by Shawna | Oct 12, 2015 | Main Blog
Last time, I promised to talk about some of the doubts and difficulties I faced after committing to trusting my son to figure out and decide what was best for himself. One cringe-worthy example: I enforced tooth brushing when he was only three years old—meaning...
by Shawna | Sep 28, 2015 | Main Blog
This upcoming series of posts has been more of a struggle to write than previous ones, in large part because the theme feels more radical than those in earlier posts. In spite of my obvious passion for championing children’s right to self-determination, my current...
by Shawna | Aug 11, 2015 | Main Blog
In the most recent post, I recounted personal experiences of adults using their authority to intimidate and belittle me and other children. On the heels of that post, it feels important to tell an older story that echoed within my own childhood. Recently, my dad...
by Shawna | Jul 18, 2015 | Main Blog
Before I was old enough to go to school, my parents kept a willow switch on top of the refrigerator. I don’t remember that they used it much, but the threat of it infuriated me. One day when they were working outside, I got up on a stool, took the switch, broke it,...
by Shawna | Jul 2, 2015 | Main Blog
A while ago, I saw this photo from the Humans of New York series, captioned with a response from the girl in the photo to the photographer’s question. I love that instead of answering the question, she challenged it instead. “I don’t like that question. Everybody...
by Shawna | Jun 24, 2015 | Main Blog
Next week, I will conduct my first interview on camera, which may or may not have material that ends up in the documentary. I will be talking to a graduate of The Clearwater School, trying out questions and ideas, finding out which ones generate more questions and...
