Sunday Essentials: The Meeting The Meeting at Summerhill serves two functions. It decides on the Laws that govern the community and it resolves problems between people. Anyone can bring a law for approval to the meeting or suggest an alteration to an existing one; anyone can bring up another member of the community in a Tribunal…
Some people find the system of fining people at the Meeting in Summerhill problematic. In this post I describe how a typical meeting case might go and discuss what kind of punishment the fine might really be.
We need more democratic meetings. Here is a way of setting up a meeting similar to the Summerhill Meeting. It can be used at work, in clubs, societies, and committees. The more democratic we are the better, in my opinion.
Have you ever been in a situation that you cannot resolve and wished there was an impartial onlooker with the authority to help you resolve it? Ombudsmen at Summerhill are these impartial witnesses. The way ombudsmen work is perhaps more impressive than the Meeting itself, even though all their authority comes from the Meeting. Ombudsmen…
Neill was odd. When I speak to people who are setting up schools it is common to come across young couples who are thinking about their future children or parents who are already seeing their children suffering at school. A strong personal interest drives their project for education. Neill did not have children until he…
Thursday Thoughts: Why a Summerhill Meeting? On Sunday I described a Summerhill Meeting. It is a business-like affair. The community uses the Meeting to make laws and to regulate disputes. These disputes are inevitable in a society where everyone is encouraged to use their freedom to do what they want to do. The Meeting fines…
