School is a "Prison"?

[Aureate]

Tonight I encountered our School Survival Kit for the first time in years, and I'm afraid I must take issue with two of the characters comprising its introduction. A mere pair of quotation marks, one could easily overlook them. But that would be a grave misreading. The marks are placed to decisive effect in a sentence referencing school:

Quote:...there are alternatives to going to a "prison" every day...

Quotation marks have a diverse utility, but their purpose here is without a doubt to explain that the word prison is being used in an unusual way, one inconsistent with its conventional definition.

When we say "School is a 'prison'," do we mean that school is a metaphorical prison? Do we mean that school can seem like a jail for the mind? Do we mean that a poet might be able to link school and prison with intricate strands of comparison?

I prefer the philosophy of Peter Gray, that which would do politicians (and possibly some of our site authors) well: say what you mean, and mean what you say. When Gray says "School is a Prison," he doesn't need any apologetic quotation marks. He is speaking as literally as he would in observing aloud that his name is Peter, or that he is married.

Gray has access to a dictionary, and has found its entry for prison to describe school in the most concrete sense. I urge you to consult your own dictionary and decide for yourself whether school is a prison...or more of a "prison".

[brainiac3397]

I prefer "prison" but that's because I generally rely on Oxford dictionary. The webster one does add the part about being in a situation you cant escape though.

[Cianna200]

Well school is the following

1. Mandatory, you must go there under the threat of punishment (like prison)

2. Freedom restricted, we must stay in a certain place inside of school and are not allowed access to the outside world. (Like prison)

3. We are forced to wear uniforms (like prison)

4. We must get permission to do things, like raise our hand, and the freedom of speech is usually denied (like prison)

5. Misbehavior will result in more time in school (like prison)

6. You must do certain writing (like prison)

7. You eat at a specific time (like prison)

8. You must line up single file when you go outside a room (like prison)

9. You are subject to torment and mental stress (like prison)

10. You get probation (like prison)

11. You get visitors to see how you are doing (like prison)

12. Failure to do what is right will lengthen the time there (like prison)

13. Avoiding school will result in usually getting thrown into another prison (in prison, you just simply come back but may have harsher punishment)

14. School is a building behind a set of gates usually, like prison.

15. You get a certain time to be there like up to 12 or so years, than you are released as an ex child, usually free of innocence and mental health, in prison, you get certain time but if you are ever free, you get released an ex convict, usually free of mental health.

16. There are school buses just like there are prison buses.

17. There are ringing bells, just like prison.

18. You get handcuffed by officers, like prison.

19. We are told to shut up and do what we are supposed to do like prison.

20. In school comes these words, Obey or be burned, just like prison.

21. Violence, like prison.

22. We take tests, exams etc and cannot receive help like prison

School doesn't sound like a "prison", but prison.

[schoolsux]

Pretty spot-on. Except #3 isn't always true. I don't wear uniforms in school, however my district has a strict dress code.

[SoulRiser]

Well, prison is different in a few ways... like you don't get to go home every day. It's more of a 24/7 thing.

I could probably re-phrase that though, if I could be bothered. xc and others want to rewrite the entire kit anyway, so I'll just leave it alone.

[Cianna200]

Really? No uniforms, but the dress code thing is similar.

[craxyguy562]

The reason for being their is different also. People end up in prison for doing bad things/ breaking the law while kids are in school because they are suppose to be educated, they didn't really do anything to cuase themselves to get sent there.

[Cianna200]

That's true and seeing that school brings about suffering, I say we are punished merely for being on this planet.

[Aureate]

Quote:Well, prison is different in a few ways... like you don't get to go home every day. It's more of a 24/7 thing.

I'm not calling school an institution of criminal incarceration or even comparing it to one. I've just seen that the dictionary description of prison includes--not as an obscure or archaic definition--"a state of confinement or captivity," or, as Brainiac noted, "a place or situation from which you cannot escape".

One is being grammatically and logically sound to assert that he is held captive in school. If he runs out the exit, a series of events will be triggered that will result in a superior force returning him to the building whence he came and further, subjecting him to "disciplinary action", a term that almost always entails an extension of captivity. Sometimes these procedures are laughably conspicuous--most thesauri will include imprisonment as a direct synonym for detention.

Even if a child is expelled, a measure which would seem a blessing at first glance, his parents are within their means to choose for him another place of captivity. Some could contend that children are not legally obligated to obey, but even where the law is not an explicit source of restriction, it does nothing to limit the obscene authority which parents are apt to exercise. It reminds me of a quote by Desmond Tutu:

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”

Quote:I prefer "prison" but that's because I generally rely on Oxford dictionary.

I can confirm that according to The Oxford Dictionary, "prison" is indeed more appropriate. I think, however, that most definitions are not so narrow.

[brainiac3397]

Yes, Americans are wide indeed.

*cue snobby british chuckle*

[Trekkie_Aspie]

Prison = Somewhere where you actually have to commit a crime to get sentenced to (ideally) and have certain rights in order for the placement to go ahead. Like...the right to a fair trial.

School = "prison", rather than a prison because none of the above protections apply.