INTERVIEWS AS RESEARCH EVIDENCE: ARE THEY CONVINCING?

 

1.      In Turkle’s “Growing Up Tethered” interviews by both parents and their children are extensively used to make her points about the use of the Internet.  They are revealing, heartfelt and convincing, but they could mask a wider truth.

2.      Whilst some wider statistics are contained in the article, she uses her interview quotes to validate many of her points.  Whilst this certainly gives a detailed point of view, they may not be most common experience of using the Internet (in this case).  The quotes used hit home when they align with the readers own experience.  For example, she quotes a parent who says,

"I’ve sent a text. Nothing back. And I know they have their phones. Intellectually, I know there is little reason to worry. But there is something about this unanswered text. Sometimes, it made me a bit nutty. One time, I kept sending texts, over and over. I envy my mother. We left for school in the morning. We came home. She worked. She came back, say at six. She didn’t worry. I end up imploring my children to answer my every message. Not because I feel I have a right to their instant response. Just out of compassion." (Turkle, 2020).

3.      This is a situation I, and I’m sure others have experienced when using WhatsApp or texting and validates my opinion of the disadvantages of being me (and clearly this poor parent) and using this app.  It may not be the wider truth however.  Statistics (say) reinforce an argument by giving a broad picture but they are cold and often open to challenge due to the way they can be qualified or use selectively.  Likewise, so can the use of interview and testimony.  In this case, I agree with Turkle’s interviewee.  It is my truth as it is my experience and clearly that of Turkle’s frustrated parent but for many others, perhaps a little less highly strung about the issue, it is not their experience and not their truth.  This group maybe the majority.

4.      To support a point in a paper the more evidence the more the writer will recruit to his or her point of view.  The more methods employed to justify a position the more likely it is be true.  We can see this contrasted by the Shira Chess et al piece “What Does a Gamer Look Like? Video Games, Advertising, and Diversity” where tables and data are used powerfully to reinforce their argument.  Whilst confusing and perhaps cold to the casual reader this does suggest more research has been performed.

5.      The power of an interview is it gives feeling and nuance that other “point provers” cannot.  It is very powerful and personal but on its own may not be enough to make a position compelling.  Multiple sources and multiple data collections together with anecdotal experience will always be more compelling in making an argument.  The interview and personal testimony generally will give any argument feeling and depth but should be used together with other compelling information to portray the truth and convince the reader.

 

S P RATTLEY

 

Cited:

1.      Turkle, Sherry.  Growing up Tethered -- Inquiry to Academic Writing: A text and Reader, 5^th Edition: page 583-: 2020. Ebook

2.      Chess, Shira. Evans, Nathaniel J. and Baines, Joyya Jadawn. “What Does a Gamer Look Like? Video Games, Advertising, and Diversity - Inquiry to Academic Writing: A text and Reader, 5^th Edition: page 636: 2020. Ebook

THE INTERNET – REAL TIME FAME, FORTUNE, FANATACISM AND FRAUD

 

INTRODUCTION

 

1.      I am not a big user of the Internet to communicate with my loved ones.  I have no real interest is speaking to those I do not know personally either.  I rarely play online games and when I do, I do not indulge in the real time text capabilities these games seem to ubiquitously offer.  I have been defrauded using internet banking and making online purchases, so I am also a little wary of the Internet from that perspective too.  To me communication between my friends and family is a personal interaction and it is greatly valued therefore I take care in my exchanges.  I value my privacy and the right to choose who knows what about me.

2.      I like talking face to face with the telephone a good second best.  I am confident in the use of my language to express myself and can take criticism for what I say.  Using these methods to exchange views I get to say and understand more for the same amount of time.  Speaking has nuance.  Looking at someone gives me their emphasis, expression and body language that Pidgeon English half sentences and emojis cannot. In short, I need the internet and I recognise it is a massive force for good in the world but I do not trust it and I do not make it the centre of my world or my prime way of communicating.  The problem is despite what I want, I am forced to use the Internet.  It is not my choice, but I have no choice but to and I hate the compulsion.  Yes, you could say I am biased!

3.      Why could the Internet pose different problems from previous technological advances in spreading ideas and knowledge?  As captives of the Internet, are we being subliminally manipulated by it?  If so, by whom and why?  What are the potential consequences? Is it a price worth paying?

THE INTERNET - A RADICALLY DIFFERENT MEDIUM

4.      My opinions on the Internet could be said (and were said) of the mediums that preceded it.  The Internet is radically different however and the difference may be telling.

5.      Johannes Gutenberg is credited as making the first movable type printing press in Europe in the 15^th Century (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2022).  One of his first books was the Gutenberg Bible and the fact it gave access to the bible to others than the clergy was revolutionary.  “The legacy of the Gutenberg Bible was a revolution in the relationship between reading and authority in the early modern period.” (Champion, 2018).  It was not very accessible however.  It was in Latin and produced at a time where literacy was not common let alone the ability to read a second, “dead”, language.  The book was over a thousand pages long and heavy weighing in at about 30kg.  Overall, it was not very accessible and although its impact was profound, its importance was understood and exploited by only a few.  You had to have a need to be aware of its value.  It didn’t appear to you in your home for free and/or uninvited.

6.      The advent of television (and home video) revolutionised the dissemination of fiction, news and learning when compared to the printing press and journals.  Just like books, it became an ever present in the home.  On for long hours and complete with live news broadcasts television was also doubted as an overall good thing for society.  The opinions ranged from the silly to the deeply concerned.  George Boar, a farmhand from Suffolk, was quoted in the Feb. 1939 issue of Radio Times in an interview just after he had “invested his whole fortune” to buy a television receiver: “Television’s far more entertaining and much less trouble than a wife would be.”  (Elon University, 2022).  More serious concerns were made about the breakdown of “conventional life” and the need for censorship.  The US Department of Health, Education and Welfare in its 1972 report to the Surgeon General stated. 

“The experimental studies bearing on the effects of aggressive television entertainment content on children support certain conclusions. first, violence depicted on television can immediately or shortly thereafter induce mimicking or copying by children. second, under certain circumstances television violence can instigate an increase in aggressive acts.” 

7.      It seems very alarmist in 2022 but both TV and mass-produced books and journals had three things in common.  They were revolutionary technologies in their time in that they were targeted at the masses.  Secondly, they changed society through the spread of fiction, ideas, news and knowledge.  Finally, they were a one-way transmission.  This last point limited their effects on the world.  Minority and controversial views and the people who held them we still fragmentary and these opinions were drowned out by the mainstream.  Also, whilst data could be collected from the sale and use of TV and books it was limited and the effort to process the data was huge in comparison to the digital Internet.

8.      The Internet is a very different medium.  The Internet enables real-time two-way transmission and it records what is said by whom, at what time and allows groups to form despite the limitations of geography and language.  As well as its benign attributes the Internet has the power to create communities around extreme views and logs our desires, opinions and life histories - forever.  A far cry from the optimistic days of the educationally focused ARPANET and its lofty goal of enabling learning and understanding by the convenient spread of knowledge for the betterment of mankind.

WHY WE NEED THE INTERNET – REAL TIME CONNECTIONS

9.      The Internet is more than algorithms and fake news.  It enables dependant platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram and a whole host of other online platforms.  WhatsApp is a safe, ad and algorithm free space where communication is king.  I do use WhatsApp often and I built the relationship with my fiancée on it.  This to me is a great innovation and given my sentiments expressed above gives me real life improved functionality.  WhatsApp is very cheap, secure and unwitnessed.  It is essential for my life and the preferred method to communicate with my family in the UK.

10.  Even here however there are pitfalls that probably say more about our ability to use these platforms than the platforms themselves.  My point is best highlighted by an over-dinner conversation (real world) with 2 Vice Presidents of multinational businesses only a few weeks ago.  Worldly, experienced and highly trained people and all of us are over 51 years old.  The lady concerned was 60 years old and had a fledgling romance with a gent from New York.  She lives 3000 miles from him.

11.  It went like this.  After we ate, about 10 in the evening, “VP60” opened her phone whilst talking and in mid-flow.  Her mood changed from smiley fun to grave depression instantly.  She commented that her new fella had not texted her in 4 hours and started to rant that this was not good enough and how rude he was.  I suggested that he may be with his children a little longer than anticipated.  Her reply was he has his phone on him and it takes a second to say “Hi” “good morning” etc.  After letting that settle for a moment or two, VP60 shed a tear over the terrible calamity.  Of course, the reason was indeed innocent.  He extended the duration of his family event and was with his children.  The relationship failed a short time later with the gentlemen stating he cannot do a long-distance relationship in this way.

12.  I then reflected on my distance romance with my lady.  I realised I had done the same thing some months earlier.  My lady happened to be driving and I realised that both VP60 and myself had changed our expectations of others due to the instant communication possible via the Internet.  It could be perceived as a slight if we do not receive an instant reply to a text.  This appears to be supported by a contributor to Sherry Turkle’s piece “Growing Up Tethered” where a mother of three writes about texting her children,

"I’ve sent a text. Nothing back. And I know they have their phones. Intellectually, I know there is little reason to worry. But there is something about this unanswered text. Sometimes, it made me a bit nutty. One time, I kept sending texts, over and over. I envy my mother. We left for school in the morning. We came home. She worked. She came back, say at six. She didn’t worry. I end up imploring my children to answer my every message. Not because I feel I have a right to their instant response. Just out of compassion." (Turkle, 2020)

13.  The lesson here is that we can perceive the actions of others differently due to the real-time comms capability the Internet enables.  It can affect people’s judgement of the actions of others.  Perhaps it depends on the person, but we may need to adjust accordingly to exploit this new way of being.

14.  As enabler for business real-time, cheap voice, video document and text exchange on the move is a major benefit to modern life and business and it will not be changing.  Whatever changes we human beings need to make to keep up, there is no doubt this is a major improvement in global human capability improving the living environment for most of our planet.  It is the good news story of the Internet.  It allows humans to be humans but faster and more productive.

FAME, FORTUNE, FANATISICM AND FRAUD

15.  Amongst the many social media platforms, Melissa Avdeeff in her excellent piece "Beyoncé and Social Media: Authenticity and the Presentation of Self" (Avdeeff, 2020) sums up my observations regarding Instagram users perfectly.  She states,  "A carefully curated Instagram profile, in some instances, functions to increase perceived authenticity of the star, but on the other hand, functions to mask the authentic self through the curation process." (Avdeeff, 2020).  She goes on to add,  "…it goes beyond the presentation of social scripts, towards a complicated balance between self-branding and a desire to “sell” a product which is essentially themselves." (Avedeeff, 2020).  It is my observation that this is the awkward truth behind the popularity of uptake of many Instagram and other social media platforms.  It isn’t even about the money, it is about the exposure to the non-Beyonce punter, the need to be part of a community with the “like” and the often repeated, glebe, predictable and expected “You look great!” comments that give pleasure to the average user.  Whether the photo’s or posts are an accurate portrayal of the real self is a secondary concern.  The attention and verification of/to a lifestyle or action is the reward.  The sense of being online and part of that movement being the driver.  It seems the number of “likes” or views being the calibrator of the depth of the penetration being the currency.  The real world is secondary to this.

16.  The followers of celebrities such as Beyonce number in the millions.  The hours of human interactions with Beyonce’s site and the numerous other stars and less well-known Internet “influencers” must be in the billions.  Whether this a good use of such a commitment in time is debatable.  There is no real tangible output for such a massive time commitment.  The only real winners are the heavy weights like Beyonce.  It increases their revenue.  To ordinary people who copy the approach to using social media the reward is less clear.  The mind does drift to ask a question however, what if this time was used to do something else?  Would the world be a better place?

CONCLUSIONS

17.  Are we being manipulated by the Internet?  Yes.  The existence of algorithms that put advertising, whether for products, ideas or people (another product?) cannot exist without sites that attract clicks/likes/comments.  It is the life blood of online advertisers and marketeers.  It tells them who we are and with sophisticated techniques predicts what you would like to see or buy next.  This is well known and accepted.  It keeps the “clicker” within a well-defined space online and must deliver a financial pay off to someone or it would not happen.  Who are the beneficiaries?  People and organisations who can afford the time and research to commission such online snooping technology.  Political parties, big business and celebrities to name a few.

18.  Is there anything wrong with this?  Yes and no and it depends on the person.  I am a musician.  When I come off stage to a standing ovation or hear the roar of a crowd, I feel great!  I think about the terror of walking on stage in the first place.  I think of the many hours of effort gone into practising.  I think of the investment in equipment, I think of the teamwork that has gone into getting the lights right, the sound clear and songs sounding authentic.  It not about the money.  The attention is fun but it is a vindication of a team effort to enable me and my band mates to perform well and produce a good product.  Believe me, there have been times when no one has turned up or we simply fell apart on stage and the reaction is not applause!  For me, I want recognition for something that is genuinely difficult to do.  My college course for example.

19.  For others it is escapism and the feeling of being current that is the vindication.  Most social media platforms show profiles that are clones one of another.  The more developed seek to copy, if only in a small way, those of the stars and celebrities they follow.  It is my view that being “up” on the latest post from this person or that the social media participant feel current and more importantly can be seen as being relevant among their peers.  For some it is an addiction, to others a way of killing time and to have something “interesting” to chat about.

20.  Social media platforms make searching and going from one profile to another quick.  It exposes the watcher to more advertising, and it makes it very easy for the viewer to spend more and more time on the platform as the algorithms fill up with the viewers preferences.  To me, it is a waste of my time.  I don’t buy it.  For others I get it.  I just wish they would not walk out in the street in front of my car, eyes glued on their screens.  I just wish that they also give the same amount of time to their families in person.  I hope they go to work or college and give full commitment.  I hope they include their loved ones in their posts and celebrate the real world rather than just the avatar they wish to portray.  I hope they get inspired to do more difficult things with their time.  I hope it inspires to give breadth and depth to their real world.

21.  I am sceptical of the real value in pursuing an online life.  If we paraded in the real world like we parade online – people would think us boring and lightweight.  As Jia Tolentino put it, "The internet is governed by incentives that make it impossible to be a full person while interacting with it. In the future, we will inevitably be cheapened."  (Tolentino, 2020).  I have friends that say they have been stalked.  A recent TV series in the UK was titled “The Social Media Murders”.  Algorithms ensure we see what we want to see and we are not exposed to products, people and ideas that don’t fit our online life.  The Internet is also the greatest library in human history, and it is growing every year.  Overall, is it a force for good?  Yes.  Is it worth the price?  Yes.  Does it tie up vast amounts of otherwise productive time, the most precious commodity of all?  Yes.  The Internet is not the problem.  For good reasons it is not going away.  The key to being worthwhile is how you use it.

 

S P RATTLEY

 

References:

1.      Encyclopaedia Britannica, Johannes Gutenberg. www.britannica.com/biography/johannes-gutenberg Retrieved 2022

2.      Champion, Justin. “Gutenberg’s Bible: The Real Information Revolution” History Today, Volume 68 Issue 10. 2018.

3.      Elon University “Imagining the Internet – A History and Forecast” www.elon.edu/u/imagining/time-capsule/150-years/back-1920-1960/  2018

4.      Surgeon General's Scientific Advisory Committee “Television and Growing up - the impact of televised violence - report to the Surgeon General, US Public Health Service on Television and Social Behavior” US Department of Justice. 1972

5.      Turkle, Sherry.  Growing up Tethered -- Inquiry to Academic Writing: A text and Reader, 5^th Edition: page 583-: 2020. Ebook

6.      Avdeeff, Melissa.  Beyonce and Social Media – Authenticity and the Presentation of Self - Inquiry to Academic Writing: A text and Reader, 5^th Edition: page 599-600: 2020. Ebook

7.      Tolentino, Jia.  The I in Internet - Inquiry to Academic Writing: A text and Reader, 5^th Edition: page 659: 2020. Ebook

EDUCATION IN THE USA – MORE THAN LEARNING

 

INTRODUCTION

1.      Education is like love in the USA.  It is all about the eye of the beholder.  To some it is the glass ceiling.  To others it is the hammer that smashes it.  To some others it is the ability to make money from nothing.  To yet more it is the ability to fix a dripping tap or land a right hook squarely on the chin.  Education divide’s opinion in the US.  It creates controversy but enables careers.  It develops the inner self but represents class.  It provides jobs but keeps some unemployed.  It can enhance social standing but keep others down.  All of these things are true in the eye of the beholder.  The most held view about education appears to be it is a good thing and worth the experience – all very confusing.  How can something so omnipresent and necessary in the world’s most successful country be so questioned – be so doubted?  This is what I hear.

2.      To me, before I was asked to write about these questions, the answer was simple.  As a fledgling engineer at 16 years old, it was a way to convert my boyhood desires into what I want to do in life.  It was the way to learn how telephone systems worked.  Once I knew this, I could be telecommunications engineer and that is what I wanted to do.  No controversy, simple glide path, no doubts, very attainable.

 

3.      As my career progressed, I needed profession qualifications.  These taught me how to run projects, how to manage people, businesses, budgets and change.  It taught me how businesses were organized, about best practice, models and global economics.  Education to me was a simple escalation path linked to my career as I ascended through it.  My education amounted to “need to know” stuff, acquired over a 30-year period, to advance my career as the career ladder was climbed.  More or less, the opportunities to be educated were available to everyone.  The standard is more or less common across the country.  Prices were common across the country limited by law. You just had to take the journey or not – no pressure to do either.  I chose to have a career, some did not and were happy going down a different path in other careers/jobs.  Both my partner and I left school at 16.  I made Director and owned my own business she is VP of a multinational.  Most of my friends and neighbors back home have small businesses or experience lifelong training from their employers.  Grants and tax breaks are made available for this.

4.      The first inkling that something different was the norm in the USA occurred when attending my English classes.  Until this point education to me was something you did or didn’t do but there was a choice and the quality of it was standardized for the vast majority.  It is reasonably cheap with Batchelor’s degrees still free (it was free everywhere 15 years ago) in some parts of the country and where it isn’t the cost is capped and you only repay when you can afford it with the government reasonably happy if the money is never paid back.  To me as a Civil Servant my further and higher education was totally free.  Whatever I wanted, including my MSc course, was totally free.  Generally speaking, the role of the employer in subsidizing the workforces education by far the norm.  The employer pays some, most or all of its employees further and higher education costs.  This is my personal education culture.  It is my experience and it is very uncomplicated one.  It is the position I write this assignment from, and it cannot be changed.

5.      So, this essay is an analysis of the culture of education in the USA written from the perspective of an outsider.  It is based on the question this paper poses to me and the sources I have been asked to cite.

6.      Why does education divide opinion in the USA in the terms it does?  Why is it debated here?  Why is it linked to status? Are there parallels with the UK culture and my experience?  Is there anything I may have not seen or simply overlooked in my education journey (son of a shipbuilder) that say I have been lucky?

WHAT DOES “EDUCATED” MEAN?

7.      More to the point, what does the verb to educate mean?  The top two definitions from the Oxford English Dictionary are very interesting and set the theme for the rest of this piece.  They are two sides of the same coin, but they confirm the different interpretations of the word.  It is the start of understanding how one interpretation can be viewed as against the other rather than being the same thing perhaps provided by different educators, in different places.  To me, these definitions are the crux of the education debate in the USA.

Definition 1:  “To bring up (a child) so as to form his or her manners, behaviour, social and moral practices, etc.; to rear in a particular way.” (OED Online, 2022)

Definition 2:  “To teach (a child) a programme of various academic and non-academic subjects, typically at a school; to provide with a formal education. Also: to provide (an adult) with instruction, esp. in a chosen subject or subjects at a college, university, or other institution of higher education.” (OED Online, 2022)

WHAT ARE THE POSITIONS IN THE USA?

8.      This author has been exposed to six definable positions regarding education in the USA.  Firstly, the optimistic arguments:

a.       Education is an end in itself.  It satisfies curiosity, expands the mind and gives a greater understanding of the environment in which we live.  This gives peace of mind and contentment.

b.      Education is a gateway to membership to an elite club – the intellectuals, social climbers etc.  Education drives social mobility and can make all intellectuals and that is a good thing.

c.       Education is not just the literary arts.  People should also be valued in society for their vocational skills, sporting prowess and other skills acquired by an autodidact manner.

9.      Then, the negative arguments:

a.       Education has been deliberately weaponised and helps to maintain social divides.  There is a systemic failure in the delivery of education to all and this inhibits equality and fosters poverty and social unrest.

b.      Education is not standardized and linked directly to local resources.  The underprivileged are denied quality education from institutions with alleged poor reputations therefore trapped by their Zip code.  The wealthy on the other hand areas make more of their own.  Social mobility is denied.

c.       Education is directly linked to job prospects.  No education – no wealth.  If you want to earn money or get opportunities to earn money – education is a must.  It is binary choice made by the individual.

10.  While distinct there are overlaps and dependencies.  Again, however, it appears no one denies it is necessary; the doubts surround how it is delivered and what are its benefits and worth in practice.  This appears to be a live debate.  It is discussed at college (hence this paper) and the topic of many passionate articles and speeches.  On the negative side of the spectrum Kohn writes in his scathing New York Times article: “Why Can’t We All Get A’s”.  “The standards-and-accountability movement is not about leaving no child behind. To the contrary, it is an elaborate sorting device, intended to separate wheat from chaff. The fact that students of color, students from low-income families and students whose first language isn’t English are disproportionately defined as chaff makes the whole enterprise even more insidious.” (Kohn, 2019).  The “..whole enterprise” is the US education system.  His view is that education should be as much about inclusiveness as it is about the imparting of knowledge – inferring it doesn’t presently.

11.  David Foster Wallace seems to support this view.  In his thoughtful Kenyon Commencement address he concludes: “…the real value of a real education, which has almost nothing to do with knowledge, and everything to do with simple awareness; awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, all the time, that we have to keep reminding ourselves over and over: This is Water”.  He was addressing students here at a commencement event.  The fact he is asking them to get more from their studies than what is on offer infers he believes the system does not serve students well.  The emphasis is the present system is not quite right for overall health of the student or US society.

12.   How are the positive aspects of education described in the US?  Coates, in her inspirational piece “Between the world and me” described her feelings of blossoming due to education.  She summarised her journey thus: “The gnawing discomfort, the chaos, the intellectual vertigo was not an alarm.  It was a beacon” (Coats, 2020).  Her experience of being educated was one of enlightenment.  Not only by knowledge but by acceptance.  She fought against the odds of an impoverished background to study at one of the greatest learning institutions on the planet and be a success there.  A bitter sweet story but it changed her life for the better, but it was a struggle.  Her story is as inspirational as it is condemning.  She did not have a high school education; it was denied to her by inequality and other cultural reasons.  Her story is exceptional as is her talent.  Coats would probably have succeeded in anything she chose to do.  Whether plumbing, drug dealing, whatever.  Her drive and intellect were enough for “success”.  I doubt whether there are many “Coats” to the 100,000 other persons whose background was the same.  Whose culture was the same.

13.  Is education all about the literal arts?  The answer is an obvious no.  The world needs artisans as well as thinkers.  Vocational training is education.  An apprenticeship in a trade can also be as valuable a commodity for society and the fortunate recipient as a degree in English from Oxford.  Let’s look at Charles Mullins OBE, owner of Pimlico Plumbers of London.  Her we have a more common tale of where a non-literary arts education is every bit as success enabling as the Oxford degree.  To a lesser extent admittedly, this story proves that social mobility does not require acceptance into an intellectual elite.  Indeed, here we have a non-intellectual that has been decorated by HRH Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to the country.  He left school at 15 with no qualifications and is now an influential figure in the UK.  Charlie Mullins says “too much importance” has been put on exam results, and the row will "destroy a lot of people" because students were relying on these results for further education. (News, Sky. 2020).  His current worth is estimated at $80m.  Mullins was educated to fix pipes.  There are millions of plumbers around the world all have the skills to earn money if they choose to.  Can the same be said of a writer?  Who is more useful to society?  Who is the better educated?  Who will be more accepted into intellectual circles?  Does it matter?

CONCLUSIONS

14.  I am an outsider looking in on the current debate on education that seems to be occurring in the USA.  This paper is a reply to a question not asked of my Professor but mandated on him by his employer, Mercer County Community College.  That fact is justification enough that the US education system has been identified as flawed and divisive and an answer is sought to a problem that should not be present in the worlds remaining Super Power.  The talent wasted bu=y the patchy application of a high quality education system must be staggering.  In many ways it is a statement about the culture of education and the educated in the USA.  It is not my culture or experience however and I am thankful for that.  I have only been here for 4 months.  I am also white, 56 years old and speak with a “cut” English accent.  Given the question posed and the learning in my English class to date it is unlikely I will experience the discrimination associated with the inferred sub-text behind the question this paper asks me to consider.

15.  What is obvious however is this; and my final conclusions are very simple.

a.       Education needs to be delivered to everyone.

b.      It needs to be standardized.

c.       It needs to be delivered to the same standard across the country.

d.      The obvious fact is that we need trained plumbers and trained writers – they are both educated.

e.       Artisans are more common than writers and mathematicians - and so is their monetary contributions to the countries tax system and employment figures.

f.        Education is education whether it is vocational, parenting, sporting prowess or the literal arts.  It should be valued as such.

16.  My final words on this mortifying and time-wasting (considering how obvious the solution to the inferred problem is) debate I give to Nelson Mandela in the vain hope his words and their obvious truth turn debate into action and help heal American society from the ground up by quality education for all.

“Few things make the life of a parent more rewarding and sweet as successful children. There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children. Let us reach out to the children.”  (Mandela, Nelson. 1981)

“Our children are our greatest treasure. They are our future. Those who abuse them tear at the fabric of our society and weaken our nation.” – (Mandela, Nelson. 1997)

S P RATTLEY

References:

1.      "educate, v." OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2022. Web. 1 April 2022.

2. Kohn, Alfie. Why Can’t Everyone Get A’s. 15^th June 2019.  New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/15/opinion/sunday/schools-testing-ranking.htm

3.       Wallace, David Foster. This is Water – Full Version – David Foster Wallace Commencement Speech. 19^th May 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI&t=338s

4.       Coats, Ta-Nehsi. Between the World and Me, Inquiry to Academic Writing: A text and Reader, 5^th Edition: page 23-27: 2020. Ebook

5.      News, Sky. “‘It's Complete Shambles."@Pimlicoplumbers Charlie Mullins Https://T.co/ejnnbh5gs4 Pic.twitter.com/rnfxz4jgbo.” Twitter, Twitter, 20 Aug. 2020, https://twitter.com/skynews/status/1296357251599474688.

6.      Mandela, Nelson. Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund Nelson Mandela quotes about children - Nelson Mandela Childrens Fund 2021

7.      Mandela, Nelson. National Men's March Speech, Pretoria. ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA AT THE NATIONAL MEN’S MARCH Pretoria, 22 November 1997 | South African History Online (sahistory.org.za)1997