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It's okay to hate school:

There is nothing wrong with you.

(Don't feel like reading? Watch these videos instead.)

PART 1: There is nothing wrong with you for hating school

There is nothing wrong with hating school, there is nothing wrong with hating being forced to go someplace you don't want to and being "taught" things that don't interest you in ways that would kill you if boredom were lethal.

You're not worthless if you don't get good grades, and you're not mentally ill if the mere thought of school scares you.

If school depresses you or makes you feel suicidal, it's because of the environment and people there. You're probably perfectly sane.

They say school is for learning? Well, being bored is hardly any way to learn anything! No wonder hardly anyone remembers what they were forced to memorize at school. School isn't about learning, it's about training people to be obedient to those with authority over them.

Don't trust school to 'educate' you - only you can be trusted with that!

For students who hate being forced to go to school:

We're here to listen & help you through things.

If you're stuck going to school, there are still ways to pursue your interests & figure out life.

If you're not happy, there are options, and we can help you find them.

Click here for help!

PART 2: What To Do If You Hate School

Read this if school is making you depressed or suicidal.

The most obvious solution for hating school is to leave school somehow. Try talking to your parents about any of these alternatives to school... hopefully they will try to understand and not freak out too much. You can get help with leaving school here.

You can even take classes online, if you think you'd prefer that.

Alternatives to school:
Homeschooling/Unschooling
Online Schooling
Dropping out / getting a GED
Charter schools
More...

If your parents won't let you try any of the alternatives, you can stay in school to spread the word. If school is driving you insane, here's a guide on how to survive if you hate school. But whatever you do, don't break stuff or hurt anyone, because that will just feed the stereotype that kids need to be kept under control.

If you need more help with parents, or leaving school, click here!.

We are not telling you to drop out, rebel or do anything in particular. What you do is your decision and yours alone, we can just provide support and information for whatever choice you may make.

What works for one person won't necessarily work for everyone. The point is: the choice is yours to make. And if, for whatever reason, other people refuse to let you make that choice, there are good people in the world who will take you seriously.

PART 3: Common Reasons Why Kids Hate School

Homework (as if 6 hours of sitting in class isn't bad enough already)
Getting up early (almost always after lack of sleep due to homework, above)
Bullies (sad humans who enjoy making others suffer, probably because of some kind of parental abuse)
Disrespectful Teachers (who will demand that you respect them no matter how they treat you)
Tests / Exams (because temporarily memorizing information for a test is apparently how learning works... not)
Stress (especially if your parents freak out over your grades)
Generally annoying people (and not being able to avoid them)

PART 4: More Information

This psychologist has a message for kids who hate school:

I, as an adult and a psychologist, want to say to any children out there who hate school: you are not alone. Most people hate it too, but usually they don't feel entitled to say so, and many can't bear to think about it so they hardly even know how they feel. You are not mad - you don't have a Deep Psychological Problem (though you might develop one if you stay in school against your will!); and you are not bad for wanting to live your life the way you choose, doing what you think right - that is what everyone should be doing. You are not the problem: coercion is the problem. Being forced to go to school is the problem. (read the rest of this article)

Anti-school

What anti-school does NOT mean

"Anti-school" doesn't mean "anti-education". We are not anti-education. We are not anti-learning. Learning means to acquire knowledge, and education is basically learning with help from other people. Those are both good things. Right, now that that's out of the way, what is "anti-school" all about then?

What anti-school DOES mean

Lets face a few facts first. How many people remember more than 20% of the stuff they "learned" at school? I personally don't know of any, apart from people who later on became school teachers. School doesn't give students just about ANY choice of what they would like to learn about, or HOW they would like to learn it. In fact, it's gotten so bad, that every time someone mentions the word "learn", people instantly think of "memorize". Just look at all those "memory-enhancer" things on the market, and "mind-maps" and whatever other method of memorizing things. Memorizing is NOT the same as learning! School is about MEMORIZING, not LEARNING anything useful (hey, apart from basic reading and writing, but they even manage to make that so awfully boring most kids hate learning about it).

So, in short, "anti-school" means exactly what it says. We are against school, because school is giving education and learning a bad reputation.

PART 5: LINKS and more stuff to read

More Things People Hate About School

(Reasons people hate school, posted on our forums)

It's a strange thing that practically nobody likes school, and yet it is deemed acceptable to send people there for multiple years of their life.

But what makes it worse is the fact that everyone is FUCKING STUPID. Pardon my swearing, but people are complaining about not having boyfriends, everyone is such a goody goody, and I hate over half the people in it.

I HATE SCHOOL.....period. - I don't want to do this anymore....I feel like it's getting me no where, and I'm so tired of being everybody's joke...but there's so much stuff I have to get through to be free. I want also to feel like, like I'm making my own decisions, you know? because all the teachers make it for me...and I just want to be done with it......It depresses me...

I hate school. Or something. Suggest a better title. - It sucks. I hate it. I hate it more than almost anything else. I have to take 7 fucking classes next semester, and they are all going to have shitty homework given by shitty professors who don't respect me, who don't give a shit what I want to learn, who will tell me not to "waste my time" by taking classes that aren't required, who just want to fill me up like I'm a robot, fill me up with math and send me off to lockheed or whatever the fuck to be their number cruncher. There will be so much work to do and NONE of it will be interesting. Except for the spanish class I'm taking. That will have some interesting content. The other classes will all be stupid and I will hate them.

School; making sure that what you want to do is not viable.

Why I Hate School - Your Opinions are never taken seriously and everything is a "PHASE"

Bullies believe that they have power over you no matter what. They sass you around, give you physiological and physical torture, and more.

Stress is horrible. The education system thinks stressing you out with due dates and work means "learning".

Your self-worth is based on whether or not your memory is good.

School takes up our whole childhood

I hate school assemblies.... - It was in 10th grade when I started hated these assemblies. One, why are they forcing everyone to acknowledge someone else's achievement, especially when it's something so mundane as grades? Why should I give a shit? Do I actually have to know some kid's massive GPA? Second, I can imagine these assemblies causing insecurity and depression. Trust me, I know it bummed me out when they'd parade a bunch of other kids for having great grades but I wasn't on that list. That was when I was a brainwashed pro-school idiot.

I hate school. I hate it so much. - The teachers don't even consider if we students have other work. I was so stressed out. I would come home and cry in my room. I couldn't stop thinking about school. I thought about school on the weekends and before going to sleep. The teachers wouldn't give me a break.

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The School Survival Guide: For offline reading, easier printing & distribution... (It's not the WHOLE site - there's no way the WHOLE site would fit in one text file and still be readable... but it's a good summary anyway).
school_survival_guide_v1-3.zip - Version 1.3