The school to prison pipeline is becoming an unavoidable problem in our society. I will not accept anything less than a complete reform of the way we educate our youth today and every day until our education system reflects our democratic values. While a core curriculum of math, science, history and literature are important aspects of our educational culture; we can no longer ignore the gaps we create in our children’s education when it comes to giving them a sense of community and service.
I believe in mandatory community work for every citizen seeking a public and higher education. They must dig deep within their community, truly engross themselves in the servitude of the people to understand themselves and become a clearer piece of a larger picture. Incarcerated youth who grow to unfortunately become incarcerated adults cannot succeed in a democratic society that does not incorporate the value of community service and social support into an already compulsory education. We cannot only focus on molding our children’s minds we must teach them how to be compassionate as well as hard working. We must also teach our citizens that working hard only to benefit one’s own life is not what is best for our community and our posterity.
What happens if we learn that we are valued at the rate in which we produce goods. If we only see our worth through our jobs, what can we fall back on when we lose everything? When our job is taken from us, when we lose our sense of self and our sense of worth in a society that cannot find value in us, who is surprised when we resort to criminal ways? What service could society have given us?
We must teach our children to value the harmony of service and not the capitalist gain of self-service. We must become become one living breathing entity that represents our democratic values on the micro level. Democracy can only prosper if the citizens can see themselves reflected in our values. Once our citizens can see themselves in others, once there is a greater sense of community we will not be forced to lock our children away only to relocate them to a stricter facility when they become of age. If we teach our sons and daughters a trade that will only benefit a capitalist machine in place of an emotional and empathetic education we are letting them down.
Our citizens are more than what they have memorized behind concrete walls for eight hours a day, five days a week. They can become more and understand more once empathy becomes a concrete part of our curriculum. Arts and science are valuable assets to the betterment of the self but compassion and service are more likely benefit the society as a whole as well.