Customer Reviews

A Free Range Childhood : Self-Regulation at Summerhill School

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This is a thoughtful and well-written description of life at
the famous Summerhill school in England, as seen by someone
who worked as a houseparent there for nine years. However,
it is much more than an account of what life in "the happiest
school in the world" is like - Appleton grapples with many of
the issues that the concept of giving children freedom and
respect raises. The section on children and sexually is particularly courageous in view of the culture of denial that we live in with regard to this issue. I found his attempts to reconcile the experience of Summerhill with his own upbringing, in a normal comprehensive school in England, to be particularly relevent and pertinent. Appleton does a great job of expanding many of the themes that A.S. Neill first began to explore in his books, and as such this book is a very welcome addition to my fast-growing library of books on free/alternative education. Heartily recommended, thought-provoking reading.