But the road to freedom is long

They did this shit at my school way back when Columbine had just happened!

Naturally, we invented all sorts of bullshit ways to carry our shit, because what the fuck, we need backpacks. 

My favourites included: 

-Fishing rod with twine tied around two pencils and a small pocket notebook.

-Tons of people got those little clear plastic bags they have in grocery stores for fruit and shit, and used them as see-through pencil cases 

Note: THEY PROCEEDED TO THEN ALSO BAN THE BAGS AS “CHOKING HAZARDS”. WE WERE NOT THREE YEAR OLDS. OUR HEADS DIDN’T EVEN FIT IN THE FUCKING BAGS, AND BELIEVE ME, WE TRIED AS SOON AS THEY ANNOUNCED THE BAN, BECAUSE MOST OF US WOULD RATHER HAVE DIED THAN BEEN IN FUCKING SCHOOL BY THAT POINT. DID THEY THINK WE WERE GONNA STUFF THE BAGS DOWN OUR THROATS? CHRIST.)

-One kid dressed up like a priest and used the loose fabric of the cassock to carry three text books around all day. 

-Someone hollowed out a fucking loaf of bread, pretended to be French all day, and made a show out of pulling a ridiculous number of highlighters out of this fucking bread in the middle of class. 

Now that I think about it, I think that kid invented Panera Bread by accident. Y’know, the little bread soup bowls? This was that, but with highlighters instead of soup. 

Eventually, things escalated, and the principal called the police after he went to the parking lot and found his car broken into– Nothing was stolen, but there were about 5000 fucking backpacks stuffed in his car, to the point that the door wouldn’t even open.

… and that’s if you had a choice to go in the first place.

What sane people refuse to comprehend is that psychiatry is militarized. It is built around the fundamental assumption that there are certain people who must be controlled through the application of force, if necessary. If you are one of those people it is impossible to interact with the ‘help’ they seem to want us to get without being threatened, or worse.

—

from “No Means Force” at Dave Hingsburger’s blog.

This is important. It doesn’t just apply to little girls and other children, though it often begins there.

For the marginalized, our “no’s” are discounted as frivolous protests, rebelliousness, or anger issues, or we don’t know what we’re talking about, or we don’t understand what’s happening.

When “no means force” we become afraid to say no.

this only worsened after seeing this segment on the school news that featured various stupid stuff caught on the hallway cameras, like people falling down or readjusting their underwear when they thought the hallways were empty. 

but they werent. there was someone watching, and they forgot to police their behavior and ended up getting embarrassed for it. everyone laughed at this segment. i remember the classroom being filled with snickers as someone fell flat on their face. i wasn’t a “superwoke” kid or anything, but i didnt think this was funny. i thought it was scary. what if that was me? what if i got caught fixing a wedgie on camera without even knowing it? 

i remember these cameras being used for everything – spotting dress code violations, catching students skipping class, etc. you can argue that they shouldnt have broken the rules, sure, but that doesnt excuse the concept of Being Constantly Watched. 

and what about the times when they weren’t doing something wrong? like when they were walking back from the bathroom or tripping over their own feet? did that warrant embarrassment and shame from their watchful spectators? does existing in a school hallway warrant surveillance? 

this brings me to the concept of anti-shooter architecture. there is a rising interest in school layouts that prepare for the possibility of a shooter roaming the halls. these improvements include bulletproof glass, concrete cover, and…. something scary. 

many of these highschool floor plans include some type of circular or central “watch tower” feature, and the designers actively boast about it being a panopticon. a panopticon. the same thing they use in prisons to enforce the idea that the prisoners are always being watched, though they can never really know when. 

what kind of effect will “anti-shooter architecture” have on kid’s minds? the constant threat of violence is already taking its toll on teenagers who have undergone active shooter drills, and this concept of air-tight security (clear backpacks, metal detectors, camera surveillance, constantly locked doors, etc) is not really an environment you would want to raise a child in, so why are we sticking kids in schools like that for 7-8 hours a day?

which leads into the next thing. many people’s solution to this is more guns, which equates to police presence in schools. ive already seen videos coming out of school cops beating black kids and ordering muslim girls to take off their hijabs. but beyond the racism and xenophobia, it’s another (now living) reminder of the unsafe environment these kids find themselves in. another reminder that theyre being watched and their behavior is being judged according to the law, or whatever the cop or teachers find inappropriate. that standing up for themselves or arguing can be taken as hostile and warrant physical intervention. 

police presence on campus grounds is DIRECTLY used to suppress student activism. you know that.i know that. we know that. you remember that photo of the cop spraying a line of peaceful protesters? you remember that cop that tackled a student for holding a sign? you remember the fucking car fuls of kids that were arrested for protesting? 

police are our enemy, but they can be found in plenty of highschools and colleges now. even in elementary schools, where young children are being taught to obey and trust cops. the conditioning is being started young, and if you don’t conform to it, you become a watched enemy on your own campus. 

The prosecution called Giroux, the caseworker, as its only witness. In response to questions from Grace’s attorney, she acknowledged she did not know what type of educational disabilities Grace had and did not answer a question about what accommodations those disabilities might require. Her assessment that Grace hadn’t done her schoolwork was based on a comment her mother made to her teacher, which Charisse testified she said in a moment of frustration and was untrue.

Grace’s special education teacher, Tarpeh, could have provided more information and planned to testify but had to leave the hearing to teach a class, according to the prosecutor.

Grace and her mother testified that she was handling her schoolwork more responsibly — and that she had permission to turn in her assignments at her own pace, as long as she finished by the end of the semester. And, Charisse said, Grace was behaving and not causing her any physical harm.

The transition to virtual school had been difficult, Grace testified, but she said she was making progress. “I just needed time to adjust to the schedule that my mom had prepared for me,” she said.

Brennan was unconvinced. Grace’s probation, she told her, was “zero tolerance, for lack of a better term.”

She sent her to detention. Grace was taken out of the courtroom in handcuffs.

so let me tell you, in case you haven't heard this ever, that in my experience, being an adult is 100x better than being a kid or teenager. being able to more or less control my living space and who i spend time with, being able to prioritize my health and wellbeing, being able to be who i truly am and pursue my interests and hobbies... all of that is worth the other dumb stuff, and none of it was possible when i was a minor. honestly, I've just gotten happier and happier the older I've gotten.

1) Set a schedule that works for me. I work second shift specifically so I can stay up late and get up late. Can’t do that with school.

2) Collect whatever cool, weird shit I want. Buttons? Sure. Anime merch? You got it. Many many skeins of weirdly-colored yarn I may never use? I have four whole tubs of it.

3) Control my own wardrobe.

4) My periods got shorter and way less sucky in terms of cramps, accidentally turning my bed into a murder zone, etc. I have been the miserable ball of pain with ten days of nausea and heavy bleeding and cramping, and now I’m that asshole you all hate who has the three-day periods that are mostly spotting. A lot of people who menstruate report this kind of shift happening.

5) I still get acne from time to time (especially in a mask), but it’s not nearly as bad as my late teens/early 20s, and I know better now how to minimize it and make it go away faster. (A good facial cleanser. A good facial cleanser. Don’t waste your time with that Clean n Clear crap. Invest in something like Clinique or Oil of Olay and make sure you use moisturizer. I use Arbonne. It will change your life.)

6) I haven’t yet done this because I want to plan it perfectly first, but: go to a hotel with a spa, by myself, get a mani/pedi/facial/massage, chill in the hot tub, go up to my room, and laze around all evening in a very posh bathrobe and I don’t have to tell anyone where I am. “I’m going to be unavailable for the night” is a completely legitimate thing you can do.

7) As you develop life experience, you develop perspective. That is why when I skinned my knee at age six I screamed and cried and was inconsolable for an hour, long after the pain had faded, but this past March I cut my thumb so badly I needed four stitches and my response was to swear (because ow), look at it, and go “huh. That’s not good. I should probably see if my roommate can take me to the ER” and then I went and did that with no tears shed and no screaming. It’s true of physical pain and it’s true of emotional pain, too. You become able to just kind of take a step back and say “how bad is this really?” and realize that quite often, it isn’t actually that bad.

8) I get to pick what’s on TV and I get to pick what flavor of ice cream to buy to eat while watching it.

9) No fucking homework.

10) I was in my mid-20s before I found my tribe. The “weird anime kids” at cons are now all my children and neither I nor they make the rules, that’s just how it is. As you get older, you find other people who love the things you love, and you connect, and those friendships are wonderful.

12. You can start all those hobbies you couldn't afford or weren't allowed to. Your free time is your own.

13. You can do the dishes or make your bed or take out the trash later if you don't want to right now. You will have to. But you only need to explain to yourself that you're tired or want to do something else right now.

14. ADULT FUN is not just like sex and alcohol. You can get in a hot air balloon. You can bungee jump. Go on all roller-coasters you want, no age rules or lack of permission. You can decide to go on a plane tomorrow if you can arrange it.

15. NO. DAMN. HOMEWORK. I didn't fully realise how fucked up the concept of homework was and how stressed it made me until it was over. Adults who call you whiny are dumbasses. Going to work is at least better than school and homework.

16. No one can tell you not to cut or dye your hair! You can get tattoos! Your body is your own, basically.

17. Your space is also your own. Even if you rent, you'll feel freer than in a room people can barge in.

18. You can eat when and what you want.

19. You don't have to see any relatives you don't like anymore. If you go to family functions, you can leave whenever you want.

23) If you’re the anime con type, you can go for all 3-4 days without a parent’s permission now. (Or go for just one if that’s your jam. It’s up to you.) And you don’t have to skip the first half of Friday!

Do not use the website called Sci-Hub!

It lets people access scientific articles for free. This is dangerous. It helps the free flow of knowledge and reduces the competitive edge of all the people who worked really hard to have been born into a wealth.

Like, it’s literally a website where you can type in the DOI of an article and read it, without ever having to pay the publisher who exploited the author.