sit down and shut up
we are taught from day one
don't go off topic don't lie down don't get up
just memorize what's written on the board and calm down when enough is enough
i asked a class of 25
what emotion's most prominent in them
15 said that's it's stress
5 are probably thinking of death
but two teens say it's happiness
fucking two out of 30
TWO sixteen year olds feel happy above all else
we're taught from day one that we're not here for fun, we're here to "learn"
pass your classes or you'll crash and burn
you need a job, and you need a degree
you need to learn to read, write and speak
in a way that a fucking computer can grade
more like we need these tests for funding so you need to get an A
our value and our human worth compressed to what facts you can recall rather than the ideas you express , what you stand up for and your own unique outlets
memorize these vocab words
quadratics and radicals
4 years of history, texas, us, and who cares what else
but they don't teach us how to cope
how to cook or how to vote
or the democracy they continue preach yet we graduate and still barely know what it means because we grow up in a system where we need permission to go to the fucking restroom, to stretch or to speak
learning itself, I absolutely adore,
about different cultures and language, types of birds and trees, even math and human biology
but competing for who ranks the highest
in standards they want us to meet
is not my ideal method of expanding my knowledge
but school is so important right? learn to be a member of society
how to work together and cooperate with your peers, how to sit still in a desk for 12 some-odd years
but where is our freedom to find ourselves
when do I discover what makes me me? or how to take care of myself if put out on the street?
all we learn is to do what we're told
and memorize facts that are too quick to grow old
we're told from day one that there's no rush to grow up
but what do you expect
if while we're young we're only allowed to sit down and shut up?
