Public Schools in AmericaTo answer the statement made by Kozol regarding the nature of public schooling in America, one must consider the question of what exactly education is for in this country ; what is its purpose. I believe that education is used to produce what Kozol calls "good citizens": "defeated and non-defiant" people who will take the necessary jobs, pay the necessary taxes, and perform whatever other tasks the government, like voting. and jury duty. This is why the situation in American public schools has not changed since the time Kozol wrote The Night Is Dark..., and why things are unlikely to change without a revolution within the public school system. Personally, I don't think schools are places where children learn morals and ethics. I believe these are things you have to learn for yourself. The method of authority, as described by Charles Peirce in his writings, has no place in the formation of anyone's beliefs. Beliefs are completely subjective, meaning there are no “good” or “bad” beliefs to have. Therefore, why should the teaching of morals and ethics, which fall into the category of beliefs, be tolerated? According to Kozol, “the first act of an ethical child…might well be to begin the demolition of a blatantly unethical system.” structure like a public school,” and “no institution consciously devotes itself to the task of subsidizing its own demolition.” If public schools are inherently unethical, why would we want them to teach ethics to American children? The answer, of course, is that we wouldn't want to. If, for argument's sake, schools were ethical, then teaching ethics to children would not result in "its own demolition", but simply a change in the way of teaching. But obviously, to change the way public schools teach, the people in power, who currently run the schools, must be removed. They are the ones who will not “subsidize” their own demolition. One of the problems with the American public school system, as well as with democracy, is human nature. Once a person is in a position of power, they usually do not want to leave, even if staying is detrimental to the organization they are involved with. The problem of “lack of morals and ethics” in this country is of great magnitude. There is only one left and it continues to grow. It's understandable that some, if not most, people look at the state of the country and think that public school reform is the solution...