Adolescence: A Disease or an Opportunity

• The modern secondary school was designed as kind of a holding ground where adolescents could be treated with extended schooling to protect them from the risks of adult life until they were mature enough. This is the exact opposite of apprenticeships, which are more in line with the neurological changes in the teen brain. They place teens on the road to autonomy rather than extending dependency. Schools have also been known for not encouraging independent and creative thinking. We still put kids in school for so long, and ask them to study so much that they don’t have the time or energy to question what adults are doing to them. We value complacency and the ability to follow instructions rather than thinking for themselves. Abbot sees this as no less than a world crisis.

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