One wonders about the viability of a system wherein most admit to cheating regularly and trying to get by with as little effort as possible. Another aspect of negative socialization, according to many scholars and homeschool advocates, is the school's emphasis on competition. A student is not regularly encouraged to do his best, but just to be better than someone else. Nor is he encouraged to cooperate with others. It is impressed upon him daily that progress has come about by competition.
Cooperation is considered utopian, cultish, or trivial.
The Case Against Competition. The glorification of sports in high school is another type of negative socialization. Sportsmanship is fine, but when students are given passing grades to stay on the football team and taught that winning is the only reason for playing, our priorities are misplaced. Also, the emphasis on attracting the opposite sex and having the latest in videos and cassettes places a premium on pleasure-a selfishness destructive of friendships and sound judgment. Many argue that the negative socialization in public schools produces a population lacking in those civic virtues necessary for the survival of a democracy.