Comments on: Teen Angst and other unnecessary problems http://seriouslearning.com/2007/04/09/teen-angst-and-other-unnecessary-problems/ A Homeschooling Adventure Fri, 10 Sep 2010 07:57:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: admin http://seriouslearning.com/2007/04/09/teen-angst-and-other-unnecessary-problems/#comment-17 admin Wed, 11 Apr 2007 13:14:15 +0000 http://seriouslearning.com/2007/04/09/teen-angst-and-other-unnecessary-problems/#comment-17 Thanks for your comment! I purchased your book a few days ago, and I'm looking forward to reading it. As for "cramming," I recently watched an episode of "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader" which, aside from demonstrating that the show's producers can find the least knowledgeable people in America, also proves that you can get along quite well in this world, hold a great job, and lead a productive life, without most of the facts pumped into you in school. Thanks for your comment! I purchased your book a few days ago, and I’m looking forward to reading it.

As for “cramming,” I recently watched an episode of “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader” which, aside from demonstrating that the show’s producers can find the least knowledgeable people in America, also proves that you can get along quite well in this world, hold a great job, and lead a productive life, without most of the facts pumped into you in school.

]]> By: Dr. Robert Epstein http://seriouslearning.com/2007/04/09/teen-angst-and-other-unnecessary-problems/#comment-16 Dr. Robert Epstein Wed, 11 Apr 2007 07:31:12 +0000 http://seriouslearning.com/2007/04/09/teen-angst-and-other-unnecessary-problems/#comment-16 I just wanted to thank for your concise and accurate depiction of my article, which is based on my new book, The Case Against Adolescence: Rediscovering the Adult in Every Teen. The book (http://thecaseagainstadolescence.com) says very positive things about home schooling, but I think that even home schooling doesn't always go far enough: we need to give young people incentives and opportunities to join the adult world and to escape from the absurd world of teen culture, and education needs to be spread out over our entire lives, not crammed into the early years. The cramming idea is a leftover from the "mass production" concept of the early years of industrialization. The most important thing we need to teach young people is to love the process of learning, rather than filling them with knowledge which they'll soon forget and which is probably already obsolete. I just wanted to thank for your concise and accurate depiction of my article, which is based on my new book, The Case Against Adolescence: Rediscovering the Adult in Every Teen. The book (http://thecaseagainstadolescence.com) says very positive things about home schooling, but I think that even home schooling doesn’t always go far enough: we need to give young people incentives and opportunities to join the adult world and to escape from the absurd world of teen culture,
and education needs to be spread out over our entire lives, not crammed into the early years. The cramming idea is a leftover from the “mass production” concept of the early years of industrialization. The most important thing we need to teach young people is to love the process of learning, rather than filling them with knowledge which they’ll soon forget and which is probably already obsolete.

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