Bullying and Free Association

One of the biggest problems with discussions on “school bullying” is that we define bullying differently than we would in other situations. It makes it so we analyse it from a different perspective, a perspective that fundamentally disrespects the pain of children. Bullying in the adult world is called; battery, assault, robbery, harassment, kidnapping, false imprisonment, etc. In the child world we call it, bullying … do you see a problem?

Skool vs Education

For a sizeable percentage of people, school doesn’t “work”. Not if you expect it to result in education, anyway. I’ve mentioned before that many of my relatives work at government schools. One has recently retired, but has shifted into being a “substitute teacher”. His recent experiences are enlightening.

On Politics II

The fact that political disagreements can “get ugly” is a feature of politics, not a bug. If politics, the authorized use of violence in society, stuck to protecting everyone’s property rights equally, there’d be no cause for disagreements to get ugly.

Unschooling: Reclaiming the Term

I appreciate what the term “unschooling” now means for many families, particularly for the homeschooling families who navigate the many educational philosophies and approaches available to them in search of the best fit. I also think it is worthwhile to reclaim the term’s origins and dig deeper into Holt’s initial message–not because we should change how we currently use the language of unschooling, but so that we can expand it.