serendipityoucity

There should be a place where teenagers can go and live for a few years with other teenagers and away from their parents.  Sorta like the long house idea, the morung in Nagaland or the kibbutz in Israel.  Prep and boarding schools sorta fulfil that function but these are not local nor cross class as they are intititions that reinforce a social status and social network which perpetuates the norms of people sharing a common access to power and class.  But the quality of the education of most of those institutions should be universalized and expected everywhere!  I am talking about a social environment of work, study and play that is intimetely intertwined with the community, citizenship where teens of all classes and backgrounds learn to live together, govern themselves, manage their resources - in a society.  Parents can rotate in the economic and social maintenance of that unit in whatever way they can with the teens. Parents and teens can learn to co-govern.

If democracy has to be learned and relearned by each generation then perhaps this is a healthy way to create some sort of social and local responsibility and communality. I am not convinced the current send them to high school with a ‘civics’course individualist free to do whatever model is the way to go!

The current model leaves parents going insane and alone with their very self centrered selfish kids that extract resources from the household and do not make any contributions to it while home or in their communities.  It is a free for all.  We then expect those parents to be sane, teach their children values and ethics in a context where these cannot be practiced in real terms by their kids except for at the mall, movie theather or the rave.  Lets not even think of citizenship and the means thereof, there is no such place for them to exercise this idea.  Then we are supposed to send those people to universities, colleges and jobs, out to vote, drive, shop, work and then take care of us when we are old and the planet we live on?  

Overworked, overextended, underpaid and well exasperated!

Please do not leave me "they will be fine" comments!  Or it will pass notes! Cuz that does not cut it.  If it takes a village to raise children, then please tell me where the village is in this self centred mediated shop til you drop society?  Please do not send me to a ’service’, ‘institution’ or ‘organization’. I want the village!

I will now eat chocolate, drink tea and avoid going home where tyranical teens are watching movies, cleaning out the fridge, leaving the dishes, tossing the boxers, and letting the snow accumulate and wanting to know what’s for dinner and where their socks are!