Teenage Liberation Handbook

modified 20/04/2024 22:39

Part 1

• The first points she make is that school controls you. You’re essentially forced into doing certain things (reading from the book, behaving, homework, the bathroom example is bad only if you’re actually not allowed to use it – saying that you go to the bathroom is more about respect than anything).
• Not sure I buy the argument that you’re less free if you have rules. There’s rules in society too – and they don’t really make you less free – just make you respect each others freedom really. The thing is, however, that you’re being directly forced to behave in school, while in society it’s more of a moral obligation really. I do agree, however, with the fact that school controls most of what you read (assigned reading and this kind of bs) and thinking (literary commentaries, povs on history are forced into you).

Thoughts

After reading it almost entirely(didn’t fully read the last parts, where she gives advice about how to improve and educate yourself in different topics) – I think it’s changed me quite a bit. What Grace writes about is stuff that I’ve felt all this time in college – that I’m wasting time, that I could do more on my own. However, there’s little I can do right now after reading it. However, thanks to this book, I’ll think really hard before going to university, and, (most likely – won’t, at least after finishing college)

Thanks to this book, I’ve started doing the things I once loved again(drawing and painting). Maybe indirectly, but it’s pushed me to be better, which I think is really what the book is about. It puts more of an emphasis on “leave school and improve”, while for me it’s “improve as much as possible while in school”.