In this post, we will look at John Holt and his views on education in the US.

Bio

John Holt was an early proponent of homeschooling in the US. What makes him unique is that Holt was a left-wing or progressive voice for homeschooling. Homeschooling has often been associated with conservatives and Christianity but this was not the case with Holt. By most accounts, Holt was a devout Atheist.

Holt viewed the traditional education experience of children as oppressive. The reason for this oppression was the students did not have control of their learning experience. For Holt, children should be able to choose what they study. The factory-style education in the US was a major criticism of Holt as he believed it stripped young people of their individuality.

Holt’s views were not limited to education. He also supported other left-leaning views involving feminism, environmentalism, and a guaranteed income for all. His motivation behind a guaranteed income was to liberate women and children from being dependent on men or the husband and father of the family. Holt is also considered the father of the Children’s rights movement. In many ways, Holt had issues with traditional views of family.

Youthism

The Children’s Rights Movement has many names such as Youth Rights or Youthism. The main premise of proponents of this belief system is that adults discriminate and oppress young people and children. This belief system is similar to other Communist/Critical Theory-inspired belief systems such as Critical Race Theory, Feminism, etc.

What all of these –isms or theories of oppression have in common is a power struggle between two groups. In Communism or Marxism, the bourgeoise control the means of production and oppress the proletariat. The proletariat needs to rise up, rebel, overthrow the bourgeoise, and seize the means of production.

In Critical Theory, the oppressors maintain the country’s current cultural structure (often portrayed as White, male, and Christian) and the various social institutions (school, church, etc.). People who are not producers of the current culture are oppressed and should rise up and overthrow those who control the production of culture.

Critical Race Theory states that the oppressors are White Americans and the oppressed are people of color. Whites control access to various things through their production of privilege or culture. People of color need to rise up, abolish the privilege of Whites, and destroy the ability of Whites to reproduce the current societal structure or have any form of privilege.

Feminism states that the oppressors are men and the oppressed are women. Men oppressed women through the use of cultural and traditional beliefs and reproduced these beliefs through various social institutions. Women need to rise up and rebel and stop the reproduction of traditional beliefs in society so that women can have emancipation from male leadership.

Queer studies state that the oppressors are people who are straight and the oppressed are people with alternative sexual identities and preferences. Heterosexuals control the means of reproducing heterosexuality through culture, families, and schools. Queer individuals need to rise up, overthrow heteronormativity, and liberate society from those false beliefs.

In Youthism the struggle is between children and adults. Adults oppress children and want to maintain their power and authority over them. Children, in turn, should rebel and seize their autonomy and rights from the adults. By leaving schools, children can seize some of the power and take control of their education. Below is a table that briefly summarizes what has been shared.

Philosophy	Oppressor	Oppressed	Means of Production	Goal
Communism	Feminism	Proletariate	Financial/factories	Revolution
Critical Theory	Majority race	Minority race	Culture, schools, family, religion	Revolution
Feminism	Men	Women	Culture, schools, family, religion	Culture, schools, family, religion
Queer Studies	Heterosexuals	Alternative sexualities	Culture, schools, family, religion	Revolution
Youthism	Adults	Children	Feminism	Revolution

The end game is the same. To overthrow the existing society from one angle or the other. The reason for these various theories and belief systems is the same as why there are different flavors of ice cream, which is to attract the highest number of people possible. All of these various oppressed groups can agree on the need for change and can work together for this. In addition, these various movements create a mult-front assault on the existing society which is much more difficult to defend against than one enemy. Multiple groups of oppressed people also create a picture that something is seriously wrong with society when so many people are dissatisfied with it.

Holts Beliefs

Returning to the focus on Holt, he also had some unusual beliefs about children’s freedom. For example, he believed that a child should be able to drive whenever they possess the ability rather than at 16. He criticized how adults speak to children by calling them “cute” and patting them on the head. Holts also had issues with how adults are sometimes dismissive of the feelings and problems of children, which to him was a form of oppression.

Perhaps one of Holt’s most shocking beliefs was in the sexual freedom of children. Essentially, he believed that children should make their own decisions about sexuality. It may be possible that Holts’ views on this were inspired by Kinsey whose research focused on providing evidence that this was a viable position for children.

Conclusion

John Holt was a trailblazing liberal in the world of homeschooling. He radically supported a conservative idea in his unique way. His influence on homeschooling is significant, whether or not people agree with him on a personal level.