The moment my son was born, just like most fathers, I could feel a shift in my consciousness. Like someone flipped a switch, the weight of joyful responsibility made me suddenly, and very viscerally, realise: I now have a new moral obligation.

And this moral obligation became crystal-clear in an instant: to raise a child that will have an impact on other people's lives by contributing real value to the world.

Considering my knowledge in education and how natural brain development impacts learning, I know formal schooling is not aligned with this obligation. As systems theorist George Box famously noted, “All models are wrong, but some are useful”—a sentiment echoed by Douglas Murray in his critique of institutional outcomes. Systems produce exactly what they’re designed to produce, and the school system is no exception.

The school system we recognize today originated in the 19th century with Horace Mann, an American reformer dubbed the “Father of the Common School Movement.” Mann sought to create a standardized system to prepare children for industrial-era jobs, emphasizing punctuality, obedience, and basic literacy. He drew inspiration from Prussia’s militaristic education model, which prioritized conformity and national loyalty over critical thinking (Cremin, 1957).

Mann’s advocacy for public schooling, however, did not extend to his own children. Historical records suggest they were privately tutored, a privilege reserved for families aspiring to leadership roles (Gatto, 2001). This duality underscores a harsh truth: mass schooling was designed to produce workers, not innovators, leaders or artists - the people who are in control of their lives, and the world we live in.

I know what a challenging history lesson this is to learn: I had to learn it myself; and am still struggling with the consequences of my own school-based training - not to even mention the societal training we all go through at large.

My disillusionment began during my Montessori training, where I learned how learning thrives when aligned with natural brain development. Maria Montessori’s The Absorbent Mind (1949) emphasizes self-directed exploration, a stark contrast to rigid curricula. Supporting this, a NASA-funded study by George Land and Beth Jarman found that 98% of 5-year-olds scored as “creative geniuses” in divergent thinking tests, but only 2% retained this by adulthood—a decline they attributed to industrialized education (Land & Jarman, 1992).

This systemic suppression of creativity isn’t just immoral; it’s economically counterproductive. As economist Seth Godin argues, schools designed for factory workers fail to cultivate the entrepreneurial or artistic skills demanded in a modern economy (Godin, 2012).

True 'education', in its highest form, seeks to draw out the best version of the individual—a view championed by thinkers like Socrates, Rousseau, and Montessori, but one that modern schooling completely fails to honour, because a true education cannot be penned down on paper as arbitrarily as we have been led to believe. And that is exactly what the school system is: a belief; because its foundation is not built on educational facts.

History’s most impactful figures often thrived despite formal schooling:

• Entrepreneurs: Bill Gates (self-taught programming genius) and Elon Musk (self-taught in rocketry, amongst other domains). And, the list goes on…

• Artists: The Beatles, who honed their craft in Hamburg clubs, not classrooms. Leonardo de Vinci, who honed his craft in nature. And, the list goes on…

• Athletes: Serena Williams, homeschooled to focus on tennis. Usain Bolt, learnt to run fast by his desire to run away from his childhood bullies. And, the list goes on…

These examples aren’t outliers. They reflect a truth: credentials ≠ impact. As philosopher Ivan Illich wrote in Deschooling Society (1971), institutional education conflates certification with competence, gatekeeping opportunity.

Your child doesn’t need any school’s approval to be successful. That’s not what school does – today, it’s just a stepping stone to university/college by design. A stepping stone to employment - to help fulfill someone else’s purpose. Isn’t it funny how so many of our icons we deem ‘successful’ cannot contribute their success to school:

Critics might ask, “But how will my child earn a living?” This fear misunderstands capitalism’s evolution. The gig economy, startups, and digital platforms reward creativity and adaptability—traits stifled by traditional schooling. As Sir Ken Robinson noted, “Schools kill creativity” (2006 TED Talk), limiting children’s potential to solve tomorrow’s challenges.

The best thing your child can do is to have an impact on the world. Your child doesn’t need a qualification to make an impact on the world. That’s not what qualifications do. It’s just a piece of paper that allows you to potentially get an interview with a prospective employer to help them make an impact on the world - as per the ‘education’ system’s design.

Research consistently shows that strong child-guide relationships are the bedrock of learning. John Hattie’s meta-analysis ranks “teacher-student relationships” among the top influences on academic success (Hattie, 2008). For parents, this bond is innate. You don’t need a teaching degree—you need trust, patience, and the willingness to nurture curiosity.

As parents, our duty isn’t to feed our children into a broken system. It’s to ask:

How can my child improve others’ lives?

Am I ready to guide them toward that purpose?

The answers define success—for them and for you. And in embracing this role, we gain something priceless: a relationship built on purpose, not compliance.

And the best part is this: accepting this moral obligation will allow you to have the best relationship(s) you can ever have with anyone. What would otherwise be the point of having children in the first place?

References

• Cremin, L. A. (1957). The Republic and the School: Horace Mann on the Education of Free Men. Teachers College Press.

• Gatto, J. T. (2001). The Underground History of American Education. Oxford Village Press.

• Land, G., & Jarman, B. (1992). Breakpoint and Beyond: Mastering the Future Today. HarperBusiness.

• Montessori, M. (1949). The Absorbent Mind. Henry Holt & Co.

• Illich, I. (1971). Deschooling Society. Harper & Row.

• Hattie, J. (2008). Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement. Routledge.

• Robinson, K. (2006). Do Schools Kill Creativity? [TED Talk].