Age:
Post High School
Reading Level: 5.0
Chapter 1
Children starting school this year will be retiring in 2080.
I don’t know what the world will look like five years from now! So, I really have no idea what it will look like in 2080.
I know it will be unpredictable.
Unfortunately, we are teaching the children that the world is predictable. That there is a standard they can depend on.
In some ways, our education system is like fast food. Everything is standardized, exactly the same.
But eating fast food leaves our bodies malnourished, without the nutrients we need to survive and be healthy.
This fast-food education is leaving our children’s brains malnourished and unhealthy—just like fast food leaves our bodies unhealthy.
Chapter 2
In my neighborhood, almost every family is a fast food family.
Over a hundred families live at my apartment complex. We all live in one building. The building is part of a gated community. Only people who live here can be here.
The building has a huge playground for children. But children don’t get to use it. At least not often.
They are taking classes. Or studying. Not playing.
The playground is getting old. It’s gathering dust. Children can’t take breaks to play on the playground.
Any time they are playing is time they should be studying.
Parents don’t want their children to be known as the children who play on the playground. They want their children to be known as the children who ace the tests.
Chapter 3
My neighbor, Meera, is a very modern mother. Both she and her husband are skilled planners. They have their lives planned from today until they retire.
We have another neighbor, Veena. Meera adores Veena. Because Veena’s child goes to a school that tells students, “College begins at kindergarten.”
I want to scream:
NO IT DOES NOT. Kindergarten begins at kindergarten...
