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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
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AR, just got worse.
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SeReNiTY
Champion Of The Oppressed
Posts: 127
Joined: Nov 2013
Thanks: 3
Given 42 thank(s) in 26 post(s)
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AR, just got worse.
At my school we employ a word for word version ofAR . We have 20 minutes at the start of everyday for reading, and we get a big event if you get your goals. Incentives like movies each semester.
But I had to take 3 tests in two days. Books were enjoyable, but their tests were irrelevant to importance. The books were:
Holes by Louis Sachar
Animal Farm by George Orwell
2010: Odyssey Two by Arthur C Clarke
They asked no deeper meaning questions, such as Dave Bowman in 2010 becoming a creature of radiation and being The Child Of The Stars, or the representation of the USSR and the Russian Revolution in Animal Farm. Instead they asked questions like:
Animal Farm:
Who was Napoleon's spokesperson? I picked Boxer, for he was, he always said that Napoleon was always right, but it was wrong.
2010: What was the last mesage Hal sent to Earth? Oh come on. This is too easy.
The tests sucked and I didnt do great on them, but I got my goal so my dad will shut up. But I likd the books.
"Thou shalt not be an asshole"
-The one commandment of atheism.
SubCulture said
"If you call xcriteria a shithead, he will write a ten page essay on why he is not a shithead, link you to a tedtalk on bullying and the tvtropes page on insults. After reading and watching all that you would evaluate your life and decide to never call anyone a shithead ever again."
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| 03-18-2014 12:47 PM |
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KFC Nyan Cat
suck 360 blazeit hooks
Posts: 1,034
Joined: Feb 2013
Thanks: 491
Given 244 thank(s) in 167 post(s)
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AR, just got worse.
FUCK I ALREADY HATE AR! IF I HAD THIS! I WOULD BE DEPRESSED!
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.
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| 03-19-2014 05:42 AM |
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Larryington
Something Clever Goes Here
Posts: 58
Joined: Feb 2014
Thanks: 0
Given 6 thank(s) in 5 post(s)
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AR, just got worse.
I remenber having to do A.R. I thought the tests were pretty stupid. The questions were a bit too easy, and none of them were very relavent to the books I read. I feel your pain.
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| 03-19-2014 06:14 AM |
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Feraligatr
Water Type
Posts: 25
Joined: Mar 2014
Thanks: 1
Given 1 thank(s) in 1 post(s)
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AR, just got worse.
I hated when we had to do that. I'd always get low grades on report cards because I would never read.
![[Image: sigpic77975_18.gif]](http://www.virtualteen.org/forums/signaturepics/sigpic77975_18.gif)
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| 03-19-2014 06:37 AM |
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no
True Scotsman
Posts: 1,238
Joined: Nov 2012
Thanks: 918
Given 474 thank(s) in 299 post(s)
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RE: AR, just got worse.
Wait, AR has tests for interesting books?
And from such a controversial author as Orwell?
Since when?
(On the other hand one could use animal farm to argue pro school so maybe that's why...)
Hello, traveler.
This is an ancient account I have not used in a long time. My views have changed much in the intervening months and years.
Nonetheless, I refuse to clean it up. Pretending that I've held my current views since the beginning of time is what we in the industry call a lie. Asking people to do so contributes to moralistic self-loathing. "See, those people have nothing damning! I do! I'm truly vile!"
Because you can never be a good person with a single blemish on the moral record, I thought that simply entertaining some thoughts made me irredeemable. Though I don't care for his writing style, William Faulkner presents a good counterexample. He went from being a typical Southern racist to supporting the civil rights movement. These days we'd yell at him for that, probably.
People are allowed to change their views.
Nevertheless, this period of my life has informed some of how I am today. In good ways and bad ways. To purge it would be to do a disservice to history. Perhaps it will not make anyone sympathetic, but it may help someone understand.
If, after reading all this, you still decide to use the post above as evidence that I am evil today, ask yourself if you have never disagreed with the moral code you now follow. In all likelihood you did, at some point. If some questions are verboten, and the answer is "how dare you ask that," don't expect your ideological opponents to ever change their minds.
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| 03-19-2014 06:49 AM |
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James Comey
Banished Oldfaf in Exile
Posts: 6,500
Joined: Aug 2013
Thanks: 1078
Given 2293 thank(s) in 1517 post(s)
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AR, just got worse.
Oh god, AR. I loath AR. Thank god I'm not forced into that stuff anymore. They forced that stuff down back in elementary.
RIP GWEDIN
RIP URITIYOGI
RIP NIGHT
RIP VONUNOV
RIP WES/THEWAKE
RIP USERNAME
![[Image: Nas-One-Love.jpg]](http://www.hipstrumentals.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Nas-One-Love.jpg)
Stop jerking off to porn and whining and do something about it
Make School Survival Great Again - MSSGA
(This post was last modified: 03-19-2014 10:00 AM by James Comey.)
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| 03-19-2014 10:00 AM |
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Heil_Kaiba8921
It's also a gun.
Posts: 1,376
Joined: Sep 2012
Thanks: 8
Given 109 thank(s) in 93 post(s)
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RE: AR, just got worse.
I never liked reading back when we did AR. So I would always just take a random test and see if I passed (it was usually on a book where I saw the movie) and if I did, then great. If not, then I'd take another one or just say fck it.
The less you try to control things, the less you need to.
Boredom is the #1 enemy of learning. Therefore, school is the #1 enemy of learning.
"Bodies fucking fuck."~Night.Artist
![[Image: 41433.png]](http://internetometer.com/image/41433.png) ![[Image: 14362714_1336391025.png]](http://www.picbadges.com/badges-assets/976/14362714_1336391025.png)
"free speech under the constitution only guarantees the government won't stop him saying it and does not guarantee his right to say things and have no consequences at all as a result. also i completely doubt that he is motivated solely by "i'm saying it because i can" and is probably motivated by a more shitheady motive like "i think it's funny to annoy people and Rustle Le Jimmies™ and is just hiding behind the first amendment to try to deflect any consequences or make you realize that being allowed to annoy people is a superior moral right. you can still disdain someone for doing things for dumbarse wankery purposes and you have evne more right to ban and insult them for it" ~Trar's friend about Potato.
Thanks for the diploma… can I have my childhood back?
I’d love to have a battle of wits with you… but I hate to fight the unarmed.
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| 03-20-2014 01:54 AM |
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xcriteria
Fanatic
Posts: 3,090
Joined: Oct 2005
Thanks: 814
Given 930 thank(s) in 612 post(s)
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| 03-20-2014 03:55 AM |
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| Thanks given by: | Trar |
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Heil_Kaiba8921
It's also a gun.
Posts: 1,376
Joined: Sep 2012
Thanks: 8
Given 109 thank(s) in 93 post(s)
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RE: AR, just got worse.
(03-20-2014 03:55 AM)xcriteria Wrote: The question in my mind is, could we build a better way of doing things?
If some kind of means of evaluating whether people read things is needed (which could be debated), can we develop a means that makes more sense?
Maybe, for example, actual conversations about the books...
I would be supportive of conversations about a book instead of a test.
The only real problem I have with forcing this on kids is that they don't always want to read a book. Sometimes they would rather go outside and play, stay inside and hang out with their family, or maybe they just do not like reading at all. I personally don't usually feel like reading, but when I do I more than likely have at least one book ready to be read.
Recently my girlfriend has been pestering me to read at least the first Divergent book, but I don't really feel like reading any books right now. I also put my book about Anonymous on my phone, so I'll have that ready for when I go on my trip to see her in Florida.
The less you try to control things, the less you need to.
Boredom is the #1 enemy of learning. Therefore, school is the #1 enemy of learning.
"Bodies fucking fuck."~Night.Artist
"free speech under the constitution only guarantees the government won't stop him saying it and does not guarantee his right to say things and have no consequences at all as a result. also i completely doubt that he is motivated solely by "i'm saying it because i can" and is probably motivated by a more shitheady motive like "i think it's funny to annoy people and Rustle Le Jimmies™ and is just hiding behind the first amendment to try to deflect any consequences or make you realize that being allowed to annoy people is a superior moral right. you can still disdain someone for doing things for dumbarse wankery purposes and you have evne more right to ban and insult them for it" ~Trar's friend about Potato.
Thanks for the diploma… can I have my childhood back?
I’d love to have a battle of wits with you… but I hate to fight the unarmed.
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| 03-20-2014 04:05 AM |
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| Thanks given by: | |
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xcriteria
Fanatic
Posts: 3,090
Joined: Oct 2005
Thanks: 814
Given 930 thank(s) in 612 post(s)
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RE: AR, just got worse.
I agree, not everyone always wants to read... and other activities should be valued as well.
Personally, I much prefer reading forum/G+ threads, articles, Wikipedia/TV Tropes, and conversations than whole books most of the time. There's a lot of important content in these things that hasn't made its way into full-length books, yet... especially novels.
(Hopefully, that'll change soon...  )
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
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| 03-20-2014 04:21 AM |
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no
True Scotsman
Posts: 1,238
Joined: Nov 2012
Thanks: 918
Given 474 thank(s) in 299 post(s)
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RE: AR, just got worse.
I remember in elementary school I had to do AR... I read an abridged version of The War of the Worlds, and the test the school bought was for the full version.
And because the tests are all about random minutiae instead of the overall story (or message, where applicable) I failed.
Now I'm getting community service hours for putting round color-coded stickers on AR books in the same school, because apparently that makes more sense than keeping the normal stickers that are already color-coded and HAVE THE LEVEL PRINTED ON THEM.
Thank you school, you do such a good job. </rant>
Hello, traveler.
This is an ancient account I have not used in a long time. My views have changed much in the intervening months and years.
Nonetheless, I refuse to clean it up. Pretending that I've held my current views since the beginning of time is what we in the industry call a lie. Asking people to do so contributes to moralistic self-loathing. "See, those people have nothing damning! I do! I'm truly vile!"
Because you can never be a good person with a single blemish on the moral record, I thought that simply entertaining some thoughts made me irredeemable. Though I don't care for his writing style, William Faulkner presents a good counterexample. He went from being a typical Southern racist to supporting the civil rights movement. These days we'd yell at him for that, probably.
People are allowed to change their views.
Nevertheless, this period of my life has informed some of how I am today. In good ways and bad ways. To purge it would be to do a disservice to history. Perhaps it will not make anyone sympathetic, but it may help someone understand.
If, after reading all this, you still decide to use the post above as evidence that I am evil today, ask yourself if you have never disagreed with the moral code you now follow. In all likelihood you did, at some point. If some questions are verboten, and the answer is "how dare you ask that," don't expect your ideological opponents to ever change their minds.
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| 03-20-2014 07:10 AM |
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| Thanks given by: | Trar |
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James Comey
Banished Oldfaf in Exile
Posts: 6,500
Joined: Aug 2013
Thanks: 1078
Given 2293 thank(s) in 1517 post(s)
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| 03-20-2014 08:40 AM |
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