A.S. Neill repeatedly expressed the following ideal in his book Summerhill: Children are good by nature. If only you give them enough respect and care, and allow them to freely develop, they will develop sincere and healthy characters, and achieve the humanitarian goal of "working happily, living actively."
尼爾在「夏山學校」一書中反覆闡釋的理念是：孩子天性良善，只要給予足夠的尊重和關愛，任他自由發展，就會成就真誠健全的人格，達到「快樂工作、積極生活」的人生目標。