schoolyard subversion

2001-01-21 [< * >]

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of... a Diploma?

This is the first in a series of essays with ideas taken from and sparked by Deschooling Society.

We stand here today, at a time filled with excitement about the future and worry about our planet. But while we're eager to learn what the coming millennium has in store for us, it is also enlightening to look at our past. Years ago, America was founded by its idealistic framers. They wrote the basic principles of the country into the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

They insisted that all men had basic inalienable rights, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The continuing story of America has been the story of people standing up to claim these rights. People that were originally oppressed, but yearned to live free. The first to do so were the first Americans, fighting a war against England for their independence. Later came other parts of the population like women and African-Americans.

Since those early days we have made great strides in returning these rights to all Americans but the struggle is not yet over. Unfortunately, our children are not yet granted these fundamental rights. Worse, we have built a cage of lies and illusions around them to make sure that neither children nor adults understand the wrongs being committed.

Life

At first it seems we could hardly be denying our children life. They seem to live and breathe like every other human. Yet, we insist, our children do not have actual "lives", but only a "childhood". A childhood (a modern phenomenon, invented only recently) is not a life. A life includes the rights to work, to act, and to take part in society. Instead, we insist that our children sit quietly and "enjoy".

Kids are often told to enjoy their childhood while it lasts. What does this curious saying mean? What it really means is that kids should not do anything. They are simply asked to sit quietly and play video games, watch TV, or do some other activity that does them nothing but harm. They are not encouraged to set goals, start big projects, do actual work, or make a difference. In fact, they are actively discouraged from doing such things.

Childhood is meant to be a time where kids can be sheltered from the pressures of life. But childhood is useless when we don't give children lives to shelter. Childhood is an ideal opportunity for idealistic youth to take on whatever challenges they wish to, free from outside interference. Think of the difference in this world our children could make, if only we gave them a chance.

Liberty

CRIPA, a law granting civil rights to institutionalized persons clearly omits institutions providing only elementary or secondary education. The United Nation's Convention on the Rights of the Child asks that we take measures to encourage the reduction of drop-out rates. While we imprison our nation's youth, we continue to insist to ourselves that we are somehow doing them a favor.

Every moment of a child's life is controlled. From the moment they wake up in the morning, they must get ready to go to school. Most likely, they had no control over the choice of school, and if they do not attend the school, truant officers will force them to do so. While there, they are forced into a routine that they have only miniscule control over. After school, they have been taught to do "fun" things: watch television, play video games. Things that they wouldn't naturally enjoy, but that they have been convinced into thinking are "fun". On the weekends, society requires them to do "kid things" like go to the mall and chat with their friends. Students who don't do such things are societal outcasts.

There is no freedom in this life. We take away all the choices from our children and when they do make a choice or take a stand we complain that they've made "the wrong decisions". For eighteen years we tell our children that no, their vote does not count and then we're suddenly surprised when they don't believe it does. While they're young, we take away their every decision and then we institutionalize them when they can't make these decisions on their own. Where's the freedom in that?

The Pursuit of Happiness

"The pursuit of happiness," you think. "Surely we're allowing our children that!" But no, you aren't. You say you want them to be happy, you want them to enjoy life, but you don't give them a chance. They sit at home, alone, craving attention while both parents are away -- at work, most likely. The only thing they learn to enjoy is the television and the video game -- a world which they have at least some control over. Don't like that ending? Change the channel. Don't like that bad guy? Blow him up. Fun, isn't it?

No, not really. That's not enjoyment, just mindless entertainment. It's only fun because we insist it is. Scientific research has proven again and again that children and adults don't actually enjoy these activities -- but they manage to convince themselves they do. Instead, they enjoy doing things many would consider "work": building, writing, thinking, planning and discussing.

We say we give kids the freedom to have fun, but we don't allow them to experience the things in life that make people truly happy: the excitement of completing a project, the joy of making a difference, the satisfaction that comes from a job well done. No, we shut kids up in their own little prison -- the prison of "childhood". And we throw away the key -- for their own good, as we say.

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