Declaration of Independence From School

As a citizen of the United States of America, I have the right to stand against that in which I believe has become corrupt. In this case, it is the vast idea of School that will not loosen its treacherous grip on the lives of innocent students. When the school becomes the center of a student’s life, it is high time to rebel against it. Time to push back against its hold on our minds and gain back the control of the lives we started long ago. 1

In this life, a person does not have to get up each day and dread what is to come. A person does not have to get up knowing that they have to go into the same routine. A person has the chance to get the required hours of sleep, and go to bed at a desired time of their choice. Each life is no longer filled with the distress of an exam or unfinished work. Each person goes to sleep at night with a clear mind, without worry, and wakes up fully rested and again, without worry. The day is not planned with the rigorous schedule of classes, and is free of crowded hallways and high-pitched bells. Each person is not hoping, waiting, for that last minute to come when they can leave, they can be fully focused on what they are doing in the here and now, and not on an hour ahead. There is time enough to do what each person wishes, time enough for each person to relax, and not have to worry about when they have to go to bed, or that they might forget something the next day. 2

The School is preventing the good health of its students. We are crammed together each day, among the coughing, sneezing students, with no agreeable amount of time to wash our hands of germs. We have no agreeable space in order to prevent the catching of another person’s germs. We are required each day to sit at a desk that another person has used, regardless of the state of their hygiene, regardless of the fact that the desks could carry the germs of a disease we could catch. And then, we cannot take an absence in order to get well again, we are expected to come to school sick, and spread the disease to other students, thus creating an epidemic of the common cold and cough, which gladly breeds among us. 3

The School is only adding to the high levels of stress in the students’ lives. We are piled with homework every night, and expected to finish it, not including the fact that time is added for studying. This leaves no time for relaxation and centers our lives around the school, so that we have no time for anything else. Even if we try to have a life of our own, and play music, or read a book, it only means that we have to put off something school related in order to do so. This would only leave us rushing before the end of the night, and add to the stress of getting things done. We are rushed between classes, with only a few minutes to squeeze through the overcrowded halls, get our books and head to class. We have no time for talking, or getting an assignment straight before the end of the day, when it’s to late, for we have to start the daily routine of homework. 4

So, as one could clearly see, the world of School is simply a corruption that must be dealt with immediately. It is taking over its student’s lives and controlling them mercilessly, making it impossible to live a life of relaxation, doing things that are enjoyable. It grips each student and threatens them with high levels of stress and illness. There is no way for the student to escape its grip, and no way fro the student to stay out of harms way, unless they either submit to the controlling ways of the School, or to rebel. I chose the latter.  5