The Little Red Book

Education should teach you how to find out about the things you need to know and give you the opportunity of developing your own particular talents and interests to the full.  The trouble is that few people really know how to do this.  Those who do know, or at least have some good ideas, are not the people who actually control the education system.  The system is controlled by the people who have money, and directly or indirectly these people decide what you should be taught and how.

Education has never been strictly an in-classroom thing, nor an inhouse thing.  Parents who think their kids won't learn elsewhere what they don't learn at home are mistaken.  Those who manage to instill enough fear into their children to keep their eyes closed aren't helping them - those children will be ill-equipped to live in an increasingly dynamic world.

This isn't in the best interests of our youth.  It's not in the best interests of the rest of society, either - by stifling our youth or forcing a counter-culture, we are cutting them off from our necessary shared solutions.

To teach is to empower.  To fully empower, you have to be ready to let go.  That doesn't mean throwing them into the deep-end and walking away; that's what sea turtles do.

The role of parents and leaders is to give their charges the tools they need to succeed, help them master their craft and then get out of the way.  At that point, what is to come is no longer in your hands; if you're done your job well, you need not worry.  You just need to let it go.

If you're can't, too bad - there always, always comes a point where you can't hold it back anymore.  

Time and tide, love.