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Rick And Morty Just Proved Exactly How Much Public Education Is Failing American Children

Zack Howe
Updated July 3, 2024 12 items

"School is not a place for smart people," Rick says matter-of-factly as he belches over his dinner. Education in Rick and Morty is not treated with reverence, but that doesn't mean what Rick and Morty says about American schools is unfair. On the contrary, the animated series actually makes some pretty salient points. Morty is possibly a genius and yet he struggles in school, and Rick is the most intelligent being in the universe and he dropped out. 

The traditional school setting is just too uniform to help every student; each person is different and, subsequently, each person learns differently. There is no simple solution and the Department of Education shouldn't be lampooned for our failing schools, but the system is in desperate need of a revamp. Maybe a cartoon sociopath is just the push we need to reconsider the nation's strategy on formal education.

Here's how Rick and Morty highlights the failures of American education.

  • The Morty Academy Is A Perfect Satire Of American Education

    The Morty Academy Is A Perfect Satire Of American Education

    In "The Ricklantis Mixup," we see a "school" in which the students (a group of Mortys) recite rote phrases about loving adventure. This mocks the way American children are made to recite facts and figures without much emphasis placed on critical thinking. This type of learning is shallow and fleeting and doesn't really foster true knowledge acquisition. 

  • Schools Aim To Make A Standardized Product

    The Morty who becomes president of the citadel gives a speech during the debate and comments on the Morty Academy saying, "They teach all the Mortys to be the same because they're threatened by what makes them unique."

    While this sentiment cannot literally be transcribed to fit formal American education, the general premise is enlightening in regard to there being little room for creativity or original thought in our school system.

  • Morty Struggles In A Traditional Education System, But Is Clearly Intelligent

    Morty Struggles In A Traditional Education System, But Is Clearly Intelligent

    Morty struggles in school, but he can disarm neutrino bombs and is interested in alien cultures. Clearly, he's a smart kid; he just doesn't respond well to a traditional academic environment. He's very intuitive and insightful, but, as evident within the show, schools don't always reward those traits.

  • Learning By Doing Is The Preferred Method

    You hear college graduates say that they learned most of their job on the job all the time, and that school didn't prepare them for the workplace. Morty is very much the same way. His adventures with Rick teach him far more than all his years in the classroom ever have. 

     

  • And Learning By Experience Is Irreplaceable

    There are only so many experiences one can have in a traditional school setting, and the vast majority of those are the interpersonal relationships among children. Real-world experiences are virtually impossible to come by within school walls.  

    Morty learns a helluva lot more about Pluto by going there than he could have in school. Think about that. Or don't.

  • School Standards Of Failure Are Too Universal

    At the end of the pilot, Jerry tells Morty that he doesn't perform well because he has "some kind of disability" and he must "work twice as hard to keep up." This, quite reasonably, stresses Morty out.

    School standards of success and failure are too universal to be tailored to each individual child and how they learn best. The result is that a smart kid who doesn't do well in such a setting will internalize those failures and view themselves as incapable, like Morty does.