Dear Readers,

As a parent or guardian, why do you send your students to school?

I mean, besides the obvious truancy laws.

What is the purpose of the school you send your students to?

Childcare? Do you use mandatory public education as a daycare for your younger children? No concern at all about what they do or don’t do while they’re there, as long as they are not out causing trouble. As soon as they can take care of themselves, you don’t care if they go to school or not again, as long as they are not causing problems for you.

Do you want your student to be a well-rounded person—someone with skills that translate to all aspects of life: a good conversationalist, knowledgeable in history and science, skilled in grammar, proficient at arithmetic, and appreciative of the importance of lifelong learning? You don’t care what your students end up doing with their lives, so long as they’re not criminals; you just want them to be quality citizens.

Do you want your students to be prepared for college? Is the school’s primary purpose to prepare them for what’s next: teaching them appropriate study skills, test-taking strategies, time and stress management, and preparing them for the SAT and ACT? Walking them through the college-application process, ensuring their GPA and résumé look appealing to every school they apply to, and giving them the best chance to get into the college they choose.

Do you want your students to be prepared for their future careers? Teach them the specific skills needed for their chosen field—a trade job or a technical profession. Give them experience in that field and specific certifications to equip them with the knowledge necessary to excel in their careers. Skipping college altogether and going straight into their career as soon as high school is over means acquiring those skills while still in high school would benefit them the most.

Is school just a way for your student to showcase their athletic prowess? Your student is clearly a dominant athlete and needs a platform to perform. School provides not only that platform but also top-notch facilities, the best coaches, and connections to leading college athletic programs.

What if it’s none of these reasons? Or all of these reasons? Is it possible for one single school to provide all of these things?

Public education has evolved so much that maybe all of these things should be accessible to every student. But there’s something else to consider. Should students have all of these options at such an early age?

Ideally, no—they can cause too much anxiety and depression because students never know whether they are making the right or wrong decisions. But since society has evolved to the point it is currently, where everyone can know everything, it’s almost inescapable.

So, parents need to do their best to encourage their students without overwhelming them. By no means am I saying that children should be sheltered. While it is essential to introduce them to the realities of life, it is equally important not to overwhelm them with information.

Allowing students to have time as children before they are thrust into the adult world will make them more successful as adults. Too many twenty- or thirty-something-year-olds act like they are sixteen because they were never given the opportunity to be kids.

When kids are allowed to be kids, they grow up to be better adults; in a sense, they get it out of their system.

Don’t worry students with the future; focus on the present, and the rest will follow.

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Thanks for reading!

I appreciate you taking the time to engage with these ideas, and I hope this newsletter gave you something to think about.

If you want to dig deeper, you can check out my website, where I share more thoughts on education, politics, and culture. On this masterpiece of a website, I keep a reading list of books that have shaped my thinking.

I also have a YouTube channel where I post the most entertaining and edifying videos online.

Finally, my podcast, The Modern Republic with Nathaniel Stryker, where I attempt to appear intelligent and knowledgeable on every issue under the sun.