Every child tries to get out of going to school from time to time, but it turns out that attending school has real, lasting benefits for kids beyond learning about Shakespeare and the Pythagorean theorem. In many nonacademic ways, school prepares kids for the workplace and the world.
Legal Reasons
The most basic reason children should attend school is because it’s the law. State compulsory education laws require children between the ages of 6 and 16 (18 in some states) to attend school. In most states, parents who do not send their children to school or legitimately home school them can be fined or arrested.
Social Benefits
A healthy democracy depends on people who are educated enough to make good choices when it comes to voting and participating in civic duties, a Washington Post story written by Valerie Strauss asserted. The National Education Association reports that high school dropouts contribute only half as much in taxes as graduates and that dropouts require more government help in the form of food stamps, housing assistance and welfare payments. According to the National Education Association, dropouts also have an increased chance of ending up in prison.
Personal Benefits
No matter how much they might grumble about going, children benefit from going to school. School helps kids learn how to interact with others, set goals and accomplish them, learn to take turns, work as a team and deal with challenges, Strauss wrote in her Washington Post story. All of these skills are important for success in the workplace later in life. Educated people earn more money, too. In 2008, the NEA reported that high school dropouts typically earned $9,000 less each year than graduates.
Exposure to Diversity
Schools can expose children to other children who are different from them in terms of family structure, income, ethnic heritage, religion and race. This exposure can teach children not just to tolerate, but to accept others. Racial and ethnic diversity in schools promotes cross-racial understanding and breaks down stereotypes, according to Arthur Coleman of the U.S. Department of Education. This understanding equips children to live and work in a multicultural democracy.
Home Schooling
For some families, home schooling is the best choice for a variety of reasons, but it has its downside. Parents who home school must follow legal requirements as to what needs to be taught, must do research on each subject, must learn about the subjects themselves and must do the actual teaching, according to the Kids Health website.
Some critics of home schooling say that the parents' lack of educational training deprives children of the learning they should be getting. A high school biology teacher, for example, must be an expert in only one field, but a home-schooling parent must master six or seven fields. Kids who are home schooled also don’t have easy access to gymnasiums, science labs or art studios. Kids Health reports that children don’t get the same level of social interaction if they are not part of a class, which might mean home-schooled kids have a hard time not being the center of attention, waiting their turn or working as part of a team, which are all virtues in the workplace.
