Shoes are to feet as school is to learning.

The modern schooling system has done for people what modern footwear has done for their feet.

Once you've seen it, you can't unsee it. Natural feet are a completely different shape than feet that have grown up inside shoes. They are wider, stronger, and each toe has its own space and the ability to move freely and indpendently.

When you start hanging out with unschooled kids the difference is just as stark. They too are somehow broader, stronger and have more independence and freedom of movement through the world. I am referring to their character rather than their physical form  in this metaphor— although hale and hearty kids abound in the unschool community too.

The physical and mental-health benefits of being barefoot are becoming more widely talked about and understood. Clinical studies have demonstrated that earthing can enhance sedation and sleep quality, as well as alleviate anxiety and provide antidepressant effects.”  Researchgate March 2015. And yet we continue to force children's feet into shoes from before they can even walk. What's worse, footwear is increasingly made of synthetic matierials with rubber soles so there is no opportunity for grounding at all.

John Holt, Peter Gray, Dr Naomi Fisher and many others have written about the benefits of play and natural learning on children's health and wellbeing, and yet we continue to stuff them into synthetic uniforms and confine them to schools with limited outdoor time and synthetic lighting for their entire childhood.

Not only is children's freedom severly restricted in school, but also their free time is increasingly micro-managed. There is very little unsupervised, natural play happening in kids' lives today. The unintended consequences of wanting to support and protect have become blindingly obvious. Both in terms of feet and overall wellbeing. Children have never been so anxious, so underprepared for adult life or so fragile.

Look at that image above one more time.

I know it's a lot to ask that we redesign the education system to better meet the physical, emotional, spiritual and mental needs of children. But, the shape of school, like the shape of a shoe is a human invention. Now that we've seen what the restrictive shape of school is doing to our children, we must go back to the drawing board. If we can design barefoot shoes, we can design barefoot learning environments too. Places where children can take their shoes off and ground more often, move more often, get outside in nature more often, pee when they need to, drink when they need to and regulate their nervous systems as often as they need to in the ways that work for them.

When we stop confining their learning and start trusting their natural instincts, we’ll raise a generation that’s balanced, resilient, and fully alive — from the ground up.