People respond to score-based systems, especially systems with rewards and even prizes. Fast-forward a century, though, and we can see the results of de La Salle’s innovation. A friend’s kid came home from first grade and proudly showed his mom the cheap plastic trinkets he had earned that day. “I stood quietly on the dot and so I got some tickets. And if I stand on the dot quietly tomorrow, I can get some more prizes!” First grade. Stand quietly and get a toy. That’s one way to indoctrinate kids in both obedience and consumption. This is precisely what industrialism seeks.
