Schools and Cults
I am a senior in high school, and it was just recently when the news was being plastered with images of that Mormon "cult" that I realized how much my school shared in common with a cult. What happens at school is largely unknown to the outside world, like a cult. Most parents probably don't know that at a place like my school I can get a hold of any type of drug, from pills to cocaine. Twice we've had a kid bring a gun to school, and nobody was notified. Also, brainwashing. Something associated with cults is now apparent in schools. Administrations try to make kids believe that if they can pass a standardized test they can succeed in the world. In reality, it just gives the school money. One of the big things about that Mormon cult was the fact that some of the girls with children were too young to have children. Do I really need to make a connection to school? Tell me if I do. Cults make their own rules, as do schools. Cults are fortified, have some sort of protection usually, barbed wire fences or guards to prevent people from going in and out. Schools also have guards to prevent people from going in and out.
Schools and cults may seem a world apart, but if you are in either one and you don't kill yourself, the food and drink will.
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Comments
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Very true. I, however, started one of the in school cults that still hasn't been traced back to me, at least as far as I know.
I actually compared an average American high school with a minimum security prison. My high school just installed cameras in the hallways. And they aren't the kind that are surrounded by a reflective material, they track people and watch them. The creepy part is that you can see them move. Gah.
Minimum security prison, anyone???
Anyway, well done with this!
Nikki
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yes. I totally see minimum security prison. I'm used to the cameras though. Been there for a while. My school also has metal detectors. Another prison thing. I think the biggest relation to prison though may come from were you least, or most expect it. The food. Both prisons and schools, well my school at least, is issued greade D meat. The bottom of the barrel. The only difference between students and prisoners is that students have to pay for their food.
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I just found out that as soon as we get our pics taken next week, we're expected to wear the issued IDs on school issued lanyards with our ID numbers clearly labelled on the back. I guess they've got barcodes as well, and they'll have those little scanners to see if you've got any unserved detentions or worse. It seems an awful lot like cops searching for outstanding warrants. We don't have metal detectors yet, but I heard they're in the works for the next five years. We actually have decent food. It's something that the community insisted upon, it's where most of the money goes, rather than fixing the window in the English wing with a bullet hole, the leaky cafeteria roof, and the math books we've been using since 1976...
Anyway, I guess all I really have to say is that the officials need to sort out their priorities...
Nikki
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Smiling and thinking how smart this is...
lol Schools are supposed to make us think... That's a big part of what an education is: The ability to reason and draw logical conclusions. But you are correct in that schools do have some odd quirks that keep students in the trenches of learning.
What you say about the standardized tests is a case in point. Schools teach you how to pass a test so that the school can gain the federal funding they need. The parallel of cults you have drawn is brilliant.
Mormons stopped practicing polygamy way over 100 years ago and anybody who chooses to live with multiple wives is excommunicated. But I know you use the term "Mormon" in a general sense here, for the odd cults who seem to associate themselves with Mormon teaching in some ways, drawing on the old days when polygamy was practiced in that church. BTW... The football player, Steve Young, is a descendant of Brigham Young, who had many wives and a LOT of children. 
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