The Spirit of Education?

In Norman Rockwell's painting, The Spirit of Educatioin, it shows a young boy, dressed similarly to the Statue of Liberty. With a women sitting down behind him, making sure he is presentable to the rest of the world. She has obviously dressed him up to be whatever she wants him to be. This is very representative of education today. The adult, making sure the child looks exactly how they would like them to look, totally disregarding the child's true feelings. Like in this painting, the boy obviously doesn't want to be there, and is not happy about what he is having to do, but in American society, children don't have an opinion to speak of, at least in adults eyes. It doesn't matter what the child wants, they must conform to whatever elders want them to be, regardless of what the student wants.
The banner around the boy shows what we think of education. Forcing students to be what we want them to be. Even though in this painting, it doesnt seem natual for this young boy to be dressed like the Statue of Liberty, it makes sence becuase there is a women behind him making him do so.
Also, the fact that the women is sitting down shows something else entirely. It shows how American society wants everything to be their way, and will do something about what they want, but then will just expect the children to do exactly what they want them to do, without actually getting up and doing it themselves.
Norman Rockwell makes perfect sence when painting this image. He shows all the problems with education with that certian satire that grabs peoples attention.