"They feel that school isn’t a place where children learn well but rather makes kids “dumber” because it forces them to focus on topics beyond their interests. Children, in their view, are the last acceptably oppressed group and need to be given more power and choice. Modern schools are prisons and were created in order to establish control. Marks and grades are tools of manipulation and are used to oppress students. “Schools are very undemocratic places, where young people have very little control over their bodies, minds and spirits and are constantly being told what to do and how to respond,” says Ricci, who follows unschooling principles with his own two kids."