BESTOWING HAPPINESS:
This component is given extra attention, asit is arguably the core principle of Neill's educational philosophy.
Neill believes that the road to happiness is the only way to lifelongfreedom, growth, and learning. This concept is best captured in an excerpt fromNeill's book Summerhill (1960). The excerpt is as follows:
"True freedom practiced in community living, as inSummerhill, seems to do for the many what psychoanalysis does for theindividual. It releases what is hidden. It is a breath of fresh air blowingthrough the soul to cleanse it of self-hatred and hatred of others.
The battle for youth is one with the gloves off. None of us can beneutral. We must take one side or the other: AUTHORITY or FREEDOM; DISCIPLINE orSELF-GOVERNMENT. No half measures will do. The situation is too urgent.
To be a free soul, happy in work, happy in friendship, and happyin love or to be a miserable bundle of conflicts, hating one's self and hatinghumanity - one or the other is the legacy that parents and teachers give toevery child.
How can happiness be bestowed? My answer is:Abolish authority. Let the child be him or herself. Don't push him or heraround. Don't lecture him or her. Don't elevate him or her. Don't force him orher to do anything. It may not be your answer. But if you reject my answer, itis incumbent on you to find a better one."