Unschooling... Good or Bad for Children?

[VivaciousJewelz]

Unschooling

The Biegler children live as though school doesn't exist. Hands-off approach to education allows kids to make their own decisions.
They're at home all day, but they're not being homeschooled. They're being "unschooled." There are no textbooks, no tests and no formal education at all in their world.
What's more, that hands-off approach extends to other areas of the children's lives: They make their own decisions, and don't have chores or rules.
Christine Yablonski and Phil Biegler of Westford, Mass., are self-described "radical unschoolers." They allow their teen daughter and son to decide what they want to learn, and when they want to learn it.
"They key there is that you've got to trust your kids to … find their own interests," Yablonski told "Good Morning America."

Yablonski described unschooling as "living your life as if the school system didn't exist."
When asked how their children learn things like math, she said, "If they need formal algebra understanding, then they will, they'll find that information."
Asked by "Good Morning America" about how they could parent without any rules, Phil Biegler said, "We find that we don't need a whole lot of rules."
"They might watch television," Yablonski said. "They might play games on the computers."
"They might read," her husband added.
Most children will always choose television over reading every time, but Yablonski said that "the key there is that you've got to trust your kids to ... find their own interests."
She isn't worried that her daughter stays up all night, because "she's getting everything done that she wants to get done."

Children as the 'Center of the Universe'

Ann Pleshette Murphy, parenting expert and "Good Morning America" contributor, questioned the unusual approach.

"This to me is putting way too much power in the hands of the kids, something that we know kids can often find anxiety-producing, and it's also sending a message that they're the center of the universe, which I do not think is healthy for children," she said.
Dr. Reef Karim, a psychiatrist, agrees.
"The whole concept of cooperating with your kid, it's kind of cool in theory," he said, "and if a child was a little adult I think it would be great, but he's a child."
Out of an estimated 56 million schoolage children, about 1.5 million are homeschooled. Of that number, at least 100,000 are believed to be "unschooled" -- the term coined to describe an unorthodox approach to homeschooling that does not focus on formal classes, set curriculums or tests.

This parenting style might raise some eyebrows, but in Massachusetts, it's perfectly legal. Unschooling parents in that state are required to report to local school authorities once a year. The Massachusetts Department of Education did not respond to calls and e-mails from ABC News seeking comment.
Homeschooling rules vary from state to state. Click here to see the home schooling rules in your state on the Home School Legal Defense Association Web site.

The Discovery Health cable TV channel chronicled the life of one young unschooling family, detailing a home in which the children faced no punishment, no judgment and no discipline.
"It's amazing when you broaden the scope of what you see as learning as opposed to worksheets," the mother said. "There is no hierarchy in our house, so there is no punishment, no judgment, no discipline. They get what they want for breakfast and eat whatever they want. It's all a matter of what feels right to them."
But what happens when the kids get older? Shaun Biegler, 13, last went to school when he was in the first grade.
He doesn't regret not attending anymore, but said, "I wonder what my life would be if I continued going to school. I was never really into some of the stuff that I had to learn in school."
He added that sports "haven't really been an interest of mine," but he also hasn't been exposed to many sports because he doesn't participate in a PE class.
Shaun's sister, 15-year-old Kimi, doesn't even know what grade she'd have been in if she had remained in school, and doesn't feel prepared for college.
"I haven't done the traditional look at a textbook and learn about such-and-such," she said. "If I wanted to go to college, then I would pick up a textbook and learn."
Neither child has any plans for college, according to their father. When asked if he felt it was his responsibility to teach his children to do things that they don't want to do, he said, "they will do what they need to do, whether or not they enjoy it, because they see the purpose in it."



Though the children's father acknowledged they were growing up in a unique way, he said that "in all other aspects, they're … living in the mainstream."
"They have experiences and knowledge that other people don't," Yablonski said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I saw this report about unschooling on GMA. Thought it was interesting b/c a lot of opponents are saying

a) children will lack social skills
b) children will lack ability to tolerate authority and will therefore be unable to work productively
c) children cannot handle lack of structure and will make poor choices



(I should note that unschooling is considered different from homeschooling.)

[SavininFL]

I think it's absolutely asinine(sp?)!!!! Unbelieveable how these parents even justify giving so much leeway to children. I think it's absurd and the laws will surely change REAL soon because of it. Of course there not going to know how to deal with authority when they go out in the real world and where do you think they'll be when there 30, on mommy and daddy's couch cause there the only ones who won't tell them no! This is where the government should focus there attention on instead of healthcare. Good Luck to those parents in 20 years!

[shelleyf]

I think it is crazy, I would never go for this.

[beth119]

I think this is a bit...extreme...

I can get on board with not judging your kids, letting them explore who they are, etc...

But flat out... NOTHING??? Yikes! I'm going to have to ponder this for awhile...

[Weinergirl]

I agree, this is totally ridiculous. How are the kids even going to be able to figure out what they are interested in if they aren't exposed to different things? This is the ultimate in lazy parenting, IMO. These parents are doing their kids a huge disservice educationally, physically, and socially.

[beth119]

I have a question...

Does anyone think this should be ILLEGAL?

[VivaciousJewelz]

I have a question...

Does anyone think this should be ILLEGAL?

Ahh, see, but then if we make unschooling illegal, isn't that just one more step towards making homeschooling illegal or at least, waaaaayyyy more regulated by the government? Unschoolers are already under the same laws as homeschooled kids.

[Dengineer]

Trusting kids to make their own good decisions is ridiculous--kids always go for what's fun and easy. I believe that children need lots of structure and parental-imposed limits, so obviously I am not a fan of child-directed parenting. That being said, I also believe that children need a good bit of unstructured playtime as well, but not all day every day.

[VivaciousJewelz]

Trusting kids to make their own good decisions is ridiculous--kids always go for what's fun and easy. I believe that children need lots of structure and parental-imposed limits, so obviously I am not a fan of child-directed parenting. That being said, I also believe that children need a good bit of unstructured playtime as well, but not all day every day.

So does that mean parents shouldn't homeschool, either? And if not, how are "we" supposed to regulate the kind of education children get?

[NIGHTB1022]

I think it's absolutely asinine(sp?)!!!! Unbelieveable how these parents even justify giving so much leeway to children. I think it's absurd and the laws will surely change REAL soon because of it. Of course there not going to know how to deal with authority when they go out in the real world and where do you think they'll be when there 30, on mommy and daddy's couch cause there the only ones who won't tell them no! This is where the government should focus there attention on instead of healthcare. Good Luck to those parents in 20 years!

It's more like good luck to those kids when the parents are dead! They will be unemployable because they were unschooled and have no education and if they weren't into getting educated when the parents were alive by the time they pass it will already be too late for them.

Hopefully this does not become a trend. Another reason I don't believe in homeschooling, because it is to easy to lead to unschooling. I have a sister I haven't spoke to in over 8 years because she is just to weird, but anyway she has 2 kids and the last one is 18 and still in the equivalent of sophomore year and the older one is almost 22 and just sits around on his computer all day and plays video games all day. There ya have it.

I know there are alot of parents that are structured enough to teach at home, and god bless them for having that kind of patience, but it's the ones that aren't and unschooling that will be the undoing of our next generation.