Barber raises a number of good points concerning the education of American citizens. The Advertisement and Entertainment industries have imposed too much of a negative influence on education. At the same time I disagree with the roles of commercialization in education, I also disagree with the somewhat brain-washing of American citizens.
It is inevitable that no matter where you go in today’s world, you will find commercialization in some form. Not all forms of advertisement are as bad as Barber leads us to believe. In some instances it is beneficial to the students and faculty to have corporations such as McDonalds or Burger King involved in the campus directly. Because these companies form contracts with the universities, it opens avenues for educators and students to have funding for a more active education. This is not the negative aspect of commercialization I would like to bring to light. When Barber mentions the lack of interest of the public in the education of its citizens, it instantly strikes a nerve. Because people have been exposed to the Scrooge-like ways of hoarding money, they are unwilling and almost psychotically opposed to taxation in order to bolster economy and education of themselves. It is not surprising that they are sowing the seeds of their own demise.
At the same time I oppose the commercialization of education, I do not promote the forceful hands-on approach of the government. It should be the choice of the American citizen what, where, when, and how it learns. It is not the place of any individual or group such as the American government to impede on the education of any one person. Our founding fathers had the right idea for the education of the population; however, there are boundaries which should not be overstepped by anyone.
Ultimately, education of the American citizen should be controlled by the citizen themselves. Advertisement, Entertainment, and even Government should have as little influence on education as humanly possible.
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I agree with your points that there are boundaries that should not be overstepped when it comes to education and Americans should chose what kind of education they want to receive. This is why I don’t believe the education is truly fair. Yes, every American has the opportunity to go to high school and earn a diploma, but are these high school educations equal? Inner city, poverty stricken kids can’t honestly have the same quality of education that I received in high school. My school had multiple computers in every high school and the teachers earned a pretty solid salary. These poor schools can’t afford these computers and probably have worse teachers because the teachers aren’t happy with the money they receive from these poor areas. I don’t believe this makes our education system equal at all. We both agree that all Americans should choose what education they receive, but some citizens don’t have the luxury of that choice because of the areas they live. However, I do agree with your views on commercialization and I think this a good blog article and I am just voicing my opinion. Good work.
You both make very interesting points. I’m terribly bothered when the idea of advertising hits our schools. There is marketing everywhere in America and it has hit an all time low by targeting teenagers directly while they’re in school. Channel One has provided an awesome advertising program that does this. They think that by throwing a school off a couple of computers and televisions, then it’s contributing to a better good but in all actuality, they’re exploiting teenagers. The computer lab that they might offer a school, costs no where near the price that they charge for their advertisements. Can you imagine the profit of this company all at the expense of adolescents.
Great job Myles – I think that you point out two sides to a very complicated issue. Your details and analysis are very effective. Thanks!