General
How Greater Autonomy Can Benefit Children
Readers offer examples in response to a guest essay.
To the Editor:
Re “Giving Kids Autonomy Has Surprising Results,” by Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop (Opinion guest essay, Jan. 4):
Those looking to understand how agency enhances achievement need look no further than our school in the hills of Vermont.
The 2023 World Cheese Awards — the most important cheese competition that exists — received over 4,500 entrants. Only seven “Super Gold” awards were given to U.S. cheesemakers, and two Super Golds were awarded to Parish Hill Creamery in Westminster, Vt.
Parish Hill’s milk comes from the Putney School, where I serve as head, and where high school students milk and manage the herd every single day. Which is another way of saying that the milk that produces the best cheese in the United States is brought to market by a crew of teenagers.
We have a dairy farm not because we are raising the next generation of agricultural workers, but precisely to offer students a potent mix of purpose, agency — and accountability. The kids rise every morning, even when it’s below zero and still dark, because the animals rely on them in the most life-or-death way.
It is not unusual to excuse students from class who have chosen to stay all night in the barn assisting a birth. Their time in a classroom might be a bit less, but their curiosity is a lot more.
Daniel O’Brien
Putney, Vt.
To the Editor:
I was fortunate to spend my career as a teacher in an elementary school, founded in the early 1960s, that encouraged, even required, student choice in learning — an old idea coming back around.
Our students went on to a large, more traditional junior high. When we met with the junior high staff to discuss students’ skills, strengths and weaknesses, we regularly heard a variation on the following statement: “We can always tell your students, because when we assign work they raise their hands and say, ‘I understand what you want, but what if I did it this way?’ ”
Our school staff took great pride in our independent and eager learners. I sincerely hope schools will move toward this model. In my experience it helps students be more successful and makes the teachers’ job easier.
Susan Silberberg
Littleton, Mass.
To the Editor:
I am not surprised that giving kids some autonomy in school improves performance. In fact I’d argue that kids would have better outcomes overall — both academically and personally — by having much greater autonomy broadly defined than the typical young person has now.
Unfortunately, our culture currently discourages parents from loosening their grip on their children’s lives and schedules. Technology allows constant surveillance of kids — their schedule is rigid, their movements are tracked, their social media interactions are monitored, they are expected to be in continuous contact with their parents. The message is clear: The world is dangerous, and you aren’t competent to navigate it by yourself.
Is it any wonder that many young people lack initiative, problem-solving skills and resilience? For the sake of their kids’ future, both parents and teachers must take a deep breath and allow kids to have much more (age-appropriate) freedom.
Kate Adams Goss
Floral Park, N.Y.
To the Editor:
While so many parents qualify for the “helicopter” label, I identified my child-raising style as “boomerang” — I let my daughter go, and she always came back.
At appropriate ages, she was given instruction, guidance and/or resources to accomplish tasks ranging from filling out permission and registration forms (I reviewed and signed them) to managing her own calendar of school activities and deadlines (she never missed one) to navigating public transportation on her own (she led me first to practice).
This approach also gave me a lot more free time!
The result? A responsible, competent and confident adult who has been fully employed and independent in her adulthood.
But I can’t take the credit for her successes: She earned them herself.
Raleigh Mayer
New York
To the Editor:
What about amplifying student “agency” at home as well as at school? My exchanges with middle-school children over the years revealed how alive they become by teaching themselves about their own predicaments, pressures and developing sense of discovery.
As adults we can motivate family conversations regarding the punishing external forces bearing down on them from relentless marketing of harmful products, violent programming and unhealthy immersions in the exploitative internet gulag.
Children love to learn about what is happening to them, about how their active peers have accomplished wonders in their community through applying their moral authority to a “why not?” approach to helping others.
I have worked on enticing youngsters with ways they can protect their own health, relish the value of unorganized physical activity, eat smart, control their time and ask the explorative question “what if?” to better their daily experiences.
This home-based self-consciousness prepares them for the realities of coming years, nourishes family solidarity and improves classroom performance.
Claire Nader
Washington
The writer is the author of “You Are Your Own Best Teacher!: Sparking the Curiosity, Imagination and Intellect of Tweens.”
To the Editor:
When students drive their own learning, engagement soars. More than 80 percent of young Americans report being worried about climate change. This isn’t abstract anxiety — it’s shaping their decisions about where to live and whether to have children.
For three decades, I’ve helped educators integrate youth-led environmental action into STEM classes. At Earth Force, we’ve seen how student agency transforms climate anxiety into community resilience. In Estes Park, Colo., middle schoolers who experienced devastating wildfires turned their anxiety into civic action. They created emergency “go-bags” for vulnerable neighbors and successfully advocated policy changes to state legislators.
Parents must demand climate education that combines science literacy with student autonomy. When young people have agency to tackle climate challenges, they are engaged in learning, building resilient communities and reducing their own anxiety.
Vince Meldrum
Arlington, Va.
The writer is president and C.E.O. of Earth Force.