Education should be a privilege, not a right

1. So those kids who would continue the cycle wouldn't change regardless of the policy, and those who would realize they made mistakes would turn things around when they realize that the opportunity for them to attend a different school isn't a reality. If you take the average person and tell them they have one shot at something, they'll try to keep that shot. I'm not saying that just because people know drugs are bad they know education is good. I'm simply making the point that most people are capable of realizing important decisions before the law states they should be. As for those 15 and 16 year olds that don't understand the necessity of education aren't doing anything in school anyway! They aren't pulling anything out of it. Their lives are going to be hard with or without school. 2. I'm not giving up on them, I'm 1) giving them some motivation to do well in school and 2) not wasting time on those who won't see education as important. I'm not going on one giant "expel crusade". Kids aren't just going to be kicked out for a detention. That'd be like giving someone a death sentence for speeding; it just doesn't make sense. The ones kicked out are going to be repeat offenders who severely disrupt class and garner no knowledge from the tirade of days they spend there. Those who refuse to realize what an education will do. I'm not ignoring a problem, I'm attacking it from a new angle, trying to reform society to love education the same way they hated cigarettes. That's why society would press education on people. The system would encourage an education. Let's take a minute and look at your statistics again, shall we? 4 people die every day from child abuse. 3 of them are under the age of four (so the school system can't help them). You said SRS dismisses lots of cases. Assume a majority of those are school-age children that got reported by teachers/friends/counselors. Three times this number don't even get reported. How effective is the current system? Why is it a bad thing to put a heavy emphasis on education and let people know that they can overcome whatever background they came from? I don't want to take an education away from anyone. Do you think criminal judges enjoy giving life sentences? No. The punishment exists in the hopes that the negative effects nullify any positive gain. Same here. Being expelled exists as a deterrent to being worthless in school. Are people going to be expelled? Yes. Are more people going to be harmed under the new scenario? No. And here's why: There exist three types of people in the school system. Those who value education, those who don't, and those who can see long term benefits, but can't see any benefit now. Those who value education will be fine. Those who don't would be expelled/reap no benefit from the system as is. Assume the "iffy" group will split 50/50. Under the new system, the "iffy" group will move to a majority understanding the value of an education. More people graduate, more people go to college, more people become productive members of society. Society will ensure that people understand the value of an education, and that life won't be great without one. Imagine peer pressure on a national scale. And those who give up would give up regardless of what system is in place. Nobody is kicked out, granted. But you said for every case that gets discovered, three don't! The negative impact on abused children, looking at things on a nationwide basis, is minimal. I know that sounds cold and mean, but really think about that for a minute. These abused children go to school and STILL don't get noticed? Their parents don't care what kind of education they receive! So bring in the new system and allow society and the school system to open their eyes. That's all I ask. 75% of child abuse goes unnoticed, and the current system gives them 7 hours to escape that. .. Why do they shun it? Even if they sit at the back of the class, silent, and just absorb info they're making the right choice. Yet many don't, because they have no motivation. The system will accept them for eternity. "If your kicked out of school in 5th grade your just as screwed as if you had been kicked out in 1st grade. " I particularly like this quote from my opponent. I'll counter with if you're kicked out of school in 12th grade, you're just as screwed as if you had been kicked out in 5th grade. Either way, you get kicked out because you refuse to accept the schooling our government provides. I don't know how homework works elsewhere, but where I come from, the penalty for not doing your homework in 5th grade was the loss of a candy bar at the end of the month. .. It's not a vital role. 3. I'm arguing that schools shouldn't HAVE to feed neglected children, because there shouldn't BE any neglected children. Give them a reason to excel in school, they'll press that importance upon their children, and a new, better, cycle emerges. No, it's the child's fault for not embracing the one place they can feel safe. Humans are still animals, we're all born with basic instinct. Babies will cry seconds after birth. They have a natural inclination to suck, so as to get food and as a pacifying method. Fight or flight happens to be one of those, and most abused children are too afraid to fight, so they should "flight" to school and get a good education, but they don't. 1) Picture a rubik's cube. Imagine four faces are solved, but the other two are crazy. You have to mess up the other four faces and trust that you can solve the whole cube. Worst comes to worst, you can get back to the four solved faces. "Don't let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game" If abused children are the biggest problem in my solution, and the current system does hardly anything to stop it now (between not catching 75% of cases, and dismissing many of those that do get caught), then my solution can't do much harm and can only do good. 3) Why should we settle for having bad parents? That's a good enough reason? I think society should try to stop bad parental behavior. We can do this easily by placing a stigma against those without an education. It'd only take 10-15 years, which isn't that much time considering how long people fought for Emancipation or Enfranchisement. .. I have proven it won't widen the gap! Overall it leads to a heightened standard of living. We shouldn't allow this mindset to continue, and the way to stop it is to emphasize and encourage education, exactly what my idea does. Finally my system won't see more dropouts but less, as that "iffy" group I mentioned earlier will move to the side of those who value education. Those that don't will fail either way. This being my last round, I'd like to finish off with a few thoughts. * Thank you Bricheze, it's been a great debate! * I apologize for the rather lengthy debate. I understand it's difficult to get through, but some great ideas/counter-ideas have been presented. * Please judge only on the content of the debate, not on your personal preference! * If you would leave a Reason For Decision in the comment section with constructive criticism, it'd be greatly appreciated.