Why We Shouldn’t Box Kids In #substack #shorts

24 Jul 2026 · 1 min

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In this short spoken piece, the speaker recounts a vivid anecdote about a girl who was repeatedly expelled from school for dancing on tables and chairs, only to later become the celebrated choreographer of the musical Cats. Using this story as a springboard, the speaker argues that society’s tendency to confine children within rigid expectations—"putting them in a box"—stifles the very creativity and innovation that will shape the future. The speaker emphasizes that allowing children to express themselves freely can lead to extraordinary achievements, and urges listeners, specifically addressing someone named Briar, to recognize and nurture the innovative potential of today’s youth.

Chapters

There's this beautiful story where there's this girl, and she was in school, and she would get in trouble because she was dancing on the tables all the time, dancing on the chairs, dancing all around, like all the whole time, right? So they kicked the girl out of school, and this girl went on to be the choreographer for Cats, right? And it always gives me chills because I'm like, man, if we put these people in a place where they can be themselves and flourish, they will do unbelievable things, right? I think it is one of the biggest harming things in our society right now is to be putting these kids in a box because, you know, these are the people that are going to rule the world, in my opinion, because they have the most innovative, beautiful ideas. And I think the thing that we all learn— Briar,