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Trust Kids!: Stories on Youth Autonomy and Confronting Adult Supremacy
Trust Kids!
weaves together essays, interviews, poems, and artwork from scholars, activists, and artists about our relationships with children in all areas of our lives.
The contributors of Trust Kids! write from different backgrounds, genders, ages, and sexualities and combine past lineages with more recent child-rearing ideas to offer a fresh, inspiring perspective. Many works on parenting and families wind up re-inscribing hierarchies by declaring how kids should be liberated. Trust Kids! insists on youth autonomy, listening to youth, and questioning adult supremacy on every page. At the heart of the book are conversations about all the ways that children can be included, loved, and cared for in more generative, just, and egalitarian ways. Its essays explore the liberatory potential of consent and autonomy in relationships among children, youth, and the adults in their lives. They also trace how oppressive attitudes toward children, far from being “natural” forms of kinship with the youngest members of our families and communities, have identifiable social and historical roots.
The contributors of Trust Kids! write from different backgrounds, genders, ages, and sexualities and combine past lineages with more recent child-rearing ideas to offer a fresh, inspiring perspective. Many works on parenting and families wind up re-inscribing hierarchies by declaring how kids should be liberated. Trust Kids! insists on youth autonomy, listening to youth, and questioning adult supremacy on every page. At the heart of the book are conversations about all the ways that children can be included, loved, and cared for in more generative, just, and egalitarian ways. Its essays explore the liberatory potential of consent and autonomy in relationships among children, youth, and the adults in their lives. They also trace how oppressive attitudes toward children, far from being “natural” forms of kinship with the youngest members of our families and communities, have identifiable social and historical roots.
282 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
December 17, 2022
I really enjoyed this anthology and had been wavering between giving it 3 or 4 stars, so I’m landing at 3.5 and rounding up. What I appreciated most about the essays in here is that they’re mostly about the practice of caregiving with respect to youth autonomy. I really loved the inclusion of youth voices and the conversations between caregivers and their children. I loved Idzie’s essay “Anarchy begins at home” and Antonio Buehler’s “Changing the context” and Akilah S. Richards’ description of unschooling as “learning-centered and learner centered.” There’s really a lot to love. I mainly struggled with the way it seemed to collapse youth experiences in some essays, highlighting that children as a group all experience oppression without much interrogation of the very different ways that different groups of children are impacted. I also saw this idea about whiteness as adulthood in a couple of the essays, and it really didn’t resonate with me, because it seemed to ignore that in the eyes of the criminal legal system and the mainstream media, it’s Black children who are framed as “adults” especially when facing criminal charges while white adults in that context are suddenly “children.” There are so many parallels between schooling and policing/prisons that I really hoped to see that connection made and more of a prison abolitionist lens incorporated.
August 10, 2023
1.5/10, rounding up. I'm an anarchist mama of 4 youngns and I'm all about that unschooling/SDE life, so I went into this book enthusiastic about the basic premise.
But like... have you ever had so many issues with a book that just thinking about reviewing it gets you all ragey and tight in the chest? Ugh.
This book is not good, but I think it's worth borrowing from a library with a critical mind. Take notes, starring any unsubstantiated claims, jumps in logic and oversimplifications. Maybe jot down the thinkers who've influenced your thoughts on adult supremacy/childism/childing, and identify who is missing from the list.
Real question for all my anarchist-leaning comrades: why do we accept so much garbage political analysis from other anarchists? Are we just unusually bad at critically interpreting material conditions? Are we shitty readers? 🤦🏽♀️
Full review coming eventually...
But like... have you ever had so many issues with a book that just thinking about reviewing it gets you all ragey and tight in the chest? Ugh.
This book is not good, but I think it's worth borrowing from a library with a critical mind. Take notes, starring any unsubstantiated claims, jumps in logic and oversimplifications. Maybe jot down the thinkers who've influenced your thoughts on adult supremacy/childism/childing, and identify who is missing from the list.
Real question for all my anarchist-leaning comrades: why do we accept so much garbage political analysis from other anarchists? Are we just unusually bad at critically interpreting material conditions? Are we shitty readers? 🤦🏽♀️
Full review coming eventually...
September 4, 2022
Trust Kids, edited by carla joy bergman, is a collection of essays, poetry, interviews, and artwork by adults, kids, and whoever else is in between. The book offers a lot of thought provoking information to those of us who have grown up entrenched in adult supremacy and ageism (i.e. most of if not all of us.) They state in the introduction that this is not meant to be a parenting manual or a group of examples of how perfect parent and other adults got everything "right." Nonetheless, it does offer a lot of perspective shifting content that could help with those things. It did seem a like they could have reached further with the call for submissions. There were lots of repeat contributors, many from the editor's family and friends, (and two white rappers, what are the odds?) giving the book a bit more of a limited scope. But, that does not mean I did not get a lot out of it.
Going into a book about trusting kids was a strange experience and an emotional one. I am a person who generally looks back on my youth with uneasiness at best. As a kid, I struggled immensely, was taken advantage of frequently, and really believed adult men when they told me I was "mature." I didn't think I should have been "trusted." When some authors suggested kids were as knowledgeable as adults, and that they could govern their own lives, I was baffled. As I read on though, I repeatedly was forced to revise what I thought was true.
In the end, what I gained from this book were convincing arguments that not trusting kids actually makes things much easier for predators and much harder for kids (and the adults who care for them.) When children and youth are considered, listened to, included, and allowed to govern their own lives within supportive communities, they are more likely to be open and honest about their needs, wants, and questions they may have. They are more likely to push past the shame or uneasiness if something bad has happened, rather than hiding it like so many kids do. They are also going to feel safer telling adults about their lives and will be far more receptive to adults who have treated them like human beings expressing their concerns.
I am not a poetry person, so I never feel that I can say whether poetry is "good" because I usually don't "get" any of it. I really loved the visual art in this book. The interviews/conversations were hit or miss, but I really enjoyed "Creating a Web of Intergenerational Trust," by Maya Motoi in conversation with her parents in Japan. The academic leaning (but still accessibly written) essays near the end by Tobey Rollo and Stacey Patton were some of my favorites and brought in theoretical frameworks I had not encountered before. I am team "Magneto was right," so I was happy to see an essay featuring him as the true hero (even if I wanted more from it.) The best entry in the book though was Uilliam Joy Bergman's "Hold on to Your Child (Within.)" I am glad that they put it into the book early, because it really showed me a 17 year old who knows more than I do about a lot of things, helping me trust the process of the rest of the book.
The only thing I disliked about this book was the representation of mental health/illness, particularly in one interview/conversation - "Four Q's and a Poem" - that seemed clearly scripted by the adult involved in order to highlight themself. I was part of organizing a local Icarus Project chapter years back. I favor Mad Pride movements and understand very well the many abuses in and problems with psychiatry. But, this entry made mental illness seem like some voluntary acid trip or cosplay. I have come to believe that the truth lies somewhere between psychiatry and people who claim mental illness is just a personality quirk. When your loved one is living with unrelenting, torturous paranoid psychosis causing them to live in a disoriented hellscape and act accoringly, when you know someone with foster kids whose minds have been mangled by trauma, and when you know personally what it's like to have the sickest parts of your mind control you, the horrors are far more real. Basically, there are much better sources for understanding trauma and mental health struggle in youth and adults than whatever this was- including ones from founders of The Icarus Project.
Trust Kids! is an important collection that offers up ideas for a better world where each of us comes into it as a whole person, not one to be molded by adults (who apparently finished becoming whole people at some undefined point.) There aren't many books like this that approach these topics with diverse perspectives and great passion. I don't think I have ever read a book about liberating kids that is written in part by actual kids, and that's a real problem. I hope this sparks future conversations for all of our sakes.
This was also posted to my blog.
Going into a book about trusting kids was a strange experience and an emotional one. I am a person who generally looks back on my youth with uneasiness at best. As a kid, I struggled immensely, was taken advantage of frequently, and really believed adult men when they told me I was "mature." I didn't think I should have been "trusted." When some authors suggested kids were as knowledgeable as adults, and that they could govern their own lives, I was baffled. As I read on though, I repeatedly was forced to revise what I thought was true.
In the end, what I gained from this book were convincing arguments that not trusting kids actually makes things much easier for predators and much harder for kids (and the adults who care for them.) When children and youth are considered, listened to, included, and allowed to govern their own lives within supportive communities, they are more likely to be open and honest about their needs, wants, and questions they may have. They are more likely to push past the shame or uneasiness if something bad has happened, rather than hiding it like so many kids do. They are also going to feel safer telling adults about their lives and will be far more receptive to adults who have treated them like human beings expressing their concerns.
I am not a poetry person, so I never feel that I can say whether poetry is "good" because I usually don't "get" any of it. I really loved the visual art in this book. The interviews/conversations were hit or miss, but I really enjoyed "Creating a Web of Intergenerational Trust," by Maya Motoi in conversation with her parents in Japan. The academic leaning (but still accessibly written) essays near the end by Tobey Rollo and Stacey Patton were some of my favorites and brought in theoretical frameworks I had not encountered before. I am team "Magneto was right," so I was happy to see an essay featuring him as the true hero (even if I wanted more from it.) The best entry in the book though was Uilliam Joy Bergman's "Hold on to Your Child (Within.)" I am glad that they put it into the book early, because it really showed me a 17 year old who knows more than I do about a lot of things, helping me trust the process of the rest of the book.
The only thing I disliked about this book was the representation of mental health/illness, particularly in one interview/conversation - "Four Q's and a Poem" - that seemed clearly scripted by the adult involved in order to highlight themself. I was part of organizing a local Icarus Project chapter years back. I favor Mad Pride movements and understand very well the many abuses in and problems with psychiatry. But, this entry made mental illness seem like some voluntary acid trip or cosplay. I have come to believe that the truth lies somewhere between psychiatry and people who claim mental illness is just a personality quirk. When your loved one is living with unrelenting, torturous paranoid psychosis causing them to live in a disoriented hellscape and act accoringly, when you know someone with foster kids whose minds have been mangled by trauma, and when you know personally what it's like to have the sickest parts of your mind control you, the horrors are far more real. Basically, there are much better sources for understanding trauma and mental health struggle in youth and adults than whatever this was- including ones from founders of The Icarus Project.
Trust Kids! is an important collection that offers up ideas for a better world where each of us comes into it as a whole person, not one to be molded by adults (who apparently finished becoming whole people at some undefined point.) There aren't many books like this that approach these topics with diverse perspectives and great passion. I don't think I have ever read a book about liberating kids that is written in part by actual kids, and that's a real problem. I hope this sparks future conversations for all of our sakes.
This was also posted to my blog.
January 25, 2023
Maybe this year will be a better reading year because I've started it only reading non-fiction? I found 'Trust Kids' pretty mind blowing as someone who knew very little about child liberation and has only just started confronting my own ageism/childism. Aside from the theoretical content 'Trust Kids' is a well constructed anthology with a mix of mediums and perspectives. It never felt dry and the change in format between submissions kept it feeling fresh. bergman has managed to promote a child-like sense of curiosity with the submission selection and order. At first I was hung up on not learning in a traditional way, where the history and politics of various child liberation movements are neatly laid out, but once I realised this would be counter to understanding the viewpoints presented I opened myself up and managed to grasp more than I would otherwise. This really helped me change my viewpoint on structural oppression and see how colonialism and capitalism have been built on the oppression of children. I hope I can apply the perspective I've gained to my everyday life.
November 2, 2022
I was recently able to finish reading "Trust Kids," a forthcoming anthology from my dear friend carla bergman. I have struggled to put into words just how imperative this collection of essays, art, and poetry is for folks of all ages, but this is my attempt (humble as it is.)
"Trust Kids" is an instant classic. Yes, that sounds hyperbolic. Yes, I fit into the target demographic as an educator & (relatively new) parent. But that doesn't really matter, at the end of the day, because "Trust Kids" is written to every single person who has ever been a kid. Which, after all, is each and every single one of us. The essays, art, and poetry contained within this collection made me weep with joy on countless occasions.
If I had to sum up in words what I appreciate most about "Trust Kids," one theme in particular drifts forward: this text is intergenerational. So many books on parenting & education are solitary, polemic works with one passionate, well-intentioned author screaming into the void. However sincere, these books often cater to a general audience. In other words, they spend a great deal of time and space trying to convince readers that kids are human beings worthy of dignity and respect. "Trust Kids" takes that as a given, which is inexpressibly refreshing.
What's more, "Trust Kids" is a text that is interested in inviting a diverse cast of creators to the proverbial table—an intergenerational, rhizomatic collective of people with a multitude of identities and experiences capable of imparting new knowledge and ways of being. "Trust Kids" is a challenging book. Not to read—it's a slim volume of just 200 some odd pages, many of which are devoted to art & lineated poetry. "Trust Kids" is challenging in that it invites us to interrogate the most intimate forms of hierarchy in the world today: our homes.
"Trust Kids" is an instant classic. Yes, that sounds hyperbolic. Yes, I fit into the target demographic as an educator & (relatively new) parent. But that doesn't really matter, at the end of the day, because "Trust Kids" is written to every single person who has ever been a kid. Which, after all, is each and every single one of us. The essays, art, and poetry contained within this collection made me weep with joy on countless occasions.
If I had to sum up in words what I appreciate most about "Trust Kids," one theme in particular drifts forward: this text is intergenerational. So many books on parenting & education are solitary, polemic works with one passionate, well-intentioned author screaming into the void. However sincere, these books often cater to a general audience. In other words, they spend a great deal of time and space trying to convince readers that kids are human beings worthy of dignity and respect. "Trust Kids" takes that as a given, which is inexpressibly refreshing.
What's more, "Trust Kids" is a text that is interested in inviting a diverse cast of creators to the proverbial table—an intergenerational, rhizomatic collective of people with a multitude of identities and experiences capable of imparting new knowledge and ways of being. "Trust Kids" is a challenging book. Not to read—it's a slim volume of just 200 some odd pages, many of which are devoted to art & lineated poetry. "Trust Kids" is challenging in that it invites us to interrogate the most intimate forms of hierarchy in the world today: our homes.
December 7, 2022
It's always hard to rate books of essays because some parts are going to speak to you more than others, but I really have to give this one five stars. Consistently on point, diverse perspectives, and yet focused and energizing.
March 12, 2023
I really like the concept and premise of this book. My wish is that it went from its philosophical beginnings into more practical application of the ideas. As a high school teacher, I was especially hoping to read stories of folks who grappled more with how to apply these ideas in traditional spaces (like public school). Not everyone can transition to a de-schooling approach, nor does everyone have the community support to raise kids or a more community-centered way…how do we exist and find ways to thrive in the world as it is? Again, totally on board with the ideas presented, but was hoping for more examples of how people are building these spaces in practical ways.
November 28, 2025
really amazing book!
December 27, 2024
I’ll be thinking about certain essays from this book for a long time. The overall concept of the book is so valuable to me, and even if every concept isn’t 100% applicable to my experience as a parent/child caregiver, I found value in reading about it. I definitely have some food for thought as I navigate parenting my own children and the ways in which I can trust them and value their thoughts and opinions on a day to day basis. 4.75⭐️
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October 8, 2022i got this arc from ak press
overall i really enjoyed this book. i think this serves as a good intro to issues of how children have been treated in society in different contexts. the highlight for me was the interviews and also the essays written by children/teens.
i did run into a couple of issues while reading this. while i liked the idea of a multimedia work, the poetry felt out of place and i didnt enjoy most of it. there were also multiple essays that felt repetitive and very similar to other essays which made getting through them pretty difficult? a couple of essays also feel too vague in referencing indigenous groups without actually giving examples of what indigenous groups were being referred to. i wish some of the more repetitive essays were cut in favor of letting some of the more vague academic essays have more room to develop.
overall i really enjoyed this book. i think this serves as a good intro to issues of how children have been treated in society in different contexts. the highlight for me was the interviews and also the essays written by children/teens.
i did run into a couple of issues while reading this. while i liked the idea of a multimedia work, the poetry felt out of place and i didnt enjoy most of it. there were also multiple essays that felt repetitive and very similar to other essays which made getting through them pretty difficult? a couple of essays also feel too vague in referencing indigenous groups without actually giving examples of what indigenous groups were being referred to. i wish some of the more repetitive essays were cut in favor of letting some of the more vague academic essays have more room to develop.
December 29, 2023
There’s some stuff in this book that I’ve already thought about a lot. Other stuff I hadn’t even considered. This anthology is a lovely mix of ver digestible essays and ones that are more complex, harder to chew on. If I was rating each essay, poem, or q&a individually, my rating would vary greatly. But as it is, they are all contained in a single binding. So I rated based on overall reading experience, and how much I learned. I feel like I now have a much more concrete idea of an anarchist educational plan-kinda the fact that there doesn’t need to be a plan, or an education in the traditional sense. So that’s good. And I got reminded of a lot of the things, things that I’m confident will help me interact with kids in a way that recognizes their autonomy. I have thought for a while now that youth autonomy is one of the easiest movements to figure out how to get involved in at least at a surface level. It’s very simple, just treat kids like you wanted to be treated when you were a kid. Just treat kids like people. And trust them.
August 22, 2023
One of the most educational and radical books Ive ever read. I learned so much about the oppressive history of schooling and what we can do to undo these standards of education. I'm so excited to see how this book shapes my future in working with and around children.
July 20, 2023
I liked this book—Christine and I live by the mantra « kids are capable. » The book helps me reckon w my own parenting decisions—wins, fails and neithers—in a thoughtful way. Also I’m reminded that I need to read more Illich, and I wonder how much of this he’d agree w
February 16, 2023
This is an awesome book on a super important and unfortunately undercovered topic. Most of the essays gave me much to think about and some even made me see children in a different light. Two things prevented me from giving it the full five stars: a couple of the essays were so mind numbingly boring that they made me want to hit myself in the head repeatedly (they both seemed as if they were someone's thesis); and AK Press's insistence on capitalizing internet and refusal to capitalize Earth. 😁
February 26, 2023
There are some individual pieces in here that are captivating and powerful. The central thesis (and the conflicting and complex perspectives through which it is explored) is worth our time and energy.
Ultimately, though, I’m not sure who the book is for. It seems too shallow to really engage with the concepts of childism and child autonomy for those who are already aware and generally supportive of the concepts. It does little to get into the *how* and sticks more to the *why.* That would be fine and useful as a text to help expand a receptive audience, but it seems more niche and less inviting than a text written with an unfamiliar audience in mind.
I would have liked (even if it meant fewer essays) more depth and grappling with the contradictions and complexities. I also would have liked more evidence and research I could dig into when it came to several fascinating historical claims.
Ultimately, though, I’m not sure who the book is for. It seems too shallow to really engage with the concepts of childism and child autonomy for those who are already aware and generally supportive of the concepts. It does little to get into the *how* and sticks more to the *why.* That would be fine and useful as a text to help expand a receptive audience, but it seems more niche and less inviting than a text written with an unfamiliar audience in mind.
I would have liked (even if it meant fewer essays) more depth and grappling with the contradictions and complexities. I also would have liked more evidence and research I could dig into when it came to several fascinating historical claims.
May 27, 2023
My favorite essays:
- Anarchy Begins at Home by Idzie Desmarais
- On the Last Leg of the Journey: An Interview with Helen Hughes
- On Being a Trusted Adult
- Escaping Education, Madhu Suri Prakash and Gustavo Esteva
- The Children of Children: Why the Adultification Thesis is a Misguided Trap for Black Children and Families
One of my favorite takeaways:
"Trusting ourselves and each other is always a journey, never a destination. You will never reach a place of "perfect trust"... in fact, you are sure to keep messing up-trust me! You will fail; you will be human, you will (mis)use your power at times. We all do. Your kids or kids in your life may not trust you. The key, to me, is that we build a foundation or trust with kids, whereby the younger folks in our life can talk to us when they feel we are not trusting them well. If trust s flowing, it'll be powerful and beautiful. Then together, we can create borderless futures, ones grounded in love."
- Anarchy Begins at Home by Idzie Desmarais
- On the Last Leg of the Journey: An Interview with Helen Hughes
- On Being a Trusted Adult
- Escaping Education, Madhu Suri Prakash and Gustavo Esteva
- The Children of Children: Why the Adultification Thesis is a Misguided Trap for Black Children and Families
One of my favorite takeaways:
"Trusting ourselves and each other is always a journey, never a destination. You will never reach a place of "perfect trust"... in fact, you are sure to keep messing up-trust me! You will fail; you will be human, you will (mis)use your power at times. We all do. Your kids or kids in your life may not trust you. The key, to me, is that we build a foundation or trust with kids, whereby the younger folks in our life can talk to us when they feel we are not trusting them well. If trust s flowing, it'll be powerful and beautiful. Then together, we can create borderless futures, ones grounded in love."
December 22, 2023
A nice and compact collection of radical perspectives. Some pieces that especially stood out for me:
- Changing the Context by Antonio Buehler
- An Interview with Helen Hughes by carla joy bergman
- Childing the World by Toby Rollo
- Changing the Context by Antonio Buehler
- An Interview with Helen Hughes by carla joy bergman
- Childing the World by Toby Rollo
October 9, 2025
classic case of "take what you need and leave the rest." majority of the essays are centered on deschooling/unschooling, but they're more testimonials than theory or any practical information. like yeah i agree public schools are generally ass and exist to enforce captialist expectations on children, but what's the alternative? actual problems were pretty universally dismissed out of hand. like it's great that your mom, who literally got a college scholarship for making good scrambled eggs, could just quit working and start a community school! i dont think something that romcom has happened to anyone since like 1965. most people do not have the ability to just start a school? where the curriculum is nothing? what the fuck (sorry to pick on the author of that essay but seriously. what the fuck.)
i think a lot of the essays were interesting, but i got nothing from this book. i aim to give my kid the very best possible chance at happiness, but we unfortunately do live in a society and have to be able to like read and do addition. if anyone has any recommendations for books that have tips and tricks for balancing the constant weight of oppressive systems with acts of liberation and a full-time job, pls send them my way. for now i guess we should just treat our kids with love and respect and do our best to encourage them to develop their innate value instead of tying it to productivity? but who knows
i think a lot of the essays were interesting, but i got nothing from this book. i aim to give my kid the very best possible chance at happiness, but we unfortunately do live in a society and have to be able to like read and do addition. if anyone has any recommendations for books that have tips and tricks for balancing the constant weight of oppressive systems with acts of liberation and a full-time job, pls send them my way. for now i guess we should just treat our kids with love and respect and do our best to encourage them to develop their innate value instead of tying it to productivity? but who knows
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July 30, 2023some of this i liked a LOT and am thinking about as i transition into work as a school social worker (fire of ata, magneto's dreams solidarity begins @ home, children of children, abolish high school)
but i have to be honest that i struggled w a lot of it too bc i was bored but also im not sure how aligned i am w ALL the concepts on display here... i need to learn more abt deschooling and unschooling to have an opinion on those concepts...
idk im more in favor of making schools hyperinclusive and not the thunderdome for anyone whos a non "standard" identity rather than just parachuting them out... lets really sit down and iron out universal curriculum for base level knowledge then factor in academic exploration from middle school upward (bc while im shite at math, i dont think people shouldnt learn some basic arithmatic).... make life skills are required skill and include conflict rez, gardening and food work, evolving tech, curiosity, grief and loss, finaces and what to "value" in late capitalist society, social justice and social awareness, etc.... man let me go open a school
i might ask my book club to read this just bc i wanna hear all their big brain ideas for what school and childhood could n should be in an ideal+liberated society
but i have to be honest that i struggled w a lot of it too bc i was bored but also im not sure how aligned i am w ALL the concepts on display here... i need to learn more abt deschooling and unschooling to have an opinion on those concepts...
idk im more in favor of making schools hyperinclusive and not the thunderdome for anyone whos a non "standard" identity rather than just parachuting them out... lets really sit down and iron out universal curriculum for base level knowledge then factor in academic exploration from middle school upward (bc while im shite at math, i dont think people shouldnt learn some basic arithmatic).... make life skills are required skill and include conflict rez, gardening and food work, evolving tech, curiosity, grief and loss, finaces and what to "value" in late capitalist society, social justice and social awareness, etc.... man let me go open a school
i might ask my book club to read this just bc i wanna hear all their big brain ideas for what school and childhood could n should be in an ideal+liberated society
July 14, 2025
This book focused a lot more on unschooling then I thought. There were a couple really really good essays and a lot more alright ones that didn’t speak to me as much. always thought provoking though
Notes:
“ virtually every young person in the world, has experience, discrimination, exclusion, coercion, and violence, for no other reason, then that they are a child. It is in childhood, that we are taught to be ashamed of ourselves for being small, week, uncoordinated, ignorant, and dependent on adults. It is in childhood, that we are taught that we must drive to overcome these deficits, if we are to become fully human.”
“ In the racist, mindset, black children are considered the children of children, doubly doomed by their categorization as biological children, as well as offspring of an inferior race, existing in a permanent condition of cultural and fancy, lawlessness, and criminality, for whom coercion punishment, and death are the laws only recourse.”
“ trust Kids to not want what you want. Trust Kids to not what what you want to give them/ to gift them/ to advertise to/ to pass to them/ to sell to them/ to add to them”
Notes:
“ virtually every young person in the world, has experience, discrimination, exclusion, coercion, and violence, for no other reason, then that they are a child. It is in childhood, that we are taught to be ashamed of ourselves for being small, week, uncoordinated, ignorant, and dependent on adults. It is in childhood, that we are taught that we must drive to overcome these deficits, if we are to become fully human.”
“ In the racist, mindset, black children are considered the children of children, doubly doomed by their categorization as biological children, as well as offspring of an inferior race, existing in a permanent condition of cultural and fancy, lawlessness, and criminality, for whom coercion punishment, and death are the laws only recourse.”
“ trust Kids to not want what you want. Trust Kids to not what what you want to give them/ to gift them/ to advertise to/ to pass to them/ to sell to them/ to add to them”
November 17, 2024
I am gobsmacked by this anthology. It really challenged my inherent beliefs about childhood and adulthood and had me look into the mirror to confront my biases around the simple naturalness of this binary. There are so many perspectives some of which I agree and disagree but I have so many new learnings and takeaways. Toby Rollo was a true highlight having me shouting and “mhm-ing” throughout. He even touched on the idea I’ve been trying to pinpoint around binaries serving capitalism and that even homosexual and transgender identities maintain these dynamics. and that we must move from the binaries - framing them as tools of control rather than natural truths. YES GOD. and that dysphoria is induced by a perceived misalignment in a binary society. phew yes yes and more yes. everything i’ve been trying to say. but understanding you can’t get to this level of thinking without first centering child and understand it as the perennial site of violence and our first labor group is so crucial. what a good read!
December 17, 2024
I wanted something more than what this book offered. Something grounded in theory and/or historical context, with real world solutions. The majority of the essays here featured people who, through various avenues, were able to homeschool or unschool or alternatively educate their kids. Several of the essays involved one small alternative school called Windsor House (the founder, the founder's daughter, and another student all contributed essays). The tone was something like, "our daughter hated regular school. So we created a neighborhood school for her!" OK, good for you guys but that is not practical for most people. I did like two essays toward the end of the book, Stacey Patton's "The Children of Children: Why the Adultification Thesis is a Misguided Trap for Black Children and Families," and Gabriel Zacuto's "Fire of Ata." Both of these were meatier with class and race analysis, and dissected the fact that public school education often sets out to create a compliant workforce. Overall I was more annoyed than enlightened. I skipped the weird poems.
August 23, 2025
A collection of essays that explore the oppression and liberation of child autonomy that honestly really challenged me in a helpful way.
While I’ve been thinking a lot about the role of community, mutual aide, and stepping aside so my child to choose their own path in life, I’d never really investigated deschooling or pulling back on rules that favor parental ease of life.
I unfortunately found the quality of the pieces selected to be uneven. But it does make an honest effort to pull from a ton of diverse sources including poets, teens, and children themselves. So, it did make me wonder how much of my reaction was based on bias toward adult oriented, neurotypical writing. But some of them just didn’t work for me either in style or lack of substance or research.
Trust Kids goes wide rather than deep, and will certainly be a good entry point to more reading and conversations with my wife and kid. So while it wasn’t a totally great and transformative read, I’ll definitely be recommending it to other parents.
While I’ve been thinking a lot about the role of community, mutual aide, and stepping aside so my child to choose their own path in life, I’d never really investigated deschooling or pulling back on rules that favor parental ease of life.
I unfortunately found the quality of the pieces selected to be uneven. But it does make an honest effort to pull from a ton of diverse sources including poets, teens, and children themselves. So, it did make me wonder how much of my reaction was based on bias toward adult oriented, neurotypical writing. But some of them just didn’t work for me either in style or lack of substance or research.
Trust Kids goes wide rather than deep, and will certainly be a good entry point to more reading and conversations with my wife and kid. So while it wasn’t a totally great and transformative read, I’ll definitely be recommending it to other parents.
October 30, 2023
It's not about creating a world in which kids find their gifts, it's about creating a world in which kids know that they are the gift and that they have a place in the world just because they exist.
this was such a great collection! thought-provoking, inspiring and a clear call to action. i thoroughly enjoyed the emphasis on building communities and forging strong intergenerational bonds. as a teacher, i like all my students so much and i feel limited by this bridge that i feel obligated to create with them in order to stay professional. i want to listen to children and teenagers beyond curriculum concerns and work towards different paths to learning together. i felt comforted and reassured in how so many people strive to free, love and trust children.
this was such a great collection! thought-provoking, inspiring and a clear call to action. i thoroughly enjoyed the emphasis on building communities and forging strong intergenerational bonds. as a teacher, i like all my students so much and i feel limited by this bridge that i feel obligated to create with them in order to stay professional. i want to listen to children and teenagers beyond curriculum concerns and work towards different paths to learning together. i felt comforted and reassured in how so many people strive to free, love and trust children.
November 21, 2023
I’m not an anarchist (nor do I have a loyalty to any particular leftist ideology at the moment), but I found this book to be useful. It incorporates the intersectional struggles of the oppression of children with race, gender, sexuality, and class. I already identify with gentle/conscious parenting, but this is a step further. This is more ideological than practical so don’t go into this thinking it’ll give you a step by step guide. It can provide you with some information, starting points for research, and accounts from the experience of children, youth, and parents. The organization of this book could have been slightly better and stronger. The crux of the book focuses a lot about unschooling.
January 9, 2024
This book taught me a lot about how 'childism' is at the root of all oppressive structures and beliefs re domination and exclusion and patronizing based on race, gender, ability, sexuality, land, language...I appreciated the refrain of what a society in which we truly trust kids and treat them equitably as human beings could look like, and how that could be a foundation for transforming our social relations and building real autonomous communities based on love, living, and mutual aid. Embracing our own childhood throughout our lifespan and remembering what it was like to be a kid in interaction with children is one way in which "solidarity begins at home."
July 29, 2024
The majority of these essays are weak. Poorly written and constructed, unsupported, flitty, floaty, wispy little bits of nothing that will convince no one of anything. There were three essays toward the end of the book that were worth the read--had something interesting and challenging to say:
"Childing the World" by Toby Rollo
"The Children of Children: Why the Adultification Thesis is a Misguided Trap for Black Children and Families" by Stacey Patton
"Fire of Ata: The Raging Voice is a Song of Love" by Gabriel Zacuto
But otherwise, if you're already an anarchist, this will have nothing new to tell you. If you're not, this will have nothing compelling to sway or challenge you.
"Childing the World" by Toby Rollo
"The Children of Children: Why the Adultification Thesis is a Misguided Trap for Black Children and Families" by Stacey Patton
"Fire of Ata: The Raging Voice is a Song of Love" by Gabriel Zacuto
But otherwise, if you're already an anarchist, this will have nothing new to tell you. If you're not, this will have nothing compelling to sway or challenge you.
January 6, 2025
I chose to read this book because I am teaching more art to kids in 2025, and wanted a leftist view on liberating pedagogies and ideas about children. I don't have kids of my own, but I found Trust Kids! to be useful in challenging ingrained ways of thinking about children (mostly dealing with hierarchy and mistrust). In fact, I found a lot of the discussion to be healing to me as a once mistrusted kid. I certainly learned a lot that will inform my approach to teaching and working with children. I appreciated the connections of child liberation to related movements like BIPOC liberation, disability justice, and decolonization.
February 4, 2025
The way we are raised and treated as children matters! The way we are raising and treating children matters!
I love this book, I love what it stands for. I was working in childcare at the time of reading this and it actively helped me so much. This book presents you with strong ideas and asks you to be open and to be attentive to how children are treated in our society. I also love the anthology style chapters with different sources/authors. There’s definitely some crazy tangents every once in a while but overall together I think it’s powerful and awesome.
I love this book, I love what it stands for. I was working in childcare at the time of reading this and it actively helped me so much. This book presents you with strong ideas and asks you to be open and to be attentive to how children are treated in our society. I also love the anthology style chapters with different sources/authors. There’s definitely some crazy tangents every once in a while but overall together I think it’s powerful and awesome.
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June 1, 2023I really liked the beginning of this book and felt the most compelling pieces were the ones written by youth or about relationality, stewardship, and honoring children’s autonomy prefiguratively (and without abandonment/neglect). Some of the political analysis in this anthology were over simplified and many didn’t really reckon with the histories of racial capitalism. I think still a useful read for subject building purposes even if some pieces were more useful than others.
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