Comments on: Beyond Adolescence http://theparentingpit.com/2007/09/18/beyond-adolescence/ alternative parenting | conscious living | unschooling Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:37:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 By: Linda http://theparentingpit.com/2007/09/18/beyond-adolescence/#comment-2343 Linda Fri, 21 Sep 2007 04:34:45 +0000 http://theparentingpit.com/2007/09/18/beyond-adolescence/#comment-2343 How utterly wonderful! (Also, reminiscent of Escape From Childhood...) My oldest child is ten and in the past year I have been amazed by his transition from childhood to something much more resembling adulthood, in terms of his emotional maturity and his cognitive awareness. He is more confident in himself and more ready to engage with the world than many adults I know (who I suspect were stunted in their development at some point) and certainly more than I was as a teen just out of high school. He can converse with adults as thoughtfully and intelligently as they can. He is capable of driving (he's been practicing out in the middle of nowhere, shhhh) and he's had two jobs already and is set to begin another. It's not that I'm saying that he's the same as me. Of course he's not, any more than I am the same as a 20-year-old or a 60-year-old. But whatever it is that links us together as being "adult" he shares also, aside from sexual development. It's certainly something that homeschooling (or rather, not going to school) is protective of, because our school system and schoolish culture do artificially prolong childhood. How utterly wonderful! (Also, reminiscent of Escape From Childhood…)

My oldest child is ten and in the past year I have been amazed by his transition from childhood to something much more resembling adulthood, in terms of his emotional maturity and his cognitive awareness. He is more confident in himself and more ready to engage with the world than many adults I know (who I suspect were stunted in their development at some point) and certainly more than I was as a teen just out of high school. He can converse with adults as thoughtfully and intelligently as they can. He is capable of driving (he’s been practicing out in the middle of nowhere, shhhh) and he’s had two jobs already and is set to begin another. It’s not that I’m saying that he’s the same as me. Of course he’s not, any more than I am the same as a 20-year-old or a 60-year-old. But whatever it is that links us together as being “adult” he shares also, aside from sexual development.

It’s certainly something that homeschooling (or rather, not going to school) is protective of, because our school system and schoolish culture do artificially prolong childhood.

]]> By: Summerm http://theparentingpit.com/2007/09/18/beyond-adolescence/#comment-2342 Summerm Fri, 21 Sep 2007 03:12:45 +0000 http://theparentingpit.com/2007/09/18/beyond-adolescence/#comment-2342 Interesting, makes me very curious about reading the book. I know that in my own teen years I felt very pulled apart. I was treated like a child, yet expected to act like an adult. That helped fuel my own "Oh yeah, watch me!" attitude. I'm also opposed to the "peer culture", which is one of the reasons I homeschool. I'm often confused that the peer culture is one of the reasons given for not homeschooling, because it seems absurd to me to restrict a group of people to their own "kind". Whether that is age, class, or social group. Interesting, makes me very curious about reading the book. I know that in my own teen years I felt very pulled apart. I was treated like a child, yet expected to act like an adult. That helped fuel my own “Oh yeah, watch me!” attitude.

I’m also opposed to the “peer culture”, which is one of the reasons I homeschool. I’m often confused that the peer culture is one of the reasons given for not homeschooling, because it seems absurd to me to restrict a group of people to their own “kind”. Whether that is age, class, or social group.

]]> By: Dr. Robert Epstein http://theparentingpit.com/2007/09/18/beyond-adolescence/#comment-2300 Dr. Robert Epstein Wed, 19 Sep 2007 02:20:55 +0000 http://theparentingpit.com/2007/09/18/beyond-adolescence/#comment-2300 Thanks for your supportive blog! I do hope that people will actually start reading (and buying!) the book rather than just my interviews! The book is far more thorough and persuasive, and I have no control over what a journalist includes in an interview or even how I'm "quoted." As for competency tests: I'm sure people in the 1930s would have been uncomfortable with the idea that we'd soon be requiring testing or licenses for driving, hunting, fishing, and the right to become an electrician, plumber, or psychologist! But competency tests are easy to develop, and they'll provide a safe way to allow young people to enter the adult world as soon as they are ready. The alternative is to keep them trapped in the idiotic world of teen culture, with more than 5 million of them in counseling, more than 7 million of them binge drinking, etc. Please read the book!!! Thanks! :-) Thanks for your supportive blog! I do hope that people will actually start reading (and buying!) the book rather than just my interviews! The book is far more thorough and persuasive, and I have no control over what a journalist includes in an interview or even how I’m “quoted.” As for competency tests: I’m sure people in the 1930s would have been uncomfortable with the idea that we’d soon be requiring testing or licenses for driving, hunting, fishing, and the right to become an electrician, plumber, or psychologist! But competency tests are easy to develop, and they’ll provide a safe way to allow young people to enter the adult world as soon as they are ready. The alternative is to keep them trapped in the idiotic world of teen culture, with more than 5 million of them in counseling, more than 7 million of them binge drinking, etc. Please read the book!!! Thanks! :-)

]]> By: radical mama http://theparentingpit.com/2007/09/18/beyond-adolescence/#comment-2298 radical mama Wed, 19 Sep 2007 02:04:01 +0000 http://theparentingpit.com/2007/09/18/beyond-adolescence/#comment-2298 Wow, that book sounds fascinating, and pretty on par with my opinion on our treatment of young people. It took me a long time to feel like I was an "adult." Actually, certain people in my life STILL feel the need to treat me like a child and sometimes I wonder what the magic age is in order to be trusted to be a grown-up these days... Wow, that book sounds fascinating, and pretty on par with my opinion on our treatment of young people. It took me a long time to feel like I was an “adult.” Actually, certain people in my life STILL feel the need to treat me like a child and sometimes I wonder what the magic age is in order to be trusted to be a grown-up these days…

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