Emily Among the Sheeple

Emily O'Neill's (gorgeous gal in the photo) opinion piece at the DC begins like this: "When I was twelve, my mom took me out of public school and homeschooled me. I chose my own reading list and learned all I could about politics, law, and history. Eventually my mom didn’t have to call meetings at the kitchen table to check on my progress. I wanted to learn — and I wanted to arrive at my own conclusions.

Outside the constraints of public school, I was free to think. Two years later, I returned to public school to make new friends. I ended up making very few. I couldn’t stand public high school and did everything I could to limit my time there. I was homeschooled for some classes, participated in a charter school program, and spent afternoons at a vocational school. School wasn’t about learning; it was about fitting in to maintain a status quo. Though I was full of opinions, I didn’t have an outlet to voice them.

During college, I found ways to express my views and met like-minded friends through political activism. Then a curious thing happened: I no longer felt silenced by an institution — but by my own peers. Students often groaned and whispered to one another when I raised my hand in class. Although it didn’t prevent me from being one of the few students to offer my opinion during lecture, I felt pressured to keep my mouth shut."

Read the rest here. It's tough going for an independent mind American to 'fit in' yet ... it appears that her education experiences, negative and positive, helped to solidify her opinions about mass schooling. I'm glad she has found a supportive forum to share them.

Update: Speaking of cutie-pie, smart-as-a-whip girls, read about Kayla's memory feat that was sweetly rewarded by her mom and dad.