Debunking School’s Educational Necessity

When I talk to people about schools and unschooling, I often use some of the arguments below.

Not because I want to convince anyone, but because it’s important to question the beliefs we’ve inherited — especially the ones that shape how we raise and educate our children.

Many of us were taught to see school as something sacred and necessary. But once we start looking deeper, we realize that most of what we believe about education isn’t actually true.

People simply cannot argue against these points. So if your spouse, parents, friends (the ones that are truly important to you) are worried about you wanting to unschool, send them this ;-)

Here’s the truth:

Schools were never designed to raise free, fulfilled, and curious human beings.

They were created during the industrial era to produce obedient workers and compliant consumers — people who could follow orders, meet deadlines, and fit neatly into a system. AND THAT’S A FACT!

Yet somewhere along the way, we’ve been taught to believe:

“We need school to get a proper education and do well in life.”

Let’s debunk that myth (/BS).

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1.⁠ ⁠Everything they teach in school can be learned outside of it — but the things that truly matter can only be learned outside of it.

You can learn math, reading, science, and languages through life itself — through curiosity, play, and purpose.

But school often prevents the deeper kind of learning: self-trust, emotional intelligence, creativity, problem-solving, and the ability to make your own decisions. These are the skills that truly shape who you become.

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2.⁠ ⁠Most of what we “learn” at school isn’t learned at all — it’s memorized for a test and then forgotten.

The facts that stick are the ones we use or love. Everything else fades quickly. Real learning doesn’t happen by force — it happens naturally when something feels meaningful.

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3.⁠ ⁠The time spent memorizing what you soon forget could have been used to master something you’re passionate about.

Imagine what could unfold if those years were spent exploring your interests, creating, experimenting, and following curiosity wherever it leads. Passion builds mastery — not grades.

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4.⁠ ⁠True learning and deep understanding only come through experience.

You can’t truly know by being told. You know by doing.

By trying, failing, observing, adjusting, and trying again.

Schools teach about life. Real life teaches through life.

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5.⁠ ⁠“Doing well in life” has never depended on schooling.

Many of the world’s most creative, fulfilled, and successful people didn’t thrive because of school — they thrived in spite of it. They followed curiosity, not curriculum. They trusted themselves enough to take their own path.

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6.⁠ ⁠The system confuses conformity with education.

Grades and tests have replaced real growth. Children learn to perform instead of think, to obey instead of question, to seek approval instead of self-understanding. This is not education — it’s conditioning.

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7.⁠ ⁠The belief that we “need school” keeps the system alive.

The truth is, learning is as natural as breathing.

When children are trusted, they learn because they want to, not because they’re made to.

They learn from living — from conversations, projects, mistakes, and play.

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At A Place To Be, we’re creating a space that trusts this natural process again — a community where children grow through life itself, surrounded by nature, meaningful projects, and supportive peers.

Because real education isn’t something that happens to you.

It’s something that unfolds through you — when you’re free to be.