By 2026, rapid advances in artificial intelligence have prompted widespread questions about the ongoing role of traditional schooling. Students and educators alike wonder whether classroom learning retains value when AI tools can supply instant answers and assistance. The debate centers on whether reliance on AI risks producing graduates lacking critical thinking skills. Without structured education, society could face a generation marked by artificial stupidity rather than genuine understanding. The piece argues that schools remain necessary to build real intelligence and avoid that outcome.
student speech
May
26
2025
The cartoon image displays a man dressed in a blue graduation cap and gown with a white shirt and striped tie. A black chain connects the mortarboard to a round black weight marked in red with the words student loans. A white speech bubble to the left contains the text I miss the old tassels in black letters. The graduate has curly hair, a large nose, and a frowning expression. The background is a simple blue gradient. The signature Weyant and cagle.com appear at the bottom left.
Apr
26
2024
The image depicts a university setting with a heavily armored police officer positioned in the foreground holding a shield labeled POLICE. Two students wearing shirts marked U stand to the right, one with a speech bubble. Tents, protest signs, and trees fill the background along with a distant building. The cartoon uses clear lines and color to show the officer facing the students directly on a paved walkway.
Oct
7
2023
On October 7, 2023, cartoonist John Darkow depicts a Halloween scene outside a suburban home where three children in costumes labeled student loans, mortgage rates, and child care approach two parents. One parent remarks they will never escape debt. The image reflects persistent household financial pressures from education costs, housing interest rates, and childcare expenses during that period.
May
14
2022
A graduate wearing a cap and gown walks while trapped inside a barrel labeled student debt and holding a rolled diploma. Two seated graduates in full academic regalia observe from chairs on the left. A large plant on the right grows multiple rolled diplomas among its leaves. A large speech bubble from the walking graduate states that everyone laughed at his choice to major in woodworking.
