SCHOOL'S OUT
The year is 2020. You’ve probably noticed that the world is falling apart.
A pandemic has killed hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, and the numbers keep on going up, up, up, every day.
And yet, American schools will be opening back up again in the fall. Is this because they’re worried about you and your education? No. They don’t care about you. They don’t care about your parents. For them, it’s just about making money. Stupid, right?
Listen, I am here to tell you that just because the schools will be open, and just because your parents may be telling you to go back - you don’t have to go. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do!
Even before the pandemic, I hated school. The untrustworthy teachers. The mean classmates. The impossible standards. The sneaking suspicion that the whole thing was just a boring waste of time. I couldn’t wait to get out of there as soon as the bell rang every day.
School was a very oppressive environment for me, and the thought of you and your friends being shoved through that door like sardines and getting infected in fucking biology class just breaks my heart. Honestly. It doesn’t have to be this way. Don’t let them do this to you.
From elementary school through the end of high school, we live very structured lives. These years are basically mapped out for us, and as long as we follow the rules and pay attention, we’ll make it to graduation.
Because of this, the year 2020 must be very difficult for some of you to deal with, since it has been a year all about realizing that these structures that we were taught to believe in and obey, are not only unnecessary, but suddenly crumbling all around us.
Don’t let yourself crumble as well. You have more power than you think. Don’t get on the school bus. Don’t walk. Don’t go in that front door. This virus transmits through the air, and if you really think schools with a couple hundred or thousand people are going to all be wearing masks and washing their hands all day, you’re kidding yourself. Some grown-ups, hell, even the president thinks that wearing a mask is dumb. Don’t listen to them! Their friends are getting sick and dying because they refused to take this seriously, and they are the reason your friends are going to get sick and die too, if you do what they tell you.
Protect yourself. Protect your friends.
Look, you’re smarter than they think you are. You don’t need to go through 12 years of school just to have a voice, you have one right now, so please, use it.
Do you want specific advice? Grab that extra set of house keys from under your front doormat or fake rock or wherever it’s hidden, and put it in your pocket. If your parents force you onto the bus, or drive you to school on their way to work, wait 15 minutes, then turn around and head back home. Let yourself inside, and play some video games or reed a book or something. Ok, you’re probably not going to read books, that’s fine. With our phones and ~ the internet ~, you can get all the education and entertainment you need without even getting out of your bed.
So this fall, let your parents know that School’s Out. You’re not going to go anywhere you don’t want to go. You’re not going to do anything you don’t want to do. School’s Out! Stay home, stay safe, and one day when we finally get our act together and beat this pandemic, a time will come when school is just boring and oppressive once again, without the looming threat of a deadly virus adding insult to injury.
If this stops just one of you from going back to school, it was worth it.
School’s out.
I AM.
YOU ARE.
DEJA DEAD.
