Writing your name.  Reading a menu.  Having a conversation.  These are all things that people can do because they are allowed an education.  In the United States every person has access to free education, regardless of gender, and it is a privilege that is often taken for granted.

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries women were not encouraged to get an education.  It was looked at as destructive to a woman’s marriage and it could “be harmful to their mind”.   At this time, women’s careers were very limited so society felt that women didn’t need a formal education.  If a woman did receive an education it was because she came from nobility.  In the early 1800s, women could not go to school unless they went with a brother.  Finally, in the 1840s an organized school system was created to allow all those who desired an education to attend school for free. Women and men could finally go to school together!

From 7:30 to 2:30 we sit in desks taking notes, listening to lectures, or doing assignments.  Many students find it ridiculous that we are given so much work, but we should be grateful because we can learn new things every day.  Many people have fought for our right to a free education and more often than not we take advantage of it without realizing what a blessing our education is. Students are able to safely get to a school that is just right down the road.  How many schools one passes while going to the grocery store shows that our free education system benefits nearly everyone and that it is a great blessing.

Though we may not always appreciate our education, it is something that we should be grateful for.  Students are able to learn no matter where a student has come from and no matter how much money a student may have.  Students, parents, and teachers are all able to work together to help the student.  Second grade teacher Tamara Baggett says, “I am thankful for parents who work with me as a team.  Parents can’t do it alone.  Teachers can’t do it alone.  But we can be successful together!”

The American schooling system is much different than other educational systems around the world.  In America, all youth attend school for free, but in over thirty countries, women, and those who are too poor to afford an education, are still struggling to learn to read, or to even write their name.  Free education, in the United States, has evolved and we are grateful for where it has come and for the opportunity we have to go to school every day.