The Truth About School

Tue, 10/27/2015 - 13:42 -- j.luu
So here’s the deal:
 
You’ll spend 8 hours in a building
where they’ll teach you math and science,
but the only things you’ll learn are to
keep your mouth shut and
your eyes on your own paper.
8 hours in a building where
they’ll shove down your throat
that school is important, BUT NO.
Education is important.
School has led me to believe that
my GPA is more important than my health,
that it reflects my intelligence
and defines my worth.
I have learned that my age
invalidates my problems,
that if I’m still in school,
I shouldn’t have any
and that if I do, “they’re not 'real.'”
The greatest lessons I’ve learned
were never formally taught.
You’ll fail a kid for not doing his homework,
but I guess finding “x” is more important than
finding where his little sister ran off to this time
because that is the only lesson he’ll learn.
They’ll teach you again and again to
raise your hand, use your manners,
listen before you speak, always write your last name too,
but they forget to teach themselves that
respect is a two way street.
I was taught to make decisions for myself,
but have learned that a bell has more say
in when I can go than my bladder does,
that I should be myself and express myself
unless others feel uncomfortable about my life decisions.
I was taught that everyone is different
in their own special way,
but have learned that failing a standardized test means
you’re not smart enough, that being a talented singer, writer, or painter
won’t get you anywhere if you can’t graph a function.
They taught us to stand up for ourselves and what we believe in,
but I’ve learned that if you stick up for yourself,
you’re saying “STICK IT UP YOURS!”
Page 12 of the agenda states that clothes with pictures or references to
guns or drugs, offensive language, sexual content, or phallic symbols
will not be allowed and a boy gets a warning for a sweater
that says “FUCK YOU” across the chest,
but God forbid you see my bra straps?
And excuse me for choosing to wear a dress
that goes down to my knees, but do not send me home
because some penis person wants to sexualize my body.
I was taught that mental health is just as important as physical health,
but have learned that it’s more important to finish your homework
than get enough sleep, even if it means you’ll have a mental breakdown,
that you’ll be shamed for staying home
due to stress, but not a headache.
I have learned that going to school and doing your work
is more important that your actual education.
8 hours a day,
5 days a week,
26 weeks a year,
for 13 years
and the only lessons I’ve learned were
never
even
taught. 
This poem is about: 
Our world

Comments

thegrandpineapple

Wow, this is great! So true too. The education system here is really a mess. I agree. 

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