No one has to go to school - Essay Example

Article Summary Roger Sipher, in his article So That Nobody Has To Go To School IfThey Don’t Want To, explored thoroughly the disadvantages of the mandatory-attendance laws both at the individual and institutional/societal levels. The author explains how ineffective compulsory attendance is, as well as its adverse impact on the objectives and activities of public schools. He begins with the statement that poor performance in standardized tests is an indication of a deteriorating American education.

And then he goes on to cite all the problems with trying to force those who are not eager to go to school to attend school. He then suggests repealing compulsory-attendance laws in order for public schools to provide better education to those who are committed and willing to learn. The article demonstrates how the compulsory-attendance law is not delivering the goods it promised to deliver- increase the number of children attending school. Quite the contrary, it has negligible impact on the number of children attending school.

Moreover, this law is not rigidly followed because of its costs and public schools are forced to accept and teach unruly students. The author believes that the time spent to teach these disorderly students should instead be spent on serious learners. Hence, the author comes to a conclusion that removing compulsory-attendance laws will be a financially smart move. The author explains that without compulsory-attendance laws teachers students, especially those in the elementary level, will be forced to take their studies more seriously, or else they will lose their chance of acquiring higher formal education.

And, lastly, the author argues that schools should not be looked upon as a jack-of-all-trades, because schools are created to fulfill only one major function—to educate.