Have you Heard?

Have you heard of the Harris Family? Have you heard particularly of Alex and Brett Harris? Have you heard of The Rebelution? Have you heard of Do Hard Things?

Well spoken, organized, relatable, disciples of Christ. Just a few  words  that describe these dynamic young men.

The fee turned out to be per person but it's the last time they'll offer this conference. They're now 22, this set of Rebelutionary twins. Their journey started one summer day around the age of 16. They had summer visions of creating, learning the film industry. But every door slammed in their face. With vast amounts of summer free time looming before them their Dad put together a plan, a summer reading plan. They were hard books, challenging books, fat books.

The reading list inspired a blog. The blog inspired a survey. The survey inspired a book,  The book inspired a conference. A generation of teenagers have been changed. Set expectations regarding the youth of today and what they're capable of, is being challenged. To quote a very old  Bill Gaither Trio song from my childhood, "I am a promise, I am a Possibility, I am a Promise, With a Capital P! I am a great big bundle of Potentiality". These teens are believing it not for the distant future, but for today.

These young men have spent their teenage years preparing for adulthood by putting into practice their book title, Do Hard Things. They did hard things, as teens they rebelled against low expectations and they asked it of their friends, their peers. They relate story after story of youth accomplishing great things. I read their tales and placed the book in queu for Girlie  #1. She read and intrigued by our discussion Girlie #2 moved it to the top of her reading list.

 

But, this isn't just a conference, read for teenagers of today. As a mom, a mentor, teacher I see the bigger problem lies in the older generations. The bigger problem lies with the parents, grandparents, bosses, aunts and uncles, teachers, pastors and youth pastors. Read the book you'll know why. Even when a parent requires hard things from their child the rest of the world screams at them to, "enjoy your youth", "don't grow up too fast", "why are you _____? You should be out playing". They propagate this eternal attitude of youth, or as the Harris brothers title it the 'Kidadult'. We need to get on board with this vision. We need to encourage the teenagers of today and demand that they do hard things. Start now. Gather together every teenager/pre-teen you know and go to that conference. I took Girlie #2 and she's only 10. She loved it. Don't know a teenager then just go it alone. Sit in the back and take it all in. You will NOT be disappointed. You WILL be inspired.

Awesome real time audience polling of the 10-22 year olds

Can't get to one of the Rebelution Confereencs then head to the library and get the book. I believe to whom much is given, much is expected. We need to start expecting it from our teenagers. If we do I don't think they will disappoint.

Meeting  the brothers and getting  books  signed

1 Timothy 4:12

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

How to Drive a Stake Part 1

In days of B.C. (before children) The Man would jokingly say that each child birthed would receive a pick axe and a shovel as their welcome into this world. To this day when they begin the incessant questions about birthday gifts this is his go to response. It drives the kids crazy. I just laugh.

There are tools my children really need. Some of these tools I'm just now learning to wield.

When we hurled ourselves into the whole 'spearhead your child's education' thing I felt lost. I researched the bazillion books and conventions, blogs and websites that offer insight. Frustration ran deep as the more insight I researched the more questions I had.

Answers started coming with my first read by John Taylor Gatto. I felt misgivings about the education I'd received. I partook of a 'Top Notch' education including private schools, an Advanced Diploma from a top rated high school and several years in a prestigious private college. But, I still felt the education I'd received left much to be desired. To me it seemed I received pieces of paper (diplomas) almost just for showing up. Gatto put all my thoughts and concerns in black and white and stamped them as valid.

While Gatto called out today's educational system and exposed its rotting foundation, I found in Oliver De Mille's writings hope and a game plan I could implement in my children's education.

He describes three major types of schooling:

Conveyor Belt

Professional 

Leadership 

To be truthful the United States education system is filling two types well. The Man and I have been trained by the school system in Conveyor Belt and Professional. We have been told how to think, what to think and when.

Don't believe me then get a hold of this video on textbook writers:

 Fox News Reporting, "Do You Know What Textbooks Your Children Are Really Reading?"

 

You can watch a bit of the video here (segment 2):
(check out Youtube to view other segments)


Education woes in the U.S. are due in part to it's missing group, the one education model that has been sorely neglected, Leadership Education. (The neglect has been purposeful but that's a post for another day, or start the research on your own with Gatto's book The Underground History of American Education or start reading at his website).

Leadership education in America is nearly extinct. This model of learning's primary purpose is teaching how to think. It prepares one to lead. Lead in their homes, towns, businesses. Become Entrepreneurs, Problem Solvers, people who instinctively know the right thing to do and have the ability to follow it through to completion, doing it well.

At the heart of Leadership Education is Freedom:

...leadership preparation, which has three primary goals. First, its purpose is to train thinkers, leaders, entrepreneurs and statesmen--individuals with the character, competence and capacity to do the right thing and do it well in business, government, church, school, family, entertainment, research and other organizations.

The second goal is to perpetuate freedom, to prepare people who know what freedom is, what is required to maintain it, and who exert the will to do what is required. These two goals are accomplished by the third: teaching students how to think. Those who know how to think are able to lead effectively and are able to help society remain free and prosperous. Those who know only what to think or when, no matter how valuable their contributions to society, are not capable of maintaining freedom or leading us to real progress without additional leadership skills.

~A Thomas Jefferson Education By Oliver De Mille

It is Leadership Education that creates great businessmen, statesmen in government and it built this Republic we call home. This is how Thomas Jefferson and our founding fathers were educated. This is the education I want for my children.

Having an education background in the models of Conveyor Belt and Professional I find training Leaders a sort of dual enrollment. I learn right alongside my students. I cannot instruct my children in the ways to drive a stake through the vampire of the American Dream if they do not know how to think for themselves.

Understanding education, the different models, and how they groom people to specific purposes is the first step in educating my children to live a Radical life. It is a tool I give them and side by side we are learning to wield it.