What we Fail to Teach in Schools

One of the things that concerns me most about having kids is their education. I spent over a decade working in mainstream and alternative education, and what I’ve learned is both inspiring and troubling: the teachers are wonderful, but the curriculum falls short. We’re teaching our kids the wrong things—or at least, not enough of the right things.

Most of school is focused on teaching kids to think rationally, logically, and critically. And while these skills are important, they’re only part of the picture. We’re equipping kids to be smart, but not necessarily wise. We need to teach character.

I want our kids to be capable of more than just solving problems. I want them to be resilient enough to bounce back from setbacks, to navigate the ‘inner' challenges of perfectionism, people-pleasing, and procrastination. I want them to know what to do when they feel overwhelmed, to treat themselves with kindness instead of cruelty, and to build and sustain healthy relationships. Most importantly, I want them to have the tools to figure out who they are and what they truly want to do with their lives.

This is why I started AltAcademy—to provide the training that many of us adults never received back in school. But in an ideal world, this kind of education wouldn’t be an alternative; it would be the norm. My dream is for AltAcademy to one day become unnecessary because these skills are seamlessly integrated into every school system. Until then, I’ll keep working to fill the gap.