A Google contest shows what real motivation can do…
Not too long ago, I read The Teenage Liberation Handbook. I borrowed it from a neighbor whose 2 kids went to school and then pulled out of high school. Both felt that the experience of being responsible for their own education, even for 1-2 years, was empowering. I was burned out by the end of high school. I had had the crap bored out of me, and I’d lost track of all my interests except for art by then.
This made me very open to unschooling, and I thought my kids would probably choose to go to high school. After reading Teenage Liberation Handbook, I wasn’t so sure I’d like my children to go to high school. Why be sequestered at such a vital time in their lives?
This came to mind the other day when I listened to one of my geeky web development podcasts. Google currently has a contest going called GHOP. At first I was excited, thinking that perhaps Google had found a way to make free pancakes for the whole world, but it turns out to it’s a program for kids 13-pre-university to get involved with open source software projects. If a kid completes one task, they get a t-shirt; complete 3 tasks, earn $100 (up to $500). Tasks range from watching and recording reactions to installing some software to double-checking code.
The podcasters talked about giving tasks to kids and thinking ‘this will take them 4-5′ days. They were shocked when the kid would get back to them with the task completed in 4-5 hours. I’m sure quite a few kids joining the contest are interested in programming, computers or just attracted by Google’s name. But I immediately thought how great it was for a kid to have the opportunity to Do Something rather than spend years and years Preparing to Do Something. It’s much better than a job working in retail or food service (though I did feel excited the first couple of times I started a new job, but that honeymoon was short). I’m not surprised at all with how they tackled their tasks.
Given a chance, a kid will be motivated pretty easily. I’m sure the money didn’t hurt, but not everyone can afford an unpaid internship. I would have jumped at such an opportunity (especially the chance to put my Apple IIe to good use ;-)) I wish all kids had the opportunity to Do Something that they had a genuine interest in. It’s easy with computers to get engaged in something, be it programming or web development or internet marketing. I’d like to see more opportunities for kids to Do Something fulfilling, well before they get to university-age.
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“Do somesing.” –Madame W.B. circa 1989
I am the neighbor. One of the great benefits my son had from not attending a public high school was that he skipped the whole peer pressure age. Staying home from 14 on was liberating to him. He had friends who visited often. (Very often staying for days on end.) He also never felt the need to succumb to peer pressure. He grew his hair very long. I didn’t have to buy an entire new wardrobe every September. Now that he’s 20, he chooses not to drink, smoke, eat meat or seafood. He’s extremely focused on his college education and his future. Also, because he didn’t have a formal high school diploma he was required to take placement tests before enrolling in college. All his results showed him at freshman college level. (Yeah!) If I had to do it all over again, I would have allowed him to home school in junior high also.
I love that book! Read it when it came out and was very excited by it. I also read The Day I Became An Autodidact at about the same time, but since I had been self-educating since age 10 it was mostly reinforcement. I am definitely planning on home/unschooling my son, and any future children, until/if they decide to go to college. I definitely benefited from not have the whole high-school experience; I had enough negative experience (in retrospect; it was exciting at the time!) just from interacting with my friends and their friends outside of school. Plus I had a lot more time on my hands to actually *learn*, especially through actual experience, something my peers have suffered from the lack of.
@ Jason: She’s the only teacher I miss. Pete said she actually asked about me the last time I saw her. Must have fond memories of my surliness senior year.
@Anastasia: He’s more health-oriented than I thought. I thought the boxing (kickboxing?) practice was the extent of it. And I guess he cut his hair eventually too, since it’s practically shaved now