Turn 'em on, Tune 'em in, Drop 'em out

At the height of the 1960's counterculture, Dr. Timothy Leary -- and countless millions of others -- knew very well what he meant when he said, "Turn on, tune in, drop out." I doubt he imagined that almost forty years later someone who was in diapers at the time (what do you mean you don't believe that?!) would take his words and make them applicable to a twenty-first century educational movement that once upon a time planted its roots in similar countercultural soil.

Actually, I got to thinking about this because of a flurry of education-related activity a few months ago. First, on his Focus on the Family radio program, Dr. James Dobson (no relation, thanks for asking) called for parents to remove their children from California schools. Not to be outdone, Dr. Laura Schlessinger added her voice, raising the ante to taking kids out of schools across America, period. Next, the Separation of School and State Alliance seized the opportunity and blitzed the media with its simple message, producing a sharp increase in signers of the alliance's separation proclamation. Since I never want to be left out, I decided to create Linda Dobson's personal contribution to the cacophony, my very own "drop out of school" message to parents.

First, let me make one thing perfectly clear. I do not recall ever once inhaling at that time. (This may explain both my numerous fainting spells as well as President Clinton's symptoms of oxygen deprivation to the brain. Of course, that lengthy discourse on the definition of "is" seemed to indicate some recent inhaling, but I digress.)

Here is the message, based not on Dr. Leary's directive but on lessons from my own and scores of other children during seventeen years of living the homeschooling lifestyle.

Step One: Turn 'em on. Unfortunately, it seems our schools are better at turning kids off to learning than they are at turning them on to it. The problem, as the saying goes, might be too many cooks spoiling the soup. Children don't get the soup until the federal and state politicians, county and local politicians, test writers, textbook publishers, teachers unions, school boards, taxpayers, superintendents, principals, and teachers all add their own brands of seasoning. When they're all done, every conceivable kind of learner -- regardless of taste or appetite -- is served the same unpalatable, watered-down mix that has only a vague resemblance to the healthy, natural thing -- real education.

Children are natural learning machines. Turn them on, then get the heck outta their way! Instead of mental gruel, feed them whole food for the mind -- real books, and knowledge borne of experience in the greater world where they will live and work and play -- today, not tomorrow. Only in freedom to taste the variety of ways to learn that the world has to offer can a child truly be turned on.

Step Two: Tune in. Once you've got those lean, mean learning machines well fed and running, it's time to tune in like only a parent can do. You're in a perfect position to observe, study, and participate. Tune in to what turns your child on. It might be physics. It might be comic books. No matter, learning is available from both -- we're in the real world here.

With clues about what turns your child on, seek out available resources that build on the excitement and keep the momentum going. Find information in books and on the Internet, yes, but also check out videos, television programs, museums, organizations, and, most importantly, people within the community who share the same passion. Take an active interest so you can be the very best guide (not teacher, guide) that money can't buy. Open your own mind to learning for the pure joy of it and you'll find, along with your child, that the world is full of interesting things to know. Build up your own appetite for knowledge, and sit down to partake in that healthy, natural soup right alongside your offspring.

Step Three: Let 'em drop out. You and your child need more time together than the school schedule allows to accomplish the tasks of turning 'em on and tuning in. Dropping out frees your family from the demands of the calendar dictated by school attendance, thus making the necessary time available.

Thanks to the advent of the Information Age, "drop out" no longer wears a negative connotation. A plethora of information and, therefore, opportunities to learn, stand available to anyone who cares enough to find them. The idea of a middle man (schooling) doling out select information (curriculum) pales in comparison to seizing the moment of your child's interest and heading directly to the source of needed information at the time it is most likely to be appreciated and remembered. The only way you will wind up with the ability to make a sound comparison between a childhood lived in school and one lived outside in the real world is to let 'em "drop out," while "dropping in" to the real world to use all of the twenty-first century's educational possibilities in your own way on your own time.

Well, there it is. Yet another voice calling for you to "turn 'em on, tune in, let 'em drop out." The message may not be original, but its current incarnation has the potential to be even more revolutionary than Dr. Leary's. It is, after all, the only way to find out if a whole, healthy education can become, as it has for millions of others, an integral part of your family's lifestyle. © 2002 Linda Dobson

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September-October 2002 - Articles and Columns

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