Dumbing Us Down - Part 2

More thoughts from John Taylor Gatto's Dumbing Us Down. 

Tonight's quotes are from the essay, "Psychopathic School".

"Children and old people are penned up and locked away from the business of the world to a degree without precedent: nobody talks to them anymore."

I work in the nursing home industry and I do see a lot of dedicated professionals trying to change this for the old people in the equation.  But unfortunately it is an uphill battle.  There are too many people in institutions whose families never visit them, never join them for a meal in the dining room, never take them out for a drive and a stroll through the garden.  Take a few minutes and visit if you can (even if it isn't your family member - stop what you are doing for 5 minutes).  Doesn't matter if you can't understand what they say back, just hold their hand and listen.  It will mean the world to them.

(Note:  Day in, day out caregiving for a loved one is a different conversation altogether.  Please don't think I'm referring to those situations.  Caring for a loved one with any ailment is mentally and emotionally and physically exhausting.  You are the heroes of the world.  The rest of us can take 5 minutes to make someone's day.) 

Same for kids.  Stop, hold their hand and listen to them.  Whatever is making them cry may seem silly to you, but them it is very important.  Don't lock either age group away and ignore them.  Better yet, bring them together!

"We live in networks, not communities, and everyone I know is lonely because of that."

How many Facebook friends do you have?  If you know the number off the top of your head, I'd say you spend too much time on Facebook.  While on the surface social media seems to draw us together, there is no denying it is actually isolating us.  When was the last time you read someone's Facebook page?  Now when was the last time you went out for coffee with that friend or spoke on the phone?

We don't have true connections any more.  C.S. Lewis wrote an essay called "Membership" in which he says, "We live, in fact, in a world starved for solitude, silence, and privacy, and therefore starved for meditation and true friendship."  We need to give up the pretend networks and actually connect with people. Turn off the devices and look around you for connections.

"When children are given whole lives instead of age graded ones in cell blocks they learn to read, write, and do arithmetic with ease, if these things make sense in the kind of life that unfolds around them."

Another reason I love homeschooling.  There are no artificial timelines to worry about.  Having problems with spelling/math/reading/writing?  Just wait a while.  Sometimes the brain needs to catch up.  It always does.  And it can't do it if you keep cramming more in it.

"The children I teach are uneasy with genuine intimacy or candor."

Now I know where my own problems comes from: institutionalized schooling.  I'll save detail on that one for a more private forum.

I still have a few more quotes, so it looks like you are in for a Part 3.