Complexity at its Worst: Solution Education

Today, America faces such a complexity of interconnected issues that solutions, or even the beginning to solutions, seem far from reach.With poverty and obesity living side by side, it seems difficult to pinpoint the underlying problems that could cause what seems to be two vastly different issues. However, in my opinion, the core problem at fault lies within America's broken and rapidly failing education system.

While education may seem to be the easy answer that everyone throws out, I believe this is because education is the foundation of any country, and our country is currently facing problems of great magnitude, requiring an especially educated populace. Academics can correlate the industrialization and development of countries directly with education levels, particularly the education levels of women. As the general education level for a country's populace rises, so does the infrastructure, business successes, and economic prosperity of that country. While America is certainly well-developed, it is my opinion that our educational curriculum no longer produces truly educated citizens, but instead pushes the masses through an entirely too standardized and faulty system. This system is what needs to be revamped if our country is to successfully address the issues of poverty and obesity.

Thoughts and feelings about education need to be shifted and the attitude about its purpose reemphasized. Many see education as a necessity (which it is, in a way), something that needs to be accomplished in order to gain a piece of paper that allows students to move on with their lives. In the pursuit of this piece of paper, students lose the value of simply understanding the who, what, when, where, and why's of life. Students cram information into their heads the day before a test, regurgitate that information, and then allow it to slip from their ears. Worst yet, teachers not only allow this to happen, but in fact some teachers even base tests and quizzes upon this expectation. However, this blame cannot solely rest upon the shoulders of students and teachers, but must also fall upon the system, which requires certain subjects to be focused upon at the expense of others in order to achieve high results on standardized tests. Education should instead focus its attention on providing well-rounded opportunities. Students should be able to learn calculus, read poems, make a shelf in wood shop, take apart a computer to see how it works, study the human body, and learn to cook in FCS classes. Education should provided ways for students to find their niches, to learn what they love to do, and be inspired to do it, all while equipping them with the fundamental knowledge and skills to break the cycle of poverty and understand the dangers of obesity.

The solution is not simply. It will take a considerably amount of time, effort, and support to closely examine the current educational system from top-down and ensure that our schools are the flexible, supportive environments necessary to allow informed citizens to enter the workforce and make a positive difference in the world, big or small. However, as education improves, ideas will form, and eventually, solutions will bloom to address the many issues our nation, and our world, faces.