Recently I wrote an article for IDEA: The Institute for Democratic Education In America about the paradigm of the public school system in America. Since we’re all used to it, we think it’s the “right” thing—even though it’s a very young concept. I have been fortunate enough to travel a little and see the way different countries do so many things differently—from schooling to social manners and skills, day to day living and care to how they treat the Earth. Though I am by no means an expert, I do know firsthand that just because our parents did something—and definitely just because Americans do something—that doesn’t mean it’s the “right” way.

That’s why when presented with alternatives, I would think that parents, educators, and other professionals would be open minded to learning about different ways to accomplish their goals. Our system fails so badly—with soaring dropout rates, illiterate children pushed through the system, and kids crammed into tiny rooms forced to memorize facts that likely won't impact their lives, supposedly preparing them for jobs that don't yet even exist.

One in three children will not graduate high school—this is not the kind of system that will produce the innovative thinkers and dreamers, the Albert Einsteins and Abraham Lincolns we need to help combat our modern day problems. (Both men, by the way, failed at many things—including math classes and political races, respectively. Kids need to feel free to fail in order to truly keep moving forward and really make an impact—but more about that later.)

Compulsory schooling has only been around in America for less than 100 years—and its inception was based on the idea of preparing children for the workhouse or the military. It was not designed to meet the needs of children themselves, nor the needs of our growing society, technological advances, environmental problems, and other issues that we need to face and solve in order to continue living on this planet.

It still doesn’t work to meet these needs.

Kids spend an average of 1,140 hours inside a classroom every year. What do they do inside the classroom? From my own memories and experiences teaching, I can tell you that lots of bookwork, worksheets, and busy work is doled out on a daily basis. Hours are spent on the bus, watching videos, preparing for tests—and more tests—that have absolutely nothing to do with day to day living. They learn facts for testing—then promptly forget them in order to quickly memorize new facts for the next test. They are pressured, and sometimes even ridiculed, by teachers. Many other problems exist on individual cases. Two teachers I had, for example, completely got away with verbally abusing me in front of my classmates; even my favorite teachers sometimes did things that were highly objectionable.

And I was an honor student. In the top 10% of my class, I made mostly A’s—in classes that held no interest to me, most of which I use nothing from today. I ran several organizations, which were more helpful for my adult life than anything I did in any classroom. Even in the position as one of the “nerds,” I knew how to play the game—memorize, pass, move on to the next test—and so succeeded at it. More than half of my friends have educational horror stories to share—especially the “gifted,” A-honor roll ones. Imagine what it was like for the many, many children who were not like me. Like Sir Ken Robinson says, the function of schools today is to simply produce university professors; if you succeed at everything you’re expected to do in school, that is really the only outcome supported by such actions.

Yet this system, however, is the one that so many keep defending above all other alternatives—most recently, unschooling. From a couple of very limited, very biased television news features—well, entertainment features, really—the public has been introduced to unschooling, which, by the way, is not a new concept. It has been practiced across the country for over forty, fifty years (probably more, before it was called “unschooling” by John Holt).

I’ve been reluctant to respond to this very acidic national outcry against unschoolig for the same reason why I’ve cut down on my Facebook use, stop asking people to sign petitions I care about (such as the racial profiling in Arizona), and simply do not attend functions where I know my LBGT, Spanish-speaking, or friends of color would not be welcome to attend, too: because I am just exhausted from the hate. I’ve been experiencing so much hate over things that people simply don’t—or refuse—to understand that it’s made me physically ill. While in my deep conscious, within the MOGO lifestyle I try to lead, I know it’s my duty to not turn away and to bring about change—but at the same time, such hatred, violence, and sheer meanness just affects me for so long—days, weeks even—that I wonder if it’s worth it to expose my psyche to such darkness. (By the way, there have been great rebuttals already written against these media pieces, too. They are definitely worth reading.)

Continue to Part II