School

As much as I dislike having to go to school at times, I think it is needed. Gatto does make valid points, but I think school has many positive aspects that shouldn't be thrown away just because of the negatives. The first aspect he lists is the adaptive function which causes people to obey authority without judgment. This does often happen, although not with everyone, and can be negative. However, learning to obey authority in a way where people still make their own choices is important. Another part of school is the integrating function in which people learn to conform. Conformity in a way is important for some level of functioning, but I agree with Gatto's stance that it is bad because it can cause people to lose their true identity. The diagnostic and directive function, as he states, determines a student's role and the differentiating function determines a student's role and how they are treated based on their determined role. I think that this definitely occurs, but that is unfortunate. In terms of the selective function, I think it's true, but I'm not sure what I think about it. As bad as it sounds, society needs people to do the less desirable jobs. The aspects of school that Gatto lists are generally true and some are damaging. However, the benefits, such as an education and other nonacademic skills acquired, are more important.