A friend of mine teaches, and in a discussion we were having, he asked me to help judge the ethics of something he was doing in the class.  He was asking students to think.  He wondered that if, by requiring his students to formulate opinions on certain topics, so they could then write about his opinions, he was inadvertently engaging in some form of thought control. Some students protested that they "didn't care" about the topics they were being required to write about, therefore they didn't have any opinion to write.

My point of view is that as long as he isn't telling the students WHAT to think (i.e. telling them that they must have a certain opinion about a given topic) then asking them to put their brains to use is not a form of thought control.

I think, therefore I am. By asking his students to think, the teacher is merely asking for proof of their existence, of proof that they are the capable of thinking.  He felt bad because he was bringing up topics that he feels are important, and topics which he believes people in general should have an opinion about (or at least be informed well enough to make an opinion, even to not care, not just choosing apathy out of ignorance).

I asked him to confirm the age of his students. They are college freshman, most right out of high school.  I pointed out to him these are people who have paid for class, and therefore have paid to be challenged to think.  That should alleviate any guilt my friend might feel even more, but instead he was worried because of the reaction he was getting from his students; they didn't want to think about this topic, they didn't want to have an opinion.

That makes me question the students who are now in our university system.  Do they honestly expect that college should be a place where someone will stand at the front of a room and recite facts to them and not challenge them to think?

The sad truth is that some people actually DO expect this, as they think college is just a continuation of the primary and secondary school years.  Nowadays, you need a bachelor’s degree to get a decent job, whereas in the past a high school diploma would have sufficed.  In order to stand out among the crowd, one now must not only complete a bachelor' s degree, but also a graduate degree of some sort (Masters, Ph.D., etc.).  So, if nowadays you need a bachelor’s degree to be considered educated, why should students not expect the college should be like high school?  

It is ever more regrettable that students can make it through the primary and secondary education systems without being required to think about concepts that will affect their lives.  It has come to such a point that the students were complaining about having to think, something I consider fundamental to the education process.

I feel all this stems from the attention deficit our education systems receive from the government and community, but that my friend is another story.

Shoo! Get out of here; go think and prove you exist.

*EDITED BY MY FRIEND FOR GRAMMAR AND ACCURACY

The views of this article are absolutely the views of the creator of this website, but they are just personal opinion. If you don’t agree with the views expressed here, tough cookies. Ain’t freedom of speech great? If you have another perspective on the topic above, you may feel free to e-mail me. (Please include a name so I can give proper credit for the submission.) I may, depending on the number of responses, time constraints, and how I feel on any given day, post other people’s opinions on the topic.