不上学孩子的自白 1)Unschooled How One Kid Is Grateful He Stayed Home
文字难度：★★★
Host: This time of year, teens are looking forward to summertime, and freedom from the pressures of school. But for 16-year-old Sam Fuller of Albany, California, not much is going to change. He never stays up late 2)cramming for tests or finishing homework, or worrying about his parents' reaction to a report card.
主持人：一年的这个时候，青少年们都期盼着夏天的到来，渴望逃离学业压力。但是对于来自美国加利福尼亚州奥尔巴尼市、16岁的山姆·福勒来说，即使夏天到了也不会有太大的变化。他从未为考前抱佛脚或是完成功课而挑灯夜战，也不必担心父母看到成绩卡时会有怎样的反应。
An estimated 2 million kids are home-schooled. Sam Fuller is part of an even smaller 3)subset of children who are unschooled. That's a less structured, more 4)self-directed form of home-schooling. Sam's family is unschooling him and his brother legally by registering their house as a private school.
据估计，约有两百万孩子是“在家受教的”。山姆·福勒是没有上学受教的孩子中的一员，只是他所属的群体更为小众。那是一种比“在家受教”更少条条框框、更多自我导向的教育模式。山姆的家庭将自家的房子注册为一间私人学校，对山姆及其弟弟进行合法的非学校教育。
I didn't have a reason to read until I was 10, so I didn't. Eventually, when I did learn, it wasn't because of a book, test, a teacher, or even because I was embarrassed I didn't know how. I learned to read because of a card game I wanted to play, called 5)Magic: The Gathering.
十岁之前我都找不到要读书的理由，所以我干脆不读。最后，当我开始学习时，却不是因为某本书、某次考试、某位老师，更不是因为自己不懂阅读而感到尴尬。我学习阅读只是因为我想玩一种名为《魔法风云会》的纸牌游戏。
Sam: (playing card game) Oh. Oh, my God. I 6)passed that, I think.
山姆：（正在玩卡片游戏）噢。噢，天啊，我想我要弃权了。
In order to play this new and exciting game, I had to read about the different characters on the cards. I'm 16 now. I learn what I want to learn, when I want to learn it, and not always in the conventional ways. My mom had the idea to unschool me when she was a teacher and I was a baby.
为了玩这种刺激的新游戏，我不得不去了解纸牌上不同角色的故事。如今我已经16岁了。我知道自己想学什么，什么时候想学，而且并不总是通过传统的方法。当我妈妈还在当老师，就是我尚年幼时，她就有了这种对我进行非学校教育的想法。
Ms. Pam Tellew: And I thought, “Oh, here I have a four-month-old baby and, well, you know, this is fine, the way he's learning now. This is really the ideal school. He's learning exactly what he needs to, when he needs to learn it, with plenty of…support in a loving environment.” I don't really see any reason that that has to change.
帕姆·特鲁老师：于是我想，噢，如今我有一个4个月大的宝宝，嗯，你知道，他现在学习的方式很好。这才是一所理想的学校。他正在学习的正是他需要学习的东西，在他需要学习的时候，并在一个充满爱的环境里得到了许多支持。我确实找不到任何必须要去改变这种方式的理由。
Unschooling is like home-schooling, except entirely self-directed, with lots of help and support from my parents. When I first got my 7)allowance of $2.50 a week, I remember calculating how long I'd have to save up to buy my next toy. Everything I've ever learned has been for a practical purpose or because I was interested, never for a test or because someone made me.
非学校教育跟“在家受教”很像，不同的是，这完全是自我规划导向，我能从父母那里得到许多帮助和支持。当我最开始拿到每个星期2.5美元的零用钱时，我还记得自己计算过需要多长时间才能存够钱买下一个玩具。我所学会的每一件事情都是为了某个实用的目的或是因为我对其感兴趣，从来都不是为了参加考试或是因为某人逼我去学。
My 12-year-old brother, Nicky, has also been unschooled his whole life. He's pretty shy. He likes reading fantasy books and watching 8)South Park. Before last year, he wasn't comfortable with groups of kids.
我12岁的弟弟尼基也一直在接受非学校教育。他相当害羞。他喜欢读奇幻小说和看喜剧动画《南方公园》。在去年之前，他都不太习惯跟成群的孩子一起玩。
Sam: What do you do all day?
Nickey: Well, [it] depends. Kind of bored, usually.
Sam: What would you like to be doing?
Nickey: Well, I usually wish I had a new book to read or like, a TV series to watch or something.
山姆：你每天都干些什么呢？
尼基：嗯，看情况。通常有点闷。
山姆：那你喜欢做些什么呢？
尼基：嗯，我常常希望我能有本新书可读，或是有部电视剧可看，诸如此类。
My mom will occasionally suggest activities, like going to the 9)botanical garden, but Nicky will usually 10)shoot them down with an immediate “no.” He's 11)in-between interests, yet he's nervous about trying new things.
我妈妈偶尔会建议举办些活动，例如去植物园，但尼基通常会立刻否决掉。他对事情都不冷不热的，对尝试新事物紧张不安。
I had a similar problem when I was his age. It's part of growing up unschooled. We don't have as much pressure from school and friends telling us what to like, so it's our responsibility to figure out how to spend our time.
当我还是他那个年纪时，我也有相似的问题。这是在非学校教育下成长的一部分。没有学校和朋友们告诉我们该喜欢什么，我们就没有那么多压力，所以我们要自己考虑该如何利用时间。
My grandpa is one of the people in my family who had concerns about unschooling.
我爷爷是我们家里对于非学校教育心怀担忧的人之一。
Mr. Glenn Fuller: I didn't think it was a good idea. One of the reasons…that I was worried was I was afraid your education might be a little 12)spotty. The other thing is the social aspect of the thing. For example, you couldn't take part in team sports.
格伦·富勒先生：我认为这不是个好主意。原因之一就是……我担心，你们所接受的教育可能会有瑕疵。另外一点是社交方面的问题。比如说，你没有机会参加团体性运动。
Not having a social life is a big 13)misconception about unschoolers. In our world, the idea that we are 14)shut-ins who barely see the light of day is kind of a joke. Unschooled kids have their own networks and conferences. We go on camping trips, and we hang out with friends whenever we want.
缺乏社交生活是对非学校教育的一个重大误解。在我们的世界里，那种我们被关在家里几乎见不到阳光的想法就是个笑话。非学校教育的孩子们有他们自己的社交网络和集会。我们也会外出露营，什么时候想和朋友一起外出玩都可以。
And the truth is, my grandpa's right. My education is spotty. Up until a year ago, I could barely spell. It was my own fault because I was reluctant to take on the 15)daunting task. Most parents would have intervened in this situation.
而事实上，我爷爷是对的。我所受的教育的确存在瑕疵。直到一年前，我几乎不懂拼写。这是我自己的错，因为我不愿意开始这项让人畏缩的任务。大多数父母会对这种情况进行干预。
Ms. Tellew: But then, I think there's a cost to that. When you force somebody to do something, especially when they're a child, and there's an imbalance in a power relationship anyway, they lose part of their will and their confidence that they know what's right for them. And I think that's a pretty high cost for being a good speller.
特鲁老师：不过，我认为那样做是有代价的。当你强迫某人做某事时，特别是他们还是孩子的话，无论如何这里有一种不平衡的权力关系，他们会失去部分自我意志和自信心——这份自信让他们明白什么才最适合他们。我认为，就为拼写出色而这么做，代价相当大。
A few months ago, my mom bought a book, and we started working on my spelling. And I've also enrolled in my first community college class, with the plan of transferring my credits to a four-year university.
几个月之前，我妈妈买了一本书，开始帮我攻克拼写问题。而我也登记注册了我的第一堂社区大学课程，还计划将我的学分转入四年制大学。
And although I acknowledge school does work for some people, I'm incredibly grateful my parents decided to unschool me.
尽管我承认，对于一些人来说，学校教育的确管用，但我真心感谢我的父母决定让我接受非学校教育。
