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!
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Here are some links for more on Lelia Broussard:
Mom Mary Broussard’s Radical Unschool Network page