> After these experiences I decided that authority trips were obnoxious
> nasty and actually harmful, plus they didn't work. It was very helpful
> to learn from the teachers too. They had a zillion tricks to get
> around the usual stubborn, sullen, and combative noise that kids
> generate. On the other hand, heavy handed authority just breeds
> hatred, rage, resistance, self-loathing, rebellion, and all manner of
> pathologies. I suspect it even fucks up your language
> skills---consider Judith Butler. Very bad for psychic health all
> around.
>
> Chuck Grimes
I agree about heavy-handed authority, but some framework -- esp with kids 12 and under -- is needed simply for them to have something to knock against. We're part of a home-school collective, and for the most part it's a positive experience (far superior to the private school in Manhattan that my daughter attended). Some of the kids are given no boundaries, and it shows. But those who are lightly pushed into digging deeper seem to respond creatively. As Nabokov said of experimental art, unless it's grounded in classical work, it is merely a child's scrawl on a back fence. You can't subvert or transcend what you don't know or don't understand.
DP