Free Association in Journal

Means, in essence, the right to ostracize. It really boggles my mind that by far the most common complaint I have read from parents is the direct result of forced association for their children. As if, children are not people and do not have the right of free association. I often feel very, very sad for the children of these parents. Because, forced association is nothing less than abuse. That is why Free Association is a human right.
This includes sending children to public school, daycare, the care of family or nannies whom they do not like, as well as the more obvious “go give your grannie a hug!” demands.

Yesterday, we interacted with 2 little girls at the park we were playing at. One was 2 (same age as our son) and the other maybe 4. Their parent’s had a stream of comments about how gregarious, social, and interactive our son is. The 2 little girls were for the most part, aloof and contradictory, saying “no!” over and over again while generally avoidant of interactive play. In contrast, our son walked up to every person- all 4 of them- and verbally, and physically invited them to play and interact.
It is normal for our son to introduce himself and ask a new person to play. Because, he’s never in his life been forced to interact with anyone he didn’t want to, nor has he ever been forced into the presence of anyone who was or had the potential to abuse him.
I cannot say what these 2 girls have been exposed to or what environments they have been forced into. But, the vast majority of children are treated as if they have no rights, and most are sent to daycare or public school, or school of some kind. In other words, almost all children are forced into association with, proximity to, and interact in abusive environments. I don’t know exactly what behaviors or harm this abuse causes in children, but it’s obvious to me there is a difference between the behavior of abused children and peacefully parented children.