The Fight for a Real Education
Every day, he wakes up, throws his clothes on. Eats a bowl of cereal or toast, brushes his teeth, and catches the bus.
8,884 hours. eight thousand. eight hundred. eighty-four. hours. That’s how much time a typical U.S. student spends in school. Just from pre-K to senior year. That’s almost 1,300 hours more than the average of other countries.
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Seven hours. That’s about how long my school day is. Without after-school clubs, practices, or games. Sometimes, my day can be a 12 hour shift of 8 periods of classes and lunch, then sports.
Get your work done. Get good grades. Study. Study some more. Take a practice test. SAT prep. PSATs. IOWA or PARK testing. Pop quizzes. Projects. Papers. Midterms. Labs. Finals.
People always say, “thank x, y, z that you have an education! so and so didn’t even have the opportunity!”
What kind of education do you think children are receiving!?
The answer: fatigue, emotional issues, and lowering self-confidence
Every day, I have school for 6 classes. My commute is over half an hour. So, in conclusion, I’ll be up until 11 at night to 1 in the morning doing schoolwork. Every year, it gets more exhausting. And I’m only in one club, doing two sports. Some kids do three sports, five clubs, etc.
I know kids who are brilliant, sharp, and clever. They know how to take care of themselves, they know how to take care of others. They can figure up a stat book in minutes. But they’re just devoured by the school system.
“Ties and knee-high socks”, “classy teachers, expensive lockers”, “clean bathrooms, leading curriculums”. That’s what comes to mind when someone says the words “private school”.
False. Private schools mean decaying lockers, stinky bathrooms, ancient teachers who never grade anything on time or accurately. Strict dress codes; absolutely horrific rules; sexism, racism, and misogyny running rampant; scandals; garbage curriculums. Small classes=a small selection of people to befriend. You’ve got the sexist gamer boy, petty schoolgirl who learns from her mom (who’s a teacher, by the way), and the geek who isn’t smart. Private schools mean you get the same teacher for half your classes, two languages to pick from, and women only wear dresses or skirts.
Worse, the curriculum teaches you that interracial couples and mixed individuals are against “God’s plan”. The teachers teach you that “complaining is blasphemy” and “you have to be realistic with your life”(aka never having dreams). They pile work on top of you, then apologise with a fake smile plastered on for not grading the work you turned in 3 weeks ago. “I have four other classes to plan and grade for.” I HAVE SIX OTHER CLASSES.
Women are inferior to men with jutting bellies and a beard that looks ridiculous under the mask they never wear.
Girls are taught to be modest, their skirts pulled down to their knees.
Boys should have (directly quoted:) “excessive testosterone”, never having emotions.
This is ridiculous.
And the diversity? You’ve got a black kid in the building, throw an “international” from anywhere in Asia, and you’ve made a B+ on Niche.com. The occasional mixed kid and adopted Asian are at a loss for words.
The parents make racist jokes, expecting the non-white students to laugh it off; people ask Asians what the slur is for them; teachers say the n-word. No joke, no lie.
And nobody pays attention to this. Teachers turn a blind eye on their favourites, who are fucking in the limo during “formal” (the normal people’s prom), drunk as a brokenhearted bachelor. The whole school revolves around a social system that is based on money and racism (the more racist you are, the more likely you’ll fit in).
Even the public schools have a problem. In my hometown, if you win a lottery, you land in a public with white kids with mommy issues and a whole lot of money and alcohol. If you don’t win the lottery, you’re in a school where kids are (literally) stabbed on the bus. If you’re not in a gang, you’re nothing. And the teachers pass by like it’s not there. Or worse, they’re raped or knifed up. Some teachers are passing kids who deserve Fs. They don’t work for it, they don’t even personally care about it. And the kids who should have As? They’re either dead, working for someone else, or trying to fly under the radar about it.
It’s right there, it’s right in front of you. Nobody ever says anything about it. Nobody ever does anything about it. Most parents (mine included) don’t realize it, and they don’t take action upon it.
We’re sitting up in our bedrooms, crying our eyes out, just trying to find the answer to number 17 because 40 minutes of work on it has gotten us nowhere. There are kids who cut because, if they don’t make it to a C, they’ll have to take summer school. Meaning, they won’t be able to see their divorced mom who lives 13 hours away over the summer, the only time they have a shot at seeing them.
WHEN WILL YOU STOP STARING AT THE SUN AND LET YOUR FUCKING EYES SEE?
WHEN WILL YOU PULL THE COTTON OUT AND LET YOUR FUCKING EARS HEAR?
WHEN WILL YOU TAKE YOUR HANDS OUT OF YOUR POCKETS AND LET YOUR FUCKING HANDS DO?
meanwhile, we are all dying in the education system (worldwide, actually).
and if you think students are the only ones who feel it, go look up Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Dolly Parton, hell, fucking Cillian Murphy for God’s sake!
