Microtrends - could unschooling be one of them
hollywoodapi
Dear All,
Yesterday I was reading an article in a magazine - interview with
Mark J. Penn, author of Microtrends. Penn is the one who
coined "Soccer Mom" during one of Bill Clinton's political
campaigns. Penn's theory is that you don't need trends to become
big; the era of mega-trends is over, and small groups making a
choice can have great impact. He has observed that the small, under-
the-radar groups after often those who tip an election, redefine a
technology or trigger a social movement. And one percent of the
population is usually sufficient.
I was just pondering if unschoolers are getting to that crucial mass
(if you believe in it) and how this social movement will affect the
remainder of the society.
Any thoughts?
Kind regards,
Anna
Miami Florida
Mom to two wonderful boys - unschooled from birth
Yesterday I was reading an article in a magazine - interview with
Mark J. Penn, author of Microtrends. Penn is the one who
coined "Soccer Mom" during one of Bill Clinton's political
campaigns. Penn's theory is that you don't need trends to become
big; the era of mega-trends is over, and small groups making a
choice can have great impact. He has observed that the small, under-
the-radar groups after often those who tip an election, redefine a
technology or trigger a social movement. And one percent of the
population is usually sufficient.
I was just pondering if unschoolers are getting to that crucial mass
(if you believe in it) and how this social movement will affect the
remainder of the society.
Any thoughts?
Kind regards,
Anna
Miami Florida
Mom to two wonderful boys - unschooled from birth
Sandra Dodd
He has observed that the small, under-
combination of reasons, including time passing) less crazy/exotic, it opens up the field for
similar things.
I saw it with the SCA. In the 1970's it was seen as goofy and wasteful; kind of interesting,
but done by nuts. Now 35, 40 years later, there are huge professional Renaissance fairs
and LOTS of very specialized historical re-enactment and research groups. Some group
had to try it and take the flak, and then it was easier for others.
Once, speaking at a conference, I acted it out by walking to the far side of the room (my
right front) and saying "Here's school," and walking toward the middle and saying "here's
homeschooling, school at home" and walking all the way to the other wall and saying
"Here I am, being very radical, and so if I don't get in trouble, that opens up all this
(indicating the space between school-at-home and where I was.
When I was pregnant with Marty I had no intention of having the birth at the HMO where
I'd lost all influence over how Kirby's birth went. I was active with what was then called
the Cesarean Prevention Movement. I and another officer of the group used to go in for
my checkups and push the envelope. I would ask for the very maximum concessions. I
asked the head of obstetrics to sign off on a very extreme set of agreements. We went
prepared with statistics and research.
It wasn't for my personal sake. It wasn't about Marty. It was about all the other moms
who would come in and ask for some milder concession. Having really considered
whether and how they could concede to a BIG change, conceding to small changes was
easy.
Ms. magazine, the serious social upheavals being created by that. Some of their greatest
resistance came from women who didn't want the boat rocked. Part of the boat rocking
consisted simply of one thing: The clear message that they had a choice.
When a person feels she has no choice whatsoever, she finds ways to accept her arranged
marriage, unwished-for pregnancies, mean husband, interference of her parents in her
adult life, bottle-feeding babies and leaving them to cry, sending them to school without
wondering whether it was good or not. "No choice." That's just the way it is.
When someone not only convincingly says "It could be different," but PROVES it, the
comfortable cooperative-victimhood (What's the word for that??) of millions dissolves.
By keeping my children home, it is clear to every other family in this cul-de-sac that they
have sent their children to school by choice.
Choice is power. Powerlessness can be comfort, though. We remove their comfort.
Sandra
> the-radar groups after often those who tip an election, redefine aWhen something is seen as new and crazy, others avoid it. When it becomes (for some
> technology or trigger a social movement. And one percent of the
> population is usually sufficient.
combination of reasons, including time passing) less crazy/exotic, it opens up the field for
similar things.
I saw it with the SCA. In the 1970's it was seen as goofy and wasteful; kind of interesting,
but done by nuts. Now 35, 40 years later, there are huge professional Renaissance fairs
and LOTS of very specialized historical re-enactment and research groups. Some group
had to try it and take the flak, and then it was easier for others.
Once, speaking at a conference, I acted it out by walking to the far side of the room (my
right front) and saying "Here's school," and walking toward the middle and saying "here's
homeschooling, school at home" and walking all the way to the other wall and saying
"Here I am, being very radical, and so if I don't get in trouble, that opens up all this
(indicating the space between school-at-home and where I was.
When I was pregnant with Marty I had no intention of having the birth at the HMO where
I'd lost all influence over how Kirby's birth went. I was active with what was then called
the Cesarean Prevention Movement. I and another officer of the group used to go in for
my checkups and push the envelope. I would ask for the very maximum concessions. I
asked the head of obstetrics to sign off on a very extreme set of agreements. We went
prepared with statistics and research.
It wasn't for my personal sake. It wasn't about Marty. It was about all the other moms
who would come in and ask for some milder concession. Having really considered
whether and how they could concede to a BIG change, conceding to small changes was
easy.
> I was just pondering if unschoolers are getting to that crucial massI was in my teens and twenties during the "Women's Liberation" days, the beginnings of
> (if you believe in it) and how this social movement will affect the
> remainder of the society.
Ms. magazine, the serious social upheavals being created by that. Some of their greatest
resistance came from women who didn't want the boat rocked. Part of the boat rocking
consisted simply of one thing: The clear message that they had a choice.
When a person feels she has no choice whatsoever, she finds ways to accept her arranged
marriage, unwished-for pregnancies, mean husband, interference of her parents in her
adult life, bottle-feeding babies and leaving them to cry, sending them to school without
wondering whether it was good or not. "No choice." That's just the way it is.
When someone not only convincingly says "It could be different," but PROVES it, the
comfortable cooperative-victimhood (What's the word for that??) of millions dissolves.
By keeping my children home, it is clear to every other family in this cul-de-sac that they
have sent their children to school by choice.
Choice is power. Powerlessness can be comfort, though. We remove their comfort.
Sandra
Laureen
Heya!
On Feb 2, 2008 9:06 AM, Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
> When something is seen as new and crazy, others avoid it. When it becomes
> (for some
> combination of reasons, including time passing) less crazy/exotic, it
> opens up the field for
> similar things.
The late great David Brower (former president of the Sierra Club, founder of
Friends of the Earth and Earth Island Institute (amongst others) used to
say, "Thank God for EarthFirst!... it makes the rest of us seem reasonable."
When I was pregnant with Marty I had no intention of having the birth at the
> HMO where
> I'd lost all influence over how Kirby's birth went. I was active with
> what was then called
> the Cesarean Prevention Movement. I and another officer of the group
> used to go in for
> my checkups and push the envelope. I would ask for the very maximum
> concessions. I
> asked the head of obstetrics to sign off on a very extreme set of
> agreements. We went
> prepared with statistics and research.
I'm on the Board of Directors of ICAN, which is what the CPM became. =)
(this is getting scary, Sandra, LOL!) And these days, we're increasingly
seeing women who adopt this tactic being harassed either with court orders
(google Amber Marlowe), or with immediately postpartum visits from CPS. I
strongly encourage people to push the envelope just as hard as they can.
OTOH, people have to be prepared that the Powers of the Status Quo sometimes
push back.
--
~~L!
~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~
Sailing here:
s/v Excellent Adventure
Writing here:
http://www.theexcellentadventure.com/
http://lifewithoutschool.typepad.com/
Publishing here:
http://huntpress.com/
~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
-=-I'm on the Board of Directors of ICAN, which is what the CPM
became. =)
(this is getting scary, Sandra, LOL!) -=-
Others here don't know, though...
After I wrote about my ideas of hiring people based on what they did
as hobbies, Lauren wrote to me saying she was in the SCA too "in
another life" (she's not in now) and we exchanged a few e-mails about
that. She's of the same rank I am in the group.
I'm about to go off topic, except for the philosophical aspect of
paving the way for others, so skipping the rest won't hurt anyone's
quest to understand unschooling.
-=-And these days, we're increasingly seeing women who adopt this
tactic being harassed either with court orders(google Amber Marlowe),
or with immediately postpartum visits from CPS.-=-
Well...
The hospital didn't know I was planning a home birth. When they
found out I wasn't coming in for the birth, I got a phone call
offering for the HMO (which was at the time one and the same with the
hospital) to pay for any doctor in town I wanted, if I would tell
them which doctor I had transferred to. I said no thanks, that's
fine, I've changed insurance (true; the end of the year was nearly
there and we switched our insurance where Keith worked in case I
ended up at the county/university hospital, which I did, which was
fine).
I didn't want to say I was using a midwife, because it was illegal
for midwives to help VBACs in those days here, and so those who did
so weren't registered to be midwives. That way they couldn't lose
their licenses, because they didn't have any.
The morning Marty was born, my sister called the HMO hospital and
asked to speak to me. It was maybe six hours after the birth, maybe
eight. The person who answered the phone at the maternity desk told
my sister "She's at UNM."
Hmmmm....
They were keeping a close eye on me!! <g> Nurses maybe worked in
both places? Someone knew, somehow.
I had gone to a doctor at the other hospital so I'd have a file in
case I went in unplanned (as we did, though I guess I had prepared by
getting into their records, which is planning of a sort). The
doctor at county/university said "We could do a VBAC, and I said it's
against your policies; I didn't come in in the first five months (or
whatever it had been), and she said, Yeah, still. And that was good
to know for our organizational fact-finding!!
So was/is that activism by moms about cesarean births a microtrend?
Did it make differences in the way hospitals approached things?
Sandra
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
became. =)
(this is getting scary, Sandra, LOL!) -=-
Others here don't know, though...
After I wrote about my ideas of hiring people based on what they did
as hobbies, Lauren wrote to me saying she was in the SCA too "in
another life" (she's not in now) and we exchanged a few e-mails about
that. She's of the same rank I am in the group.
I'm about to go off topic, except for the philosophical aspect of
paving the way for others, so skipping the rest won't hurt anyone's
quest to understand unschooling.
-=-And these days, we're increasingly seeing women who adopt this
tactic being harassed either with court orders(google Amber Marlowe),
or with immediately postpartum visits from CPS.-=-
Well...
The hospital didn't know I was planning a home birth. When they
found out I wasn't coming in for the birth, I got a phone call
offering for the HMO (which was at the time one and the same with the
hospital) to pay for any doctor in town I wanted, if I would tell
them which doctor I had transferred to. I said no thanks, that's
fine, I've changed insurance (true; the end of the year was nearly
there and we switched our insurance where Keith worked in case I
ended up at the county/university hospital, which I did, which was
fine).
I didn't want to say I was using a midwife, because it was illegal
for midwives to help VBACs in those days here, and so those who did
so weren't registered to be midwives. That way they couldn't lose
their licenses, because they didn't have any.
The morning Marty was born, my sister called the HMO hospital and
asked to speak to me. It was maybe six hours after the birth, maybe
eight. The person who answered the phone at the maternity desk told
my sister "She's at UNM."
Hmmmm....
They were keeping a close eye on me!! <g> Nurses maybe worked in
both places? Someone knew, somehow.
I had gone to a doctor at the other hospital so I'd have a file in
case I went in unplanned (as we did, though I guess I had prepared by
getting into their records, which is planning of a sort). The
doctor at county/university said "We could do a VBAC, and I said it's
against your policies; I didn't come in in the first five months (or
whatever it had been), and she said, Yeah, still. And that was good
to know for our organizational fact-finding!!
So was/is that activism by moms about cesarean births a microtrend?
Did it make differences in the way hospitals approached things?
Sandra
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Gold Standard
>>When I was pregnant with Marty I had no intention of having the birth atthe HMO where
>>I'd lost all influence over how Kirby's birth went.<<agreements. We went
>>I asked the head of obstetrics to sign off on a very extreme set of
>>prepared with statistics and research.<<I had a similar situation, though I didn't do it with the cognizance you
did. I planned a home birth for my third with no medical backup using
illegal midwife. When I was a week and a half "overdue" Hannah flipped
upside down and upon inspection the midwife said Hannah was fully breech and
midwife could not deliver the baby at home. I called an obstetrician who was
sympathetic to home-birthers, particularly the Amish. He agree to see me and
attempt a vaginal delivery...in the hospital, and if the breech looked safe.
An ultrasound showed Hannah's cute little ten toes right there at the cervix
and he said, "C-section. Tomorrow."
My first two were born with midwives in a birthing center, and I had
complete control of those situations. The moment the doctor called this
shot, I knew I was in the warzone.
I knew I had to have the baby in the hospital, and by C-section, and I came
to terms pretty quickly with that (5% of double footling breeches delivered
vaginally supposedly don't make it). I knew I couldn't take that chance. But
I could not lose control as happens in the hospital.
I admitted myself the next day with my husband (who was a medical student at
the time, and that was a bit of an issue in itself...the medical "system" is
tight with GREAT control over its doctors and students). I told the med
staff that I would try the C-section with minimal pain medication and
increase it only as I said I needed, the baby would be taken out and given
directly to my husband with no cleaning, wiping, etc., the baby would stay
with me for my entire stay there, and I would discharge myself the next day
if I wanted to. The nurse said "no". I got up and said I was leaving. She
stopped me and said I should talk to the doctors involved...pediatrician,
obstetrician, anesthesiologist. Each one came in and said "no". Each time I
got up to leave. Each time they conceded. I had minimal medication, the baby
was given to dh right away and stayed with me the whole time, even through
the night sleeping in my bed, and I discharged myself the next day, signing
the AMA (against medical advice) form.
I didn't realize it at the time, (I was just going on instinct), but this
story HAS served Hannah and my sons since it has been told a couple of
times, and they've had a chance to know an example of standing up for one's
rights, of questioning authority when authority doesn't make sense, and
protecting one's self or another person with strength.
Jacki
Cindy Fox
--- In [email protected], "Sandra Dodd" <Sandra@...>
wrote:
they may not recognize it themselves. I think each person has their
own comfort level with every issue and I can be more tolerant when I
can remember this.
Thanks for pointing it out so succinctly. I so often have trouble
seeing why someone wouldn't want choice and self-responsibility. I
get it intellectually, but not really...
Cindy Fox
wrote:
>Choice is power. Powerlessness can be comfort, though. We removeI think this is good to be able to recognize this in others even when
>their comfort.
they may not recognize it themselves. I think each person has their
own comfort level with every issue and I can be more tolerant when I
can remember this.
Thanks for pointing it out so succinctly. I so often have trouble
seeing why someone wouldn't want choice and self-responsibility. I
get it intellectually, but not really...
Cindy Fox
Christie Craigie-Carter
On Feb 4, 2008 12:48 AM, Gold Standard <jacki@...> wrote:
I've had three breech babies, 2 born by c/s, the last born at home. I have
never heard this statistic quoted, so if you could point me to your source,
offlist, I'd much appreciate it.
Christie
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>I'm a total lurker here, but am very interested in all research breech, as
> >>When I was pregnant with Marty I had no intention of having the birth at
> the HMO where
> >>I'd lost all influence over how Kirby's birth went.<<
>
> >>I asked the head of obstetrics to sign off on a very extreme set of
> agreements. We went
> >>prepared with statistics and research.<<
>
> I had a similar situation, though I didn't do it with the cognizance you
> did. I planned a home birth for my third with no medical backup using
> illegal midwife. When I was a week and a half "overdue" Hannah flipped
> upside down and upon inspection the midwife said Hannah was fully breech
> and
> midwife could not deliver the baby at home. I called an obstetrician who
> was
> sympathetic to home-birthers, particularly the Amish. He agree to see me
> and
> attempt a vaginal delivery...in the hospital, and if the breech looked
> safe.
> An ultrasound showed Hannah's cute little ten toes right there at the
> cervix
> and he said, "C-section. Tomorrow."
>
> My first two were born with midwives in a birthing center, and I had
> complete control of those situations. The moment the doctor called this
> shot, I knew I was in the warzone.
>
> I knew I had to have the baby in the hospital, and by C-section, and I
> came
> to terms pretty quickly with that (5% of double footling breeches
> delivered
> vaginally supposedly don't make it). I knew I couldn't take that chance.
> But
> I could not lose control as happens in the hospital.
>
I've had three breech babies, 2 born by c/s, the last born at home. I have
never heard this statistic quoted, so if you could point me to your source,
offlist, I'd much appreciate it.
Christie
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Gold Standard
>>I'm a total lurker here, but am very interested in all research breech, assource,
>>I've had three breech babies, 2 born by c/s, the last born at home. I have
>>never heard this statistic quoted, so if you could point me to your
>>offlist, I'd much appreciate it.<<I tried to email you offlist, but your email address didn't come with your
post, so this quick answer...
The ob/gyn gave me that statistic at the time. Don't know how accurate it
is, but I did trust this man. He said something like, "There is a 5%
mortality rate with vaginal births of double footling breech babies."
Jacki