Democracy, as defined by the Webster’s New World Dictionary,
is the principle of equality of rights, opportunity, and treatment, or the
practice of these principles.
American public schools encourage individuality, unlike
non-democratic countries. Despite many differences in Americans’ backgrounds,
there is no discrimination in public schools. Race, gender, religion, wealth,
ethnicity, and social class cannot deny students of education. Equality is not
only a democratic idea that many Americans cherish, but also one practiced in
public schools. Equality nourishes individuality.
The purpose of public education in the United States is to
build a society of freethinking people who have the ability to make their own
decisions. Citizens who are knowledgeable and capable of formulating
independent opinions are necessary to a democracy. Public education gives its
students the tools required to effectively take advantage of the opportunities
given to them by democracy.
How does the public school system put into practice these
democratic ideals? The American school system promotes a variety of fields of
study. They do not censor information. Citizens have the ability to pursue any
career they desire. In addition, the public school system encourages its
students to ask question and engage in critical analysis of the information
given to them.
The results of these efforts have created an open exchange
of knowledge among the population. The democratic ideal of freedom of speech is
practiced in the classroom so that students are prepared to use it in society.
They are trained to be a democratic citizen. Just as athletes practice and
train in hopes of a successful game, students of public education are trained
so that they can be released as intellectual, contributing members to society.
American public schools practice what they preach (a rule I
have the utmost respect for). They demonstrate democratic ideas and also preach
them to their students.
The American government wants its citizens to choose
democracy. What proves ironic is the fact that people are not forced to believe
in democracy, but by the very act of the public schools in the United States
being democratic by allowing freedom, individuals choose to believe in
democracy. People who live democratically, embrace democracy.
Caitlin, this post is well-written, but I want you to think about some issues of structure and organization. I feel like your argument is a bit all over the place. For the most part, each individual idea and sentence is technically sound and theoretically correct. However, looked at together, they form a bit of a scattered answer. As I have written to several of your peers, your response reads more like a list of ideas rather than a cohesive response. I think the short paragraphs contribute to this. This is easy to fix. In future responses, I encourage you to identify one or two basic ideas and then embellish and develop those into a singular argument.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, I encourage you to look at two of your sentences. First, look at this one: "Race, gender, religion, wealth, ethnicity, and social class cannot deny students of education." What does this mean? Even if you replaced "of" with "an," it still doesn't make sense. People deny people an education. Social classifications can never "deny" an education, even in the most fascist countries. Second, I want to challenge the idea that "Equality nourishes individuality." Do you really believe this? Most people would probably argue that pure equality squelches individuality. How can we be individuals if we are all equal? I think I know what you meant, but you did not make yourself clear.