Whether you believe in compulsion by
government or by parents, whether you believe in public or private or
home schooling, I'm talking to you. If you've ever said, “I wish
my parents would have forced me to learn [x]” I'm talking to you.
If you think children are savages who have to be civilized, that
they naturally eschew learning and socialization and must be forced
to submit to formal education for their own good, that allowing a
child to opt out of standardized education is an irresponsible
act of neglect, I'm talking to you.
I've got just one thing to say to you:
On behalf of every child whose
initiative you have stolen, who can't set her own goals because
you've always demanded she prioritize your goals first, who can't
accomplish her own goals because she never had the freedom to play
and develop the imagination required for entrepreneurship...
On behalf of every child whose self
acceptance you have stolen, who can't measure her own success except
by the letter grade approval of authority, who seeks out abusive
relationships because you never respected her autonomy...
On behalf of every child whose ambition
you have stolen, who prefers escapism to entrepreneurship because you
made her reality a burden for your convenience, who can't remember
the first subject she fell in love with because you beat it out of
her with endless standardized tests...
On behalf of every child whose
creativity you have stolen, who can't think critically because you
expected her to obediently regurgitate, who would have invented new
technologies, new theories, new art forms, new philosophies or new
business models but didn't because she was shamed into mindlessly
pantomiming the process of learning things she didn't care about
rather than encouraged to explore her own interests...
On behalf of every child you have ever
called lazy because she failed to adequately fain enthusiasm for the
drudgery of your priorities...
On behalf of every child who ever jumped off a building rather
than face the shame of your disappointment or the hopelessness of a
lifetime without escape from enslavement to your priorities...
On behalf of all of them and more, I'd
just like to say,
Fuck you.
Seriously,
Ansible
2 comments:
I couldn't agree more with you.
On other hands, lets take a look from their point of view. When the parents decided to have a child they had already imagined what their child would be, and these dreams, in there aspects, their child should follow despite their lack of experience on how to upbringing a child nor respect what their child wanted to be.
I always advise people to not push their children to be what they, the parents, want and accept their child as he is.
Excuse my language :)
Tariq,
Thank you, Tariq. I empathize with parents too. They usually only want what's best for their children. I understand their desire to push their children to learn the things they believe their children will need to know to be happy. Parents need to be persuaded to encourage rather than require. They need to be convinced that 18 years of mutual trust and respect is infinitely more valuable than 18 years of homework under duress.
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