In the world of education, there have been many arguments about which way of learning could benefit the most people. Some agree that the system we have now is the pinnacle of what we can do to help younger generations learn. However, there is definitely more we could do so the next firemen or police officers in line don't make the same mistakes we have. One of these things is autonomy, the chance to build a new road for one's self. Who wouldn't love the true freedom to become anything by just working to improve skills? One of these bits of autonomy is the chance to try distance learning.

What is distance learning? It is when a child decides to take school from home, online, or have video courses with a teacher. It isn't exactly homeschooling or tutoring, in the sense that instead of having a family member, or specialized teacher come to enlighten; rather, it is when a teacher from the school that the student has probably gone to takes the time to teach one-on-one, along with online courses. As of now, only a percentage of schools allow this, but if this opportunity were introduced to more schools, the whole county would have a higher success overall for two reasons: it helps those who learn better in a small environment, and there isn't the stress of actually going to school.

There are many children all over the world with social anxiety, learning disabilities, or who are just very introverted. When compared to the much more prominent demographic, they are often looked over and left out. If, however, we put them in a more solitary environment, they most likely would excel in academic studies, due to it being less stressful for them. Just imagine people running all about, bumping into and pushing others, when they normally can't even go up to the staff to ask for help. Having the choice of distance learning could take away that stress, and open a whole new road for them to go.

There are others that, unlike the people in the last paragraph, love socializing. They go out a lot, talk with their friends every day, and just love being around people, but there is just one problem; they absolutely loathe the school system and the way it sucks the life out of them. Well, if they tried distance learning, those students wouldn't have the troubles of the system lingering over them, and they could just get the work done. Sure, one would say that it takes away valuable social time, but if one thinks about it, it could also leave some free time to hang out with friends. Having that option, they wouldn't have to worry about whether or not they're precisely following the rules, if they're causing too much of a ruckus, or simply about what others might think of them.

Autonomy is a wonderful thing. It's nice to just relax and not feel like you have to go down a certain path. I do agree, though, that there needs to be some rules so people won't take advantage of everything. Distance learning is the very middle of those two extremes, understanding that one has the power to be anything they want as long as they work hard, while also knowing that there are still certain tasks they need to accomplish, and certain rules they need to abide by while doing said task. If we all let the small stars shine, they will shine brighter than any other.