Op-Ed

Finally, right? Here it is. Tell me your thoughts! (Sorry it's long and ugly-looking-- I'd like to make one of those cool "read more" tag things, but after half an hour of messing around, I've concluded that the level of nitpicking required exceeds my level of interest.)

Dropping Out of High School: A How-To Guide

If you’re a parent of a kid over the age of eight, you probably already know the drill.

“Mom, do I have to go to school? It’s so boring!”

“I hate Calculus! It’s so pointless. I forget it as soon as I take the test. When am I going to use it, anyway?”

And so on. Even the brightest and best kids don’t love the daily drudgery of school. Waking up before 7AM to sit in an overcrowded classrooms with few windows and bored classmates, shuffling through stifling hallways listening to overzealous administrators admonish kids to get to class before the bell rings, counting down the minutes until class ends—correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s not how most kids learn best.

Of course, it’s easy to criticize the public school system, and equally easy to dream up sweeping changes that would magically fix it. That’s not what I’m proposing. I don’t think your kid should try to fix the school system.

I think your kid should abandon the school system.

That’s what I did, now almost four months ago. I’ve created a curriculum for myself of high school and college courses, along with plenty of free time, which solves my qualms with being a student in a Saint Paul public high school.

The majority of the problems facing public schools are borne of too little funding, which is not a problem that can be fixed by the average family. However, it is a problem that affects the children of the average family. The next time your kid starts in on a tirade about why school is the worst idea ever invented, listen to what they’re saying. Know that there is an alternative.

I’m not suggesting homeschooling—an option that is simply not possible for two working parents. I’m suggesting unschooling. If you are a working parent with a working spouse, I might advise you to hold off until your child is old enough to transport his or herself to activities, classes, and experiences that he or she has planned. Naturally, this age may differ from family to family and child to child.

But when you believe your child has reached that age (and it’s probably significantly before 18), why not suggest an alternative to school? School is not spent learning much of anything besides how to surreptitiously pass notes in class and stay quiet while the teacher is talking, and yet it takes up seven hours of your child’s day, five days a week. There are better things that your brilliant, passionate kid could be getting mixed up in for seven hours a day.

As a starting point of structure, Saint Paul high schools have a wonderful dual enrollment program, in which students who are homeschooled may attend up to three classes from the school. That means your kid doesn’t have to miss out on that brilliant Biology class junior year, or doesn’t need to drop out of band.

Minnesota also offers homeschooled (and regular high school-attending) students the possibility of taking college classes during high school through the PSEO program. This program allows juniors and seniors to take college classes from institutions like the U of M, or St. Kate’s, for college credit, without even being enrolled in a public high school.

Besides these traditional, classroom-centered ways to fill your child’s day, why not help him or her find a way to delve deep into a passion? Many organizations are eager to take on enthusiastic young volunteers—it’s just a matter of asking. Your kid could also use the sudden swath of free time to start a business, act in a play, rebuild a car engine, paint a mural, perform a science experiment… The list goes on. But the beauty of performing a task for the joy of performing it is that you don’t forget it how to do it after the test.

Tell your kid to drop out of school, and encourage them to become a life-long learner.