School as Prison
I guess this Blackberry commercial is supposed to be funny, but I found it to be chilling and a little sickening.
So, what are they showing here? They show that if “delivery people” ran the world, schools would be prisons. Instead of school buses, they use paddy wagons. Note that the “freshman” is liberated from a locker, which makes sense, since of course the main thing they teach at that school is confinement. No wonder the kids confine themselves and each other. When the student is set free, the message is do as we say, not as we do.
If the commercial was extended, perhaps we’d see the authorities try to “deliver” packaged knowledge and call that education.
A commercial like this is only intelligible because we know that public schools already are prisons. Note that if the ad started with “If prison guards ran the world…” they wouldn’t need to change a single thing about it. It would still make sense. A terrible kind of sense…
I got a kick out it a little. I can see a few people saying “I wish” while watching it. Parents often express dismay or dissatisfaction when kids are not accounted for in every class. Instead of attributing any ownership of the absence to the kid who decided to be free, many parents will complain that the school is lacking. There is this societal blame factor as if skipping class were the sign of bad parenting and so many simply accept that manufactured buck and pass it along.
It’s different in different areas though. Less economically sound schools are often more tightly wound. But there are some rational people in schools trying to do it differently, still right now it is high stakes testing all over the nation and with administrative jobs on the line for test scores, the pressure is on and such a cooridinated system would be a dream for many.
The reality of spring is approaching and the prisoner idea is not outlandish at all, you are so right. Many schools work in conjunction with local authorities during the spring to “sweep” the streets and return kids who are not supposed to be out to the schools, sometimes in hand cuffs. “Why is this good?” often goes through my mind when I see something like that and I routinely warn kids that it could happen as the weather gets warmer.
The idea you’ve expressed is one that is so counter to the system that has been grown that expressing even a tiny bit of it or something similar would make one a pariah in a school. ha! You’ll have to trust me.
The belief that if the kids find the class worthy, they will voluntarily attend is seldom trusted, but in my experience it is so. Kids who will skip every other class on their schedule will show up for the one that feeds their mind in some way. I see that all the time with a wide variety of students and classes. The focus of effort is so out of sync with what actually works in education, but it seems like everyone is at a loss as to how to fix it and only knee jerk react to trends and mandates.
Comment by boo — March 3, 2009 @ 8:18 pm
Students are packages. Packages are to be routed and delivered. Nextel + Blackberry = efficient routing and delivery. You’re supposed to be impressed. Well, you were. 1/2
Comment by Michael M. Butler — March 3, 2009 @ 8:24 pm