No child left behind

The great thing about college is that it's so freakin' easy.

"Wait a minute!" says the sophomore enrolled in 21 credit hours and working two jobs. "I have no free time whatsoever!"

Great. You're doing something productive with your life instead of making the ridiculously easy decision to do absolutely nothing with it.

But consider that (in general) when someone says "I have no free time whatsoever," they actually mean that by the time they get home at 6 p.m. after a full day of work and school, they only have about four hours to themselves to partition as they wish, be it homework, Facebook, video games or family time.

Consider again that in some countries, students attend classes seven days out of the week.

And instead of our no-child-left-behind-help-'em-all-along curriculum structure of weekly quizzes and homework assignments, many foreign students simply take one huge test at the end of the year. You pass: you pass. And vice-versa. For the simple objective of creating an institution of learning that produces individuals who have actually learned something, this seemingly brutal method is the best option - they weed out the "idlers" and only the cream of the crop are given positions of import.

But if the policy is "Education for Everyone!" then by all means, give out your busy-work and gold stars. Granted, a higher number of people will graduate and be given diplomas and jobs, but it would seem that there are a lot of people out there who are grossly under-qualified for their positions

So here we are at Weber State University, attending our classes (at least most of the time), and studying for our quizzes.

"I can't hang out tonight, man. I have two tests tomorrow."

Two tests in one day is nothing to be laughed at, and, admittedly, would make things a bit stressful for any student. But it seems that the choice here is between committing to one's education, and…hanging out. On one hand is the immediate gratification of a fun and relaxing evening, and on the other is, well, your life.

The phrase "all men are created equal" is correct in that all fetuses are generally on the same par, physically in the womb. But once they are birthed and raised, the phrase becomes a bit non-relevant. To be frank, some people are dumb and can't make it at the same level as their peers. This is where the "no child left behind" idea becomes "as slow as the slowest lamb."

Granted, the average number of college graduates will increase and the average annual income will increase, but the national educational system itself has to take the hit to compensate for this. And in turn, the economy will feel some of the ripples.

But that's the way we're headed, and don't be surprised if classes are made easier and easier to the point where education becomes something that is an inconvenience to our free time, instead of the other way around.

Unless it already has.