“Student” vs. “Consumer” Essay Example

someone else’s product, creation, or invention. Benlow continues, “in short, the world of the customer is based on intellectual inactivity. As consumers we don’t have to invent or research it’s done for us. “Being a customer means being driven by simple and personal desires… and ultimately demanding that those desires be met” (Benlow 125). As opposed to the passive, cant think for themselves, consumer, students are to be active in there higher education.

Students cannot simply buy knowledge like ordering a “#1” at a McDonalds. Knowledge must be learned, taken in and put to use. If you are a passive student you most likely will gain nothing. Benlow claims students “will not know how to imagine the implications or significance of a textbook chapter” (151).Student will not know how to use information if it’s just taken in without a care. Benlow continues to say students will be let down if they come into higher education with a passive consumerism attitude.

These consumerist students will have a hard time understanding basic principles used throughout the learning process. Because when talking about principles in the consumer culture, Benlow says “because everything is based on eccentricities of the individual, the individual need not think outside of his/her own desires. In the consumer culture our minds almost seem to be made up for us, as a student the sky is the limit. Students in higher education are asked to think outside the box, and to invent or break the rules.

Benlow says “they need to understand that certain principles exist in the world outside of their own desires. ” As Benlow reflects, he can’t help but respect his teachers

for making them think for themselves rather then being passive and going with the flow. They insisted on active students; they made us read staggering amounts of material and then actively put that material to use” (Benlow 152). These teachers made their student think for themselves and be creative with the material.

Benlow feels that if the terms “customer” and “student” are intertwined that the student will become ignorant to the difference between each culture. He is in fear of higher education becoming more passive and students coming to the point where they do not think for themselves