Lelia Broussard, unschooler

It’s possible that Lelia Broussard would have been successful in music even had she gone to school.

We’ll never know, however, because she didn’t.   She is a grown unschooler.

Tonight, she auditioned on “The Voice” and was chosen by Blake Shelton to be on his team.   The debates about this season are raging, because a handful of contestants, like Broussard, are “established” singers who’ve put out CD’s and toured and had record deals.

Do I care?   Not really.  And especially not when it comes to her.

See, people always ask me if I worry that not going to school will hinder my kids’ chances at success later on.  As though without public schooling and a college degree, they will be left no choice but to wander in the wilderness, alone, unloved and unemployed.  And so when someone like Lelia Broussard, who I believe made her first record at the age of 15 and who has been a full time musician ever since, gets exposure on a national level?  I want to jump around and cheer.   I want to call the people who ask me those questions and tell them to turn on their TV.

Of course, I can just hear what they might say – those voices are loud and clear every time I turn around.

Yes, Lelia Broussard is uniquely talented.  Yes, maybe her entire story is unique.  That one in a million thing.  But maybe, just maybe, if more kids were allowed to fully follow their passions from a young age without the threat of school and testing, we’d see many more one in a million stories.   Not just in music, but in art, science…whatever.

Even today the stories of successful unschoolers are many and growing; this one just happens to be where everyone can take a look.

So way to go Lelia.  On to the battle rounds!

_____________________________________________________

Here are some links for more on Lelia Broussard:

Her website

Her Facebook page

Mom Mary Broussard’s Radical Unschool Network page

 

Leave a Comment

*