‘Unschooling’ parents put their kids in charge of their own educations. Are they actually learning?

‘Unschooling’ removes anything resembling a traditional classroom. Composite: The Guardian/Getty Images

This summer, a TikTok video of a mother showing off her son’s literacy skills went viral. “Not comparing myself to other moms,” said the social media influencer Onami, producing a notebook belonging to her six year-old son, Rainer, filled with crudely scrawled words in crayon. “Look at this: Lamp. Egg. Jar. Lion. This is him, doing this, by himself!”

The clip made the rounds online, eliciting outrage and indignation for reasons the 36-year-old swears she was not anticipating.