How to react towards...
IN THIS CHAPTER
We don’t punish
We let the natural consequences be the biggest learning take-away from their action.
This could be that if someone breaks or loses a borrowed item, the lender won’t get the change of borrowing for some time but that is up to the person who lend the item.
Apart from that, a case can be raised about the issue by any of the children and adults involved in the kids’ blocks where secondary consequences might be enforced that will be decided in a democratic meeting.
Of course, you can always speak up about what bothers you when somebody has overstepped your boundary.
Photo by Bradyn Trollip on Unsplash
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‘‘Another time a couple of our more troublesome boys set fire to a postbox downtown. The police apprehended them. And when they were returned to school, a special meeting was called. The community is especially sensitive to trouble that occurs downtown and gave the two boys a real grilling. Afterward they looked very edgy. I felt rather sorry for them. They had already been given a hard time by the police and now by the meeting. I tracked them down to their room and stuck my head around the door.
Go away, I was told, belligerent.
I just wondered if you’d like to come out to the woods with me. We could build a fire out there. They brightened instantly and we set out to the woods where we made a small fire and roasted some marshmallows. The police were due to come and interview them again and just as we were coming out of the woods, a police car was drawing up outside the school.
We’ve just been in the woods making a fire with Matthew, one of the boys announced enthusiastically to the police, as he climbed out of the car. I smiled weakly.
The Summerhill logic isn’t always easy to explain to outsiders.’’
A free-range childhood by Mathew Appleton