Shorter Verbatim Oliver Willis:
The idea that the majority of kids are going to choose to do schoolwork versus screwing around is batty. When I was young I was what you would call studious, nerdy, etc. and I actually liked school. But if I had been given a choice, I would have messed around. That’s what kids do.
You ever get the feeling that some righteous thunderers are not all that self-aware? This on the heels of a gripe about how African kids want books and clothes to go to school while American kids want iPods and sneakers. The contradiction from the beginning to the end of the above short paragraph could give you whiplash. He liked school but given the choice(?), he would have “messed around.”
He needs constant supervision, he thinks he was a representative kid, so all kids need supervision/no kids can be trusted to make good choices. Sounds like a younger Bill Bennett.