So what about my boys? That has definitely been a challenge as they have not had the same attitude towards school and authority as I had. Fortunately I’ve refrained from trying to drill my views into their heads, appreciating their tendency to question things. But we still are encouraging them to do their best in school (well, at least to put some effort into it), and then get some higher education after high school.

I guess the basic idea is for them to keep as many options open as possible, until they know what they really want to do with their lives.

Surely, it’s good for your children and mine to learn academic subjects and to do well in school. They need a broad range of basic skills both vocationally and personally. (By personally I mean the types of skills that are leading you on your spiritual path, for instance.)

My problem is this. Public school was made with the work for someone for thirty years model in mind. Problem is, we don’t do that any more.

The Internet is putting entrepreneurship within the reach of the masses, not just elite mavericks.

I can envision a time in the not too distant future when very few of us will be employed in the sense that you and I understand the word. Through the Internet, we’ll basically be selling our skills freelance on the global market. Instead of a value system that prizes things like getting to work on time and keeping the boss happy, we’ll all need to be able to think in strategic business terms. That’s what’s so cool about those of us who blog, create online businesses, and whatnot. We’re actually the avant-guard of this trend.

As far as the exit exams. I’m very ambivalent about government’s roll in education in the first place. Given public school as we know it, however, I think exit exams are actually a good thing. Maybe I’ll write a whole post about my thoughts on this soon. The gist of my thinking is this, though. The main argument against exit exams is basically one of definition. Doing well on standardized tests does not measure what education is supposed to accomplish, is usually what exit exam detractors say. To my mind, this is a cop-out. If you never define what education actually is then there’s no way for any of us to question the authenticity of the education our children are receiving. Perhaps standardized tests are crude and imperfect measurements, but they are at least measuring something!

As usual Chris, you’ve made me think, and for that, you’re a very valued reader.