“The free common school system is the most American thing about America."

America is centered around our education system, as it says in the text, “An uneducated individual was an untrustworthy custodian of rights and liberties, but a properly schooled individual would recognize the bonds of obligation and principle that stabilize society and preserves freedom.” (Tyak, D. P10) History serves as a reminder that shows that being uneducated is the pretense to being unsuccessful.

During this course we’ve had to read numerous pages of text from different sources. Some of the text speaks about the relation of education to socio-economic status. The Hodgkinson article compares education to demographics. These articles back up the quote above. I believe that our education system is second to our parents. Our parents are the ones that instill the morals and values. Our education system serves as a reinforcer to the morals and values our parents pass down to us.

I will use the best example I can that comes from my family. As I was growing up my parents and grandparents always taught me the difference between right and wrong. I learned how to act, when to act, and how to deal with different situations. They taught me how to be a respectful person and how to always do the right thing even if others do the opposite. As I progress through school, I was always faced with challenges by my peers, but it was those values that my parents and teachers taught me that guided me in the right direction. My family taught me to always be the leader as opposed to the follower. While I was in my earlier years of school my teachers were also there to guide me in the right direction. My teachers weren’t only there to teach me about the curriculum but they also help to shape me into the individual I am today.

Education isn’t only a one step process. It’s in tune with our families, our communities, and in some ways our culture. It is the most important thing, next to our family, that helps to shape the person that we all become.