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 the 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’s 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 rocks Yet I don’t know squat about trading stocks Or how money works at all - where does it come from? Who controls it? How does the thing that motivates the world function? Not taught how to budget and disburse my earnings I was too busy rehearsing cursive Didn’t learn how much it costs 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 How to recognise the most deadly Mental disorders // or Diseases with preventable causes // 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 Mais oui, je parle un peu de Francais 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 #DontStayInSchool