that ultimately (at least initially) comes from the family.

Later in the book, I come into more agreement. Less TV, definitely not extended time in school, more free time, smaller schools, more community spirit, LOCAL CHOICE, etc. are some of the answers we need as a society. You might have no interest in this, and it may not make much sense without reading the book- I guess I am just thinking outloud. But you are welcome to borrow the book if you like ;-)