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Protecting Kids'
Inner Wildness
As codirector of the
Albany Free School, Chris
Mercogliano has had remarkable
success in helping a diverse
population of youngsters find their
way in the world. He regrets,
however, that most kids' lives are
subject to some form of control from
dawn until dusk. Lamenting
risk-averse parents, overstructured
school days, and a lack of playtime
and solitude, Mercogliano argues
that we are robbing our young people
of "that precious, irreplaceable
period in their lives that nature
has set aside for exploration and
innocent discovery," leaving them
ill-equipped to face adulthood. The
"domestication of childhood"
squeezes the adventure out of kids'
lives and threatens to smother the
spark that animates each child with
talents, dreams, and inclinations.
As Mercogliano explains, however,
there is plenty that those involved
with children can do to protect
their spontaneity and exuberance. We
can address their desperate thirst
for knowledge, give them space to
learn from their mistakes, and let
them explore what their place in the
adult world might be.
"Mercogliano is, in
effect, a cultural therapist who
accurately diagnoses and attentively
ponders America's loss of childhood,
offering fresh new ideas and
creative solutions. Ultimately, he
is what all good therapists are: a
purveyor of hope. His message
resonates with no one more than I,
who grew up in the 1950s in rural
Nebraska. He will help us care for
our most valuable resource:
children."
Mary Pipher,
author of Writing to Change the
World
"With deep insight, Mercogliano
shows how our society is suppressing
children's creative energies. But he
also brings a positive message,
showing how we can help young people
break through conventional
restraints and pursue their
passions. This is a beautiful,
searching, and inspiring book."
William Crain,
Professor of Psychology, The City
College of New York, and author of
Reclaiming Childhood: Letting
Children Be Children in Our
Achievement-Oriented Society
"Chris Mercogliano's provocative
meditation on childhood sets up a
dialectic among maple-sugaring,
swan-diving in forest pools,
slingshots, and adventuring on the
one hand, and the adult-supervised
play of the Little League, Boy
Scouts, YMCA, and Playground
Movement on the other. Along the way
are insights about the functions of
solitude and self-organization that
lead the reader to conclude: no
self-organization means that no self
worthy of the name will emerge. A
very strong and attractive book."
John Taylor Gatto,
author of Dumbing Us Down: The
Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory
Schooling
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