More rules, stricter punishments, less playtime. Can't let these little bastards get out of hand. Nothing more dangerous than a child with a dream, you know. But don't forget to enjoy your childhood before it's gone! Ok, freewriting time. That writing-with-a-purpose crap gets so old so very, very fast. Why must we always have a POINT? Why always a specific thing to say? Why can't the reader just enjoy the pseudo-poetic flow of the words? I personally find it much easier to climb inside a person's head without a point. Or at least not a direct point.

All of our lives they drive home ("us & them" already? tsk tsk...) the idea that everything we do or say must have some sort of underlying theme; that such actions must be based in what many people with lots of college degrees have come to call "reality". From Day Two (Day One was an orientation and introduction, and we really didn't do much in the way of debating the fabric of existence) my teachers have always told me (although not always in these exact words) that I have "a very twisted view of reality." On the surface, this is probably true. I do tend to be a tad eccentric (but then, don't we all? If you say no, of course, you are either a liar, a fool, or just very, very wrong...but then, aren't we all?). But underneath the layers of pain, disappointment, crushed dreams, fascist employers, taxes, suppressed emotions, car insurance, sexual repression, cynicism, defeat, betrayal, and outright spiritual death, I'm pretty sure those teachers are on the same level that I am. In fact, it's probably very likely that most of them wrote essays just like this one when they were my age.

So where and/or when does the general public's view of "reality" become twisted around to the way they peep at the world now? Which point along the lifeline does a person go from being a "starry-eyed youth", to an old, crusty grownup? In my own twisted way, I believe that this happens during the elementary school years...not, as many people believe, when one enters the Big Scary Work Force and quickly discovers that the Big Scary World is exactly like his Big Scary Parental Figures described it.

Think back, if you could possibly spare the time from your busy Real World Schedule, to junior high (or "middle school", or whatever the hell they called the 7th and 8th grades when you attended them). Most of your peers (maybe yourself included) had already lost most traces of their imagination long ago. It seemed almost overnight that everyone had stopped worrying about which Ninja Turtle would be most effective against a nuclear invasion, and instead focused their attention on more pressing matters, like which No Fear shirt was the toughest-looking this week.

Lie to someone often enough and they'll start to believe it. Tell a kid that "adults WORK..kids PLAY," and they'll start acting accordingly. Tell them that humans evolved from walruses, and they'll believe that, too. Kids are kind of cute that way. Sort of like miniature grownups, really. Except not so boring. That bit happens later, after you've convinced them that humans evolved from walruses, the sky is blue, stars are gigantic balls of fire that could explode at any second (SO YOU HAD BETTER BEHAVE AND EAT YOUR PEAS!), and that sitting behind a desk all day filling out paperwork really is exciting and emotionally fulfilling.

Once upon a time, I said that when I became very tall and hairy, I would be a rock star. My teacher told me "No, you will be a writer." And here I am, typing, typing, typing instead of practicing my scales and modes and glaring at myself in the mirror to get the perfect "disillusioned tough guy" look. So just you think about that for a minute!

Now I'm not about to say that the public education system is entirely evil......ok, so I am. It's downright Satanic. Bad, bad, bad. Even the healthy bits, like recess. An hour outside every day and they're supposed to be grateful? You devil-incarnate! Back into the Bad Person Room with you! Maybe we'll let you out to play kickball for 45 minutes or so. That should be enough to keep you sane.

One could often wonder how someone could both complain about how many more crimes "kids these days" (who haven't yet been issued their Red Lenses, apparently...darn that back-order nonsense!) seem to be committing, and then decide that the best action is to make the schools more strict. If you raise 'em like criminals, they's gonna be criminals, buddy. Ironic how this simple logic escapes the most "rational" of us, eh?

Hey, who knows, maybe this thing does have a point. Or not. Wait, I know...Say No To Drugs, kids. There. Now I can go study so I can earn lots of college degrees and make lots of money writing books about why kids need more rules, because I can't be a rock star.