Freedom Plus Responsibility: Why Unschooling Is Nothing Like ‘Lord of the Flies’

In Lord of the Flies, the fictional troop of boys experiences freedom for the first time, but they haven't learned about the responsibility that must accompany that freedom. Instead, they import the artificial hierarchy and social customs of their school cliques. As pressures mount, bullying shifts into tribalism, boundary-testing into warfare. Lord of the Flies is the opposite of unschooling. It shows the necessity for genuine freedom balanced by genuine responsibility and the important role of adults in providing care and calmness for children.