If there’s one thing schools are missing, it’s thought. More specifically, the study of thought: philosophy.
Philosophy is not a class you can take at Norrix, let alone other high schools across America. If philosophy was a class to take, it could reveal an entire realm of thought that many of the students had never previously imagined. Classes could study the works of famous philosophers such as Plato, Descartes, Aristotle, Laozi, and Buddha, to only name a few.
Philosophy transcends cultural and religious boundaries, making it easy for any student of any background to relate to and understand the topics. There are many great eastern and western philosophies that deal with universal problems and the understanding of the natural world. Most importantly, philosophy assists with learning about ones true self and the way that each person works, learns, and lives.
By studying thought, the students would most likely show an increase in creativity, logical thought processes, and improved understanding in other subjects. Studies from the University of California Irving department of philosophy show that students who take philosophy classes in college will do better in other subjects such as law, business, and the medical field. This disproves the theories that people have stated about philosophy being a “useless degree”. With those statistics, why not start earlier?
People might be against the study of philosophy in high school for purposes such as budget or misunderstanding the concept, but if we can have such a diverse range of classes such as psychology, debate, astronomy, law or journalism, then we can fit philosophy into the mix somewhere.
Philosophy would assist teenagers in simple, yet overlooked topics like reasoning, logic, and rhetoric. All of these would seem to be nothing but beneficial to the average high school student. I believe that only through learning how to think can we then start to truly learn.