Reddit reviews The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education
We found 18 Reddit comments about The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
The fact that people are downplaying your experience is sad. No, it's obviously not a literal prison, but the fact is that you didn't commit a crime to have to be there, and the years you spend in highschool should be the best of your life, it should be your basic right to not be treated like shit by every adult in the institution just because you are where you're told you're supposed to be. If you or your friends are finding it difficult check out this book.
I have a question for you guys - what on earth are you still doing in the gulag of "public schools" (government prisons)? I remember my experience, and it sounds like things have only gotten worse since I graduated ~a decade ago. If I knew then what you guys know now, there is no way I would set another foot inside those perverted halls of ridicule, scorn, bullying, violence, indoctrination, and suffering. They are stealing your childhood, and you are letting them!
Sorry, look, I know what it's like to be beaten down your entire life by these monsters, but you have insight into a truth that sets you apart from 99.9% of your peers. I'm honestly curious, what is preventing you from simply saying to your parents, look, I'm done with it? If you are familiar with and can articulate the arguments of, say, Gatto or Molyneux, are the people who control your life so closed to the truth, or to alternatives to your "education"? If so, what is preventing you from walking away from them as well? I just don't get why you aren't devoting 100% of your excess time/energy to extricating yourselves from these monstrous institutions that do you irreparable harm. If it's a lack of resources (time/money/food/shelter), is this something that we as a community should be stepping up and responding to?
Hey, not sure if this helps much, but I thought I could share. I have been out of school since I was 6. I have hippie type parents, so they never requiered any formal schoolwork from me. I do get questioned frequently about it. I usually just try to explain that I spend my time on things I'm actually interested in. (Like programming, screenwriting, etc.) I have health problems too, and I spend a lot of time researching and trying new treatments.
My Mum dropped out of high school in the beginning of her senior year, got her GED, and majored in anthropology. Sometimes dropping out is your best option.
Anyway here's the link to a fantastic book on dropping out, learning on your own, finding work, college, and more. (I think the pdf is available online for free.)
http://www.amazon.com/The-Teenage-Liberation-Handbook-Education/dp/0962959170
Good luck with whatever you decide!
The Teenage Liberation Handbook
Consider unschooling, too! I was unschooled, though my parents didn't realize that's exactly what they were doing. I enjoyed learning on my own VERY much growing up (and I still do).
A great starting place to learn more about home/unschooling is The Teenage Liberation Handbook (amazon) by Grace Llewellyn.
See if you can get a copy of http://www.amazon.com/The-Teenage-Liberation-Handbook-Education/dp/0962959170
(Googling for the book title + "PDF" or "download" may be fruitful)
It is in the US, as I am still under the iron fist of the law.
This book will tell you just about everything you need to know.
Here's a PDF, but I'm not sure how old it is.
You need this book: https://www.amazon.com/Teenage-Liberation-Handbook-School-Education/dp/0962959170
My daughter's 12 and also desiring to be an artist, and I worry about her creativity getting crushed by some jerks. Don't give up to the assholes!
Congratulations on getting in on the ground floor so young - I had absolutely no political interest until I was around 21 and learned about libertarianism, but it would have made a significant difference in my life if I had learned about it earlier. Especially since I lived in the same town as Harry Browne, who is often considered to be the best Libertarian presidential nominee (twice nominated, actually) ever.
If I could recommend one thing you do, read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. It's a life changing book. If you look around the world to you and see that nothing makes sense and you want to know that you're not the only one who feels that way and you want some answers, Atlas Shrugged is for you. I called into a radio show one time and read my favorite quote from the book (I read a shortened version of the quote but the full text appears in the graphics here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnDTUF3_8Qg ). If you don't like reading, I understand perfectly - I HATED reading when I was a teenager: all the garbage is was force fed by the government schools made me associate reading books with agony. Schools don't encourage students to develop their own taste in literature, so if these stats are accurate (they actually seem on the conservative side to me), it shouldn't be surprising:
http://hotforwords.com/2011/04/11/42-of-people-who-graduate-from-college-never-read-another-book/
>1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.
42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.
80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.
Anyway, what I was getting to is that even if hate reading (and this is a VERY long book), you might find the audiobook version a lot easier to swallow:
http://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-New-Ayn-Rand/dp/1433256193
The MP3 CD (4 discs) starts at $45 here. It lists the narrator as Scott Brick. He's a different narrator than the version I had listened to by Christopher Hurt. I haven't heard the Brick version, but if you can find the Christopher Hurt version I highly recommend it.
And since you're young, perhaps a good fit for you would be to find a nearby chapter of Young Americans for Liberty:
http://www.yaliberty.org/chapters
They mostly organize on college campuses but I bet they would be more than happy to have a high schooler join.
And while I'm on the topic of college, you're parents will probably try to railroad you into college. Don't let them. INSIST they present you with other options (such as learning a trade) so you can decide for yourself what you want to do. Better yet, research this stuff yourself - I haven't read it myself but the Teenage Liberation Handbook sounds like a great place to start: http://www.amazon.com/Teenage-Liberation-Handbook-School-Education/dp/0962959170/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322208726&sr=8-1
One more name I want to drop is Johnathan Taylor Gatto - he was a mulitple winner of NY teacher of the year at public schools and has since turned his back on the public school system and researched what it's really about. This 10 minute speech might wet your appetite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8cr0p9HaG8
Buy her The Teenage Liberation Handbook.
I'm a part-time babysitter and I believe raising a child right can be one of the most revolutionary things one can do in this world. Two books I'd recommend
Unconditional Parenting Alfie Kohn is a radical in his field, I would pay no attention to almost any other book on parenting than this one.
And for when they're a little older: The Teenage Liberation Handbook This book is written towards teenagers, but i recommend you check it out too. Mostly about unschooling and general hierarchy challenges.
Your situation may be different than mine, but here's a story anyway...
I dreaded starting 10th grade. In the week before the first day, I remembered what previous years were like. Sleep deprivation, social awkwardness, sitting with the same people I didn't like every day, and intense fear of disappointing my teachers and parents. I was expected to get straight A's and when I deviated from that, my mom would guilt trip me with intense arguments to the point where I wanted to kill myself out of hatred at my inability to live up to expectations.
My problem was that I couldn't do homework. The harder I tried, the worse it was. I somehow managed to finish it during class before it was due, but it was often late. Usually when I tried to tell myself, force myself, convince myself, do anything I could to just sit down and start writing, an intense sickness welled up in my stomach. Deep down I knew I didn't want to do this routine work, this meaningless excuse for "education". I wasn't learning anything, and I couldn't trick myself into thinking I was. I got no life-benefit out of this homework and for whatever reason I was too stubborn-at-heart to submit to doing it. I wasn't meant for this life.
Not to mention I had no social life. It wasn't that people didn't like me so much as I got along okay with everyone, but connected meaningfully with no one. Couldn't understand people, and people couldn't understand me. The emotionally-traumatic home situation didn't help me be well-balanced.
So that week before class started, I knew it would be the same. I knew I'd always feel depressed, lonely, and stressed out. I knew I wouldn't have time or energy to pursue dreams like making video games. I knew I'd be a disappointment to everyone I loved. And I knew I would hate school, hate everyone around me, and hate myself every minute of it. I broke down and cried really hard.
Then, I thought that maybe things would be different. I can work at it! I can set goals, make friends, find a way to do the work. No problem.
I went to school, and felt happy and confident for the first three days. Then, as soon as real homework assignments started, I died inside again. And I stayed that way until Christmas break, when I remembered how I broke down half a year ago, and how wrong I was about "everything is going to be okay". Everything turned out exactly how I knew it would from years of experience. I was still lonely, I was still depressed, and I still have another semester of this to go.
I dropped out after I finished that year. I've been recovering from depression ever since. It's been difficult, but I've gone on adventures like going to the other side of the country alone with only a backpack, couchsurfing and trying to find a job and failing but learning a lot about life and happiness in the process. A lot more than school could teach me. I'm now happier than most people I know.
Look up "unschooling". Here's a book about it.
Check out The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn.
The Teenage Liberation Handbook
Test out of high-school.... I did, it was laughably easy, you could be going to a junior college right now, and taking transfer credits to get into a better university.
You might want to read this. I don't know how prevalent the type of alternative school you describe is, but you may want to consider homeschooling. You wouldn't have to rely on your parents to teach you, which is a common obstacle for aspiring homeschoolers. You could follow an AP or IB curriculum so that you wouldn't have to worry about how your education would be perceived by colleges. If you can't find the sort of school you'd like to attend, that is what I would recommend.
Oh god, I can very much relate to this. I was severely bullied as a child too. I strongly recommend homeschooling, especially unschooling. That's what I did since I was 16. It allowed me to learn a great deal in spite of my severe school phobia.
The book Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn
http://www.amazon.com/The-Teenage-Liberation-Handbook-Education/dp/0962959170/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395201857&sr=8-1&keywords=teenage+liberation+handbook
If she's smart and not enjoying high school, don't be afraid to suggest dropping out, getting a GED, and going to college instead.
The dirty little secret that no high school guidance counselor wants you to know is that colleges are very accepting of smart kids who leave high school early.
The Teenage Liberation Hanbook (http://www.amazon.com/The-Teenage-Liberation-Handbook-Education/dp/0962959170) is a useful book.