Education should be a privilege, not a right

With that said, my position is pretty simple: I believe that the "free and public education" all Americans have a right to should become a privilege instead of a right. Article XII of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man (1948) states that: "Every person has the right to an education, which should be based on the principles of liberty, morality and human solidarity. Likewise every person has the right to an education that will prepare him to attain a decent life, to raise his standard of living, and to be a useful member of society. The right to an education includes the right to equality of opportunity in every case, in accordance with natural talents, merit and the desire to utilize the resources that the state or the community is in a position to provide. Every person has the right to receive, free, at least a primary education. " However, education has become a mandate. Don't go to school and see how long it takes before a truant officer comes knocking. Education is the only "right" like that. If I don't exercise my right to free speech, nothing happens to me, but if I choose not to go to school, my parents get a fine? Does that seem consistent? I'd also like to call attention to the atmosphere in schools. A large portion of time is spent dealing with students who don't want to attend school, keeping them focused, on task, and in line. With several teachers as family members, I know that there are certain students teachers wish wouldn't show up to school, simply because they're a distraction and nothing ever gets done when they're around. Being a student, I know several others who wish not only to be out of school (does anyone actually love school? ) but wish to disrupt everything they can. If I have to go to school, I might as well get something out of it. It's no secret that America doesn't do as well academically as, say, Japan (and I'm not advocating that the U. S. do anything as severe as the Japanese do). Not to say that the Japanese don't have bad students and America doesn't have good students, but overall, Japan has a better education system that America does. By making education a privilege instead of a right, schools eliminate the distractions, allowing a curriculum to become more advanced, which, in turn, leads to a more intelligent population to those who make an effort to stay involved in the school system. Parental involvement will also increase with a penalty for failing to make the mark. If a parent realizes that their child won't be able to do much without an education that doesn't have to exist, pressure will come from parents for their children to excel. Suddenly, the child/student isn't always right. There may actually be some merit to what a teacher has to say, contrary to today's belief. The "entitlement generation" believes that everything should just be given to them because they're "perfect", a fact which simply isn't true and promotes the further lack of education in our society. The fine details of when students would begin to be analyzed for the continuation of their studies (or lack thereof) shouldn't play a role in this debate, as the debate is only over whether this is a good idea or not. My major arguments this round, then, are: 1) Education has become a mandate 2) Many students take education for granted 3) This leads to a regression in society 4) Parents will get involved when education has the potential to be taken away 5) Making education a privilege will solve many of the problems with the education system 6) This debate is only on whether this is a good idea or not. With that, I'll open this up to my opponent, but first, a quick word to the judges. I ask that you vote purely upon the credentials of the debate, and not on personal opinion. I ask that you leave any personal knowledge out of your reason for judging. Finally, when deciding who you will vote for, if you could leave a reason for decision in the comment section, it'd be greatly appreciated. Thanks. For these reasons, you can Affirm.