I am NOT a special snowflake.
So often, after explaining my views about unschooling, I am told "not everyone could do that. You, you're different. You have a thirst to learn. You clearly are a human with opinions, and you have gone out and actually wanted to learn things, and here you are. Not everyone is like that. You're special."
Given, this may not be the exact words that are said, but the idea behind them is there. Always lurking behind the fact that I can measure up to whoever is holding up the yardstick is the subtle (or not so subtle) inference that I just happened to get lucky, and that I'm not the norm.
Before I go any further, I want to make something abundantly clear. I am not saying that my lifestyle is for everyone, since I know a few friends who have been unschooled for their entire lives, and then chose to go to school because they wanted to. I'm not saying that some people don't need structure. I'm not saying that everyone would do well in the intensely radical life that I lead.
Here is what I am saying.
I am not an abnormality.
I am not some sort of wonder child who has managed to reach beyond my hopelessly unstructured and uncontrolled life to grasp at knowledge against all odds.
I am not a special snowflake.
When you tell me that I'm an anomaly, that I'm doing well, but that's not the norm, you are doing a number of things, and none of them are kind.
First, you are seriously underselling the vast majority of people, and their abilities to function in the world. I am a firm believer in the theory that, if given the chance and left to their own devices, most (if not all people) will end up knowledgeable in whatever field that interests them. A structured, oppressive school system feeds information into people's heads so that they can take tests well. This is what school is for. School is not for following passions, for finding out who you are, or who you want to be. It is for taking tests and passing tests.
Secondly, you are saying that I have, against all odds, managed to be a person with thoughts, intellect, and a grasp on what everyone so maddeningly calls "the real world*". When you think you're complimenting me, what you're really doing is congratulating me on overcoming my life.
My life is not something to be overcome. It's not something that I struggled against. It's not a miracle that I'm doing as well as I am.
So in closing, even if you think it's a compliment, please don't tell me that I'm a special case, and that I'm just better/more motivated than everyone else.
If you want to compliment me, just please do not do it in a way that makes it seem like I have overcome my chosen education.
Thank you,
~Whimsy
P.S. Thinking about doing a series of posts on unschooling.
P.P.S. The heavy topics will eventually go away, and we'll go back to Whimsy's Usual Madness.
*There's so much to say about this, too.
