Should Kids Be Taught to NEVER Question Authority?

Um, no. In fact, GOOD LORD, NO. Rules are meant to be questioned, and broken at times. Kids must know this, and be taught they have power over their lives. It's good for their development, and it's good for society.

Why Do I Bring This Up?

I bring it up because I read SO MANY negative, hateful comments on news articles about kids who question the rules and do something about it when they don't like them. I'm seeing more and more of these types of articles in the news....kids questioning authority as parents teach their children to stand up for themselves and their rights, and encourage them in their protests and civil disobedience. I think this is WONDERFUL. 

The comments, though, are full of tow-the-line gestapo types who get angry about kids speaking up about anything that concerns them. They say kids should be taught to follow the rules without questioning them, and to respect authority. I hate those comments. 

You see, it's that kind of attitude that gets us an authoritarian military police state, or a dictatorship (which I'm not sure we're not already on our way to). Learning to question the rules and authority is an important, valuable skill. And, the younger we teach it, the more we support our kids when they do it, the better world we will be helping to create.

Teach kids that they have personal power, even when they're very little. Then, teach them to use it.

The kids who are questioning the rules today are the leaders of tomorrow. They are also the innovators, the artists, the inventors, and the ones who will pave the way from a narrow-minded past to a gloriously free future for everyone.

Of course, that's just my opinion.

Two Excellent Examples of Kids Who Were Taught to Question the Rules, and Who Turned Out to Be Awesome

(me and my brother, two cool, authority questioning, free thinking kids)

My mom was that way with by brother and me. Oh man, she was constantly getting called in for parent-teacher conferences because we weren't doing our homework. Homework was boring, and mostly pointless, and we just didn't understand why we should bother. When she would get called in, my mother would ask whatever teacher it was whether we were passing the tests

"Oh yes," the teacher would say, "their test scores are nearly perfect."

"Well, then, that's good enough for me," my mom would say. 

She never made us do homework, ever. She rarely even asked if we had any. On the rare occasion she saw one of us working on something we thought was important or interesting, she just quietly nodded and moved along, unless we asked for help with it.

My brother was a "skipping school maverick", and I was a "dress code maverick." Honestly, it's a wonder my brother graduated, just based on the number of days he missed his senior year (the year our parents divorced and there was no one even home in the morning to make sure he went to school). I subtly flouted dress code rules, not in obvious ways, but enough that administrators noticed a few times. 

My brother thought going to school should be like it is in college, where you go to class if you want to, and take responsibility for your own grades, whether you go to class or not. I thought dress codes were stupid, and we should be able to wear anything we liked, because clothing has NOTHING to do with learning.

I've had so many dress code issues in my life, even after graduating. Being out in the real world, I've continued my crusade to abolish stupid dress codes, or expectations of certain styles of dress at certain places and events. I've walked out of many a job over a dress code I didn't like. It didn't matter. I always walked into something better, and now I work for myself, where the only one with any input as to how I dress is me.

Back to our school years. Neither one of us ever had to serve a detention for our questioning of authority, because if we got one, our mom took our side and let us stay home from school the day the detention was supposed to be served. She thought we should be thinking for ourselves, and she was right.

Oh, and none of that had a negative impact on our educations. I went on to get a Master's degree, and my brother got a Ph.D. I think we're doing okay.

Who Wants a World Where No One Questions Authority?

Questioning authority produces people who know how to make their own decisions based on what is right for them, who know what they want, and how to get it.

I'm going to teach my own child to question authority and break the rules when necessary. I don't have too many rules for a kid, just like my mother didn't, so if it's one of MY rules my child is breaking, we can discuss that, what their reasons are for it, why they believe they are correct, and come to an equitable solution together. It may result in changing the rule. 

And, that is what questioning authority should bring about in the real world. Once in a while, it actually does bring about change for the better, because it gets institutions, and individual people on power trips, thinking about what they're doing and why. If they are open-minded (or get enough bad publicity), they will change if they realize they are wrong.

I don't want a generation of automatons who are raised to just do as they are told without questioning it. What kind of world is that? Not a good one. Creating worker bees is not good for the children who are raised to be that way. People need to feel like they have some control over their lives. How can they feel this sense of control if they never learn to think for themselves?

Yet, from the comments I read online, it seems like many people want just this....automatons who just follow orders and nothing else.

These people concern me. They are of the "children should be seen and not heard" variety, and I just can't support that attitude.

Most of them are probably worker bees themselves, who were likewise taught to never question authority. It may be that they don't know there is any other way to be, that you CAN and SHOULD question it. 

If no one ever questioned authority, we would never have had the American Revolution. Think about that.

Who IS This "Authority" of Whom We Speak?

And, just who is "authority," anyway? Personally, I believe no one has any real authority over any other autonomous being, human or animal. 

I believe in God, and God is the only being I accept as a real authority. Other than God, we are all our own highest authorities. If you don't believe in God, then you alone are your own highest authority. Authority is with whom you believe the ultimate power rests. Where the buck stops, as the old saying goes.

It doesn't matter what job or position someone is put in on this planet. Spiritually, and on a basic natural level, NO ONE has any real authority over anyone else. What we have are laws and/or codes of conduct we have all agreed to live by together. 

If someone wants to change one of those codes, they can either rally the rest of their society to get behind them to adjust it, which has been done and can still be done, or they can do what they like while knowing what consequences their society may impose on them for it....if society can catch them. I'm all for outwitting a corrupt societal structure. The people who do that are freaking heroes.

Did You Know That Choice is Your Very Own Superpower?

That's the cool thing about being an autonomous being who has been taught to think for themselves--there is ALWAYS the power of choice. You can always choose, no matter what. Your future, based on your choices, is in your hands, all the time, at every moment of every day. You can choose any path you want, and you can always choose something new if that path no longer serves you or your desires. 

Worker bees don't know they have that choice, and it's sad. It's always been there, waiting for them to use it, but they've lived their entire lives having no idea. Worse, they try to impose their worker bee mentality on everyone else. 

• "Don't question anything."
• "Do as you're told."
• "Respect my authority."
• "Always follow the rules."

It's disgusting. That's not a free life. That's a life of slavery to the worker bee mentality. What real happiness is there if you don't know you're free?

Free Thinking Kids for the Win!

So, no. Never teach kids to follow the rules without question. Teach them instead to think for themselves, to question the rules, to stand up to authority. Support them in this when you think they're right, and have meaningful discussions with them when you think they're wrong. Guide them in learning how to be free thinkers and not worker bees.

I guarantee you, it is the people who are taught from a young age to be free thinkers and to question authority who are going to save the world. And, they are going to be the happiest people on the planet, too. Don't you want your kids to be among them? 

I know I do.

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