by Tammy Drennan

Johnny has just come home from his friend Joey's house. His father is relaxing in the living room, reading the evening paper.

Dad: Well, Johnny, did you have a good time?

Johnny: Uh-huh. Dad, why do I have to go to school?

Dad: Well, you want an education, don't you?

Johnny: Yes. But I could learn by myself.

Dad: How would you know what to study?

Johnny: I would study everything I was interested in.

Dad: Hmm. What if you forgot something important?

Johnny: Like what?

Dad: Well, like learning when World War II was.

Johnny: Joey's grandpa fought in World War II. He knows almost everything about it, and he had to top going to school in the fourth grade, because his parents needed him to help on the farm.

Dad: World War II is something Joey's grandpa is very interested in, but you never fought in a war, so you might forget to learn things like that.

Johnny: I could ask people I know what they think is really important, and they could tell me everything they know about it. Joey's grandpa knows more about World War II than Joey's dad. And Joey's dad went to college.

Dad: Well, schools know what order you should learn things in. You might learn things at the wrong time and get mixed up.

Johnny: You mean like learning to read in first grade and learning cursive in third grade?

Dad: That's right.

Johnny: But I knew how to read before I went to school, and Joey's grandpa still doesn't know any cursive, except how to sign his name. And he writes all the time.

Dad: But wouldn't his life be easier if he knew cursive? And now he's so old, it would probably be very hard for him to learn it.

Johnny: I guess. Would your life be easier if you knew how to fix cars?

Dad: Heh, heh. Definitely.

Johnny: What's the right age to learn that?

Dad: Well, uh, there really isn't a right age, I suppose.

Johnny: Do you think you're too old to learn?

Dad: No. But I don't have the motivation to learn. Uncle Don can work on our car.

Johnny: What's motivation?

Dad: It's when you want to do something because you have a reason for it -- maybe you just love it or maybe you need to know how to do it.

Johnny: Oh, 'cause one time Joey's grandpa said he didn't have any motivation to learn cursive.

Later that night.

Johnny: Dad, what does com-pul-sor-y mean?

Dad: You did a good job on that big word. It means you have to do something.

Johnny: My teacher says school is com-pulsory.

Dad: Yes, that's right.

Johnny: Thomas Edison didn't go to school.

Dad: Well, that was a long time ago.

Johnny: Why is school compulsory?

Dad: Because it's important for children to get an education.

Johnny: Who made it compulsory?

Dad: Government.

Johnny: But Thomas Edison didn't go to school, and he was the greatest inventor in the whole world. And Abraham Lincoln didn't go to school. They learned by themselves. Joey's grandpa said so.

Dad: Things were different when they were growing up.

Johnny: How?

Dad: Uh, well, there wasn't as much to know then.

Johnny: Do you know as much as Thomas Edison did?

Dad: No - not nearly as much, I must admit.

Johnny: But you went to college. And I heard on the news that a lot of people can't even read when they're finished with school. Four kids in my class can't read.

Dad: Well, they're only in the fourth grade. They still have time -- they're young.

Johnny: But I thought you said it was important to learn things at the right time.

Dad: Well, things don't always work out perfectly. Maybe those kids have learning problems.

Johnny: I think they don't have motivation. When did you learn about World War II?

Dad: Let's see... I think that was in high school -- tenth grade.

Johnny: Why did people just follow Hitler when they knew all the bad things he was doing?

Dad: I'm not sure I could say.

Johnny: Joey's grandpa says there were lots of reasons for it. He says some people were just too scared to do anything. And he said some people were evil, like Hitler. And he said lots of people just didn't use their brains. He says they got all caught up in Hitler's speeches and they thought he was great. And he said there really were a lot of people who were fighting Hitler the whole time. Some of them hid people and helped them escape from Hitler. Did they teach you that in tenth grade?

Dad: Well, some of it. There wasn't time to get into reasons for things. We mostly learned facts.

Johnny: Joey's grandpa says that if you don't think about the reasons for things, there's no use knowing the facts.

Dad: Well, he has a good point.

Johnny: I'm really interested in airplanes. When do we get to that in school?

Dad: Well, you'll probably cover a few principles of flight in science one year.

Johnny: But I want to know everything about them.

Dad: I think you'll have to do that on your own.

Johnny: What do you think is the right age to do it at?

Dad: (sigh) I suppose any age will do.

Johnny: Good! I'm going to start right now! Joey's grandpa gave me a neat book about World War II airplanes. He knows all about airplanes. He can even fix them.

Johnny starts to leave the room, then stops.

Johnny: I forget, Dad -- why is school compulsory?

Dad: I'll have to think on that, Johnny. How about sharing that airplane book with me?