Education: Right or Privilege?

Accessing a good education is far more a right, and not a privilege. Article XII of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man (1948) states that, "Every person has the right to an education, which should be based on the principles of liberty, mortality, and human solidarity." However, studies indicate a decaying educational system across the board, and without the finances to ensure a proper education, many suffer the consequences. The right of education, however, still remains and children are offered a free education from K-12.

Early education, as early as preschool, is far more a privilege of those who can afford it, but programs are in place to help the financially strained with preschool issues. Same is to be said for higher education. There are financial aid programs in place that can help a person obtain a higher education with stipulations of maintaining a "C" grade point and above. This eliminates a lot of the distractive students from the classrooms focusing more on being responsible for your own education. This makes sense in weeding out, if you will, the non-participants. Scholarships and aid are available to people across the board and can be utilized fairly easily.

Junior High to High School students, who often attend school to be the class clown, or who consistently get straight "F"s should not be allowed to remain in our classrooms. The importance of an education should be stressed at the home level, but often are not. Many parents of these students did not graduate from high school and were either kicked out or they decided to drop out. They cause far more a distraction to the learning of the students who want to be there. If education was a privilege, teachers would not have to put up with their lackadaisical attitudes and distractions in their classrooms. More time could be spent actually teaching, as opposed to keeping someone focused or on track. As it stands, with education being a right, teachers are forced to spend the time with the troubled students.

If the parents of these students did not stress the importance of education, and did not graduate themselves, they tend to not care about whether or not their child graduates. The same can be said of their children, thus the cycle ensues. These attitudes can carry over to other students who may otherwise do well, once again making them more of a distraction than worth taking the time for. Making education a privilege can help to develop teacher-student relationships without overcrowding our classrooms, not to mention the time taken away from students there to learn. I believe there should be stricter rules regarding these disruptive children, allowing the teachers to take their' classrooms back.

It is the right of every child to receive a free education, elementary through twelfth grade. There are many programs and scholarships available to students in the