Education today (at least in the United States) is not designed to endow anyone with knowledge, give people a love of learning, or instil independence necessary later in life. The public high school system exists ONLY to breed stupid sheep who will make good secretaries and cubicle warriors and induhviduals. People who question the stupidity of the system are harassed, given poor grades, etc. People who submit and waste their time studying do well. Too many public schools are set up to stroke the egos of mediocre teachers. Most of the good teachers who actually respect the kids and teach well get the shaft. Often the most intelligent kids do poorly. They get bored, doodle all over, talk to their friends, then are diagnosed with 'ADD' and given sedatives. I hope to god that some day people realize that the 'stupid' kids who wander off or ignore the teacher's incessant blathering arent really stupid.. they are just bored because they are in a stupid environment. Its really fucked up that we crush the creative spirit of kids before they even get out in the world.