Benevolent Education: Lessons in Wisdom from Sophie Rabhi

In order not to stop on such a good path, this lady, decidedly full of wisdom, considers that the notion of “limits”, that is to say of coercion (and sometimes humiliation), is too marked by the Freudianism (which she does not qualify as an imposture, but we gladly do so for her), and that the notion of “reference points” should be preferred, considering her children as “precious friends”.

It is necessary to stop two minutes on such semantic finesse, which is not within everyone’s reach. Limits are prohibitions that we impose; the markers are handrails that are explained. By favoring the latter, we save time on the opposition of the so-called “adolescent crisis” – a new concept on the scale of humanity, and which has above all proved useful for creating a new marketing segment. As for this notion of “precious friends”, it is not an invitation to weakness. Who would be weak with his friends? It should rather be seen as an invitation to consider one’s children as equals – not immediately, one might add, but in any case, that the goal of an education is to be, when they are adults, the friend of his children. The soldier writer Hélie de Saint-Marc, referring to his training as a parachutist, spoke of “treating his body as a friend” – and yet he did not spare it.

So, of course, we are all the same in the left-wing press, and, to the famous question “where are you talking about? », Sophie Rabhi answers by ticking all the boxes: Montessori school in Ardèche, ecological values, benevolence… and, of course, total failure of her school project, because the pettiness of human nature has taken over. However, his lessons on education have the merit of sending back-to-back two caricatures which are, in fact, only two sides of the same model: that of “listening” sore parents who become humiliating parents. , vertical, coercive – seeking, without succeeding, not to do like their parents, that is to say not knowing what to register against. Wisdom is perhaps, as often, between the two: setting a clear framework, without overplaying severity, or wanting to be a “friend”, or giving up at the first shock, or losing your means. It’s a job. It is perhaps even, for us parents, the only real job that is worth it. It is worth devoting most of your life to it.

In short, this weekend, at the café, the basis of discussion comes from The Obs. It’s rare enough to be praised. Thanks guys ! We expect soon, in the same columns, a ladle of wokist soup, talkative and bourgeois, more in line with the editorial line – but in the meantime, this parenthesis is welcome.