Does the World Need Unschooling?

Kids won’t work hard if you don’t make them.

I was thinking about these words as I was getting ready for bed last night. Why do some parents insist their kids won’t do anything unless they are forced to? Are kids naturally lazy? Can’t they be trusted to work hard and achieve goals without being pushed?

Before I hopped into bed, I jotted down a few of my thoughts:

We all need something worthwhile to do. Some way of using our talents. We want to know we’re making a difference to the world. We’re willing to work hard, even do things that are unpleasant or not particularly enjoyable, and overcome obstacles. Getting to the other side, knowing we have achieved something that took a lot of effort, is very satisfying.

I’m talking as an adult, but what about kids? Do they also have a need and the drive to achieve something worthwhile? Can parents inadvertently squash kids’ motivation to work hard?

If we keep kids so busy with what we want them to do, they haven’t got time to find out what they’re good at and what they could achieve. If we make them fulfil our challenges, they are not going to set their own.

If kids do set challenges for themselves but we criticise instead of encouraging them, if we don’t have confidence in them, if we don’t trust they will rise to the occasion, they will give up. They won’t see how capable they are. They won’t believe they can do anything worthwhile, anything good.

We all need to know we are important. That our lives have meaning. That we have a contribution – small or big – to make. That we can do something that will make a difference. Perhaps deep down, most of us yearn to go out there and do something amazing even if, at the same time that might sound a bit frightening. We need something to believe in, some cause to give ourselves to.

Kids are quite capable of working hard, even to the point of exhaustion, if what they’re doing is important to them, something they believe in. But it’s a totally different situation if they’re doing something someone else makes them do. Is what parents want kids to do more important than what kids want to do?

Perhaps we make kids do things our way because we think we know best. We want them to have a secure future. Safe and sensible. But maybe safe and sensible isn’t what the world needs. It needs people who are passionate, who will think for themselves, who are willing to go out there and work hard at something they believe is important so that they can make a difference.

Does the world need unschooling (or at least, people with an unschooling mindset)?

My thoughts are a bit muddled and incomplete, but maybe they can start a conversation. Please feel welcome to pick holes in what I’ve said, and fill in the gaps with your own thoughts.