This probably isn’t my first time posting Suli Breaks – this poem especially. There’s something about it that speaks to a younger me, while appealing the present me.

It’s no secret that my outlook on public school is dismal at best. In the years since I’ve been a student, little has changed. The technology is better, sure. And if COVID-19 (or any similar pandemic) had happened 20 years ago, I don’t know how I would have gotten through the rest of my junior year.

I am not anti-teacher; I’m very pro-teacher. I feel they need better pay for the work they do. They hold the future of our country – world – in the palm of their hands, and we treat them as the source of our children’s educational problems.

I am anti-Texas Education System, standardized testing, Accelerated Reader, any everything that hinders our children’s creativity. I feel that a governmental agency should have little input what and how our children learn. I don’t think that forcing children to memorize equations and steps is actually learning. I don’t think breaking down a number to smaller bits in a math problem is actually teaching my 2nd grader a vital skill. And as much as I am a warrior for literacy, Accelerated Reader does more harm that good in our education system. It hinders reluctant readers and breaks those who love books.

A student shouldn’t be measured up by how well they do on a test. By how much they can memorize. Because what’s the point of learning these equations, analogies, allegories, and so on if they’re not understanding. Shit, to this day I don’t understand what the importance of “To puppy is to dog as (blank) is to cat.” Not a single fucking clue.

And as the younger generations realize they’re being duped by the public school system, it’s going to land on us to explain why in all the years that it existed, we never bothered to change it. Because as kids, we realized how warped this system is, but we move on. We forget.

And the greatest punchline is, we want our kids to succeed, while our society needs them to fail.

Please enjoy today’s poem.

Exams are society’s methods of telling you what you’re worth
But you can’t let society tell you what you are
Cause this is the same society that tells you that abortion is wrong, but then looks down on teenage parents!
The same society that sells products to promote nature hair, looks and smooth complexion with the model on the box, half photoshopped, and has fake lashes and hair extensions
With pastors that preach charity, but own private jets
Imams that preach against greed, but are all fat
Parents that say they want “educated kids” but constantly marvel at how rich Richard Branson is
Governments, that preach peace, but endorse war, that say they believe so much in the importance of higher education and further learning
Then why increase tuition fees every single year?

from I Will Not Let An Exam Result Decide My Fate

And on that note, here’s a bonus poem. Please enjoy.

It’s a shame I mean teachers have the most important job on the planet yet they are underpaid no wonder why so many students are shortchanged. Let’s be honest teachers should earn just as much as doctors because a doctor can do heart surgery and save the life of a child. But a great teacher can reach the heart of that child and allow him to truly live
You see teachers are heroes that often get blamed.