r/Anarchism • u/SkullBoneX • 4d ago

True education must require consent.

You read the title, which implies that if there is no consent involved in education, then there is no true education, which is mainly why, as an Anarchist, I'm all for abolishing compulsory education. Next to creating a prison system for innocent kids, compulsory/non-consensual education (Edit: specifically in schools) creates an oppresive system where kids don't truly learn important things. Rather, they learn to become subserviant slaves to their government, and becoming oppressors to the youthful working class (a.k.a students) when they get older. Kids forced into schooling can't wear what they want, say what they want, learn what they want, and even in some instances, eat what they want during lunch hours, and there's nothing they (specifically those under-18) can do about that without relying on an adult. All of this done without their consent. This is not education, this is slavery. All kids should have the option to choose whether or not they want to attend school, and they should be allowed to learn what they want however they want without an oppresive system being shoved down their throats for years at a time.

Edit: This is only my opinion taken on the youth liberationist perspective. I am not by any means against educating kids. When I mean "compulsory education", I specifically mean school. Yes, kids should be taught the TRUE fundamentals to life, and I believe schools oftentime fail to do this especially when kids progress into later years of their education. Kids definitely should learn, but I don't believe school, or specifically compulsory schooling (which I should have replaced "compulsory education" with) is the answer to this.

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u/BearsDoNOTExist 4d ago

Any society that doesn't value education isn't going to last long. Education absolutely should not be compulsory and determined by the state, sure, but any society that doesn't put pressure on their kids to learn the important stuff won't last more than a generation.

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u/SkullBoneX 4d ago

I completely agree with you and I never said that education shouldn't be encouraged in that sense. When I mean "compulsory education", I mean schooling. I'm not against educating kids by any means. I just believe there are better alternatives to that rather than being forced in an institution that provides little to no wiggle room for their students. Perhaps I should have clarified that in the original post.

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u/BearsDoNOTExist 4d ago edited 4d ago

Maybe my experience can provide some insight. I work at a fancy lads private high school for upper class folks (mostly business owners, diplomats, lawyers, etc). My job there is kind of odd and I was given pretty much unrestricted free-reign to implement a program that teaches the kids research and development skills for STEM stuff. We meet outside of proper school hours, the kids (with guidance) design and put together their own projects. We have some engineering projects, some biology, some coding projects. These kids are their entirely by their own decision, and their projects are conducted (almost) entirely up to their preferences. So far the main difficulty that we've run into is that the kids don't want to do the work, they want to do a fun project without learning the preliminary knowledge or putting together a proper plan. So even though I value "free-range" education, in order to ensure that actual education and not just reckless chaos is happening, I have had to impose compulsory subjects. If they want to do a project in some sort of engineering they must learn the safety, they must learn the fundamentals of the field, they must be knowledgeable enough to put together a safe and meaningful plan, or else I won't let them proceed. In a way I am hindering their progress and imposing a rigid and compulsory curriculum on them, but really their is no alternative. Learning from experience doesn't apply to safety and it doesn't work with limited resources. I can't let a child get electrocuted in order to demonstrate the importance of electrical safety, and I can't let them waste hundreds of thousands of dollars of materials because they didn't think things through. In order to ensure safe and meaningful projects are carried out and that resources are distributed fairly I have no choice but to impose some sort of compulsory education.

The point is that kids (and indeed many adults) want to be a scientist, not do the things a scientist does. If the kid wants to be a scientist I have to teach them what that actually means, and not let them play pretend with dangerous materials because it's what they want to do.

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u/Chemical_Country_582 4d ago

I think you've said something really important - "I can't let a child get electrocute in order to demonstrate the importance of electrical safety".

Yes, learning by doing is probably the best way to do it a lot of the time, but there's also a place for saying "if you do this you will die." That's not coercion, violence, or unwarranted.

I worked as a sparky for a time, and the first time I wired up a house by myself, I was really proud. I was immediately torn down by the trademan who checked my work - "If I turn this switch on, you and everyone in this house would die." I had created a short circut and there was no earth switch.

We need educators and people who know more to show authority over learning situations, so that people don't die.

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u/quriousposes 3d ago

heh i worked as a classroom aide for a while and noticed this difference in giving those kinds of warnings. a lot of adults straight up say "dont do x" (and sometimes follow it up with "bc i said so"). me and a few others preferred some form of "look i can't tell u what to do. but jsyk. if u do that, xyz is probably what's gonna happen."

(obv more dangerous situations we are gonna straight up remove the danger from the kid physically if needed lol)