If you are reading this article, congratulations. You are educated. If you’re not in higher education your ability to read the words on this page right now means you are more educated than many around the world.
With finals this week it might seem like education is not worth it; it’s important to keep in mind that there is so much more to education than grades, school and majors/minors.
Education has the power to change the world, bring people to a common understanding factually and bring people together to fix problems in our society that would be overlooked otherwise.
The topic that comes to mind is climate change. Why are there so many people who don’t believe in it? From a young age in school, I remember learning about ecosystems, the planet and how taking care of the Earth creates a sustainable environment for future generations.
Even if everyone who doesn’t believe in climate change is right, we should base our understanding of the world on facts and education.
Climate change is real according to scientific data released by multiple institutions including NASA, Berkeley and Chico State. The reason people disagree has nothing to do with a moral compass, personality or anything else. It has to do with education. (this paragraph is completely incoherent and borderline impossible to edit).
The same goes for sex education. There are some people in the world who are given a more in-depth, LGTBQ+, safe sex over abstinence-only sex education because data had shown that that was the best way to educate the next generation into less teen pregnancy, lower STI infection and happier self-esteem and knowledge about one’s own body. According to Planned Parenthood, this type of education over abstinence-only education scientifically leads to lower teen pregnancy rates in areas that have adopted this type of education.
Other topics like sexual assault, diet and political topics can all be solved with education. It’s tricky to fix because adopting a single education system for schools and colleges is not the answer. The answer revolves around self-education, educating children not based on “maybes” but on facts and logic. There is so much that can be uncovered about the world if only we were able to go searching for it.
So, As the winter breaks start and classes end take the time of break to educate yourself, not on school work for college but on issues that are controversial. Don’t know what political party is the best? Educate yourself on data and facts. What’s the best diet for the body? Go searching. Don’t believe in climate change? NASA might be able to change your mind. Perhaps the only thing we won’t be able to solve through education is what happens after we die. Maybe we will become educated enough one day to uncover that debate too, scientifically.
Kendall George can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @kendallmgeorge.
