“Schools fill you up too much too quickly. I don't mean to say they challenge you. I mean, they throw a lot of busy work in your face. Going to school is like being incredibly hungry and sitting at Burger King eating too much, too fast to be satisfied, and then throwing up. Good learning, like good nutrition, is not only mental and physical, but also spiritual. Generally you can only satisfy the desire calmly. If you don't have enough time or quiet to digest the knowledge, you just get a headache. (Llewellyn 49) Frantic learning makes going to school pointless. Your regurgitation, or rote learning, of random and useless facts about the pre-war period or how many oxygen molecules are needed to convert sulfur dioxide to sulfuric acid will not help facilitate learning. That's because you're not learning. You are memorizing. Learning is doing, using, trying and failing. Using grades as a basis for failing or passing is wrong. This is due to the little feedback they give. They should not be used to “label the unfit” or to “flush the dirt down the drain”. (Cat 4) The gradual increase in knowledge, experience and love that comes from doing things, sometimes successfully and sometimes not, is learning. If someone wants to learn, they will pursue this knowledge and, in turn, be successful in learning. It may not be possible to remove all rote learning from school, but you can remove it from lessons, such as science or English, that don't need it. Rote learning is inevitable. How else will you know how to add or subtract, memorize all the presidents, or many other important things? This knowledge taught can be very useful. Going to university, for example, would be impossible without... half the paper... ds should learn. They need a constructive environment where they can know through doing and not memorizing. They need to know why their mathematical formula is the way it is, or why iron doesn't oxidize. With these things changed in school, students can really enjoy going to school and learning at the same time. It makes no sense, other than keeping children out of the house, to go to school. You're not learning. Schools are supposed to be a time of joy and happiness, but can anyone honestly answer yes to the question about returning to elementary school? Why would a child want to waste their life without actually learning? I'm sure their parents didn't. References Llewellyn, Grace. The manual for the liberation of adolescents. 1st ed. 1 vol. Rockport, MA: Element, 1997. 41,49. Print.Gatto, John. “How Public Education Cripples Our Children and Why.” School on a Hill September 2003: 4. Print.