I applaud Sudbury Valley's focus on freedom, but not what I take to be an inattention to community, ... Sudbury has a libertarian bent, and the worldview seems to see all adult involvement as an authoritarian restriction of personal autonomy. Total autonomy is not developmentally appropriate. Kids need guidance and many of them need structure at the same time that they need the opportunity to learn how to make good decisions.
More Quotes from Alfie Kohn:
Sometimes we have to put our foot down, ... but before we deliberately make children unhappy in order to get them to get into the car, or to do their homework or whatever, we need to weigh whether what we're doing to make it happen is worth the possible strain on our relationship with them.Alfie Kohn
We think of ways that we can control them, whether it be with a spanking or a gold sticker or a parent constantly saying, 'Good job, good job, good job.'
Alfie Kohn
You have to welcome their arguing with you, not to the point of disrespect, but if they are going to stand up for themselves, they need to learn to argue effectively,
Alfie Kohn
Unconditional Parenting Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason.
Alfie Kohn
What is equally striking to me is this ... there isn't a sense of a community solving problems together, rather there's punishment for aberrant individuals.
Alfie Kohn
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Based on Topics: Communities Quotes, Decision Making Quotes, Liberty & Freedom Quotes, Opportunity QuotesBased on Keywords: developmentally, inattention, sudbury, worldview
You know, it's absolutely connected to The Mollusk in that, it's what we're writing after The Mollusk. A lot of this stuff reminds me of things on The Mollusk.
Gene Ween
When they kept you out it was because you were black; when they let you in, it is because you are black. That's progress?
Marilyn French