Kids are hardwired to love learning, they will never stop asking questions and exploring the world.

Schools quash that curious spirit. They put kids in a boring, prison-like, highly regimented environment that seeks to teach discipline and obedience to the status quo. Don't think, accept your role in the capitalist machine. If you are bullied, no one will help you, but if you fail to complete work you will be punished. Most of all, get used to not owning most of your time.

Take note of this and try to rekindle your child-like curiousity and love of learning. Ask yourself, do you still have questions about the universe you forgot to ask as a child? Read about the planets, the stars, microbes, machines. But most importantly, do it at your own pace and do it because you still have questions. Not to pass some test, but for you.

  • OutrageousHairdo [he/him]
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    edit-2
    3 years ago

    I think it depends on the school. I've had a school career where I went from underfunded public schools to rich asshole schools and everywhere in between, but all schools embodied at least part of your message. Rich dickhead school was super duper tiny, a bunch of rich republican shitheads with small businesses or w/e send their kids there. My family, who are fortunately not republican shitheads, tell me a bunch of teachers there quit since I left because admin doesn't enforce pandemic rules. It honestly felt very amateur, like the whole place is barely running at all, not for lack of money (they got loads) but from poor management. They had like ridiculous workload, I only passed because I had a stimulant prescription, and even then if they hadn't banned all cell phones from being even brought on campus I'd have failed for sure because I have hella ADHD. No clue how anyone else did it. There were a few times I got bullied in rich dickhead school but I always just punched them or smth and they went crying to principal and I got a small vacation. The bullies there always felt very... fake, to me, like even when they were physically way stronger than me they always folded the moment you showed any resistance. Admin never interfered when it's someone picking on you, you had to have "a fight" before they cared. My parents absolutely hated when that happened but I don't particularly regret it, I never seriously hurt anyone. One time I legit had like a mental break like in fucking Rimworld or some shit, I was so stressed I kinda just sat in a chair and didn't go anywhere until they sent my parents to come get me lol. Before that I was in a (only slightly) underfunded public elementary school, and their basic strategy was to give everyone work that was so mind-numbingly easy that anyone who didn't have a total dogshit home life could get it done pretty easy. There were more than a few people there who did have a terrible home life, household, whatever that got in the way of things, but I never got a good view into any of their lives because I was young and privileged and never thought to ask. This was also the school that basically put me in a box when I acted out lmao. Like they had this room, really tiny, like ~1-2 square meter floor space, barely big enough to fit a plastic chair, where they just make you sit and there's nothing in it. There was one specific one in the school my ass would get sent to because I guess ND kids are too much for underpaid teachers or w/e, but I think some classrooms had their own individual ones as add-ons. My last year before college was at a decently big and well-funded public school, that was probably the best because I actually had time to do what I want, and as a senior I could even leave campus during lunch. They also had actual electives and AP courses, which was a step up from rich asshole school, so that's nice. I never took the time to get to know anyone who was there, but everybody was super nice, never got fucked with or anything. Even with mostly AP courses it was way easier and less stressful than rich school.