A movement of sorts is growing in opposition to this overprotective culture. From Gever Tulley's Tinkering School to Hal Iggulden's Dangerous Book for Boys to a wide variety of wilderness adventure programs for youth, several people and organisations are pushing back against the stifling atmosphere of a risk-free upbringing.
Dangerous children must learn to accept and deal with risk responsibly and ethically. There is no rational alternative to this approach, in a world that grows more dangerous -- thanks to governmental decay, malfeasance, and corruption -- by the minute.
More from the John David Garcia curriculum for early childhood:
| Physical | Biological | ||||
| Avg. Level | Avg. Age | Physical Theory | Physical Practice | Biological Theory | Biological Practice |
| 6.00 | 8.00 | The geometry of Euclid using modern algebraic notation, introduction to algebra as it applies to geometry, use of geometry and vectors to sail against the wind; give many examples of the practical applications of geometry in many fields; the Atomic Theory of matter of Democritus; other Greek theories of water, earth, air, and fire | Use geometry to calculate size of the earth, distance to the sun, size of the sun; use geometry to construct and use a large catapult; build a bridge by geometric design; work with glass making lenses and mirrors; begin design of ship that can sail against the wind; practice sailing the ship built last year | Internal anatomy of vertebrates, fish, frog, rat, and pig; the true role of each organ and what Aristotle and Galen thought they were for; Greek theories of evolution compared to modern theory; point out how dangerous it is for authorities to be wrong; the value of doubt | Dissection of fish, frog, rat, and pig; identification of all major organs and bones; practice in meat processing, packaging, and preservation without refrigeration; continue practice in caring for young infants in first year |
| 6.25 | 8.25 | Continue the previous work and continue with the geometry and science of Archimedes; use modern algebraic notation and point out how difficult the work of Archimedes was because of notation; theory of pullies and parabolic mirrors; show how abacus gives answers to the notational problem | Construct a system of pulleys and a block and tackle; construct parabolic mirrors to collect solar energy by heating water, and work out schedule for how mirrors should be aligned as function of time of year and day; finish design of ship | Detailed survey of Greco-Roman medicine and the modern versions of these beliefs; the complete guide to the use of herbs and medicines for curing and preventing illnesses; taxonomy of herbs; review Greco-Roman theories of biology | Plant a garden of medicinal herbs, take field trips to collect medicinal herbs, prepare poultices and medicines as have been verified by time and modern usage |
| 6.50 | 8.50 | The works of Archimedes continued, the school of Alexandria, and the continuation of Greek mathematics, science, and technology; full development of algebra and trigonometry using modern notation; solid geometry and trigonometry, applications to navigation, the construction of lenses | The design and construction of water pumps, the design and construction of steam turbines; practical lens making continued; begin modification of ship made in fifth year to sail against the wind; glass blowing continued | Study of preventive medicine; germ theory of infection and how hygiene can prevent it (although Greeks had lenses, no one discovered germs for 2000 years), parasites and their life cycles, the danger of eating meat, the importance of cooking and cleanliness | Use lenses to study small organisms, examine parasites in intestines of animals, show how maggots hatch from fly's eggs; basic entomology observed; use microscope to study basic parasitology |
| 6.75 | 8.75 | Continuation of the study of the science, technology, and mathematics of the School of Alexandria | Continuation of the above; make crude telescope and microscopes | The study of microscopic life; how lack of scientific method inhibited medical practice for 2000 years; how to prevent the spread of disease; viruses as submicroscopic organisms not to be discovered for 2000 years | Study of amoebas and major human parasites; animals as sources of infection for humans; the parasitic worms |
| Psychosocial | Integration | ||||
| Avg. Level | Avg. Age | Psychosocial Theory | Pyschosocial Practice | Integrative Theory | Integrative Practice |
| 6.00 | 8.00 | Greek history from Thales to the Roman conquest, the Dialogues of Plato, a survey of Aristotle, a survey of the Greek plays and the fables of Aesop, the ethical teaching of Socrates, the Macedonian interlude and Alexander | Perform one play by Sophocles and one by Euripides; write a critique of Greek culture and why it failed; write a critique on Socrates' life and on whether Socrates should have drunk the hemlock; write an epic poem on Greece | Ethical analysis of the teachings of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle; show how the lack of love and the will to power forced Greece to destroy itself; consider that the great thinkers of Greece never had power nor were they free of tyrants except at first | Write a play in the Greek style on Greek themes, critique one another's plays, finish sculpture in the Greek style, do a group art project on the meaning of Greece |
| 6.25 | 8.25 | Greco-Roman history from the start of Rome to the time of Jesus; analysis of the works of Lucretius; what the Romans had of their own and what they learned from the Greeks; Roman ethics and theories of government; how tyranny can always replace a democracy by promising to take from the rich and give to the poor | Learn Greek and Latin roots to English and scientific and technical terms, emphasis on nouns; the Greek alphabet, brief survey of Greek and Roman grammar and its complexity; show how English grammar is simpler, more practical; show how as vocabulary expands grammar can be simplified; write essay comparing Greek and Roman culture | Sexual ethics and how the Greeks and Romans related to them; pleasure as an end in itself; the exploitation of women, exclusion of women from all important decision making, women as sexual objects, the absolute authority of the father; Roman law and evolutionary ethics, subservience to the state and ethical principles | Design a domed and vaulted building made of wood and masonry, calculate stresses, and show the use of the arch and dome; play Roman music and practice sports, do a group art project on the meaning of Rome under Augustus |
| 6.50 | 8.50 | The history of the Jews; read all of the Old Testament, the ethical principles derivable from the Old Testament, the mixing of ethics, techniques, and ritual; the Jewish interaction with the Aryans after the Babylonian captivity, the resistance to Hellenization, the conquest by Rome, the Jewish bureaucracy, sampling of the Talmud | Essay analyzing Old Testament as a historical account and as a myth; compare to Iliad and Odyssey; Jewish laws are analyzed in terms of their ethical value and their political implication; essay on Judaism as an ethical system | Ethical analysis of the Old Testament, personal ethics, health implications of many of the Jewish laws; show how the means became the ends and how ritual destroys ethics; the destructiveness of becoming specialized in one's own religion | Jewish abstract art in the form of the Menorah and the Star of David; paint an art work using Jewish symbols to express a Jewish theme without including the human form or animals; Jewish music and Passover songs |
| 6.75 | 8.75 | The New Testament and the life of Jesus, the ethical teaching of Jesus, Jesus as a Jewish reformer and rabbi, the deification of Jesus, the teachings of Jesus in relationship to the Greco-Roman religion, St. Paul and Christianity as a synthesis of Judaism, Jesus, and Greco-Roman religion and philosophy | Write an essay on Jesus and the meaning of his life and death, essay on the criticisms of Jesus against traditions and the Jewish bureaucracy, essay on whether Jesus could have studied in India and/or Tibet, essay on Jesus' teaching and the school of Alexandria | Ethical analysis of the New Testament, the high ethical content in the teachings of Jesus compared to their corruption by St. Paul, the mythification & deification of Jesus in the Roman tradition by those who did not know him, analysis of synoptic gospels showing how they were all derived from a simpler, common source | Draw and paint art showing the unification of Judaism, the teachings of Jesus, and the Greco-Roman religion (Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel is best model); write a poem expressing this synthesis; do a group art project expressing the essence of Christianity |
The children of tomorrow must be well trained and well-rounded. They must be able to work independently, confidently. They must also be able to work together in teams and organised groups, to accomplish larger and more complex goals. They must be able to see through the media, academic, and PR smokescreens coming out of corrupt and established institutions which control most public discourse.
What they will do about what they discover, will remain a mystery until it happens. That is what will make them dangerous.
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