Children Are Political Prisoners

For me, the truth is something very sacred, one of my highest values. So it makes me very, very angry when this is violated. For a long time, I was actually held back greatly by this anger – no-one is too disposed to listening to you if you lose your head.

Let’s see if now I can talk calmly about an issue that is very sore to my heart – the education system.

I write this in the hopes that it will find its way to the screens of people who are ready to read it – most people are either blind to these ideas or they agree with them on an intellectual level but are too cowardly or too disinterested to act on them.

In the words of Steve Pavlina:

“Be someone who cares.”

(Photo credit goes to my good friend Angie).

Education

Education: what ideas does this word bring up to you? Hard work? Study? Discipline? Authority?

For some people, these painful things are simply reality. Some people though will feel a sensation – more or less strong – that learning can be easier and more joyful. Not only that, that it SHOULD be.

Have you ever noticed that it is possible to read a book effortlessly, enjoy it, and find you understand the topic it was explaining ever after without difficulty in remembering? Have you ever compared this to the relative torture that is sitting down in a library and forcing yourself to learn? You may have noticed that the second is actually less effective than the first.

Of course, effective depends on what you consider your goal. If you want to pass tests, then number 2 works better. But then you forget everything afterwards, most likely. Or you know what you need to know to pass the exam, but you find that this is different from a real working understanding. If you were a biologist – I use this example because I studied biology – you could well find that learning the Kreb’s cycle is utterly useless for what you do on the job. I know my father (a professional geneticist) can’t scribble down this mind-numbingly complicated graph by heart. He has a better way – he has a copy of it stuck on his wall which he checks up on when he needs to.

I have a very opposing philosophy of knowledge – I believe that true understanding is when you have left words and concepts behind, them having served their purpose. The narrative brings you to the conclusion, the vision, but the final result is what counts. Learning everything by rote is like climbing a ladder while trying to carry all of the rungs you’ve stepped on up with you.

I don’t think I’m special to think that though. I think it’s common sense. And I think what’s now accepted as “normal” is a group insanity made OK by collective approval.

It’s not just insanity though – it’s on purpose. There are people who want things to be hard and painful. Actually, perhaps sadism for them is a secondary pleasure, but in their goal of making mindless slaves of people they are really not worried about our suffering.

The hidden war

Anger – I was filled with it, I was made sick by it, it filled every inch of my body. The evil of the school system made me want to kill someone, destroy something, do anything to get you TO WAKE THE FUCK UP!!! And if I could find someone to bring justice to I would have, yet it seemed that everyone was playing their part in keeping the system going, at the very least with their silent, passive approval – including me. In the end I summoned all my courage up to take away my part of the approval, though there was no-one I knew who could tell me I wasn’t crazy. The best I had in this regard were a few articles on the internet which vindicated me in my convictions. All I knew was my heart couldn’t let me live a lie any longer. It was take a risk right now – or live the worst case scenario.

We are being victimised, people – our children are being destroyed, and they are growing up into feelingless machines. It makes me sick to see a child with spirit put into the prison of modern schooling, so sick. At least you can choose what you do to yourselves. But children don’t deserve this torture. How could you be so insensitive?

Am I making you uncomfortable now? Wait – don’t leave. Just ask yourself this, why would it feel uncomfortable if there weren’t a grain of truth?

If you’re still reading some part of you cares.

School is a political machine. Its purpose is to brainwash children. They must become conformist, dissatisfied, controllable, fearful, and individualist. Exams are a competition – you can admit to that at least. Why must there be competition when learning can be a cooperative thing? Why must some children be “OK” and some children be “not OK”?

That’s life? Life is hard? Fuck you, that’s not life. That’s the living death. We’re not here to struggle for survival all the time. Where would the point be in that?

We are here to love.

If you disagree with that leave right now, I don’t want you reading my blog.

Get your priorities in order and ask yourself, “Does the modern school system facilitate our purpose to express love?”

Hah, if you asked a teacher that they’d laugh in your face. Of course it doesn’t. School is about suffering through.

This isn’t what we want. What’s gone wrong here? How can we have been so asleep as to let things get this far?

A breath of fresh air

I’m not here to convince you, I’m here to invite you to take another look at what you took for granted. No-one ever changes anyone else’s mind, and I’m no exception.

Take another look. What IS school? Does it do what it says it does?

Separate your emotions from the matter. You might get a twisting feeling in your stomach that says, “It can’t be like this! Reality can’t be so cruel!” You can work on your emotions later; it might be overwhelming to break out of this mass illusion but it is possible to adapt to the feeling. Start with logic. “Does school do what it says it does? Is it for the benefit of people? Is it coherent – does it put its focus on what’s important, on what it says is important?”

If you feel this sense, this feeling of inconsistency, stay with it – your lie detector is going off.

Believe it – something is wrong.

Just take a step back and reevaluate. Relook, resee. See something new, not just what you were expecting to find.

If you feel or see that something is wrong, just notice that feeling. Stop RUNNING from it! That’s all I ask. Say out loud, “Yes, I perceive that something is wrong with the school system.”

Don’t try to act on this feeling immediately, you will need time to come to terms with it. Just stay with it. Realise you can’t hide from it, you can’t hide it, you can’t dress it up: something is wrong. Let things become clearer over time. Just remember, and observe. You grow into the truth.

What to do?

There are a few things you can do. But seeing and living the truth is maybe the first and most important. You, at least, are one person not feeding energy into the lie. That is priceless. That is powerful. If everyone were like you we wouldn’t need to do anything.

Because we have laws to force children to go to school, if you have a child you will need to find a way of defending yourself from them. There are two good ways I know of.

HOMESCHOOLING gives you the freedom to help your children learn what they want to learn in the way they want to learn it. It needs your full-time support, though. That could be a good thing, you’ll bond and share love with your children (9-5 job for mother and father and 9-5 school with all the family in separate places for most of the day – don’t think that’s not on purpose, the system wants you split as per the old adage “divide and conquer”). But then maybe you don’t feel you have time. OK, I can think of another possibility – you could find other people who see things in a like manner to you and make a community effort.

Or, you could explore FREE SCHOOLS (also known as Sudbury schools). These are expensive, but highly worth it. Research it.(You can start here).

I think sending a child to a normal school is not loving and it’s not living according to truth. I understand life is hard and sometimes there is no option, fine. But usually you plan when to have a child. Arrange your life so you can keep them out of slavery. Research it. Find a way. You owe it to them.

If you’re still of a school age, work with your parents. Depending on them you may be able to change your school system or do a home-study course. And get free of them as soon as possible and start making your own decisions.

You may think that maybe it’s easier just to accept the system as it is and not go against the tide. Of course it’s easier. But answer me this, if YOU don’t go against the tide now, who will? When will we start? Do we need to wait until the world is about to suffocate under a poison cloud before we start looking for ways of living in alignment with love? It’s all connected you know… and it all starts with the simple conviction that love is what is worth living for.

We need YOU, NOW to say “No, I refuse to give my silent approval to this system. I refuse to passively continue accepting to give my energy and lifeblood away. I DECIDE TO LIVE FOR LOVE.” Find the bravery. If you don’t have the bravery yet, just accept that you don’t, continue seeing the truth, and look for the bravery, train it, build it, find it.

It’s hard. But let me tell you, there IS life after rebellion. I’m enjoying it quite a lot

Related posts:

Childism

To find out more about how social conformity is created and encouraged, click here to read my review of the whistle-blowing work of John Taylor Gatto.