First off, generalizations about humans being sheep are pretty much true about any public institution or group. It is common human behavior to follow authority, as both psychological testing and empirical evidence has shown us. While it is true that those who don’t do and follow what the authority figures command can become fabulously successful and wealthy (e.g. college dropouts Steven Jobs and Bill Gates), that’s more the exception than the rule. By and large college is good for the unquestioning masses and it can even teach us unconventional types the discipline necessary for success.

Having said all of the above, it has also been found that smaller class sizes tend to cause students to learn better because teachers have more opportunity to give students one-on-one experiences (this is one obvious advantage that home schooling has over public schooling). With the advent of colleges like Stanford and MIT opening up many of their lectures to the public via online videos, the need for more lecturing professors is reduced. However, the need for mentors has never been greater. Students need someone who can help them find their passions and learn the self control to pursue them successfully. Without this it doesn’t matter how many video lectures are available for free, the un-disciplined student will find watching burping baby videos on Youtube more alluring than watching an educational lecture about the transcription process of RNA molecules. Only students infected with a love of science can watch videos like these and learn much. The rest will perform a quick context-switch to Facebook or Twitter.

@Armstrong: No. ANyone who strongly cares about education should be striving to improve public education, not abandon it.

I have done both. You have no idea how wrong you are.

Any parent who cares about their childrens education and cannot afford to pay for private school should absolutely homeschool their kids. Modern schools are essentially daycare’s where little learning actually happens.