A DAD who pulled both his children out of school at 14 to teach them at home has hit back at people insisting he made a mistake.
Jason Graystone is a self-described “wealth enthusiast”, who details his life choices on his Always Free podcast in a bid to help others.
He said that one of them is earning £5,000 a month thanks to the creative career he has pursued away from school[/caption]
And in a recent episode discussing his decisions regarding his children, Jason defended his choice to home school them from the age of 14.
“It’s funny with home school because people ask me, ‘Well how did you teach this, that and the other?’,” he said.
“And I was like, well I didn’t!
“Because the reason I took them out of school was because I didn’t want them learning most of the stuff that they didn’t want to learn.”
He added that out of the whole week there was only one or two lessons that they were “really engaged with”, while the rest was like “being there for the sake of it”.
“Which nowadays, I think most of school you’re just there for the sake of it because it’s pointless,” Jason continued.
“I want to guide them to kind of excel in something they’re naturally interested in.”
For his youngest son, that meant encouraging him to pursue an interest in a creative career, which saw him teaching himself editing and animations.
“He starts building a YouTube channel, teaching people how to edit… and by the time he’s 16, he’s doing reels and YouTube shorts.
“So it’s really hard for me to say, he needs school, because his friends are now, two years later, doing their GCSEs and still don’t have a clue what they want to do.
“Yet he’s doing what doesn’t feel like work, he’s doing the editing, building his channel, doing the thing and making money!”
It’s even got to the stage where Jason’s son is now working for him, becoming his editor and taking his YouTube channel from 50,000 to half a million subscribers.
Sharing a clip of the podcast chat on his TikTok page, Jason said that he just doesn’t believe “school serves kids these days”.
But people in the comments section were divided as to whether they agreed with Jason or not.
“That’s great if you want to be a YouTuber, but what if they want to be a doctor, lawyer, engineer?” one person questioned.
“That requires academic dedication that it is really hard to achieve at home.”
Homeschooling Rules in the UK
In the UK, homeschooling is a legal and viable option for parents…
- English and Welsh parents do not need permission to educate their child at home, but they must notify the school in writing if they are withdrawing their child from a school to home educate
- Scottish parents must obtain consent from their local council before withdrawing their child from school, unless the child has never attended a public school
- Parents must ensure their child receives an efficient full-time education suitable to their age, ability, and any special educational needs
- There is no requirement to follow the National Curriculum, take standard exams, or adhere to school hours
However, parents still need to ensure their little ones are being adequalty educated. Otherwise, your local council can step in.
- Your local council can make informal inquiries to ensure your child is receiving adequate education
- They may even request information about the home education provision to ensure the learning material is suitable
- If the council believes your child is falling short, it can serve a School Attendance Order or issue a notice for attendance
“When I was 14 I hated maths, hated science, tolerated English,” another wrote.
“The only thing I liked was PE. Have I needed English, maths and science in my life…. YES!!”
“School is a time for them to grow as people and make friends they will have their whole lives,” a third reasoned.
“There’s a reason a lot of us look back on school as something we loved but didn’t realise at the time.”
“So what did you teach them?” someone else asked.
“Surely it’s important to give children a wide range of subjects/topics etc?
“Have them exposed to other children etc.
“Also letting your child spend hours in front of screen isn’t great!”
To which Jason hit back: “My youngest is now earning £5k per month editing videos.
“Pretty decent. I don’t think he cares about other topics.”