Education Quote by Susan Sontag
““Why not eliminate schooling between age 12-16? It’s biologically + psychologically too turbulent a time to be cooped up inside, made to sit all the time. During these years, kids would live communally – doing some work, anyway being physically active, in the countryside(...) This simple change in the age specificity of schooling would a) reduce adolescent discontent, anomie, boredom, neurosis; b) radically modify the almost inevitable process by which people at 50 are psychologically and intellectually ossified (...) After all, since most people from now on are going to live to be 70, 75, 80, why should all their schooling be bunched together in the first 1/3 or 1/4 of their lives – so that it’s downhill all the way””
About This Quote
Proposes removing formal schooling from ages 12‑16, arguing that adolescence is a biologically and psychologically volatile period unsuitable for rigid classroom settings; suggests communal, active learning to prevent later mental rigidity.
In simple terms: Reforms adolescent education to match developmental needs.
Key Takeaway
Staggered schooling could foster lifelong adaptability.
Themes
education reform
developmental psychology
social structure
lifelong learning
health
wellbeing
Mood
thoughtful
critical
visionary
Type
philosophical
speculative
policy suggestion
When to use this quote
- rural community projects
- apprenticeship programs
- outdoor experiential courses
- family‑run learning circles
Key Concepts
adolescent development
communal living
physical activity
cognitive flexibility
Practical Applications
- designing flexible curricula
- creating community‑based learning hubs
Questions to Reflect On
- How might staggered education impact social equity?
- What evidence supports communal learning for adolescents?
![“Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… [The anthropologist] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner alienation as an urban intellectual.” quote by Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/fe1/susan-sontag-332_alienation_anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-a_15322.jpg)
