How two crime stories relate to education: Charles Manson and The North Hollywood robbers

follower /?f?l???/ noun

1: A person who supports and admires a particular person or set of ideas.

Example; ‘followers of Charles Manson’

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Charles Manson was an American criminal who led a murderous campaign with his followers, the Manson Family cult, that made him one of the most infamous figures in criminal history. He is also connected to the brutal slayings of actress Sharon Tate and other Hollywood residents.?

"The Family," as they became known, was a group of around 100 followers of Charles Manson who shared his passion for an unconventional lifestyle and habitual use of hallucinogenic drugs, such as LSD and magic mushrooms. After Manson was released from prison for petty crimes in 1967, the Manson Family moved to San Francisco and later to a deserted ranch in the San Fernando Valley. Manson’s followers also included a small, hardcore unit of impressionable young girls. They began to believe, without question, Manson's claims that he was Jesus and his prophecies of a race war. (1)

Many of Charles Manson's beliefs include creating a better society by reducing the size of the government and preserving the role of an individual in society. This explains why Manson refused counsel at his trial. He represented himself until the judge found many of his motions ludicrous and appointed him an attorney. Manson preached that only he could represent himself because no one could preserve his individuality. (2)?

Manson believed that the African-American members .... were troublesome .... Therefore, Manson began to prepare for Helter Skelter by informing his family. Instead of waiting for Helter Skelter, Manson wanted to prevent it by creating a utopian society that excluded the African-American race. Above and beyond individuality, Manson felt that four important things needed to be preserved: air, water, trees, and animals. Mr Manson commonly refers to these things as AWTA and claims that his family gave their lives to unite the brothers and sisters of the world with these standards. The use of euphoric by Manson and his followers provided an enhanced sense of individuality in an environment interacting with nature. Manson commonly used music to get his message out to other people and generally, he would end a session with songs prophesizing Helter Skelter orchestrated by his guitar. (2)

Who were his followers?

Manson began his ascent into power and assembling of his "family" during 1967's "Summer of Love" in San Francisco. He taught his followers that they were the incarnation of the original Christians; he said the "establishment" was made up of Romans.

Five of Manson's "family" were also sentenced to death following their murder convictions. During the seven-month trial, Manson continued to hold sway over his cult members, both in the courtroom and outside. Some of the young defendants giggled and sang during the proceedings.

At one point, Manson arrived in court with that "x" carved in his forehead. His "family" followed suit the next day.3

education /?dj??ke??(?)n/ noun

1: A series of steps taken to acquire or to provide facts, information, descriptions or skills from a particular start and deliver them, making them known to a particular end.

For far too long, even today, many people have always regarded education as a medium to achieve only what is good, a way to only build wise men and as Martin Luther King Jr put it “... to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”

So, what happens when education doesn’t teach one to think intensively and to think critically? What happens when education builds men who kill or men who manipulate other people? What happens when learners learn according to a certain system but fail to think critically? – does it cease to be education?

Manson had followers, people who supported him, people who admired him. People who believed in his ideas, and people who understood and practised his ideas. The big question here is how did that come about? – how did they end up believing and practising his ideas? The answer to this is very simple – he used a series of steps to provide some information that triggered the minds of these people, information that made them abandon what they believed in and follow his ideas.

He simply used education to turn them into murderers.?Manson used the same process used in education.

In 1997, on February 28, the North Hollywood shootout took place. It was between two heavily armed bank robbers and members of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). It is one of the most tragic shootouts in America.

What’s so interesting about this shootout is what investigators found in the apartment of the bank robbers. Inside a video player was a tape about the 1995 movie ‘Heat’ – a movie about a group of professional bank robbers. The North Holly wood robbers were watching the movie to learn about robbery.

The two Hollywood robbers saw the need to learn certain skills from a movie for a successful bank robbery.?

What the Hollywood robbers needed (facts, information, descriptions, and skills) was put in a videotape (particular start), they used a video player to move what they needed from that videotape to their brains (particular end).

The following is a diagram of education; I call it the process of education.

Education is simple to understand – it’s a series of steps taken to move facts, information, descriptions or skills from point A (particular start) to point B (particular end).

Education can be classified into two purposes: the first one is the primary purpose – the main purpose of education, the purpose it was born with. The second one is the secondary purpose – this is the purpose set out by those who implement that particular education – whether for themselves or others.

The primary purpose

The primary purpose of education is to ensure that skills, information, descriptions, and facts are transferred. The primary purpose of education is to fulfil what education is.

The secondary purpose

The secondary purpose is subjective, it concerns your reason for learning algebra. What was the reason for the Hollywood robbers to watch that movie? What is the reason for Finland to consider stripping off all school subjects?

The secondary purpose of education is the reason why some schools would choose some content over some. It’s the reason why some learners would choose Physics over Arts or Economics over Geography.

Let’s take for instance a country that has a demand for chemical engineers. That country may decide to make Chemistry a mandatory school subject – but why would they force learners to learn Chemistry? Because they believe that the education of Chemistry would increase the number of students enrolling in Chemistry-related courses or qualifications.

Education is just a medium, how we use it is entirely up to us.