Education: School Without Rules

At Burgess Hill School near London, two seven-year-olds strolled into the recreation room. "Got a match?" asked one. "Sure," said the other. The boys were puffing away, when suddenly the headmaster appeared. "Hi, Jimmy," they said with friendly smiles. Waving back with kind disinterest, James East, M.A. (Cantab.), explained to a visitor: "Kids always smoke, and I'd rather know about it than have it done in secret."

Burgess Hill is the tight little isle's loosest "freedom" (progressive) school. Shunning all rules, it allows boys and girls aged 7 to 17 to smoke, swear, pet, go barefoot, stay dirty—and study only if they...

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