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Skenazy, the president of Let Grow and the founder of the Free-Range Kids movement, was kind enough to share her thoughts about school and the education system with Bored Panda.
“School keeps becoming a bigger part of kids’ lives—and that’s a problem. A generation or two ago, says Boston College Psychology Prof. Peter Gray, the school DAY was shorter, the school YEAR was shorter and the hours outside of school—the afternoons, weekends, and summers— were a lot more free,” she shared.
“Kids goofed around, played, explored. Now, with jam-packed schedules filled with adult-run activities, even those out-of-school hours are a lot LIKE school… except instead of learning fractions kids are learning lacrosse, or chess.”
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Skenazy noted that in his book, Free to Learn, Gray explains why this lack of freedom is a problem.
“In the name of education, we have increasingly deprived children of the time and freedom they need to educate themselves through their own means. And in the name of safety, we have deprived children of the freedom they need to develop the understanding, courage, and confidence required to face life’s dangers and challenges with equanimity,” Gray writes.
And the problem is getting worse. “We are in a crisis that continues to grow more serious with every passing year… [We have] lost sight of children’s competence. We have created a world in which children must suppress their natural instincts to take charge of their own education and, instead, mindlessly follow paths to nowhere laid out for them by adults. We have created a world that is literally driving many young people crazy and leaving many others unable to develop the confidence and skills required for adult responsibility.”
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Skenazy, the president of Let Grow, told Bored Panda that she’s seen this tragedy unfold herself. “Clever, normal kids turned into caged animals who despair they are no good, and their lives pointless. The answer? It’s so simple and so overlooked: Kids need more free time and free play—exactly what you loved most as a kid. Time spent making up games, practicing free throws, jumping rope, poking around in the woods—all of that is not wasted time. It’s a time when all of a kid’s senses are engaged and growing: Observation, participation, empathy, curiosity."
According to the childhood independence and resilience expert, “kids learn what they love, who they are, and how much they can do.”
“It’s hard to see when you’re swimming in it, but kids learn so much from life, from friends, from siblings, from doing things on their own that they can NOT learn from an adult, even the most loving parent or gifted teacher. Give them back some free time, during the school day and after, and they will start to blossom,” Skenazy explained to Bored Panda.
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The expert shared some practical advice and resources on how to create more freedom for kids. “One way to do this is to have your child’s school start Peter Gray’s brainchild: A Let Grow Play Club. Schools stay open before or after school for mixed-ages, no-tech, free play. An adult supervises but does not organize the games or solve the spats.”
She continued: “This way, kids get BOTH kinds of education they need: Classroom education AND the lessons learned on the playground, about creativity, empathy, and curiosity. Without some time for truly free play and exploration, kids cannot thrive. With some freedom, there’s no stopping them!”
Meanwhile, Bored Panda was interested to get Skenazy’s opinion on how parents can help their children avoid feeling pressured when it comes to getting ‘perfect’ grades, while also maintaining healthy studying habits.
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“Quick! What was Einstein’s grade point average? How well did Dolly Parton score on her SATs? How many AP classes did Rachmaninoff take? Those questions are absurd. And so is the idea that a child is only as bright or talented as his grades and school performance,” Skenazy told us.
“There are so many aspects to a person and yet so few are reflected in their report card. Creativity, kindness, a sense of humor, loyalty, wackiness—those aren’t measurable and so we forget they are even more valuable than an A+ on the spelling test."
According to the childhood independence expert, parents ought to literally tell their kids that they should do their best at school, but it’s not the only thing that matters.
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“Just as you have to do your job as best you can, whether you love it or not, kids are tasked with the job of school. So they should try to do their best, but how they perform isn’t a reflection of their worth as a person or even their intelligence!” she told Bored Panda.
“For the record, Thomas ‘Lightbulb’ Edison was doing so poorly in school, his mom took him out and home schooled him. The point? Don’t make school and grades so important that you—and your kids!—forget how many more dimensions there are to childhood. Let them find things they DO love to do, so if they’re not a ‘great student,’ or they flunk a test, or they hate math, they have another thing they find joy and competence in.”
Skenazy stressed the fact that, in the end, “grades do NOT matter.” What does matter is learning.
“And that can and does take place outside the classroom as much as inside. School is a place you do your best, but it’s not the only place that matters. The world is a lot bigger (and older!) than just school.”
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We don’t want to sound overly dramatic, but to us, there is no Reddit without r/todayilearned. Created all the way back in late 2008, the subreddit has grown into a powerhouse of a community that few can rival.
At the time of writing, the ‘Today I Learned’ community was home to over 30 million members. This number continues to grow. Constantly.
The secret behind the success of the TIL project is brilliant in its simplicity. It’s hard to beat interesting, weird, and niche facts (well, unless you’ve got funny cat pics to share!). Meanwhile, the community members are encouraged to actively participate. No fact is too small to share! So long as it’s backed up by sources, of course.
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