RIP School Survival Forums
August 2001 - June 2017

The School Survival Forums are permanently retired. If you need help with quitting school, unsupportive parents or anything else, there is a list of resources on the Help Page.

If you want to write about your experiences in school, you can write on our blog.

To everyone who joined these forums at some point, and got discouraged by the negativity and left after a while (or even got literally scared off): I'm sorry.

I wasn't good enough at encouraging people to be kinder, and removing people who refuse to be kind. Encouraging people is hard, and removing people creates conflict, and I hate conflict... so that's why I wasn't better at it.

I was a very, very sensitive teen. The atmosphere of this forum as it is now, if it had existed in 1996, would probably have upset me far more than it would have helped.

I can handle quite a lot of negativity and even abuse now, but that isn't the point. I want to help people. I want to help the people who need it the most, and I want to help people like the 1996 version of me.

I'm still figuring out the best way to do that, but as it is now, these forums are doing more harm than good, and I can't keep running them.

Thank you to the few people who have tried to understand my point of view so far. I really, really appreciate you guys. You are beautiful people.

Everyone else: If after everything I've said so far, you still don't understand my motivations, I think it's unlikely that you will. We're just too different. Maybe someday in the future it might make sense, but until then, there's no point in arguing about it. I don't have the time or the energy for arguing anymore. I will focus my time and energy on people who support me, and those who need help.

-SoulRiser

The forums are mostly read-only and are in a maintenance/testing phase, before being permanently archived. Please use this time to get the contact details of people you'd like to keep in touch with. My contact details are here.

Please do not make a mirror copy of the forums in their current state - things will still change, and some people have requested to be able to edit or delete some of their personal info.


Post Reply 
 
Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
An unschooler goes to school for the first time...
Author Message
SoulRiser Offline
Site Founder

Posts: 18,240
Joined: Aug 2001
Thanks: 2669
Given 1978 thank(s) in 1208 post(s)
Post: #1
An unschooler goes to school for the first time...

http://fivefreebirds.blogspot.com/2008/ ... chool.html

Here's what he wrote about his experience in school:

Quote:Education From the Free Eye
Written by Kevin Snavley

All my life I have unschooled. The only thing that could be remotely considered school that I attended was pre-school, and of course, that was all fun and games. That was just life, how things were. I always wondered in the back of my head what it was like to be there, in a school building all day. How horrible it was to sit there for hours on end being lectured by crazy teachers and doing hours of homework. And then somewhere in between most of my friends going to school and me wondering, I got caught up in "catching up" to everyone else. For a while, around age 12, I always wanted to be on-track with the kids at school. It was probably because I felt stupid or less intelligent than them, which really wasn't the case. They just knew more meaningless facts than I did. It took me until last year to finally realize that, and to truly understand the reasons and joys of unschooling. Why it really is so much better than public school.

For as long as I can remember I have had friends that have gone to public school. Always. I've never actually had true unschooling friends aside from my cousins. So in a way, I sort of grew up with slightly hybrid thinking. One defending or longing to be in public school, and one completely against it all with pro-unschooling opinions. My parents always told us why public school is bad, but of course as a kid I'm not really going to understand. I never had the experience to. So I just kind of accepted that it was a bad place that I shouldn't be until I was about 14. Because I didn't go to school I always thought I had horrible writing abilities, and a bus load of other things. I finally made the decision to go to my freshman year of high school so I could figure it all out. Why is public school widely considered better? Why do my parents and unschooling parents everywhere preach it's a bad place to be? Why is unschooling so much better? I got all of my answers.

I would be lying if I said I went 100% percent for personal reasons. I had one friend in particular who was pro-school completely and thought I was wasting my life. In a way, I wanted to prove to her that I could do it, and if/if not it was better than unschooling. I guess up until I started writing this I had forgotten about that completely. I kind of kept the fact that this whole thing was an experiment in the back of my mind. I mean, it did feel nice to be "normal". But is it best? For the sake of writing this I'm going to skip through the school year and spare you the details of explaining the entire 9 months. School was exactly as I expected. Well, the whole face of it was anyway. It wasn't as close to as horrible as my parents said it was. The days went by pretty fast, it wasn't horribly boring, and I got to see my friends. The one thing I noticed the first day though, was how little "socialization" time there is. That's one thing all the kids say, "I get to hang out with my friends!". Definitely not the kind of "hanging out" I was used to. At that point it seemed like a stupid reason to want to be there.

After being there a few weeks, I started to realize the being I truly am. I wasn't stupid, not even close. If anyone was stupid it was the other 90% of the kids that were there. Everyone raved about my writing, my honors English teacher included. I did good in all my classes despite NEVER having a formal lesson in anything. That's when I realized that me, an unschooler, never been "taught" anything that these kids have, is doing better at the game than they are. Pretty ironic, no? Some of my favorite classes were Honors English 1, Japanese 1, and Jazz Choir. Those were the best.

Something I really began to hate about the school days was waking up at 6:30 am, staying there for six hours, then swimming for another 2, before going home to do meaningless homework. The first semester I got pretty lazy, and ended with a 3.3 GPA. Still, better than most kids, but not my best. Second semester I ended with a 3.8. I couldn't stand the fact that I was surrounded by unmotivated, stupid (not the academic way, the general manner they acted) people. Another trend I noticed was "can't". EVERYBODY used that one. The whole 9 months all in all were good for me. Negatives and positives. I learned that what I was doing before was BETTER than what kids at school get, I learned that what my parents told me wasn't completely heresy, I experienced something that I had never done before, the mystery was gone, and best of all, I can now defend the unschooling philosophy without any doubt in my mind and be credible at the same time. I also understood why public school kids act like they do. It's called loss of motivation.

I quickly realized that if I had to endure that shit for 9 years, I probably wouldn't be the person I am today. Friends have told me "you would have been a complete honors student!". I say no, I would've have been a lazy ass bum that wanted nothing more than a couch in life. (Which, I might add I learned a lot from TV. But you get my point. ;P) The thing that made me responsible, smart, and motivated was my unschooling life. And as stupid, annoying, unmotivated, whatever most of the public school kids are, you really can't blame them. While the other public school kids that can relate to me somewhat complain about them as well; they don't understand either. You never really can unless you have lived a free life. (Something else that I realized were the people that I was already friends with, were some of the most intelligent people in the building. How's that for coincidental?) Some personalities are different and can endure 12 years of school plus college, most cannot. Between teachers telling them they're not good enough, and wasting years of their life on something that doesn't really matter, they get fried. Most of the time it goes unnoticed too, you just kind of evaporate. I started to feel the same thing happening to me just in those nine months. Every thought you have, dream you want to fulfill, inspiration that strikes you, it all goes on the back burner, and eventually you just forget how to live any other way altogether.

Would I recommend sending a kid to school? Absolutely not. It's much too easy to lose your way. One thing I would advise though is to find unschooling friends. Would I recommend any other unschoolers go to school? If it's going to do them good like me, sure. If they want to see what it's like, sure. Otherwise, it's going to be a shit hole. Plain and simple. It would be beneficial for everyone to see what it's like, but not everyone can go through it with the same view point. So like everything else in our lives, it's up to us to make that decision. But now here I am, the year I thought would never end completed, and I have to decide what I want to do for the remaining 3. Over the last few days I've really been reflecting about what I truly want. Is it to finish high school, deal with everything I don't like, and benefit from the things I do? Or stop and go straight to college, and focus on what I want with life? That's something I'll be thinking about for a while.

"If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them." - Dalai Lama
Help & Support - Get help with leaving school, unsupportive parents, and more.
Click here if school makes you depressed or suicidal

Support School Survival on Patreon or Donate Bitcoin Here: 1Q5WCcxWjayniaL92b8GfXBiGdfjmnUNa2
"Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it." - André Paul Guillaume Gide
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination." - Albert Einstein
"I'm pretty sure there's a lot of beauty that can only be found in the mind of a lunatic." - TheCancer
EIPD - Emotionally Incompetent Parent Disorder

Push Button for Collection of Useful Links:
Hidden stuff:
03-25-2009 05:52 AM
Visit this user's website Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
AWOL Offline
The Spooning Bard

Posts: 8,487
Joined: Mar 2008
Thanks: 0
Given 36 thank(s) in 34 post(s)
Post: #2
Re: An unschooler goes to school for the first time...

I feel pity for the kid. He had to go to school after having his appetite ruined by unschooling...

[Image: 9be30a7.png]
[Image: LyingFloraBanner.jpg]
03-25-2009 07:13 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Faby Offline
work in progress

Posts: 3,446
Joined: Mar 2008
Thanks: 3
Given 61 thank(s) in 45 post(s)
Post: #3
Re: An unschooler goes to school for the first time...

火 Wrote:I feel pity for the kid. He had to go to school after having his appetite ruined by unschooling...

I..ugh... I dunno what's wrong with me today, everything's upside down.

I may have misunderstood you, did you say unschooling ruined his appetite? o.O

Let go of all desire for the common good, and the good becomes common as grass.

~~

Good fortune follows upon disaster;
Disaster lurks within good fortune;
Who can say how things will end?
Perhaps there is no end.
03-26-2009 01:48 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Jackass McAwesome Offline
Fanatic

Posts: 1,903
Joined: Jan 2008
Thanks: 0
Given 24 thank(s) in 17 post(s)
Post: #4
Re: An unschooler goes to school for the first time...

Escapist Wrote:
火 Wrote:I feel pity for the kid. He had to go to school after having his appetite ruined by unschooling...

I..ugh... I dunno what's wrong with me today, everything's upside down.

I may have misunderstood you, did you say unschooling ruined his appetite? o.O

Might've been referring to his "appetite for education."
03-26-2009 07:10 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Faby Offline
work in progress

Posts: 3,446
Joined: Mar 2008
Thanks: 3
Given 61 thank(s) in 45 post(s)
Post: #5
Re: An unschooler goes to school for the first time...

Oni-Chiisu Wrote:
Escapist Wrote:
火 Wrote:I feel pity for the kid. He had to go to school after having his appetite ruined by unschooling...

I..ugh... I dunno what's wrong with me today, everything's upside down.

I may have misunderstood you, did you say unschooling ruined his appetite? o.O

Might've been referring to his "appetite for education."

Well, yeah, that's what I meant. Unschooling ruined his appetite? Why would it? It's better to stay in school than to be unschooled?

o.O

Let go of all desire for the common good, and the good becomes common as grass.

~~

Good fortune follows upon disaster;
Disaster lurks within good fortune;
Who can say how things will end?
Perhaps there is no end.
03-26-2009 11:47 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Jackass McAwesome Offline
Fanatic

Posts: 1,903
Joined: Jan 2008
Thanks: 0
Given 24 thank(s) in 17 post(s)
Post: #6
Re: An unschooler goes to school for the first time...

I meant school ruining his appetite. Escapist pay moar attention D:
03-27-2009 04:13 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
AWOL Offline
The Spooning Bard

Posts: 8,487
Joined: Mar 2008
Thanks: 0
Given 36 thank(s) in 34 post(s)
Post: #7
Re: An unschooler goes to school for the first time...

I MEANT that his appetite was ruined in the sense that he had tasted better things... Or something like that.

[Image: 9be30a7.png]
[Image: LyingFloraBanner.jpg]
03-27-2009 08:41 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Faby Offline
work in progress

Posts: 3,446
Joined: Mar 2008
Thanks: 3
Given 61 thank(s) in 45 post(s)
Post: #8
Re: An unschooler goes to school for the first time...

Oni-Chiisu Wrote:I meant school ruining his appetite. Escapist pay moar attention D:

Oh. Well then, I'll try to pay more atte--, oh, look, a butterfly!

Let go of all desire for the common good, and the good becomes common as grass.

~~

Good fortune follows upon disaster;
Disaster lurks within good fortune;
Who can say how things will end?
Perhaps there is no end.
03-28-2009 12:20 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
SoulRiser Offline
Site Founder

Posts: 18,240
Joined: Aug 2001
Thanks: 2669
Given 1978 thank(s) in 1208 post(s)
Post: #9
Re: An unschooler goes to school for the first time...

Appetite for school? How many people actually have such a thing?

"If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them." - Dalai Lama
Help & Support - Get help with leaving school, unsupportive parents, and more.
Click here if school makes you depressed or suicidal

Support School Survival on Patreon or Donate Bitcoin Here: 1Q5WCcxWjayniaL92b8GfXBiGdfjmnUNa2
"Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it." - André Paul Guillaume Gide
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination." - Albert Einstein
"I'm pretty sure there's a lot of beauty that can only be found in the mind of a lunatic." - TheCancer
EIPD - Emotionally Incompetent Parent Disorder

Push Button for Collection of Useful Links:
Hidden stuff:
03-28-2009 03:01 AM
Visit this user's website Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Jackass McAwesome Offline
Fanatic

Posts: 1,903
Joined: Jan 2008
Thanks: 0
Given 24 thank(s) in 17 post(s)
Post: #10
Re: An unschooler goes to school for the first time...

A surprisingly high amount.
03-28-2009 05:04 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
AWOL Offline
The Spooning Bard

Posts: 8,487
Joined: Mar 2008
Thanks: 0
Given 36 thank(s) in 34 post(s)
Post: #11
Re: An unschooler goes to school for the first time...

I would if they taught me anything... Useful, anyway.

[Image: 9be30a7.png]
[Image: LyingFloraBanner.jpg]
03-28-2009 05:13 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
~Mystery~ Offline
Fanatic

Posts: 1,788
Joined: Jan 2009
Thanks: 0
Given 22 thank(s) in 18 post(s)
Post: #12
Re: An unschooler goes to school for the first time...

Why the is he getting a 3.8? Does he want to lose himself to the institution?

People act unaware that the human body is a walking pharmacy![Image: rolleyes.gif]~David Icke~
Religion was invented to keep the poor from harrasing the rich"~Napoleon Bonaparte~
Do As Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole of The Law! ~The Secret Order of Thelema~
"Respect goes to those who do not want it" ~TrueAnarchist~
"The only limitations that a person has are those that are self-imposed." ~Unknown!~
“Attraction is an emotion.~Dr. Alex~
“Life is an illusion albeit a very persistent one” ~Albert Einstein

I Am A Messenger From The Seduction Community!
Mint Member
03-28-2009 05:38 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Jackass McAwesome Offline
Fanatic

Posts: 1,903
Joined: Jan 2008
Thanks: 0
Given 24 thank(s) in 17 post(s)
Post: #13
Re: An unschooler goes to school for the first time...

Mystery Wrote:Why the is he getting a 3.8? Does he want to lose himself to the institution?

Probably because already knows the material.
03-29-2009 05:11 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
bluemeltedwhisper Offline
Defiant

Posts: 2
Joined: Mar 2009
Thanks: 0
Given 0 thank(s) in 0 post(s)
Post: #14
Re: An unschooler goes to school for the first time...

i find it interesting how he describes "average students" and their motivation levels. sooner or later they really do just evaporate and become numbers to be pushed through the system.
would he really have been an unmotivated bum longing for a couch had he been forced to endure 12+ years of public schooling? who's to say? there are so many "unmotivated" people everywhere it's kind of sad really. is it a personality trait genetically programed in us or some crap, or simply one's own experiences that determines our own will to create and struggle for our dreams? when it's so easy to say "i can't" and be handed a couch, why bother with anything else, yeah? :/
03-30-2009 01:50 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
LOON_ATTIC Offline
A NERD

Posts: 5,158
Joined: May 2009
Thanks: 9
Given 60 thank(s) in 49 post(s)
Post: #15
Re: An unschooler goes to school for the first time...

Awesome, I wanna be unschooled.
It sucks our parents always have to decide for us. And law doesn't let us be independent. It just sucks, really..
Our parents just own us by law. We're their property...

[Image: glorious666.png]
05-12-2009 12:47 PM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Post Reply 


Forum Jump:


User(s) browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)

Contact Us | School Survival | Return to Top | Return to Content | Mobile Version | RSS Syndication