What should we expect after putting people in an environment for the first two decades of their lives that rewards a no-questions-asked deference to authority and being a tattletale?
This deference to formal authority runs so deep in schools that students develop a permission-based mindset for everything from going to the bathroom to borrowing a pencil. I’ve personally witnessed a number of awkward interactions between new hires and their employers where the recent grad asks their boss if they can go to the bathroom. They’re almost surprised when the answer is inevitably a “Yes, you’re an adult.”
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