Democratic, Free or Sudbury schools

These school models get my approval. I could describe it as a school were people ages 5-18 can be "destonians" in the sense that they are responsible for themselves, for their decisions, and therefore have to be self-directive, and so also self-regulate. They face the real world meaning that they face challenges, make mistakes, learn from them, and they have support available to them at all times, which they must take the initiative to ask for help. They are all equals in the community. Children are not inferior or superior based on age, talent or skill in some area, to anyone. Instead they get to intermingle among their ages, and they support one another in conversation, growing, expansion. So basically how we all should have acted since the beginning. The trick would seem then, to simply provide a support structure for children, instead of a forceful teaching regiment design to create a particular child, with particular skills and knowledge by your design. So just like what we are doing here at Desteni, we are all participating in Self-design. So apparently children all naturally participate in self-design. Children are then equal to adults. A problem with our vocabulary is that we all have defined child < adult. We have many excuses for this including: age, experience, height, strength, size, money, ownership, to name a few.

So let's look at each point and belief briefly.

1. If you are older you are better/more.

2. If you have more experience you are better/more

3. If you are taller/stronger/bigger you are better/more

4. If you have more money you are better/more

5. If you have own people you are better/more

Now these above are the most obvious examples, but I bet you that there are many more. But for the sake of time, we will look at these. Now is it true or false that when you were growing up that you saw the older kids as better than you? Did you see adults as better than you? Did you see bigger kids as better than you? Did you see younger kids as worse than you? Did you see smaller kids as worse than you? Did you see people that have money or more money better than you?

So what is one thing that is a fact? When you are born you have $0, no money. You also are puny/small. You are newly born so you are the youngest age possible. You have no experience. So growing up somehow you are taught by everyone around you, adults, teachers, schools, parents, peers that you are inferior for being young, small, little, having no knowledge etc... That is taught clearly, and the evidence of this is found in how we viewed older kids, as superior. Did we all now rank everyone by their ages growing through the public school system, or private school system? We dared not intermingle outside our age groups. And we would form smaller groups. Small group of friends. Sometimes ONLY boys or ONLY girls. We created further and further separation.

I believe that it is a complete imperative that we make sure that every single child has access to money since birth. Because children and people are not inferior for lacking knowledge, or for being small, or new, or for being female or male, or for any reason. Inferiority is a lie. It doesn't exist. And everyone needs money. We treat children like they are less than people. Inferiority is a lie. The statement children < Adults is a lie. But we are all living it to some extent.

Modern slavery does exist. In every single family slavery exist. Children are OWNED. They have an owner. The owner is called the parent. This is WRONG and a lie. Inferiority is a lie, and so is ownership. Parents have the responsibility and honor to support a newborn person.

We are all just people. We are equal. The division of age is an illusion that we feed through our egos.


Hopefully we learn this lesson before we interact with children again. We are all just equals, and we are one.


Here are some links:
2015 Ted Talk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPAXMNXy5UQ

Sudbury Valley School Website
http://www.sudval.org/

Online Article Explaining Democratic Schools
http://alternativestoschool.com/articles/democratic-schools/

Sudbury Documentary Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7XNx5G0mPU

Sudbury Valley School Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/SudburyValleySchool