To be able to sit with, talk to, and bounce ideas off of other unschooling parents is really necessary. You can’t unschool alone. People NEED people. Even me, a loner by nature. I like being home or at least alone. However, I KNOW that I need these other people. I need to see these children and I need to see my children interacting with other unschoolers. It’s important for me to be reminded why I’ve chosen this lifestyle in the first place. I cannot ever replace the friends I have made at these conferences. I have never felt so loving and so loved in my life. I’m sure my children feel the same way.
I cannot say enough good things about Unschooling Conferences. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve said it all before, in previous posts! There seems to be a lot of buzz about this year’s NEU Conference and the little bit of chaos that did seem to happen. In my opinion, it wasn’t all THAT bad. I was there when the piece of trim was broken, it was an accident and I’m not sure the teenager who broke it actually knew that he did it. I let someone know what happened but didn’t find it necessary to name names. There was a lot of running in the conference center, I didn’t think it was all that bad. I mean, seriously, isn’t that to be expected when you hold a conference for children? I did hear of some general meanness, which is quite unfortunate. Someone was swinging a small bag with rocks in it at some other children. It was addressed and there were no injuries that I know of. Oh, and the door knocking. Yeah, a disturbance for the other guests. I guess some people have taken to unparenting rather than unschooling? Is it possible that when all the children are going wild suddenly the newer parents think it’s “the norm” and allow their children as well?
The only thing I can say to that is, I wonder if these same people would allow their children the same freedoms if there was NOT an unschooling conference. Would they let their 6 year old girl meander about the hotel and use the elevator all by herself? If their children were running or screaming in the hallways, would they let them know they shouldn’t run or be loud because are sleeping after a certain time? Maybe that’s what it all looks like to a new unschooler at first glance so they just think they are going with the flow.
As far as people complaining about the state of the arts and crafts room or the game room or any other room… where is the initiative? I picked up the game room several times over the weekend. I saw a few parents doing the same. Not because I thought it should be clean, not because I felt the kids were too messy, but because it’s hard to play games with scattered pieces so I did my best to put them all back. Plus… I’m much better at cleaning than I am at playing games. It’s just like in my house. If the house is a wreck and the games are scattered and the art supplies are in disorder than they are much less likely to actually use them. So… I clean them up. I give them a fresh slate, a clean palette in which to create a new game or a new project.
It’s possible that next time a volunteer schedule might need to be organized. To help keep things less chaotic. It really is important for newbies to remember that your children are still YOUR responsibility. That we are still in a public space that has it’s own set of standards. That we are still interacting with the public. One thing we talk about in my home, is that just because we do not live with rules, doesn’t mean we don’t have to follow the rules or have respect for another person’s home or business. What a disservice to children to let them go on thinking that no rules means anything goes, anywhere.
Maybe it’s just me, but in reality I think most of what happened should be expected. You can only plan so much and help make it a safe and interesting place. From what I gather, there were no injuries, all the children are safe, there was no vandalism, and no horrible acts of disrespect. I COULD be wrong. There MAY be something I don’t know. Still, I had a WONDERFUL time. I recharged my batteries and am a better person for it. I had some eye rolling moments regarding some unparenting as it’s commonly referred to but, I still say it could have been worse. I can’t wait to see everyone soon! Enjoy Life is RIGHT around the corner!