Gatto

Gatto claims that the education system turns students into "addicts." By this he means that the school system creates a very competitive environment and encourages students to not do their personal best, but be better that everyone else. He precedes this by arguing that the education system does not value education, but obedience. Students are "addicted" to getting good grades and do not place a lot of value on actual learning. He criticizes the school system for not teaching students to become critical thinkers, but rather just mindless workers. Larger societal criticism are evident in Grotto's writing that lead up to his comment about students being "addicts." He implies that the school system is like this because it supports society as a whole and the greed of capitalist tycoons. He claims that the school system breeds workers needed to support this system. This causes the schools to only teach subjects that are crucial to efficiency, which in turn places little value on creativity. This ties back to his original statement of students and teachers being overwhelmingly bored.