Don't Stay in School

I wasn’t taught how to get a job, but I can remember dissecting a frog. I wasn’t taught how to pay tax, but I know loads about Shakespeare's classics! I was never taught how to vote they devoted that time to defining isotopes. I wasn’t taught how to look after my health but mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell! Never spent a lesson on current events, instead I studied The Old American West. I was never taught what laws there are. I was never taught what laws there are!! Let me repeat, I was not taught the laws for the country I live in But I know how Henry VIII killed his women! Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived Glad that's in my head instead of financial advice! I was shown the wavelengths of different hues of light, but I was never taught my human rights apparently there is 30! Do you know them? I don't. Why the hell can't we both recite them by rote I know igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rock. Yet I don't know squat about trading stock or how money works at all, where does it come from? How does the thing that motivates the world function? Not taught to budget and disperse my earnings, I was too busy there rehearsing cursive! Didn't learn how much it cost to raise a kid or what an affidavit is but I spent days on what the quadratic equation is negative b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus 4ac over 2a That's insane, that's absolutely insane! They made me learn that over basic first aid! Or how to recognize the most deadly mental disorders, or diseases with preventable causes or how to buy a house with a mortgage - if I could afford it ‘cause abstract maths was deemed more important than advice that would literally save thousands of lives but it's cool, ‘cause now I could tell you if the number of unnecessary deaths caused by that choice was prime. Never taught present day practical medicines but I was told what the ancient hippocratic method is "I've got a headache, the pain is ceaseless what should I take?" umm... maybe try some leeches? "Could we discuss domestic abuse and get the facts or how to help my depressed friend with their mental state?" Ummm... no but learn mental maths because "You won't have a calculator with you every day!" They say it's not the kids, the parents are the problem Then if you taught the kids to parent that's the problem solved then! All this advice about using a condom but none for when you actually have a kid when you want one I'm only fluent in this language, for serious? The rest of the world speaks two, do you think I'm an idiot? They chose the solar over the political system So like a typical citizen now I don't know what I'm voting on which policies exist, or how to make them change (French)"Mais oui, je parle un peu de francais." (English)"But yes, I speak a little french." So at 18, I was expected to elect a representative, for a system I had never ever ever ever been presented with. But I won't take it! I'll tell everyone my childhood was wasted! I'll share it everywhere how I was 'educated'. And insist these pointless things Don't stay in school.

Channel: Boyinaband

Views: 41,378,188

Rating: 4.8372049 out of 5

Keywords: Don't Stay in School, school, education, ken robinson, ted talk, rap, boyinaband, you look like a girl, DSiS, syllabus, order, lecture, children, kids, political, politics, fast rap, dan bull, minx, therpgminx, cryaotic, cry, boy in a band, roomie, roomieofficial, University, Student, Graduation, Students, College

Id: 8xe6nLVXEC0

Length: 3min 17sec (197 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 02 2015

Reddit Comments

[u/Shiftiy]

I suppose a british response is called for

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vxxiS4m9OSg

[u/summerofevidence]

I understand his reasoning, but I dont think "dont stay in school" is the right message to be sending.

Im hoping the impressionable 16 year olds of reddit are smart enough to figure this out.

[u/volgorean]

Don't most schools have finance, government, economics, and health classes.

[u/agnorith64]

Basic foundations in a variety of subjects should be taught at a young age when we needn't worry about taxes or voting.

[u/iREDDITnaked]

I can't stress enough how dangerous of an opinion this is.

Interstellar, which just came out this year, shows a distopia where they basically take this kid's advice.

[u/Honey-Badger]

What fucking school did he go to? I went to a standard British inner city state school and learnt about pretty much everything he is talking about bar tax.

[u/OScurO]

I really like boyinaband, but this is just horrible. I might be biased as a teacher, but really, this sounds like something 13 year olds who think school is boring finds edgy and "inspiring", since they are looking for an excuse to not pay attention in school. I'm phrasing this as an open letter, for no apparent reason. And before you go all "you should have stayed in school longer because of your grammar mistakes" this is my second language, so cut me some slack.

"I wasn't taught how to get a job" - how would one even teach that?

"I wasn't taught how to pay tax" - i HIGHLY doubt that you weren't taught about percentages. fractions and arithmetics in maths class.

"I was never taught how to vote" - possible, i don't know how the british teach that. I was certainly taught it in Denmark.

"I wasn't taught how to look after my health" - you didn't have PE or the like?

"never spend a lesson on current events" - seems exaggerated, but in general, a lot of current events become unimportant after a few years, months or weeks, possibly wasting the time spend on them in the long run.

"I was never taught what laws there are" - that is a very dry, boring (IMO) and LARGE study called "law". Lawyers spend several years studying just a small specialized fraction of the myriad of laws that exists.

"I was never taught my human rights" - Sure you just don't remember because you thought it boring at the time?.. I know I did. But if it's true it is a genuine flaw.

"how money etc." - add economics to your list of fields to study after law. And how it make a difference to how your day-to-day life is lived, as you advocated as important peviously.

"not taught to budget" - really? As a maths teacher, i teach this to all pupils, of all ages, every year, for all 10 years of mandatory school in Denmark. Start small with "you have x money to last the weekend" to "you have x money a month, and must live in a flat and eat etc."

"wasn't taught diseases" - add medicine after law and economics

"how to help a depressed friend - so we are at law, economics, medicine and psychology. These are incredibly complicated and difficult for people, let alone CHILDREN.

"teach to parent" - again, how would one do that?

tl;dr: I STRONGLY disagree with the message of this song.

why not focus on what you DID learn? Just in this video you demonstrated that you learned to at least read and write, and chances are, that some of the things you mention you DID learn, some of your classmates have made careers out of, like maths, history, physics, biology etc. ... Maybe they think the music lessons were wasted?

[u/theanonymousthing]

google. seriously this shit doesn't stick anymore when you have humanity's collective knowledge at your fingertips. You want to learn how to do your taxes? fucking youtube there are a myriad of videos on the subject, want to learn how to vote? go to the government website.

Maths, Science, English, Physics are the foundations, you are expected to get off your arse and go find out things for yourself too.

but i guess we got to be edgy, yeah fuk school.

you want to build a skyscrapper? gonna need fucking algebra, you want to build a bridge? gonna need fucking algebra, you want to build a house? gonna need algebra. Fuck man just because these things dont apply to this pasty little twats life doesnt mean people should stop learning them.

also all that shit like "i never learnt the laws, i never learnt modern day medicine" fukn lol, the volume of information is too great to try teaching that to a 16 year old...

[u/Coffee_or_death]

This is /r/cringe material.