The Ridgewood Blog

Simplicity and Purity

You are paying an extreme amount in taxes to live in a town with “good schools.” You clearly care about your child’s future, but given how the world is changing, is school really the best place for her? Have you ever even asked the question?

Do you want your child to go to school into adulthood then get a 40 hour per week job and not have the time and resources to have and raise children? Or would you rather he start businesses and develop income streams early, have and raise children early, then reach new heights in business or career as his children mature?

Have you ever even considered the possibility that young adults are capable of starting businesses and developing income streams and could learn in the context of such endeavors? One, for example, could make and sell chocolate. This would teach her about investment, profit and loss, quality control and other important concepts she would otherwise wait until college to think about. One could start a debate league and get early practice in the skills of persuasion and conflict resolution, while gaining the rare ability to organize activities with peers. The possibilities are limitless.

Children are naturally motivated to learn and achieve and learning and achieving is easier today than ever before. Your child can audit any MIT class for free. Does it make sense to spend years and thousands of dollars and lost opportunities for a piece of paper which no one will bother to look at? Whom do you think would impress an potential employer or business partner more, a person who went into debt to earn an MIT degree by 22, or one who got the best of the same material for free by 18? And which of the two would this potential employer or business partner suspect has more to unlearn?

Maybe you believe that there is a social value to school, that it is good for your child to be locked in a building with an entire neighborhood of children of all ages. If you want to keep your child from being mistreated or abused, it is best to keep her out of school. A single incident of abuse can derail a lifetime of dreams and aspirations.

You will never recover the money you’ve already spent in taxes to support the school system, but continuing to believe it is an investment in your child’s education and development will only compound the loss.

Harrier Young Adult Business Program