If You Want to be Rich and Happy, Don’t Go to School Summary - Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Should I Send My Child To School?

1.      Today when concerned parents ask me if they should send their kids to school, I answer with a question: “What kind of school do they attend at home?”

2.      We may not be able to change the entire school system, but we do have a choice about what we, as individuals, are teaching children, whether they are ours or someone else’s. It is important to remember that education starts in the home.

3.      Education provided by school today is primarily an employment-preparation process. Too much emphasis is put on studying hard, getting good grades and going to a good school so students can get a good job and make a lot of money.

4.      Economic fear and the love of money have replaced learning. Schools are fundamentally training grounds, producing workers for the rich. Many of our universities were founded to provide knowledgeable but compliant employees who would dutifully do as they were told.

5.      If you are pressuring your children to study hard, take a careful look at what is motivating you. If you want them to study hard, then let them study what they want and what they are most interested in. If you want them to study hard to get a good job, then tell them that. Don’t confuse education with your fears of your child’s employability.

6.      Too many don’t even know there is a difference between “going to school” and “getting an education”. Treat school as job preparation, but also emphasize that “real” education is probably going to come from other sources.

7.      If your children want to learn about money, go ahead and teach them how to work hard to create true wealth rather than just going after paycheck. Better yet, learn about creating wealth yourself and give them your success as a model of what you want them to learn.

8.      If you want to make sure that your children get the best education possible, look at yourself first. As an adults, we are each the most important part of the educational system. Who we are and what we do educates our kids more than mere words will ever do. 

Chapter 25: What to Tell the Children