Tooning Out Education

I analyzed Gary Varvel’s cartoon which appeared in unionleader.com on May 2, 2006. It’s a pretty simple cartoon, a teacher, I assume this because of the blackboard in the background, is talking to the parents of a student. The teacher is enlightening the parents on all of the sporty aspects of the school, while the parents are asking about why their child is failing. I feel with this cartoon, the artist is trying to convey the problem with the education system of today. It seems like he is trying to express that schools are focusing too much on athletic programs rather than spending their resources on what they are supposed to be doing, educating the leaders of the future. You can clearly see this drawn out by the teacher telling the parents all about the athletic department of the school instead of the educational programs. The look on the teacher's face shows that he seems to be more excited and proud of all the athletic programs the school has instead of focusing on his job, the students.

But I also believe this artist has included a double meaning in the cartoon by having the parents complaining to the teacher about their child’s grades instead of confronting their child. It reminds me of this cartoon by Daryl Cagle:

While teachers do have a big part in the education of their students, it is ultimately up to the students to keep their own grades up. Going back to the original cartoon, I feel that Gray Varvel was also trying to show that parent’s often blame teachers for their children’s problems. With this simple cartoon, the artist was able to effectively and concisely express his views of today’s flawed educational system.