School used to be a critical place for learning. Whether it was learning important math skills like algebra or multiplication, or if it was building friendships and learning pivotal social skills, school was a place for a child to come into their own. Nowadays, so many outside forces are attempting to limit a child’s education that school isn’t becoming the safe space it once was.
The key reason for these radical effects on schooling comes from politics. Students are no longer allowed to be their true self due to the heavy amounts of pressure put on by the outside world to fit into the mold. Teachers are criticized based on what they teach and how they teach it. The most obvious example of this is illustrated through book banning. Books containing sex or inappropriate language are not just discouraged by political parties, but they are being outright outlawed due to their mature target audience. However, this idea of book banning has gone too far, as anything that does not agree with certain political values are being banned over miniscule details. Another example of politics overwhelming the school system is found in gender identity. One of the more prominent political issues of today involves children’s sexuality, and whether or not teachers should abide by what the child believes their gender or sexuality is or if the teachers should focus solely on the birth sex. These issues can create a hazardous learning environment for students not just on the outside where the student may be bullied, but also on the inside as the school, which should be a safe place for the student, becomes detrimental to their mental health.
All in all, school has simply become too political to be as beneficial to students’ health as it once was. Unfortunately, there is no simple way to fix these issues as no matter what, half of America will be disappointed in the final verdict on teachers and the school system. Only through concerted effort will the once great American education system return to its past glory as a safe haven for students, and once that happens learning and knowledge will skyrocket once again.