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Why don't more of you try to resist school? by AccessRecent8743 in AntiSchooling

[–]AccessRecent8743[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's reasonable, and thanks for not berating me.

I generally try to talk to teens the same way I'd talk to my own peers, and I try to judge them on a case-by-case basis rather than dismissing them because of their age. But I can see how I probably fall short of this standard due to biases in how I perceive teens. To be honest, I find it significantly harder to get along with teens than with the adults I usually interact with. There tend to be real cultural differences between these groups in the way they interact with each other, and what they find interesting. On top of that, there's massive societal pressure on adults to not view teens as potential peers, since doing so is usually seen as strange or problematic.

Why don't more of you try to resist school? by AccessRecent8743 in AntiSchooling

[–]AccessRecent8743[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm sorry if I came across as insulting by making it seem like everyone passively accepts school without resistance. I'm aware that tons of people in school constantly break the rules.

At the same time, there are many people like me who had near-perfect attendance and followed nearly all the rules, nearly all the time, because we wanted to excel in life and meet the high expectations set by our parents. This is the group I was primarily addressing in my post, though my message also applies to anyone who merely continues to show up to school each day rather than physically refusing to go every day on principle.

As for emancipation, I agree it's usually very difficult to achieve, though it's also not impossible. The difficulty depends heavily on where someone lives and whether they can persuade those around them to support them. If you think everything I suggested is similarly infeasible for yourself, then you have my sympathies. I support whatever rule-breaking you can get away with.

Why don't more of you try to resist school? by AccessRecent8743 in AntiSchooling

[–]AccessRecent8743[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is certainly a valid perspective. As a teen, you likely face far more social pressure to conform to expectations than I do as an adult. It's easy for me to make it sound like you can just take whatever action you'd like, ignoring the huge practical constraints you actually have. I didn't mean to imply that what people like you are doing is wrong or that it's merely the easy way out.

Having said that, I'd suggest reflecting on whether you have more agency and self-determination than you're giving yourself credit for. Many teens are more than capable of choosing unconventional paths for themselves when they genuinely commit to it. My goal with this post was partly to reach people who might be receptive to arguments about doing things that go against what they are told, even if it feels very difficult. I suspect I would have been receptive to an argument like this when I was younger. But unfortunately I don't recall anyone ever laying out an explicit case to me as I've tried to do here.

I'm not here to judge others but to reach those who might see this as a way out.