🚀 go-pugleaf

Hello,

I've written the following text about the school system in Belgium,
compared to a very interesting school in the UK, Summerhill.  I thought
it would be interesting to put it in the newsgroups.  I hope you like it
!  Oh yes... as this is a creative writing exercise for school, will you
please be so kind to correct any mistakes ?  That would be very helpful.

Thanx,

Christine L.

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My school compared to Summerhill.

When I read the text about the ideas of Summerhill, I deplored my own
college life in a traditional school.  I wish I had had the chance to be
at such a school.  The ideas are so different that it�s hard to find
similarities between Summerhill and my school.  That�s because of the
fact that A.S. Neill has a totally different opinion about the nature of
a child than the one people usually have : in his eyes a child is
innately good, and not, as they think here, a being that is unfit for
society and has to be made capable of living by the exertion and
manipulation of adults, who call this "education".  Education and
instruction are always confused.  People do not believe that children
who are left to their own devices will develop in a good, positive way. 
However, Neill does believe this.  I am also under the impression that
we already have a feeling of a certain destination long before our
school-days, that we know wherefore we are here, and that we would
realise this destination spontaneously if our parents, teachers and
educators wouldn�t always lead us in the wrong direction - their
direction.  Our school prepares us for a place in society, as it is
now.  Although we�re continually hearing that our society is
good-for-nothing, we have to adapt ourselves to it.  It�s structured in
the same way as a school is : there is a government - a head, there are
subjects, people who order and people who have to obey, people who are
making demands and who are punishing those who don�t observe them.  It�s
a system based on might, authority.  In Summerhill, wielding power is
out of the question.  No compulsion is being exercised, but there is
talk of freedom.  We have to learn that we live in a democratic country
that respects the rights of man.  One of those rights is freedom, but we
don�t get it !  We are being controlled by adults, obedience is
rewarded, resistance punished.  There are tests and marks.  We don�t
obey because we want it, but because won�t be punished.  If someone
expects something from us, we often think : "what happens if we don�t do
it ?"  So we act on account of those consequences, not on account of our
own desire.  In Summerhill you only study what you want to know, the
things you�re really interested in.
Critics could say that there must be chaos in such a school, because
everything is allowed.  But that is most certainly not the case : there
are limits and everyone can say where he draws the line, what he finds
acceptable and what not.  Living together in such a school is based on
knowing and respecting each other�s boundaries, without allocating more
rights to someone who is standing higher on the hierarchic ladder.  In
our school, boundaries are set from above, in regulations.
Finally, I�d like to say something about fear : there is a lot of fear
in our school.  Insufficient marks can lead to a storm of threats and
punishments.  Parents like to use this marks as a reason to give
something to their children, but also to deny them something.  At
Summerhill children are not so easy to manipulate : because they�re free
of fear they�re also stronger and more assertive.
A thing that holds my attention is : what with the students who leave
Summerhill ?  They aren�t prepared to live according to the standards of
our society.  Will they go living apart from it, as marginals, or will
they be weighed down during their whole life by a system that makes them
sick and longing back for their lost paradise ?
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