Video games have been under attack by the fear-mongers ever since they first appeared, and the attacks have not diminished. If you Google around the Internet using harmful effects of video games as a search phrase, you will find all sorts of frightening claims. If you look into the actual research literature, you find very little if any evidence supporting the fear-mongers claims, and considerable evidence against those claims.
Tag: education
Unschooled Kids Will Be Different
A concern I’ve heard regarding unschooled kids is that “they’ll be different”. What is meant by this is that they won’t have the same education, the same experiences, the same memories, the same cultural influences, yadda, yadda, yadda, as their “peers”. In my opinion, that’s just dandy.
The Learning Revolution versus The State
The world is in the midst of a learning revolution, yet those who wish to continue using education as a means of control do not want to acknowledge it. You can now learn more in an hour—online, for free—than you can in a full day on a college campus. Information has become superabundant and essentially free.
Words Poorly Used #74 — Education
The experience of school teaches the same thing as prison does, that survival is dependent on maximum control of the hierarchy. The warden/principal must make sure that all aggression goes down the structure, not up. Neither bullies nor rapists are of any real concern, to the upper tiers, since the lower in the hierarchy a victim stands, the higher the penalties for upsetting the order.
A Parental Right?
Whenever I hear people saying things like “Unschooling obviously wouldn’t work for everyone, but parents should have a right to choose what’s best for their kids,” or one of the hundred other variants on that same sentiment, I always feeling a niggling sense of unease. It’s never a statement I’ve agreed with. But until recently, I wasn’t entirely sure why it bothered me!
28 Signs That U.S. Public Schools Are Rapidly Being Turned Into Indoctrination Centers And Prison Camps
If we continue to allow all of the liberty and freedom to be systematically drained out of our school children, then there is not going to be much hope for the future of this nation. The following are 28 signs that U.S public schools are being turned into indoctrination centers and prison camps
Child Labor In School And Out
School-days, I believe, are the unhappiest in the whole span of human existence. They are full of dull, unintelligible tasks, new and unpleasant ordinances, brutal violations of common sense and common decency. It doesn’t take a reasonably bright boy long to discover that most of what is rammed into him is nonsense, and that no one really cares very much whether he learns it or not.
The Pendulum of American Extremes
The American Political sport is a unique beast. Something wholly original on the world stage. No, I’m not talking about “The American Experiment” in constitutional republics. That experiment has failed to produce lasting results, although it was a worthy try. No, what I mean is that unlike the rest of the western world, American politics grows more and more extreme at an increasing rate – a rate that should be alarming to most rational and peaceful people.
Freeing Butterflies: A Grandmother’s Journey to Homeschooling Acceptance
“I’ve had it, Mom—the last straw has landed. I’m taking Shaun out of school this week and I’m going to have him learn at home. And I’m never going to send Patrick and Molly to school. And if Ian wants to homeschool, he can, too!” With those words, I let my mother know I’d taken the drastic step I’d been contemplating and researching for months.
Inequality and Risk
I don’t think many people realize there is a connection between economic inequality and risk. I didn’t fully grasp it till recently. I’d known for years of course that if one didn’t score in a startup, the other alternative was to get a cozy, tenured research job. But I didn’t understand the equation governing my behavior. Likewise, it’s obvious empirically that a country that doesn’t let people get rich is headed for disaster, whether it’s Diocletian’s Rome or Harold Wilson’s Britain. But I did not till recently understand the role risk played.