Leon Bolstein

"Love goes toward love, as schoolboys from their books; but love from love, toward school with heavy looks." -William Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet

None will dispute that the adolescent mind is often more concerned with romance, sports, clothing, basically anything other than academics. In his piece High School, an Institution Whose Time Has Passed, Leon Bolstein endeavors to convince his audience that high school should be abolished and that the entire academic ideology should be restructured. With his impassioned diction and subtle fallacies, he almost succeeds; but when logic is applied it is apparent that his argument is faulty and ineffective. He claims that the world as an environment contradicts the social hierarchy that is high school, when that is false. He misleads the audience when analyzing how youths are more adapt to handle more and therefore do not need high school. He also argues that teens are more apt to skip high school because of all the information that is accessible to them virtually. Had Bolstein focused on why secondary education is irrelevant because of failure in academic standards, his case might have had more credit, but regardless, high school is quite essential, when examining it for social benefits.

To dispute the existence of cliques and the aspect of human nature that drives us to be bias is irrational, but this is not 1984 and Molly Ringwold is all grown-up. Bolstein's first and thus major point is that high school is obsolete because "it is defined by insiders and outsiders" and those with a pass behind that coveted velvet rope are God. (Bolstein) He mentions testimonials of high school alum that witnessed the isolation-creating class system in order to back up his campaign, and it is not so much the testimonials themselves which might sway readers but where they came from. Bolstein published his piece brilliantly not long after the tragedy that was the Columbine massacre. Because of the so-called "motivations" that were the cause of countless innocent deaths, perceptions were skewed on memories of times spent in high school. Those boys claimed that because of the torture that the hierarchy of social status in high school, they found no other choice but vengeance in order to reclaim their self-esteem. Human-beings need a reason for why things occur, they need to believe that people are not just randomly cruel; so they put credit into the boys reasoning, even if merely subconsciously. Now every small plight that previous generations had to endure was exaggerated and seemed to define one's existence. The appeal to passion is so blatant it almost annotates itself in the text. Yes, there are groups in high school that can be characterized by their status, interests, abilities, etc, and yes for some it can be unfair, but honestly this is why high school is essential. Bolstein's great flaw in his piece is when he talks about how the world changes once graduation is over writing that "the rules of high school turn out not to be the rules of life." (Bolstein) It would not be surprising to learn his mother was his source of this bit of commentary, because that is the old adage, "don't listen to the bullies, because one day you'll be their boss." While intelligence does play a role in how one ends up in the real world and it does occur that the submissive becomes the dominator, life is not always quite that fair. It is the real world, but here is a news flash, everything is the real world, even high school. The social pyramid witnessed during those four years does not up and dissipate with a diploma and a handshake; the rich stay rich, the beautiful stay beautiful, and the intelligent stay intelligent. Those crucial years spent in the confines of high school corresponds to when a child is deciding who they are. True growth in one's character can only be achieved in spite of adversity, not when it is non-existent. Testimonials of "outsiders" who saw the light once they reached college and claim to be so much better off now that he or she has left high school proves only that it drove them to better him- or herself. (Bolstein) A perfect world cannot exist, because the idea of perfection only exists because imperfection does. Success is not possible without the fear of failure or oppression. It is a cynical outlook, but the hypothetical utopia Bolstein writes about doesn't exist. The world is high school. Adults have myspace and facebook, social calendars take precedence over work, and it is all still who one knows not what one knows.

Bolstein writes that his "primary reason" why high school should be abolished