tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27166892918771209162024-02-20T05:09:58.672-05:00Brycen R. R. Couture: Unschooler, Musician, Activist for Children, All People; the WorldA blog by a teenage unschooler centered on the imprisoning aspects of industrialized culture. I speak from a youth's perspective on subjects such as, public school, child maltreatment, children's voicelessness, destruction of the natural world and the mindlessness imposed by this industrialized culture.Brycen R. R. Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14545465029690120092noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716689291877120916.post-65604352233866409602012-06-11T03:05:00.000-04:002012-10-12T19:39:59.059-04:00An Interview With Brycen About Unschooling<i>On 6/11/12 Brycen answered interview questions sent to him by a reporter who was interested in learning more about unschooling. Here is the interview: </i><br />
<br />
<b>What do you like about being unschooled?</b><br />
<br />
<b>BRRC: </b>What I love about unschooling is the ability to be free and wild. To
choose what I want to do when I want to do it. If I want to play music,
which is my passion, then I can play music at any time. I am free in
every way a person can be free, mind, body and spirit. In public school
they shackle your body with their routines, they shackle your mind with
their curriculum, and they shackle your spirit with their rules. If they
find it difficult to shackle you, they resort to psychiatric drugs. I
also continue to grow close to my family and friends because I have the
freedom and time to spend with them.<br />
<br />
<b>What does a typical unschooling day look like for you? </b><br />
<br />
<b>BRRC: </b>There is no typical day for an unschooler, because everyday is based on
what we want to do that day. My family is extremely spontaneous, aside
from all of the regular groups, band practices, activities and events in
the community that I have chosen to put into my schedule. Every day is
different. For example, one day may consist of the following:
Chainmaille crafting, rollerblade-basketball with Mom, band practice,
putting up the letters on the marquis at a historical theater we are
helping to restore, running my Dungeons and Dragons group, leather
crafting and making plans for future days. One day the whole day might
revolve around hiking a mountain with a friend or two and studying
nature, followed by a dip in the local lake.<br />
<br />
<b>What do you plan to do when you're done with schooling? go to
college? Start a business, etc.?</b><br />
<br />
<b>BRRC: </b>There's no such thing as finishing with unschooling. I also want to
clarify that I haven't been "schooling" all of this time, I've been
living my life and I plan to continue doing that. As far as starting a
business, I already I started two- I started my first when I was 12, and
the most recent, selling my chainmaille crafts, I started last year. I
am also a performing musician, public speaker and child advocate. I've
known I wanted to be a singer ever since I was five years old, and
unschooling has made it so I could pursue that dream, and that is what I
will continue to do. I'm not interested in college because it would not
meet my needs or help me meet my goals at this point in my life.<br />
<br />
<b>What would you like readers to know about unschooling...any myth
you'd like to bust?</b><br />
<br />
<b>BRRC: </b>I want readers to understand that unschooling is not merely a style of
"education"- It is the most natural way of learning and it is the
optimal way to give children joy in everything they do. I want parent
readers to understand that you do not have to "teach" your children. We
have been "taught" that learning must be taught, that learning just
can't happen as a result of living. Whereas, unschooling allows children
to reap learning as a result of living our lives. Children need to be
given the freedom to play because that is where real learning actually
manifests.<br />
<br />
<b>Anything else you'd like to add?</b><br />
<br />
<b>BRRC: </b>I do not consider video games to be playing. Video games shut my brain
down as opposed to lighting it up. Playing- dramatic play, building,
exploring, inventing and having fun outside all engaged huge portions of
my brain and is how I naturally learned most everything I know now.
Brycen R. R. Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14545465029690120092noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716689291877120916.post-81920576797211976472012-06-06T19:09:00.000-04:002012-10-12T19:21:51.384-04:00Unschooling Always Fits Because You Make It<span style="font-size: large;">School is a pre-made shirt that claims to be "one-size-fits-all", when in reality it barely fits <i>any</i> and out-rightly suffocates others. Unschooling is the environment in which you can make whatever size shirt or whatever<i> style</i> shirt you want and it will always fit-- because <i>you</i> made it.</span>Brycen R. R. Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14545465029690120092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716689291877120916.post-58993198528641678752012-05-31T10:00:00.000-04:002012-10-12T19:29:04.927-04:00My Vision for World Peace: Love and Respect All Children<strong>“If every action you made had loving intentions, if every
move we made was born of love, the world would be healed, the world
would be whole.” -Brycen R. R. Couture</strong><br />
<br />
<em></em><span id="more-1501"></span>
<strong>My Vision for World Peace: Love and Respect All Children<br />
</strong><br />
by Brycen R. R. Couture<br />
<br />
The first and most obvious thing is that love is the single element
that can heal the world. Most people aren’t sure where to put the love,
how to cultivate it or how to feel it. Allow me to tell you: You need to
start by loving your children.<br />
<br />
If you give unconditional and total love, nurturance and meet the
needs of your kids, then they are going to grow up and be able to pass
that on to <em>their</em> kids. The children of today are the entire population of the future world. If <em>everyone</em>
treated their kids with total unconditional love and met all of their
needs, we would have a full world population of people who have been
loved, who have had their needs met and they would believe and trust in
the natural coexistence of all life. How monumental is <em>that</em>?<br />
<br />
When I say children, I mean from zero to early 20′s. The needs I
believe children are not getting met in this society are, first and
foremost, from [a lack of] Attachment Parenting. Children are made up of
needs and whatever you put into them. If you meet those needs, then
children are full of met needs and love. If you are putting shame,
hatred, anger, punishment or violence into your children, then they
become full of that negativity. Most of the culture sends children off
to public school- That system is punitive. It is a very solid box into
which we try to stuff these very creative individuals…<br />
<br />
One of the worst beliefs that adults have in the mainstream culture
is that if you give kids freedom, they are not going to know how to
handle themselves. “Freedom” is a concept that adults in a sick culture
have concocted. While you are still innocent, freedom is just living,
its not something you obtain or can have or abuse; freedom is just what
life <em>is</em>. It’s <em>constraint</em> that destroys innocence and
restricts life. Constraint can be punishments, school, when your needs
aren’t responded to and other forms of child abuse; those things
constrain freedom, so they also constrain lives.<br />
<br />
What matters is love, what doesn’t matter is superficial material
objects such as designer clothing, video games, computers, technology,
TV- Things like that don’t meet needs. Schooling does not meet needs.
School is something that was obsolete ever since it was created and
needs to go. There’s the idea that getting a good job means success.
That is so wrong-minded. What matters is happiness and joyfulness with
your life and doing what you are passionate about and that you love.
Again, the whole love thing- If it has to do with love, its good!<br />
<br />
Goodness is love just as love is good. It’s a circular thing. If you
give $100. to a charity because it soothes your conscience that’s not
necessarily out of love. Everyone should cherish the world and the world
will be healed. If you loved your children with irrational abandon, if
you loved all people, the world and yourself, if every action you made
was made with love, the world would be healed. If every action you made
had loving intentions, if every move we made was born of love, the world
would be healed, the world would be whole.Brycen R. R. Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14545465029690120092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716689291877120916.post-64595344957187853532012-03-01T21:48:00.000-05:002012-03-02T21:48:29.505-05:00Global Equality that Supports ALL People is Necessary for TodayThe time of movements that only support one group of people is over. Groups that only support women, or one other category of people are obsolete. We need to have a movement that supports <u><i>all</i></u> people. When we work for children's rights, that represents <i><u>all</u><b> </b></i>people. Children represent <u><i>all</i></u> groups. Children represent <i><u>everyone</u></i>. If we want equality for everyone, we need to start that by treating kids with love (hopefully you know that means equality) so that they grow up into and creating that egalitarian world.Brycen R. R. Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14545465029690120092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716689291877120916.post-26595532816656005192012-01-25T21:24:00.015-05:002012-03-02T21:39:01.142-05:00Why Genocide Was Committed Against the First Trees of New EnglandThe first people in the Industrial Age to cut down the colossal trees in New England were overwhelmed by the energy of the trees. People back then were emotionally and spiritually unhealthy as it was and when the trees sensed that and reached out energetically, the people reacted by cutting them down. They reacted out of violent and aggressive defensiveness and they subconsciously knew it was the trees, so they attacked the trees.Brycen R. R. Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14545465029690120092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716689291877120916.post-57369791064481954992011-12-15T20:52:00.028-05:002012-03-02T21:16:36.521-05:00NonviolenceIf I was to give a speech on nonviolence, because I'm a gamer, I would say it like this: You can beat any game the system throws at you. The problem is though, if you are violent to defeat violence, the system is still the winner because violence was their goal in the first place. The way to beat the system is not to play their game. And as soon as you stop playing their game, you've won.<br />
<br />
All you have to do is live the better example, live nonviolently and make your life very loud so the system can hear you no matter where you are. So basically, <u>advertise</u> the fact that you are nonviolent. Obviously the books I'd recommend on truly living nonviolently are: <i>Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Love</i> by Marshall Rosenberg, <i>Instead of Medicating and Punishing</i> by my Mom, Laurie A. Couture and any speeches that Gandhi wrote. These would set up a pretty good basis and start you off on a literary path of a whole host of awesome people.<br />
<br />
People have been saying for years and years and years, "Nonviolence!", but its only been really recently, with my Mom being one of the forerunners, of people seeing nonviolence and compassion towards children as a way to save the world.Brycen R. R. Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14545465029690120092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716689291877120916.post-47510569900864261602011-10-12T13:37:00.001-04:002011-10-12T15:26:26.864-04:00I'm Not Cut Out For Irrelevancies- But Then Again, Who Is?<div class="MsoNormal">I’m not cut out for irrelevancies. Anything of an artistic nature is of some interest to me, as opposed to the strict and rigid numbers I find myself working with in order to satisfy the government mind. I know their reasoning as well- these complex, cerebral numbers and equations are fed to me in an attempt to debilitate my heart and soul, to flush out the love and the passion for my expressive endeavors. My refusal to give up my art and succumb to the expectations of the dictatorial system proves to be a problem to the overall cultural machine- not because I alone assert my autonomy to the state, but because I am one of many individuals who see fit to live and grow as their instincts guide them and shirk the system's bindings and chains. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I am speaking about the vast differences between traditional schooling and Unschooling. The rigidness in traditional schools is specifically designed to stifle the natural creativity within children. The state requirements put on homeschoolers and unschoolers is for the same purpose. As an unschooler, I find myself continually frustrated with these state requirements.</div>Brycen R. R. Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14545465029690120092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716689291877120916.post-86308474053822930932011-09-29T22:40:00.071-04:002011-09-30T23:25:57.175-04:00What Children Really Want to Tell Teachers<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">This is my second response to Ron Clark's article, <i><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/06/living/teachers-want-to-tell-parents/index.html">What Teachers Really Want to Tell Parents</a>.</i> My Mom, Laurie A. Couture, also wrote a response to his article, <a href="http://www.laurieacouture.com/2011/09/what-parents-really-want-to-tell-teachers/"><i>What Parents Really Want to Tell Teachers</i></a>. This is what I say from a child's perspective to Ron Clark and to teachers like him.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Ron Clark: “<i>So, what can we do to stem the tide </i>[of teachers leaving the profession]<i>?”</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">BRRC: Why should we stem the tide? If all the teachers leave, there would be no school and if you really stop and think about that, think of how wonderful it would be! People need to gives kids a child-centered life- And you can't do that in school! Even at my friend's arts charter school they say, “The first year you're in love. By the second year its not as good as the first year. By the third and fourth years you're like, okay, graduate me, I'm done! You hate it.” If it wasn't for the arts charter school, my friend's only other option would be the public high school.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Ron Clark: “<i>What do teachers really need parents to understand? For starters, we are educators, not nannies. We are educated professionals who work with kids every day and often see your child in a different light than you do. If we give you advice, don't fight it. Take it, and digest it in the same way you would consider advice from a doctor or lawyer.”</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">BRRC: That sounds like a perfect set up for a really abusive situation. That sets it up so that the teachers who teach for the power trip (those really mean spirited teachers who never got over their own school experiences) can use kids in any way they want with out getting in trouble from the parents. If the child tries to say anything to the parent, the parents could say, “Well, we were told to listen to the teacher!” The teacher can do whatever they want to the child and the child has no voice, no ability to protect himself. The child having no voice in a situation where the teacher is controlling and saying negative things about the child to the parent sets up a situation for a lot of hatred from the child towards the teacher. It sets up the family dynamic of adults against kids in this crazy fanatical world that Ron Clark is creating with his article. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">With adults vs kids, child says “A”, teacher says “B”, parents say, “Well, we're supposed to listen to the teacher!” That's really, really bad because the child has no one to turn to because he can't turn to his parents... and his friends are in the same boat! With all of the kids in the same boat you have peer harassment where the kids are divided amongst themselves, as well, because of the school environment. Kids are kids and will react to their environment in a perfectly appropriate manner. It's the adults that we need to worry about.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">About the “doctors and lawyers” comment- There is that stereotype that sometimes proves true- “Those who can, do, and those who can't (or won't), teach.” Traditional school teachers have set themselves apart from children, parents and society by becoming teachers and being part of a system that kids hate and that is wrong on every level. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Ron Clark: “<i>Trust us. At times when I tell parents that their child has been a behavior problem, I can almost see the hairs rise on their backs. They are ready to fight and defend their child, and it is exhausting. One of my biggest pet peeves is when I tell a mom something her son did and she turns, looks at him and asks, "Is that true?" Well, of course it's true. I just told you. And please don't ask whether a classmate can confirm what happened or whether another teacher might have been present. It only demeans teachers and weakens the partnership between teacher and parent.”</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">BRRC: “Trust me.” Is that not creepy <i>or what</i>? That's like the winning line in every horror movie! Is he trying to incriminate himself? Seriously, doesn't anyone look at that? That has, “Don't trust me” written in big fat red letters! May I ask <i>why</i> it's a bad thing that parents want to protect and or defend their kids? That's nature at work! By denouncing that as “exhausting”, troublesome and wrong, the school system is finding just another way to demean nature and stifle natural responses like they already do to things like, gee, I don't know, going to the bathroom, getting up and moving, PLAYING, eating when hungry... And now its also going to be, “Don't defend your kids, Parent”? There are already enough clueless parents that already do not defend their children- Why are we trying to create more of that? IF ANYTHING, if there is to be a school system, why is it not teaching us <i>what nature intends for us to live</i>? Why doesn't school “teach” us how to live in a harmonious way, spiritually, emotionally, physically and with rest of the world?</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Ron Clark: “<i>And if you really want to help your children be successful, stop making excuses for them. I was talking with a parent and her son about his summer reading assignments. He told me he hadn't started, and I let him know I was extremely disappointed because school starts in two weeks.</i></div><i>His mother chimed in and told me that it had been a horrible summer for them because of family issues they'd been through in July. I said I was so sorry, but I couldn't help but point out that the assignments were given in May. She quickly added that she was allowing her child some "fun time" during the summer before getting back to work in July and that it wasn't his fault the work wasn't complete. Can you feel my pain?”</i><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">BRRC: I'm feeling pain alright, but it ain't yours! I want to talk to this guy. I want to get into a massive debate with him! If I were raised differently, then my verbal reaction to him would be lots of profanity inappropriate to an article because what he is saying is so ridiculous. Every human should have empathy: “Yea, this kid has been locked up in this environment for ¾ of a year, I think I can totally understand that at the beginning of the summer he is going to need some free time and then, oh, I'm terribly sorry with what ever happened with the family. That's OK on the assignment, you can skip it.” (Personally I think there should never be any assignments in the first place. While we're at it, let's overthrow traditional schooling as a whole.) The pain I'm feeling- I'm feeling so sad for that boy having to deal with such an obnoxiously unemphatic teacher. The fact that this is not one but <i>many</i> teachers' view points frightens me very much.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Ron Clark: “<i>If you don't want your child to end up 25 and jobless, sitting on your couch eating potato chips, then stop making excuses for why they aren't succeeding. Instead, focus on finding solutions.”</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">BRRC: That just sounds like an ignorant statement. The only way I can see someone getting to that point of just sitting on couch eating potato chips is if they go to a traditional school and have all their passions drained out of them. I'm sorry. Just sayin'. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The road to success as I see it is being able to explore all of your wonderful passions as a child by playing and doing what ever your heart wills you to do, and then doing that as an adult.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Ron Clark: “<i>Please, take a step back and get a good look at the landscape. Before you challenge those low grades you feel the teacher has "given" your child, you might need to realize your child "earned" those grades and that the teacher you are complaining about is actually the one that is providing the best education.” </i> </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">BRRC: Well, I beg to differ with that because if the child is having a low “grade” then isn't the education being provided of questionable quality? If it was the “best education” a.k.a, absolute freedom, playing, enacting your heart's passions, then would there really be a “bad grade”? You can't fail at your passions! You can only succeed with your passions...</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Ron Clark: “<i>My mom just told me a child at a local school wrote on his face with a permanent marker. The teacher tried to get it off with a wash cloth, and it left a red mark on the side of his face. The parent called the media, and the teacher lost her job. My mom, my very own mother, said, "Can you believe that woman did that?"”</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">BRRC: I feel bad for that woman, too. I mean, that's not right that she tried to help out and she loses her job over it. However, maybe we should be looking at why people take something like that so seriously. Perhaps it is all of the abusive teachers who have harmed kids that have caused parents to become so freaked out about situations like the one above mentioned.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Ron Clark: “<i>If your child said something happened in the classroom that concerns you, ask to meet with the teacher and approach the situation by saying, "I wanted to let you know something my child said took place in your class, because I know that children can exaggerate and that there are always two sides to every story. I was hoping you could shed some light for me." If you aren't happy with the result, then take your concerns to the principal, but above all else, never talk negatively about a teacher in front of your child. If he knows you don't respect her, he won't either, and that will lead to a whole host of new problems.”</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">BRRC: It really sounds as if teachers are the parent figures. That's just setting the situation up so that no matter what a teacher does, ill intent or good, the child who reports it is always held in question and always held in the wrong. I mean, doesn't anyone else see that as sketchy? If I was a child in school in that situation, I know that I would feel pretty dehumanized and I'd feel a lot of hurt in my heart because my Mom is supposed to be MY champion, not the teacher's. I would feel distanced, very betrayed, and “Well gee, I guess I don't matter.” It's just wrong on so many levels.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Ron Clark: “<i>We know you love your children. We love them, too. We just ask -- and beg of you -- to trust us, support us and work with the system, not against it. We need you to have our backs, and we need you to give us the respect we deserve. Lift us up and make us feel appreciated, and we will work even harder to give your child the best education possible.” </i> </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">BRRC: Again with the creepy comments, saying, “Trust us, support us”! I can just picture this sketchy looking character with a big grin saying, <i>“We know you love your children. We love them, too. We just ask -- and beg of you -- to trust us, support us and work with the system, not against it. We need you to have our backs, and we need you to give us the respect we deserve.”</i> The fact that this is a real life person saying this is the scariest thing of all- This isn't just some parody of how bad the schools really are! With everything I know about how bad the school are, from the bathroom denial issues to peer harassment, to the work to just the very power-trippy controlling environment- The fact that then this guy is trying to earn the support of the few parents out there who still want to protect their kids (despite putting them in school in the first place) is really freaking scary!</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">If I were in school and my Mom listened to this I would be completely lost. I am completely speechless when I think that there are parents that would actually listen to this propaganda. I would feel absolutely lost and devastated if I my Mom was the kind of Mom that would listen to this. I'd feel like there was no connection I had to my Mom. This is a very hard thing to think about because I don't want to picture my Mom and me in that situation. It's very scary to picture my Mom listening to that and turning her back on me in favor of what teachers say. If I was a Dad reading this and for whatever reason my children were forced to go into public school (which they won't ) I would feel shocked, indignant and very protective of my children, saying, “What do you think gives you the right?” I think it is more along the lines of, “What the hell?” There is a word that I don't think exists, but its along the lines of, “Who do you think you are? And what gives you the right? And what's so wrong with you that you are saying something so absolutely crazy?” The feeling I'd have is bordering on panic and horror- “These are <i>my</i> kids, I ABSOLUTELY AM NOT going to stop defending and protecting them! I will have my children's backs, I will trust, help, support and respect <i>my children</i>, not a big giant system or some teacher who could care less about my children as individuals, as persons.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">When you are living as in synch with nature as my Mom and I are now- And by no means am I saying I'm perfect or I'm everything I want to be- But with as far as I've come in my life, looking at an article like the one Ron Clark wrote is very disturbing to me. I find it very difficult to tap into and formulate my thoughts into something coherent because I am just flooded with emotions and something along the lines of horror. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">So teachers, heed my words and question the system that you are a part of and try to- unlike what Ron Clark suggests- to see things from a child's point of view. Thank you!</div>Brycen R. R. Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14545465029690120092noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716689291877120916.post-67688656790734421292011-09-22T22:33:00.003-04:002011-09-30T22:39:24.375-04:00My First Reaction to Ron Clark's Article, "What Teachers Really Want to Tell Parents"<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">No matter how you look at school, its wrong. It doesn't matter if every teacher is (to use my Mom's word) a “gem”. It's the institution, it is mandatory for these kids to go there and to be forced to stay there and to do work once they are there. It is mandatory to carry work home. They regiment your day and put a vice grip on your body. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The goal of school is to condition the child to be in this painful environment. They expect that this is what life is and “I might as well succumb to it now”. You have to condition the body and mind to expect that life style. As a child you have no power to effect your environment. If you are taught at that age with trauma that you will always be powerless to effect your environment, then you'll turn into a good little drone of the masses- To use a cliche, another cog in the system.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">When I read Ron Clark's article, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/06/living/teachers-want-to-tell-parents/index.html"><i>What Teachers Really Want to Tell Parents</i></a>, I wanted to give it the finger, but I'm not that kind of person. I feel really sad for Ron Clark, because I can clearly see the Stockholm Syndrome <a href="http://www.laurieacouture.com/2011/09/what-parents-really-want-to-tell-teachers/">my Mom</a> talks about at work here. He probably feels that in order to get any positive feedback or power he has to align himself to the system that caused him so much pain as a child. He's blind to the pain teachers are causing children because for him it is a matter of, “In order to be safe I've got to be totally aligned with the system as a whole.” In his subconscious perception, the system will always be more powerful and bigger in his mind than he is. His superiors are always his superiors. They're higher and he knows he'll get closer as long as he aligns himself with them and when he does this, he has to hold all the kids (of what he was once) at the bottom. To have them completely support what he says allows him to feel he has some cushioning, some power and safety. It's like the little bird that sits on the rhino's back and can kick back and relax because you don't have to worry about any predators. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I feel very sad by what he wrote. I would not be able to be myself in a traditional school environment. I'd have to lock myself away and instead give off a very mechanical output. You have to lock yourself away and let your body become a robot in those conditions. You can't allow your spirit to come to the surface. I hate that- It's awful- it's wrong! I feel sad that children are made to be in pain, seen to be less than goodness, positive, light, love. Obedience has nothing to do with love. The child is in bondage and the bondage is subhuman standards. School is a mold. Adults have to force us to believe that children are subhuman because our subconscious tells us that we are all equal- But we have to stifle that and rationalize denial of children's equality. It is a very religious belief that children are born “evil” and we have to beat or bind the “evil” out of them and make them believe they are “evil”. I feel horror at what Ron wrote because that is wrong on every level- I know all of life is equal, so for children to be treated as if they are subhuman is horrifying to me. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">My reaction to this article is pain. It's painful to think of his article because I am so free now, that to picture myself not free hurts to think of it. I wouldn't tolerate that system. What if I was forced to tolerate it? Well, I couldn't, so I'd have to be mechanical. I feel so sad knowing that other children have to go through that system and they CAN'T escape it! I feel indignance and frustration because teachers in their own way succumb to the system and treat kids as if they are inherently bad and empty headed. Schools see children as circuit boards that come with a pack of wires and the schools think their mission is to apply those wires in what they believe is the “proper” way- They do not see that this circuit board is already alive and humming with wires of its own... I hate to equate children with circuit boards! </div>Brycen R. R. Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14545465029690120092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716689291877120916.post-3080245546783213072011-05-28T23:09:00.013-04:002011-06-01T23:22:33.762-04:00Forced Instruction Is WrongI personally think that imposed, forced instruction is wrong. When I do things on my own, I do them so naturally almost without thinking. But as soon as I'm given instruction on how I'm "supposed to" do something, I stop being able to do it on my own. When my Mom first took me out driving most of it came so naturally. But as soon as I was in Driver's Ed, my mind had to be focused on all of these little rules... I felt like I lost all of my natural ability. When I was little that's how it was with my art (I was in public school before my Mom adopted me). I was suddenly being told that there is such thing as "wrong" art, there's such thing as a "wrong" way to draw. I lost all of my ability to just draw... It's taken me all this time while unschooling to get my natural ability back, mostly thanks to my Mom who is an artist...Brycen R. R. Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14545465029690120092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716689291877120916.post-82973482016290767202011-05-17T12:00:00.021-04:002011-06-01T23:07:16.711-04:00How Am I Going to Use This in My Life?At the beginning of my unschooling year I decided to use an Algebra II DVD to meet my state's math requirements. Who knew that you could get so exhausted by one drudgerous math lesson! Today I "learned" how to use "fractional exponents". All the while I couldn't figure out how I was ever going to use this in my life.<br />
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Normally after I've completed a music lesson or researched something I want to learn, I feel energized by what I've accomplished; after this math lesson, I only feel exhausted and like I wasted a 1/2 hour of my life. Does anyone else see a problem with this? I don't know how school kids stand it doing monotonous, useless, draining paperwork day in and day out for hours at a time. I could barely handle a 1/2 hour of it... Thank God I'm an unschooler!Brycen R. R. Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14545465029690120092noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716689291877120916.post-36772505803653100592011-04-26T22:43:00.002-04:002011-06-01T23:08:43.385-04:00Homeschoolers Should Live and Learn Freely<b></b>I am a human being and I have feelings and thoughts. I am not some underling of society. As an unschooler, I feel that I should not have to perform for the State with their homeschool requirements; for what they consider education. How certain subjects are expected to be learned is less than relevant to my life and yet I find that I waste precious time of my life on these requirements when I could be enacting my dreams and passions.<br />
I find it ironic that in the very state where its slogan is “Live free or die”, our youngest citizens are confined to a dark mockery of education. I’m referring to public school or any “educational requirements” put onto children who are unschooling or homeschooling. This most certainly is not following our state slogan, “Live free or die”. Shouldn’t it trouble you that this is the case? I can hear the responses now: “Children should be in school” or “These homeschoolers need regulations.” I disagree very strongly. Children should be free in all aspects, the way nature intended, whereas public schools and homeschool requirements are an imprisoning box of mediocrity.<br />
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As an unschooling family, my Mom and I are free-spirited, free-thinking people and the State homeschooling requirements are only a source of anxiety and annoyance. Unschooling is living and learning the way children have always learned and lived in nature-based societies. It’s being in harmony with our family and community. Unfortunately, due to residing within our out-of-touch culture, we are still forced to pamper and satisfy the requirements of the system. That is not living freely.<br />
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I don’t think I should have to meet prescribed requirements because I am busy living my life to the fullest right now. I am so far ahead of the State requirements that I feel held down and held back by being forced to demonstrate subjects in a way that is completely irrelevant to my life. I’m not internally motivated to meet a standard that’s given to the mass population but does not meet my needs as an individual. What right do people who haven’t met me have to impose these standards on me?<br />
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I’m sitting here crafting, building and creating the pieces of my life that are relevant to me. As a musician and song writer, my music takes up an enormous portion of my time because I want it to– because its my passion. When I have to stop living in order to please the State, I don’t feel good about it. It doesn’t feel right. Why should I have to stop living because you tell me I have to prepare for a future that I am living now?<b> </b>I’ve released my first CD at 17 years old, now. I perform my music now. I’ve written a book which is in the editing stage now. I’ve been interviewed for a movie now. I do children’s rights work now. I’ve booked myself on the radio, now. I’m part of NH Media Makers now. I started a club and ran my own business from ages 12-15. I’ve been speaking to the public full of professionals since I was 12. I can’t count how many times I’ve been in the newspaper for my community activism, now. I like to bike, socialize with friends, make chain mail, calculate dice probabilities, invent games, build forts, cook, play Dungeons and Dragons and I have a close relationship with my Mom, all now. I am writing this to New Hampshire now; I’m not waiting around for the future!<br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;">-Brycen R. R. Couture, age 17</b> <br />
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(This was printed in the April 26, 2011 <a href="http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20110426%2FGJOPINION_0102%2F704269972%2F-1%2FFOSOPINION" target="_blank">Foster’s Daily Democrat as a Letter to the Editor</a>)Brycen R. R. Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14545465029690120092noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716689291877120916.post-64814396765257680222011-03-16T19:27:00.001-04:002011-03-16T19:29:12.277-04:00My Aspirations for a More Peaceful World<div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">I want to live life to the fullest. I want to grow in spiritual maturity and lend a hand in healing the world. When I am able, I want to be a paternal figure to any child that seeks comfort and guidance. I want to make music that will allow cavalier ears to open to the voices of children. I want to be as loving, kind and selfless as I can be to my family and friends- I include you. I want to practice peace in ways that would make my heroes proud. I want to contribute such goodness and purity to the world, that the Earth would literally glow with love. What do you want?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><br />
-Brycen</span></div>Brycen R. R. Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14545465029690120092noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716689291877120916.post-10651795883435620292010-09-27T12:00:00.000-04:002012-10-12T18:54:56.037-04:00Obama Showed An Alarming Ignorance on Education ReformI'm actually pretty freaked out by what Obama was saying on his interview regarding "Education Reform". Obama showed a striking ignorance to the needs of children, instead focusing on score and statistics. One third of kids do not graduate: one third of kids are not college ready by the end of the year: one third of kids actually drop out; 35% of 12th graders are not proficient in reading. Obama says that there is nothing more important than the issue of education, but his approach to how to make education effective is completely out dated.<br />
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Of course, child-centered learning, such as unschooling are the real answers. Not to mention, who gives a crap what our test scores are! Are our children happy? In regards to what Obama thinks the should do about "eduction", he said, "Your job right now, kid, is to learn; and I'm gonna to check with your teachers and I'm gonna make sure your doing your homework and you're not doing anything else until you've done your homework." Is that creepy, or what???! Notice that there is nothing in his sentence that actually shows any caring to the needs of children. Obama also said, "I think we should have longer school years" and "I think that would be money well spent." To the contrary, I believe that forced schooling needs to be abolished!<br />
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Obama repeatedly stated that we needed higher standards and kept saying things that implied that teachers were the main issue. <br />
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He said that when we put more money into schooling, performance went down- obviously, standardized tests are not the answer! Obama said radical change was needed- I agree... If he means making the system child-centered, or better yet, take the system out out and have parents be responsible for their own children's parenting and educating- like when the literacy rate was higher in Massachusetts in the 1700's, <i>before</i> compulsory schooling! <br />
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Obama puts inordinate amounts of focus on teachers, as if teachers are the main issue! Yes, I agree, the damage done to children by schools is a responsibility shared by those teachers who are punitive and rigid or even out rightly abusive. <br />
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Obama also focuses too strongly on math and science as the fundamental subjects that are the most important, when there are several other learning styles that need to be acknowledged. Howard Gardener's other learning styles need to be acknowledged.<br />
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My emotions concerning this topic are fear, indignation, frustration, rye amusement and sadness.Brycen R. R. Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14545465029690120092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716689291877120916.post-41999364210682921082010-09-22T19:46:00.003-04:002010-09-22T20:28:25.633-04:00True World UnityI have this image in my mind of two people, a man and a woman, from opposite sides of the world, speaking to one another. They are both calm and I can't tell from sight where they are from, just that the man's skin is a rich sun-darkened tone, as if from a desert and the woman's skin appears bleached with the shade of a rain-forest. I see them sitting on a fallen tree trunk that makes a bridge over a gently running brook and the women is describing the brook to the man. Every detail is relayed with arm gestures, sounds, facial expressions, and the man understands every detail about the brook. Now the man can fully understand and appreciate every aspect of the brook.<br />
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In "the real world" we do not communicate anywhere near this degree. If we did, think of how much more understanding there would be! If we could- or rather, if we did- communicate with each other this well and we developed an understanding of the beauty all around us, then I don't think we would be so quick to take the world for granted. We would also develop a close kinship with all of the people in the world and we would not war with anyone. It's hard to kill someone who you just described why the sun is beautiful to you. I'm picturing that whenever you spoke to someone, it is a deeply intimate exchange, where you both speak from your innermost soul. You now know each other so deeply and affectionately, that you can wish nothing but peace for the other person. You love this person deeply and they return the same feelings- nothing else matters, except that you had this exchange. Please envision every encounter you have as being like this. How wonderful is the vision!<br />
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True world unity!<br />
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-Brycen R. R. CoutureBrycen R. R. Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14545465029690120092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716689291877120916.post-15765249552812757042010-09-13T14:29:00.000-04:002010-09-13T14:29:36.409-04:00World Peace by Ending SchoolPicture a village. Picture all of the people in the village as sick. To you it seems that they have been poisoned. One day you decide to go with them when they go out to get water. when you arrive, you see a sickly green slime coating the water. The people act as if the slime isn't there and they bend down to fill their jugs. You're astonished! "You aren't going to drink that, are you?!" you ask, shocked. "Drink what?" one of the people reply. They are looking at you with a confused expression that seems to accent their sickness. "That awful green slime!" you exclaim. The villager looks mystified and asks you, "What green slime?"<br />
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I compare this story with how our culture tries so very hard to keep us asleep and indifferent to what goes on around us. The stereo-typical day in the life for a child between the ages of 5 and 18 (roughly) consists of waking up very early and going to prison (school) for six hours. While you're there, you are expected to put your full attention on being indoctrinated on some uninteresting subject. (If it could be interesting, than it is made sure that it is not) Several times during the day, a loud, annoying bell rings, dictating that now you have to move to another holding cell (classroom) and focus on another subject. Finally the last bell rings and you are allowed to go home. Does it end there? No. Now it's time to review what the prison (school) indoctrinated you with that day. This could take a while. If you finish in time, then you get to enjoy having your face stuck to a screen, providing you with an escape from life. Maybe your screen connects to some of your friends screens and you can talk about things that don't make you use your head. Another type of screen depicts many series of rapidly changing images. This screen provides hours of mindlessness and lots of incentives to buy things that are said to make your life complete. After all of this wonderfully mindless "screen-time" -and it is wonderful, isn't it, to be allowed to escape life's meaninglessness?- you'll go to bed and fall asleep until tomorrow makes you wake up and repeat yesterday.<br />
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Now wouldn't it be interesting if all of the prisoners (students) decided to take control of their lives- for those who are too young, their parents would have to help them- and they all just went out into the community and started following their passions. The kids who want to play music would play music. The kids who want to build would build. All of the kids would realize how fun life really was- then there are too many other good things that would happen to list.<br />
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As for the faculty of these schools and their jobs- the government's mistake for instituting the prison (school) in the first place. The government would provide funds for all of the faculty who are now out of a job. This would help all of these people to enjoy life as well and communities would flourish with happy people.<br />
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Now that people don't feel so empty as to make useless purchases, it would be necessary to eradicate the use of money. We would go back to bartering. This kind of unity and wholeness in our communities would spread to the entire world, because it would be so joyful. We would all be respectful and loving of one another...<br />
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"And the world will live as one..." -<a href="http://www.johnlennon.com/site.html">John Lennon</a>Brycen R. R. Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14545465029690120092noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716689291877120916.post-58646178433261057942010-09-12T20:19:00.000-04:002010-09-12T20:19:40.840-04:00We Are Deadened By Our Culture<style>
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<div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">I'm feeling rather distressed at a certain thought right now... My thoughts are on how our culture so effectively drains the passion out of the entire populace. It starts when you are very young, when they put you in school or some other prison-like institution. When you "graduate" you are now expected to pick a career. Of course, the career "they" want you to pick is one that will keep you in your deadened state. The culture keeps you deadened for the sake of keeping our "leaders" (more or less just capitalist, fascist, dictators...) in control and in power. <br />
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Wake up!</span></span></div>Brycen R. R. Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14545465029690120092noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716689291877120916.post-2680516874327732202010-09-12T20:11:00.000-04:002010-09-12T21:26:23.824-04:00Why Us Kids Weren't In School<h3 class="UIIntentionalStory_Message" data-ft="{"type":"msg"}"><span class="UIStory_Message">I don't just sit there and gripe about the problems in our world- I actually take action to change what's wrong. </span><span class="UIStory_Message"><a href="http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Mahatma_Gandhi/">Gandhi</a> said, </span><span class="UIStory_Message">"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."</span><span class="UIStory_Message"> While we're talking about world problems, I couldn't resist a slam to public schools... Thursday, while the public schoolers were sitting at desks, doing boring, mundane- not to mention mindless- "schoolwork", what were my friends and I doing? We were at the annual <a href="http://familyrun.ning.com/">NOT-Back-to-School</a> Beach Party, celebrating our homeschooled lives by running around a beach, playing friendly sports, laughing and talking about real life! It makes me sad to think that public school imprisonment is acceptable to the majority of people. This was apparent when two senior citizens asked me and a group of friends, "Why aren't you kids in school?" I responded with a smile, "We're homeschoolers, and we're celebrating the fact that we're <a href="http://www.laurieacouture.com/2010/08/back-to-school-end-of-childhood-joy-and-freedom/">NOT going back to school</a>!" One of my friends a<span class="text_exposed_show">dded, "As all those kids are sitting at desks right now, we're outside playing Ultimate Frisbee!"</span></span></h3><h3 class="UIIntentionalStory_Message" data-ft="{"type":"msg"}"><span class="UIStory_Message"></span></h3><h3 class="UIIntentionalStory_Message" data-ft="{"type":"msg"}"><span class="UIStory_Message"> </span></h3>Brycen R. R. Couturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14545465029690120092noreply@blogger.com0