Seth Frey on Self-Governed Youth Communities

Off-Trail Learning

Seth Frey (enfascination.com) is a professor of Communication at UC Davis who focuses on the science of self-governance. We discuss our shared history in the Berkeley Student Cooperatives, Seth’s experience living in communities ranging from 4 to 400 members, his research on Minecraft and World of Warcraft communities, why benevolent dictators are surprisingly common, why children (and adults!) are surprisingly bad at self-governance, the Lord of the Flies stereotype, and how we might grant young people more genuine opportunities to manage their own worlds. Learn more about the Unschool Adventures “Eurotrip 2022” teen program at unschooladventures.com. Apply by February 12th! Read more about the boarding school boys who were shipwrecked off Tonga in 1965 and successfully self-governed here: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/may/09/the-real-lord-of-the-flies-what-happened-when-six-boys-were-shipwrecked-for-15-months