The 2023 season of the UnschoolingFuture Podcast was devoted to children on the internet, their digital rights and access to information.
It's because I’m writing and illustrating FREE TO BROWSE, a comics journalism project in progress about coming of age online.
It delves into the stories of vulnerable teens, including my transgender son, for whom the internet has served as a crucial lifeline.
Expected in 2025!
Free to Browse with Peter Gray
What are the actual reasons why children and teens are so stressed out? By controlling their online lives, are we taking the last vestige of freedom that children and teens had? What is the tipping point theory of social change and when can we expect a wider acceptance of children’s ability to self-direct their learning and possibly less discrimination of youngsters as a minority?
For this episode, I had the honor to sit down with my long time hero Peter Gray, research professor at Boston College, famous for his studies of children’s play and self-directed learning. Professor Gray is also the author of Psychology, an introductory textbook that has survived many editions, and of the hugely popular book Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life.
Why We Are Leaving Europe
I usually say our family are educational refugees. We have had to move countries to be able to homeschool and we are about to move across the Atlantic to be able to continue unschooling. We are seeking refuge from Europe’s bulging institutional control over learning and development as we want our children to continue self-directing their learning process.
In May 2022, Marta Obiols Llistar is releasing the second, updated edition of her beautiful book 18, An Unschooling Experience, this time in Spanish under the title #vidasincole. I’m honored to have been asked to write the closing chapter, Carta de mi amiga. In this audio fragment, you will hear me read my chapter, Letter from My Friend, in English. The “letter” briefly tells our family’s story and explains why we’re leaving Europe.
If you want to listen to the whole conversation, please go to The UnschoolingFuture Podcast, Season 2 Episode 9: Migration and Learning
The Role of Community
How can we shift the paradigm where conventional schools have monopolized socialization? How can we liberate families from factory-like schedules they are obliged to follow and give them more sense of control over their children’s learning process? How can we give the children their right back to choose what to learn and when? How can we create a world where anyone can be both a teacher and a student, education for everyone by everyone, just like philosopher Ivan Illich had envisioned in his book Deschooling Society? Can local community be as democratic and liberating as the online community? Does your corner bakery allow kids to come and learn how to bake bread?