That article is 100% truth. I'm anxious to hear what our foreign friends have to say about it, because this is the most accurate description of the american Public Education System that I've ever read, and I'd like to know how good/bad it is in other countries.
I guess you could say I was a nerd, but that would sort of imply that I studied hard and cared about my education. I couldn't care less -- I didn't quite figure out the fallacies of the whole popularity contest until the later years of highschool, but I figured out very early on that a public school education is completely pointless. Hell, even at my Technical College, I've taken maybe 2 or 3 classes (out of a total of 13 so far) that are of any real value to me, and I'm forced to "go through the motions" of taking these other classes just to get my 2-year degree and transfer to a 4-year University, where hopefully I'll be able to concentrate on classes that are relevant to my desired profession. Anyway, I almost never study, I rarely prepare for class, and I almost always do the bare minimum that is necessary to get by. Throughout elementary school, middle school, and high school, that was good enough for straight A's. It's only now in college where I'm starting to get some (rightly deserved) B's and C's.
As far as the popularity contest goes, and the cliques that inevitably form, one of the most prominent clashes I can recall were in 4th grade, where my class literally faced off in a very heated war between the "Bithians" (all of the girls of the class and a few of the guys, who all had some sort of fixation on the book, "Bridge to Terabithia") and a much smaller group that consisted of myself, my best friend Marquiz (who is still my best friend to this very day), and a handful of the other guys in the class (some of whom would switch sides now and then). This hatred culminated in physical encounters during recess, involving chasing/yelling/namecalling in the warmer months, and very serious snowball fights in the winter. When 5th grade came along, a strange opportunity came about which allowed us to stay together and keep the same teacher, and although the war tapered down to almost non-existence, old rivalries still appeared in the dodgeball games that became a 5th grade tradition with our class. Looking back on it, the whole war was very much like "the Lord of the Flies," though not as violent. It was just stupid, although I'm actually proud of Marquiz and myself for spectacularly and actively rebelling against the rest of the class, instead of just being shoved aside as outcasts. The former is much more fun than the latter.
Another clash came about in highschool, where my group of unpopular, outcast friends decided one day that they hated me. Even my girlfriend-at-the-time was in on it, and Marquiz was the only one who wasn't. I don't know why or how it all came to be (otherwise I'd tell you more), but eventually one of my bike tires got slashed and school authorities intervened. Shortly after that, the hatred dissipated. The funny part of this story is that one of my current coworkers was a member of that group, another member is now her fiancee, and Marquiz's current girlfriend was yet another member. All of us get along just fine today.
Overall, though, middle school was by far the worst. In the later years of elementary school, I was a rebel. In high school, I was picked on by some people, but left alone by the vast majority, and by the time high school ended, I didn't give a 🤬 what people thought of me, and actually gained more popularity because of my confidence, as
MdnIte brought up. Middle school was much more like the prison analogy that this author liked to use. During class, I had no one to chat with, no one wanted to be my partner in any group activities, and I just sorta shut everything out, living in my own little world within the confines of my desk. In the halls, I was persecuted, picked on, and even physically attacked. During lunch, my friends and I ate at our own little segregated table, occasionally being confronted by a bully. Gym class was by far the most boot-camp-like P.E. class I've ever had at any level of school. In fact, aside from my very small group of close friends, the only places I fit in were in Band and in Strings class (I managed to get the school to let me opt out of French or Spanish, taking both music classes instead).
It got
so bad that I was invited, along with a couple of my friends and a few acquaintances, to a private group that met with a counselor once a week to discuss popularity, cliques, etc. He told me that high school would be better. I didn't believe him at the time. Looking back, I guess he was sorta right.
In conclusion, for me, the social structure of school was something that I never cared about. Even when I surpassed the
very depressing years of middle school and became a little bit more well-liked, I didn't care much about anyone else, because A. I eventually learned that popularity didn't really matter, and B. most of the kids around me were too goddamned stupid for me to waste my time becoming close friends with them. Unfortunately, it's even more difficult to find intelligent people in the real world.
Between the retarded social structure and countless hours of my life wasted in a stuffy classroom, I was positively ecstatic when I finally graduated from high school and escaped the public education system. Every now and then, I still give my high school the finger as I drive by.
