What is a real Education?

Location

Education is made out to be oh so important
I'm not here to say that it's not.
but when you think of the true meaning of education,
You really should give it some thought.

I can't say I haven't learned a lot in school
I've learned my place
learned how to be 'cool'
how to blend into the zombie- like crowd
Same routine every day, obnoxious and loud.
I've learned that there are few good hearted people
and what's more the shocker,
I've learned that it really does hurt, to be shoved in a locker.

Teachers expect you to learn what they teach
to soak it all up, like a blood thirsty leech
to do homework and listen and get all good grades
but how do I do that, with 7 classes a day?

Teachers don't ask how you feel or what's wrong
they get to the point, they're the chorus of a song.
The class is a repeat, the same every day
The students are verses, and teachers throw them away.
They're the details, the rhyme, the lines imbetween
how do you have a song, without harmony?

What teachers don't teach
are the lessons we need
to become better people, to make good choices, and lead.
Book smarts are important, with that I agree,
but what use are they to us without moral integrity?

I can't say I've learned to help someone in need
to take a deep breath, and stand up to a bully.
Or how to speak up if I disagree,
better not to get made fun of, so just sit there quietly.
I don't know how to be friendly to all different cliques
I wasn't taught how to mingle and intermix
I wasn't ever taught to be accepting of differences
whether it be a sexual preference, or piercings, or scars on one's self
When it comes to all that, I'm clueless.

No one teaches you how to stop your best friend from starving herself.
No one teaches you how to convince someone to leave all those pills on the shelf.
No one advises you on how to stop the cuts from appearing on someone's arms,
or hating themselves, which should cause some alarm.
There isn't a class you can take, to learn about this
These things that happen every day to students
Ignorance is not bliss.
Swept under the rug, hidden away so you think
It's like brushing a corpse under a carpet; You can still smell the stink.

So if you ever ask me if I have a good education
I would sit back and think for a bit.
I could never give my teachers credit
at least not one hundred percent
because if you ask me who taught me those important life lessons,
I would say me, and I would have to explain what I meant.
I taught myself; how to experience and learn pain, ethics, and morals
but most of all
how to cope with the broken and bent.

Comments

Additional Resources

Get AI Feedback on your poem

Interested in feedback on your poem? Try our AI Feedback tool.
 

 

If You Need Support

If you ever need help or support, we trust CrisisTextline.org for people dealing with depression. Text HOME to 741741