lysistratia:

the whole idea of “stay in school!!!!” is great and all but hard to hear when you’re someone who couldn’t stay in school

so here’s a post for every person who’s had to drop out of school. whether it was do to illness or money or just because you didn’t want to be there, you’re no less of a person for dropping out. you own your own life, and you’re just as important as people who were able to graduate 

galacticpasta:

sleepyflannel:

twink-phobia:

all public school anti-bullying activism is extremely transparent and meaningless

faculty: BULLYING IS BAD!! ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY!! THIS IS A HATE FREE ZONE!!

me: hey this person called me a stupid dyke today

faculty: hmm that’s unfortunate. have you tried perhaps, not being gay?

I feel like everyone is against bullying until they actually look at the kids who are being bullied.

The cheesy anti-bullying tapes that they show in schools feature these skinny straight white neurotypical kids who get picked on for no reason. Usually the insults are something along the lines of “You’re a loser!” or “Get lost, freak.” All the kids watching immediately feel bad for the victim, and think “Aw! She didn’t deserve that!” 

Then, ten minutes later, they go pick on some marginalized kid without thinking twice. As an autistic person, I was often this kid. The insults I heard growing up were not “You’re a loser!” or “Get lost, freak.” They were “Don’t let the retard work with us” or “Shouldn’t she be going to the special school?”

The problem is we teach kids that bullying occurs for no other reason other than just to be mean. This could not be further from the truth. Bullying occurs because as a society, we condition kids into hating fat, black, neurodivergent, queer, and disabled people. Kids don’t bully each other just to be mean. They do it because if something’s “wrong” with the person, it’s completely justified.

But of course, we can’t tell kids this kind of stuff. We can’t say, “Hey! Making fun of your gay classmate is bad!”

Because when we do, suddenly the phone calls come pouring in, each with a parent on the other end screaming “You can’t be feeding my son that liberal propaganda!” 

galacticpasta:

sleepyflannel:

twink-phobia:

all public school anti-bullying activism is extremely transparent and meaningless

faculty: BULLYING IS BAD!! ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY!! THIS IS A HATE FREE ZONE!!

me: hey this person called me a stupid dyke today

faculty: hmm that’s unfortunate. have you tried perhaps, not being gay?

I feel like everyone is against bullying until they actually look at the kids who are being bullied.

The cheesy anti-bullying tapes that they show in schools feature these skinny straight white neurotypical kids who get picked on for no reason. Usually the insults are something along the lines of “You’re a loser!” or “Get lost, freak.” All the kids watching immediately feel bad for the victim, and think “Aw! She didn’t deserve that!” 

Then, ten minutes later, they go pick on some marginalized kid without thinking twice. As an autistic person, I was often this kid. The insults I heard growing up were not “You’re a loser!” or “Get lost, freak.” They were “Don’t let the retard work with us” or “Shouldn’t she be going to the special school?”

The problem is we teach kids that bullying occurs for no other reason other than just to be mean. This could not be further from the truth. Bullying occurs because as a society, we condition kids into hating fat, black, neurodivergent, queer, and disabled people. Kids don’t bully each other just to be mean. They do it because if something’s “wrong” with the person, it’s completely justified.

But of course, we can’t tell kids this kind of stuff. We can’t say, “Hey! Making fun of your gay classmate is bad!”

Because when we do, suddenly the phone calls come pouring in, each with a parent on the other end screaming “You can’t be feeding my son that liberal propaganda!” 

silversarcasm:

if you had to drop out of a class you are not a failure

if you had to take time off school you are not a failure

if you had to leave school for good you are not a failure

your worth is not determined by academia and this goes doubly so for disabled people and others for whom school is set against them

the-at-symbol:

“Zero tolerance” is stupid because every situation has unique circumstances.

“Zero tolerance” is stupid because your right to self defense shouldn’t be taken away because you’re in school

“Zero tolerance” is stupid because students who are heroes are given the same punishment as kids who were trying to harm students