Unschooling as educational neglect? That's what Norfolk Homeschooling Examiner, Sherene Silverberg, expressed in her article, Some May Call it Unschooling, I Call it Educational Neglect (Examiner.com). The article caught my attention, because she used a general definition of unschooling from my article on radical unschooling to support her argument against unschooling.

Ms. Silverberg fell prey to some common misperceptions of unschooling, and she misinterpreted John Holt's philosophy of unschooling by equating parent initiation, participation, or direction of an activity with coercive teaching. However, unschooling parents can and do introduce and share information, initiate and participate in activities, and guide their children without coercion.

Follow the unschooling debate:
Some call it unschooling, I call it educational neglect (Norfolk Homeschooling Examiner)
Unschooling as educational neglect (National Unschooling Examiner)
Homeschooling, unschooling, not schooling (Atlanta Homeschooling Examiner)
Perhaps unschooling isn't so bad after all (Norfolk Homeschooling Examiner)

Why do I listen to opponents?
For the most part, I prefer to focus on what I love about unschooling or anything else in life. However, in many cases, people base their arguments against unschooling on premature assumptions. Right off, the "un" in unschooling strikes some folks as negative (like the "an" in anarchy). If I turn away from "mis-opposition" upon first encountering it, I miss opportunities to discover the common concerns and fears behind the arguments. Some people present arguments as invitations. Some arguments present a study on the strange and interesting variety of human reason. Whereas I tend to rely more heavily on my senses, some folks rely more on reason, as illustrated in The case against unschooling.