What does that thread have to do with anything I’ve said?
Your argument is the same. Not supplying something is “force”, certainly not a literal use of the word.
OK, I see what you mean. I think a case could be made that the extensive definition of force is different between two adults than it is between a parent and a child, due to the special relationship between parent and child: namely, that the parent (in most cases) has the rights to bring up the child. But perhaps it would be better to use a different word to prevent misunderstanding.
In my earlier post, the distinction I made was between child-directed and parent-directed education. “Do this maths workbook or else you don’t get any dinner” is a clear example of parent-directed education, even if it is arguably not force in the sense of a rights violation. A parent merely leaving a maths workbook lying around where the child will see it, and then the child picking it up and working through it until he gets bored, would be child-directed education. The parent acts as a facilitator and an available learning resource for the child’s education, but does not direct them to learn anything in particular using threats. This is the difference between unschooling and all types of schooling (including homeschooling, private schooling, State schooling, etc).
Do you stand by your contentions that unschooling is “crackpot” and that unschooled children will “fail at life”?
No dinner is not a realistic threat. A realistic threat would be not buying anything other than what you want the kid to have. When I was in a group home for a weekend I starved for 2 days because they confiscated the food I brought and refused to allow me to eat anything other than onion soup (I vomet instantly if I eat onion). That is only what happens when you put psychologists in charge of your kids. It’s really a matter of not entertaining kids too much with insipid things like TV.
Unschooled kids won’t necessarily “fail at life”, because the present competition is not exactly stiff. In a stateless world of education they would tend to be uncompetitive. There would be a very different order.
Video by me regarding unschooling.
Boing Boing Founder Mark Frauenfelder on DIY, Mistakes, and Unschooling
