School is important because it helps kids get the knowledge and skills that they need to be successful in life. In the United States, we have compulsory education, which means that kids have to go to school between certain ages.  Each state has their own rules but it is usually from age 6 to 16 that they have to attend school.  If they don’t, the parents will get in trouble. There are lots of people who argue that it is better if parents get to decide when to send the kids to school.

These laws were first enacted in Massachusetts in 1853. By 1918, all states had them. One reason was the belief that the public school was the best way to improve the literacy of the poor and to help the immigrants who moved here from other countries. Another reason is that factory owners found it more difficult to use cheap child labor. Alabama's decided to repeal its compulsory attendance law due to pressure by a company opening a large textile mill and they were notorious for using child labor. (Encyclopedia of Everyday Law http://www.enotes.com/everyday-law-encyclopedia/compulsory-education)

They also wanted to create a unique American culture that could be used to mold the large number of recent immigrants to the U.S.  This would include teaching about democracy. Even Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin agreed that immigrants from monarchal countries would likely bring their political ideas across the seas with them.  It is important for all citizens of the United States tobe taught about our government and to understand it.   Other reasons for reform were the ideas that private schools were elitist,and did not serve most of America’s youth.  If education could be providedat no cost to the American people, then more children would attend school. Poor children could then receive an education, and get better jobs. With education, everyone can really become anything they want to be when they grow up. Some people argue that private schools meet the needs of their customers better than public schools.  (Mises Daily by Barry Dean Simpson http://mises.org/story/1679 Ludwig von Mises Institute)

Most people moved to the US because of the freedom and opportunities that were here and need to learn how this country works.  We still have a huge number of immigrants in this country who need to learn and the kids born here wouldn’t be able to understand how our country works unless they attend school. Before the government required school attendance, poor children were not educated so they could never improve their lives.  They had to work at home or on farms or in factories.  This country was created so that people could work hard and improve their lives. Public schools give everyone the opportunity, no matter where they live or how much money their parents make.

The argument about private schools being better is probably true.  But the quote above says“private schools meet the needs of their customers better”. That’s because they are customers and are paying for the school. If they are paying for the school, that means that they have enough money left over to spend on private schools.  Most parents can’t afford a special school to send their kids to which is another reason public schools are so important.  Private schools can give a better education because there are a lot less kids who can afford to go there so the teachers can give more attention to each one and they can do extra things that public schools can’t.

      If teens were able to choose whether or not to go to school, many wouldn’t.Some parents don’t care what their kids do and would let them stay home; they would just have them go to work like before the laws started.Also, we need smart, educated people these days. These are good reasons to require kids to go to school. Nationally, only about 70 percent of students graduate from high school on time with a regular diploma. (Federal High School Graduation Rate Policies and the Impact on Utah, p. 1) That means 30% are not accomplishing this even with school laws.

      If kids did not have to go to school, they wouldn’t. Most kids do not like school at all. They go because their parents force them too. Teens would just drop out of school and not care about their future until it is too late. Hardly anyone would graduate high school. When kids are young, they think school is fun. Once they get to Jr. High and high school, people would just start dropping out. Teens like things to be easy and high school can be very hard. Without the laws, kids would not even have to listen to their parents to stay in school. From the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Facts for Families kids refuse to go to school and do not enjoy it for the reasons like getting bullied or family problems.

            We need smart, educated people. Our world is getting more advanced and harder to understand.  The things that we are creating require more knowledge than an average, uneducated person would have. If we are going to get better, we need smarter people to teach us, help us grow and understand new things. Where we are today is all because of smart people who worked hard when they were growing up.  Without these people, we would not have our modern hospitals or any of our technology. We would still be sending letters to people on horseback as our communication.