I Think We Could Fix This

Professor J,

The definition of maturity from your previous post has me concerned indeed. Though mostly about myself by those standards. ;)

I liked the link that you posted about how to fix college. It would certainly be a start. It would be even more effective if we implemented my idea for overhauling education (covered in some post in the archives I couldn't locate). You may recall it would be a combination of classroom instruction mainly in the form of advice and steering, self teaching, and community projects. My vision is two days of home study, which I think is important because students need to understand that an education is actually something that they provide themselves. Any teacher, system. or curriculum can only offer it.

Two more days would be spent in a classroom setting with teachers acting more as guides and mentors than just information dispensers (picture a Pez dispenser with Ben Stein's head). Fridays would be spent out in the community working on a project similar to what Boy Scouts are required to do to attain the rank of Eagle Scout. This would also be a community day for teachers. I'd want to see this implemented in middle school so that by the time a child graduated high school they would have 5 or 6 problems in their community that they have solved. If helplessness can be learned then helpfulness can too. We know that volunteers are more likely to vote and be informed. They are more likely to take action when they see things that need to be addressed. Imagine what could happen if that was part of the system.

Or we could just scrap our entire system and invite some Finns over to tell us how it can (and I suspect, should) be done.

As you know, my own son is off having an adventure (and volunteering) and this week was the first time he'd called home and been really sick. But he was still going out on his "hitch." We discussed how he could treat himself and when it might be wise to see a doctor. Knowing how to take care of yourself when you're sick (or how to prevent illness) is an important life skill.

Remember the woman who was labeled America's Worst Mom a few years ago for giving her son a twenty dollar bill and a map and telling him to get home on his own? She has her own show, Free Range Kids, now teaching helicopter parents to let go. It'll be interesting to see how that goes.  In our case Mr. Snarky has an over protective sister instead which is charming to watch. When he informed us that he'd seen a rattlesnake her reply was "I knew that would happen. I'm FedExing him a snakebite kit immediately." Because of course no one in Arizona would think to have a snakebite kit. 

So clearly our boys need more help in some areas and a lot less in others. Many times they just need instruction and then freedom. And again the desperate need is time. Time. And more time. Unscheduled. Time to pursue things they really care about instead of being managed to the point of exhaustion. Parents who know how to just kind of be around without thinking that every moment needs to be put on the agenda or qualify as quality time.

Maybe we should actually start with a school for parents.