"As a society we could, perhaps, rationalize forcing children to go to school if we could prove that they need this particular kind of prison in order to gain the skills and knowledge necessary to become good citizens, to be happy in adulthood, and to get good jobs. Many people, perhaps most people, think this has been proven, because the educational establishment talks about it as if it has. But, in truth, it has not been proven at all"
You might enjoy reading John Holt's 'Escape from Childhood', which describes childhood as a form of prison sentence, in which there is little opportunity for choice and self-determination. It was written in 1974 - at the time of Women's Lib - and was written using that style of argument. As a result, Holt and others who thought like him were sometimes referred to as the 'kiddy-libbers'. It certainly reads like a period piece, but it shows you that this kind of thinking is not entirely new. Holt applied his ideas to all aspects of children's lives, not only school, but he became a leader of the home-school movement - another reason why you might be interested. Here's a whole site dedicated to Holt on home-schooling (http://www.holtgws.com/index.html) and this page (http://www.holtgws.com/johnholtpage.html) takes you to a quick precis of 'Escape from Childhood' and other books.
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