When they’re younger, most people dream of the day when they will finally be a grown up. In school we’re taught that the ultimate goal is to find a career, be good at it, and start a family along the way. Somewhere in the process, the idea of growing up to be happy is lost in translation.
Logan LaPlante is a 13- year -old from Lake Tahoe, Nevada. In his TED Talk entitled “Hackschooling Makes Me Happy” he explains how he thinks adults assume kids want to be happy but don’t teach them how to grow up to be happy and healthy while they’re in school.
After deciding that most children just want to be happy when they grow up he came up with a list of things he thinks schools should teach children about. Exercise, nutrition, relationships, stress management, and charity are just some of the topics LaPlante thinks should be taught in schools. His ideas contrast very starkly to what is taught in traditional modern schools and that could possibly be because he goes to hackschooling.
He stopped going to public school at the age of nine. He now is home schooled and learns through experiences from local community organizations. “Hackschooling is a mindset, not a system,” LaPlante explains in his video. “I take advantage of opportunities in my community and through a network of friends and family. I take advantage of opportunities to experience what I’m learning.”
There are no teachers and there is no curriculum, just mentors and coaches. Since he is home-schooled, he has time to be a competitive free skier as well as an athletic model, and give speeches around the country. In his free time he enjoys biking, skating, and fly fishing with his little brother Cody.
Watch Logan La Plante’s TED Talk entitled “Hackschooling Makes Me Happy” below!
We definitely DO NOT teach happiness in school, we teach (and when I say, WE, I mean teachers) what they’re required to teach and after a long day rf putting up with rambunctious kids, the last thing they care about is the kid’s happiness! A Majority of this world is pretty selfish and it’s pretty sad… Ha! Hence why not everyone is happy!
Wow, what an inspirational kid! We definitely should be teaching happiness in schools. I’m sure it would decrease the amount of violence and delinquent behavior and prevent a lot of teen suicides.