RIP School Survival Forums
August 2001 - June 2017

The School Survival Forums are permanently retired. If you need help with quitting school, unsupportive parents or anything else, there is a list of resources on the Help Page.

If you want to write about your experiences in school, you can write on our blog.

To everyone who joined these forums at some point, and got discouraged by the negativity and left after a while (or even got literally scared off): I'm sorry.

I wasn't good enough at encouraging people to be kinder, and removing people who refuse to be kind. Encouraging people is hard, and removing people creates conflict, and I hate conflict... so that's why I wasn't better at it.

I was a very, very sensitive teen. The atmosphere of this forum as it is now, if it had existed in 1996, would probably have upset me far more than it would have helped.

I can handle quite a lot of negativity and even abuse now, but that isn't the point. I want to help people. I want to help the people who need it the most, and I want to help people like the 1996 version of me.

I'm still figuring out the best way to do that, but as it is now, these forums are doing more harm than good, and I can't keep running them.

Thank you to the few people who have tried to understand my point of view so far. I really, really appreciate you guys. You are beautiful people.

Everyone else: If after everything I've said so far, you still don't understand my motivations, I think it's unlikely that you will. We're just too different. Maybe someday in the future it might make sense, but until then, there's no point in arguing about it. I don't have the time or the energy for arguing anymore. I will focus my time and energy on people who support me, and those who need help.

-SoulRiser

The forums are mostly read-only and are in a maintenance/testing phase, before being permanently archived. Please use this time to get the contact details of people you'd like to keep in touch with. My contact details are here.

Please do not make a mirror copy of the forums in their current state - things will still change, and some people have requested to be able to edit or delete some of their personal info.


Post Reply 
 
Thread Rating:
  • 1 Vote(s) - 5 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
The principles that school REALLY tries to teach.
Author Message
KFC Nyan Cat Away
suck 360 blazeit hooks

Posts: 1,034
Joined: Feb 2013
Thanks: 491
Given 244 thank(s) in 167 post(s)
Post: #1
The principles that school REALLY tries to teach.

You know that school has certain principles they want to teach. They lie and say that they want to teach positive principles, and they lie about the principles they want to teach . Here are the REAL ones.

1. Competitiveness
They say that they want to encourage people to work together, but that isn't true. The reality is that they want us to compete more than they want us to work together. If you don't like working together, fine. But they also discourage leaving eachother alone. Why? Because it's good for business. School wants to raise us to become businesspeople because buisiness is good for the economy.

2. Disunity (what's the word for that?)
I know this girl who is a CRAZY Adventure Time fangirl, and she constantly is trying to make me, every other fan I've seen of a show that I like (You should know which one it is,) and every anime fan look like stupid fanboys and fangirls, but she's INSANE. None of us have really own anime/showthatwillremainanonymous merchandise or anything. We just talk about it sometimes. Yet she owns at least 12 Adventure Time shirts. She told the principal to stop me and al the other anonshow and anime fans from talking about it. Then, she was told to keep arguing then they will shut up. I believe this is all a ploy to make us all enemies because that's good for business, which is great for the economy. The worst part is that my school denies it.

3. "Deal with it" attitude
School just wants you to wade through everything instead of change it. I wouldn't be alive if people didn't try to change things (I'm mixed black and white.) Probably the most promminent one in society. You see, they don't want you quitting boring jobs because those are usually the ones that are good for the economy.

4. Unhelpfulness
My school teachers all have one thingn in common: They HATE it when kids ask other kids for help. They stop it by saying "he can do it on his own" even though he asked for help. Asking for help is bad for business because it takes time.

5. PESSIMISM
Once this one starts, it rarely stops (case in point: School Survival users.) They want to get you pessimistic about your future with grades. If you have bad grades, they want you to feel very sad and depressed to make you do better so your parents will stop making you depressed. This will motivate in your you because that's how the jobs that we want you to have work.

Yeah, they pretty much keep you learning negative principles about life because they want you to be ready for a miserable job that helps the economy.

City YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/kfcnyancat
City Tumblr: http://kfcnyancat.tumblr.com (no longer operational due to personal issues)

"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" - Donald Rumsfeld

For anyone who remembers me going on an archive binge: Thank you all. I know I ended it being a drama queen, I don't really agree with the ideology anymore, and I'm really not the same person I was (I went through a neopagan phase!) but still this site was the first online community I was in. I graduated from school and turned 18. Time flies. KFC Nyan Cat, June 20, 2019.
01-13-2014 03:00 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
 Thanks given by: xcriteria , no , Unknown-Creation , Synth , Ky , The man , Avatar Korra , Depression101
Symbol Offline
Weirdo

Posts: 94
Joined: Mar 2013
Thanks: 2
Given 26 thank(s) in 13 post(s)
Post: #2
The principles that school REALLY tries to teach.

Schools should change to suit the students, not the other way around.
01-13-2014 03:03 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
 Thanks given by: Superkamiguru , The man
brainiac3397 Offline
Machiavellian Amoeba

Posts: 9,823
Joined: Feb 2013
Thanks: 20
Given 1983 thank(s) in 1428 post(s)
Post: #3
RE: The principles that school REALLY tries to teach.

Competitiveness isnt a major probleem. The major problem is dirty scoundrel competitiveness. The "Hehe Ima ruin your chances and screw up your life because its all a competition and I must win!".

Taken to the extremely logical sense, a robot might say "Kill the competition. Thus remains the first".

Personality DNA Report
(06-14-2013 08:02 AM)Potato Wrote:  watch the fuq out, we've got an "intellectual" over here.

Hidden stuff:
[Image: watch-out-we-got-a-badass-over-here-meme-240x180.png]
Brainiac3397's Mental Health Status Log Wrote:[Image: l0Iy5HKskJO5XD3Wg.gif]
01-13-2014 06:05 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
xcriteria Offline
Fanatic

Posts: 3,090
Joined: Oct 2005
Thanks: 814
Given 930 thank(s) in 612 post(s)
Post: #4
RE: The principles that school REALLY tries to teach.

@kfcnyancat, this is a good list, but I don't think that these "lessons" are good for the economy. Instead, the modern economy needs people who are passionate, motivated, creative and innovative. The economy needs people who can find their way amid all kinds of choices... and find or create jobs that work for them.

Just going through the path school prescribes isn't an automatic guarantee of participation in the economy... so the economy itself requires school to change.

In general, though, I don't think schools themselves are motivated primarily by considerations about the economy. I think they operate on the premise that graduation, college, and finding jobs is just how reality works, and that's it's good for you.

Have you seen Ken Robinson's animated talk, Changing Education Paradigms [12m]?

In it, he describes this disconnect.

The reality is that "factory-model schools" are based on a vision of adult life that doesn't necessarily line up with life beyond the walls of schools.

However, some schools exist, and more are being planned and developed, based on different visions. I've now taken part in 3 different MOOCs (massive open online courses) based on courses in graduate schools of education. They all talk about different, more student-centric ways to do education.

(The "New School Creation" MOOC in my sig is the latest one.)

Here's an example video from this course:



Watch on YouTube

You can see a theme that's common in many other talks. Schools need to change. The common model if schools people complain about on School Survival don't make sense in the 21st century. Many people are talking about this outside of schools, in more innovative schools, and even some of those who teach in "factory-model schools."

And yet, the common theme in school stories on School Survival is that of a meaningless, prison-like, "shut-up-and-deal-with-it" atmosphere, with no apparent path in most cases to even discussing the problems with anyone in school or at home.

Peter Gray & allies launching the Alliance for Self-directed Education

ASDE Newsletters: #1 Announcement | #2 History of ASDE | #6 Education Liberation


School Survival & Catalyst Learning Network featured on AlternativestoSchool's blog
“Mom, Dad, can I stop going to school?”

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking when the Stakes are High

Hidden stuff:
(This post was last modified: 01-13-2014 06:17 AM by xcriteria.)
01-13-2014 06:16 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
xcriteria Offline
Fanatic

Posts: 3,090
Joined: Oct 2005
Thanks: 814
Given 930 thank(s) in 612 post(s)
Post: #5
RE: The principles that school REALLY tries to teach.

kfcnyancat Wrote:they pretty much keep you learning negative principles about life

This is what Justin Schwamm calls "factory-model thinking." But, I don't think there's a "because" in there. The "because" isn't because of the economy, but because of the prevalent idea within schools, that this is the nature of life in general.

The actual economy does have a lot of people who don't like their jobs, but it has plenty of room for people to pursue passions and find work that they can thrive in. This isn't a story you tend to hear about in school, but it's just as much a part of the economy than the dystopian lives too many people live in... because that's the vision of life they absorbed from their parents and schools.

This blog post by Justin provides some insight into the problem:

Steps and Setbacks, V (July 26, 2013.)

Quote:Those Good Old Days, I realize, are a lie. They’re a lie we tell ourselves, like the lie about Better Times Ahead that will, magically and effortlessly, appear if we just keep our heads down, close that door, do that worksheet, fill out that form. Factory-thinking, as Seth Godin keeps pointing out, reinforces those lies; the factory appeals because it’s a “safe” place, because They tell you what to do, because there’s a nice safe salary, good benefits, and the golden shining promise of Retirement and Better Times Ahead. And in the meantime there are things to buy, things to accumulate, things to replace, neighbors to compete with. And don’t forget the vacation you might just be able to take if you’re lucky!

It’s hard to let go of the factory-vision … hard, but necessary. My great-grandparents would have been puzzled, even repelled by it; earlier ancestors would have been horrified; my own future grandchildren and great-grandchildren will doubtless wonder how anyone could have believed such nonsense. While Ms. X and other friends shriek in anger and fear at the death of the factory, there’s an amazing consensus building about what schools and other learning environments might look like in a post-factory world.

(Read the whole post for more...)

Justin, like a number of people I've met, wants to start new schools and build new learning environments... but the critical factor is often how will they will earn a living, and provide "credibility" that parents and students are so used to getting from school. (Graduation credits, college credits, and the supposedly-guaranteed path a place in the economy... or some alternative.)

So, it's a big puzzle. But, I think what we're doing here on School Survival is a step toward building a new kind of learning environment. Writing posts like this is every bit of a real writing project as something assigned by school, and it should be every bit as credible.

Figuring out why school does what it does is one tough endeavor, but in short, it may not have as good a reason as it claims. And there's more than one way to do learning!

(I'm thinking about how posts about what school is "REALLY" like for so many, might be shown to the educators in these "change education" courses... in a way that inspires them to think about these dilemmas and problems in the lived experience of so many students. What will their schools and learning environments do to "REALLY" change things?)

What do you think?

Peter Gray & allies launching the Alliance for Self-directed Education

ASDE Newsletters: #1 Announcement | #2 History of ASDE | #6 Education Liberation


School Survival & Catalyst Learning Network featured on AlternativestoSchool's blog
“Mom, Dad, can I stop going to school?”

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking when the Stakes are High

Hidden stuff:
(This post was last modified: 01-13-2014 06:18 AM by xcriteria.)
01-13-2014 06:17 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
WhatEvenIsThis Offline
Someone Else

Posts: 242
Joined: Sep 2013
Thanks: 20
Given 99 thank(s) in 49 post(s)
Post: #6
RE: The principles that school REALLY tries to teach.

(01-13-2014 03:00 AM)kfcnyancat Wrote:  1. Competitiveness
They say that they want to encourage people to work together, but that isn't true. The reality is that they want us to compete more than they want us to work together. If you don't like working together, fine. But they also discourage leaving eachother alone. Why? Because it's good for business. School wants to raise us to become businesspeople because buisiness is good for the economy.

I am very bad at cooperating, because I just automaticly do things when I feel like doing it, like a fast reaction or something, and I am always afraid that I do something wrong that would hurt the others in any way.
I never want to become a shitty businessman, these people suck ass. I want to be someone that actually does something good for humans in general, like psychology, or anything that can help society being ACTUALLY good.

Quote:2. Disunity (what's the word for that?)
I know this girl who is a CRAZY Adventure Time fangirl, and she constantly is trying to make me, every other fan I've seen of a show that I like (You should know which one it is,) and every anime fan look like stupid fanboys and fangirls, but she's INSANE. None of us have really own anime/showthatwillremainanonymous merchandise or anything. We just talk about it sometimes. Yet she owns at least 12 Adventure Time shirts. She told the principal to stop me and al the other anonshow and anime fans from talking about it. Then, she was told to keep arguing then they will shut up. I believe this is all a ploy to make us all enemies because that's good for business, which is great for the economy. The worst part is that my school denies it.

I really love Adventure Time, it is one of my personal favorite TV shows, it is really adorable, and I have met a lot of fans of it that are really nice people, but this girl?! What a horrible fucking asshole person...

Quote:3. "Deal with it" attitude
School just wants you to wade through everything instead of change it. I wouldn't be alive if people didn't try to change things (I'm mixed black and white.) Probably the most promminent one in society. You see, they don't want you quitting boring jobs because those are usually the ones that are good for the economy.

The economy can kiss my bloody, rotten, infected, contagious ballsack. All just unnecessary bullshit going around because fucking schools indoctrinate children who are still evolving, so they are easily to be manipulated. I have believed this bullshit for an extremely long time, but because of the growing knowledge I had of myself since last year, I have realized how much school is unnecessary and hurtful. As much as I absolutely loathe school, I have actually learned things from it, things that I know will never have any faith for, like religion, the media telling bullshit, and any other propaganda like that. Also, I have to mention that I absolutely love the word "propaganda" and whenever it is mentioned, so I can find out about more bullshit and laugh at it.

Quote:4. Unhelpfulness
My school teachers all have one thingn in common: They HATE it when kids ask other kids for help. They stop it by saying "he can do it on his own" even though he asked for help. Asking for help is bad for business because it takes time.

That is the problem with teachers: They think of themselves as the only ones who should help students, when in reality, most of them are no help at all. I know that I am a much better help for almost any person in the world than... well, most people.

Quote:5. PESSIMISM
Once this one starts, it rarely stops (case in point: School Survival users.) They want to get you pessimistic about your future with grades. If you have bad grades, they want you to feel very sad and depressed to make you do better so your parents will stop making you depressed. This will motivate in your you because that's how the jobs that we want you to have work.

Pessimism is just my second name. I have mentioned that school is like the #1 source of almost all of my depressions and disorders, in addition to some other things I can not really name. But I will be very honest: The fact that I have so much pessimism and depression makes me feel like a strong person, I never actually see those as bad things, I see them as a wonderful trait in me, they make me feel like a stronger person than most people are. I am skeptical about almost all things and I am afraid of almost any kind of harm that could happen to someone, yet I give no shit about myself. In fact, I have already mentioned that I feel the strongest when I feel like no one loves me and I feel completely forgotten. It makes me unusually feel really powerful. In fact, I have so little faith in literally anything, that I am almost invincible when alone, not physical of course, but psychically.
I am a strange person, but I am very happy that I am like that, and I will never, FUCKING NEVER change myself for a different person. To those people who think they can tell people what to do, to those I say "fuck you" and show my golden middle finger to them.
01-13-2014 07:47 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
The man Offline
Resistance Leader

Posts: 360
Joined: Feb 2017
Thanks: 2999
Given 104 thank(s) in 92 post(s)
Post: #7
RE: The principles that school REALLY tries to teach.

(01-13-2014 03:03 AM)Symbol Wrote:  Schools should change to suit the students, not the other way around.

their pee should hv been shot out like a ki blast breaking the rocks

oh and also No one has any rights. We're free, rights create invisible restrictions. But we live in a society where the majority accepts rights to be true.
05-16-2017 05:37 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
James Comey Away
Banished Oldfaf in Exile

Posts: 6,500
Joined: Aug 2013
Thanks: 1078
Given 2293 thank(s) in 1517 post(s)
Post: #8
The principles that school REALLY tries to teach.

Why did I never reply to this thread

RIP GWEDIN
RIP URITIYOGI
RIP NIGHT
RIP VONUNOV
RIP WES/THEWAKE
RIP USERNAME

[Image: Nas-One-Love.jpg]

Stop jerking off to porn and whining and do something about it

Make School Survival Great Again - MSSGA

Hidden stuff:

[Image: BallsofSteel2.png]
[Image: mg_michelle_2020.png]
05-16-2017 07:11 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Post Reply 


Possibly Related Threads...
Thread: Author Replies: Views: Last Post
  What They Won’t Teach In School Could Make You Rich SoulRiser 13 7,162 04-15-2017 04:57 PM
Last Post: James Comey
  How to teach with fun Incubus Desmodus 2 1,896 04-04-2017 01:49 PM
Last Post: the Analogist
  Important stuff school does not teach you. Michio-kun 17 7,952 01-30-2017 01:06 PM
Last Post: the Analogist
  “If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.” Miller0700 18 7,288 03-20-2016 09:20 AM
Last Post: James Comey
  What High School Didn't Teach Me: A Recent Graduate's Perspective on How High School xcriteria 2 3,057 12-28-2014 07:45 AM
Last Post: brainiac3397
  Too Tough To Teach xcriteria 1 2,425 10-31-2014 08:54 AM
Last Post: Symbol
  rules principles parents propaganda unschooling stevehein 5 2,392 07-01-2014 02:09 AM
Last Post: SoulRiser
  "Principles for reclaiming public education" - a site I found Trar 3 3,618 12-07-2013 05:51 PM
Last Post: James Comey
  If schools are to prepare us for life, why don't they teach us anything useful? James Comey 8 9,847 12-04-2013 02:45 AM
Last Post: isolatedsystem
  Why doesn't school teach us anything useful? Lieutenant 13 13,409 05-24-2013 11:28 AM
Last Post: HawkbitAlpha

Forum Jump:


User(s) browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)

Contact Us | School Survival | Return to Top | Return to Content | Mobile Version | RSS Syndication