Young People Ask . . .
Do I Have to Go to School?
JACK has been a school attendance officer for over 25 years. A truant youth is therefore hard pressed to come up with an excuse Jack has not already heard. “I’ve been told everything by the kids,” he says, “such as ‘I thought I was going to be sick today’ . . . ‘My grandfather in Alaska died.’” Jack’s “favorite” excuse? It was from three boys who claimed they “couldn’t find the school because it was too foggy.”
It would be hard to top these shaky alibis in either “creativity”—or sheer nerve. They do, nevertheless, echo a seemingly universal aversion toward school. When asked how they feel about school, youths frequently express either indifference (“It’s all right, I guess”) or outright hostility (“School stinks! I hate it”). How, though, do you feel about school? Do you, at least occasionally, join the chorus of teenagers who cry, “Do I have to go to school?”
If so, you probably manage to restrain your feelings and attend anyway. Nevertheless, a growing number of youths have defiantly decided not to go (which, of course, keeps men like Jack busily employed). In the United States alone, every day some two and a half million students of elementary and secondary schools are absent! A recent article in The New York Times added that so many (about one third!) are “chronically absent” in New York City high schools “that it is nearly impossible to teach them.”
There are, however, those who do go to school but reveal their dislike of it in more subtle ways.
Schulangst
Jennifer did well in elementary school, but upon entering junior high, she could barely pass her courses. “She doesn’t seem to care,” her mother complains. “She procrastinates, sleeps a lot and then frantically rushes to get assignments done at the last minute—if she does them at all.”
Gary would get up for school and immediately feel sick to his stomach. Said he, “I’d get close to the school, and I’d get so sweaty and nervous . . . I just had to get back to my house.”
Both youths were reacting to the stresses and strains of school. The Germans even have a word for it—“schulangst,” or school anxiety. And what causes it? Some, like Jennifer, find junior high school a bewildering experience. The change from elementary school to a large impersonal institution with an array of instructors is just too much for such youths. As a defensive strategy, they lose motivation and block out school. Shifting their minds into neutral, they coast through school, doing only enough to get by.
For others, like Gary, school violence, peer cruelty and pressure to get good grades trigger an obsessive dread of school—something doctors call school phobia. Such ones may (with a bit of parental persuasion) go to school, but they suffer constant turmoil and even physical distress until the fear is conquered. Dr. Jonathan Kellerman of the University of Southern California estimates that “school phobia” affects “one child in 60” in the United States. And how serious can school phobia get? Robert, for example, was only ten years old. A fireman had to talk him out of jumping from his perch on the roof of the school. The reason for his perilous climb? “He hated school,” reported the New York Post.
Another report is that in 1978 roughly one out of every three German youths under 16 years of age suffers symptoms that may indicate schulangst. Many of the 14,000 suicide attempts by German youths that year were attributed to this anxiety. And in 1978, according to another source, “more than 800 Japanese students between the ages of 5 and 19 committed suicide . . . because of school-related problems.”
But receiving an education has not always been a dreaded ordeal. In fact, youths in Bible times were highly motivated to learn. What made the difference?
Education—Patriarchal Style
The first man, Adam, received a delightful education directly from God. (Genesis 1:28-30) The perfect curriculum God provided not only gave moral guidance but likely included information on the command to cultivate and care for the garden of Eden. Adam was also assigned to name the animals, and this prodigious task required keen powers of observation and a knowledge of language.—Genesis 2:15-19.
Adam passed such knowledge on to his offspring. And for centuries patriarchal family heads likewise schooled their own young. The nation of Israel, for example, practiced parental instruction throughout their years of slavery in Egypt. Generations of youths raised there could not attend the fine Egyptian schools that instructed Moses “in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.” (Acts 7:22) Yet, the Israelite nation was literate—able to read and write!—Deuteronomy 6:9.
Later, God instructed parents: Train your children “when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deuteronomy 6:7) Jewish youths were thus treated to a superb education. Exciting trips to the capital city, Jerusalem, for three yearly festivals not only gave youths firsthand geography lessons but also provided them a chance to meet people from all over the country! (Deuteronomy 16:16) Boys further received on-the-job training and were taught a trade. Women became skilled not just in household chores but in buying and selling. (Proverbs 31:10-31) There was no schulangst or school phobia for Israelite youths!
But what really made education in Israel a success? True, the involvement of parents added a delightful dimension to education. More important, however, was the fact that education in Israel had a clearly defined goal: to help youths know and love Jehovah God. (Deuteronomy 6:4-7) Everything they learned was thus related to their worship. Solomon, for example, apparently studied such things as the earth’s water cycle, the traits of animals, insect behavior and the body’s circulatory system. And under inspiration he made observations that are scientifically accurate! (Ecclesiastes 1:7, 12-14; 12:6; Proverbs 6:6-8; 30:24-28) Nevertheless, Solomon used his scientific insight to promote not atheistic science but the worship of God! “Fear the true God and keep his commandments,” his research led him to conclude. (Ecclesiastes 12:13) Education back then therefore had both a real purpose and a strong motivating power.
Learning From the Past
Life has changed drastically since patriarchal times. Of course, God-fearing parents still endeavor to give their children moral guidance. Most parents, though, admit they have neither the time nor the expertise needed to give their children a formal education. And they would be hard pressed to teach their children the technical skills necessary to survive in today’s world. So the schools have shouldered much of the responsibility of providing secular training for children.
Admittedly, schools cannot provide the warmth of loving parents. Also, many problems now plague school systems around the world: violence, drugs, peer abuse, sagging educational standards and immorality, to name just a few. So you may resent the whole idea of being compelled to attend a school. Remember, though, what made education enjoyable to youths in Bible times: It was their desire to worship God. They learned to read—and read well—so they could read and understand his Word. They studied nature so as to deepen their appreciation of the Creator. They learned a trade so they could carry out their God-given responsibility of caring for their families. Can you learn from this? Could it be that if you develop a similar attitude, it might drastically change the way you feel about school?
You likely have little choice but to attend school, but this does not have to be viewed as a dismal prospect or a cruel sentence! There are definite advantages in attending school if you cultivate the right attitude. But how do you develop this attitude? What are the advantages of staying in school? And how can you cope with such specific problems as school violence and drugs? Future articles in this series will endeavor to answer these questions.
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Some youths show their dislike of school by failing to apply themselves
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In ancient Israel, love of God motivated youths to apply themselves to what they learned