I read this book when I was in my last year of high school and it helped me to keep a healthy perspective vis a vis education. I ended up being a healthy sceptic of all "authoritative knowledge" "taught" me by my teachers. It also encouraged me to "learn" on my own even after I was done with formal schooling. Must read for people who feel unduly constrained by the educational system.

This guy is a psycho-boomer looney. His book serves best as kindling.

The New York Times called this book "astonishly cogent," and I agree. This is one of the most insightful and thought-provoking books I've ever read. Sadly, 30 years later almost nothing has changed. While the ACLU fights for the voting rights of convicted felons, a 17-year-old "child," no matter how sensible or informed, cannot cast a ballot in the United States. Millions of children are shipped off to school every day, where they are mostly taught to do as they're told (no matter how arbitrary or pointless) and above all, conform--lessons which will serve them all too well for decades to come. The transparency of Holt's writing should also be an example to authors everywhere. It is a tragedy that this book is out of print, and Holt no longer with us. The world desperately needs more like him.

This is my favorite book of the many Holt has written. It does not cover any aspects of learning/educational issues as do his other books. Instead it addresses the matter of looking at children as whole individuals who should be treated respectably, as any adult would want to be.

Our culture too readily encourages parents, and adults in general, to use their voice in a excessively authorative manner which only serves to bully and demean children. No one would want to be spoken to or treated in such a condensending manner. This book will open your eyes to the damage we are doing to our beloved kids when we accept the cultural standard way of parenting. Highly recommended!