The best kind of education teaches students to question authority.

The best kind of education teaches students to question authority.

3:30-4pm

 Education is a crucial part of society and a stepping stone for many to climb the rungs of the social ladder. It gives citizens insight and knowledge of the outside world to use it in their chosen field of study. Education comes in many forms such as home-schooling, private education or public school system. In most cases education gives us basic knowledge to succeed in chosen field and ethics have to be followed. However, sometimes teachers motivate and push students to the limit to question authority in hopes to think outside of the box which causes some controversy among elders and community members.

Firstly, consider when it is acceptable to question authority. Questioning authority, is often viewed as a sign of enlightenment and many teachers encourage this to make their students stand on their own feet in the future. For example, many scientists and law school graduates often bump into the question of whether they should question government and ethics as a whole? Law school graduates, are often encouraged to examine and review current legislation to spot any potential flaws present. In some cases, it has been proven that questioning authority has often been beneficial as in the case of the Civil Rights movement, women’s suffrage and slavery. A notable example of questioning authority is Ms. Rosa Parks during the Civil Rights Movement in Montgomery, Alabama. On a regular day in 1960, Ms. Parks was boarding a bus and sat in a white person’s seat because it was not occupied. However, after a couple of stops, Ms. Parks was asked to give up her seat and go to the back or stand for a white man that had just boarded the bus. She refused and was immediately arrested. Rosa Parks’ actions of questioning authority was a turning point in the Civil Rights movement and made fellow African Americans more confident to question authority in other aspects apart from transport. Soon political rallies and protests were initiated, as a ripple effect from Rosa Parks’ act of defiance to authority. This is an example of enlightenment because defiance from one individual started a revolution that would positively change the face of American society forever.

On the other hand, there are some instance when questioning authority is unacceptable and harms society. For example, sometimes in classrooms students are encouraged to question authority established by their parents or other elders in society. This may cause future problems in society because elders are losing their credence and respect. Students should only question authority when it is not disrespectful. Another example, is in a dictatorship. In Iraq, under the former rule of Saddam Hussein, Shariah law and many other strict rules were imposed on both Sunnis and Shias. Saddam, being a minority Sunni, enforced harsh punishments for his Shia counterparts as a way to maintain order. In any case, women were at most disadvantage of these laws. Some examples are: women must wear a burka at all times, be fully covered from head to toe in black, not have outside sexual relations and curfews to prevent them from leaving the house at certain times. If anyone, men or women, disobeyed the laws or questioned authority from influence of outside education, the penalties under the Shariah law are very severe. This shows that gaining knowledge to question authority is not beneficial to society or the individual.

In all, education can teach us to question authority but only under certain circumstances is that acceptable. Education that teaches to questioning authority, as done by Rosa Parks may benefit other citizens by changing laws to better society. However, education that questions authority in a dictatorship or other strict rule can yield in severe penalties. Also questioning authority of elders is very disrespectful which would lower morale of society.