Editing Unschooling (section)

== Criticism ==
{{see also|Homeschooling criticism}}
<!--Please only include criticism that is explicitly related to unschooling. More general reception that also applies for homeschooling should be included in the article homeschooling because unschooling is only a subclass of homeschooling and all advocacy and criticism for homeschooling therefore also applies for unschooling, but not necessarily the other way around.-->

As a form of homeschooling, unschooling faces many of the same critiques as homeschooling. Criticisms of unschooling in particular tend to focus on whether students can receive sufficient education in a context with so little structure compared to standard schooling practices. Some critics maintain that it can be difficult to build sufficient motivation in students to allow them to learn without guardrails, and that some students might be left behind as a result,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Clayton |first=Victoria |date=2006-10-02 |title=A new chapter in education: unschooling |language=en |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna15029646 |access-date=2023-09-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518212400/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna15029646 |archive-date=2023-05-18}}</ref> and that they might fare poorly compared with their peers.<ref name="readers-share-heated-opinions">{{Cite web |date=2006-10-31 |title=Readers share heated opinions on "unschooling" |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna15148804 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927110828/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/15148804/ |archive-date=2016-09-27 |access-date=2008-09-04 |website=[[NBC News]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Erbe |first=Bonnie |author-link=Bonnie Erbe |date=27 November 2006 |title=Unspooling 'Unschooling' |work=U.S. News & World Report |url=https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/erbe/2006/11/27/unspooling-unschooling |access-date=11 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205085905/https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/erbe/2006/11/27/unspooling-unschooling |archive-date=2023-02-05}}</ref>

Opponents of unschooling fear that children may be at the mercy of bad parents, like those who withdraw their children from school without taking on the role of "teacher." This leaves children directionless, which can affect them later in life if they have no practice expanding their curiosity and integrating into society.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2016-10-11 |title=Rise of the home 'unschoolers' – where children learn only what they want to |url=http://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/oct/11/unschool-children-monitor-home-schooling-education |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230627220327/https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/oct/11/unschool-children-monitor-home-schooling-education |archive-date=2023-06-27 |access-date=2020-12-30 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref>

In a 2006 study of children aged five to ten, unschooled children scored below traditionally schooled children in four of seven studied categories, and significantly below structured homeschoolers in all seven studied categories.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Martin-Chang |first1=Sandra |last2=Gould |first2=O.N. |last3=Meuse |first3=R.E. |year=2011 |title=The impact of schooling on academic achievement: Evidence from home-schooled and traditionally-schooled students |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232544669 |journal=Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=195–202 |doi=10.1037/a0022697 |access-date=16 November 2014}}</ref>