On 'Conformity vs. Individualism' in highschool

A text I wrote and posted in my high school because I had had enough.

Conformity vs. Individualism 

an Inquiry

By Mike Meijer

Dear DEANS faculty members & fellow students,

 

We are all part of the smallest minority on this planet: the individual. Although this might sound like a daunting prospect, Objectivism teaches us that we have inalienable rights to our own self-expression and opinions.

This particular school however, I believe does not like the philosophical views of Individualism or Objectivism. As a matter of fact, I believe that this educational institution -despite preaching open-mindedness and "instilling a willingness to learn" in their brochures- is strongly against even considering any opinion other than their own. 

As a student you must do as they say and obey without question; follow their orders blindly and conform to their image. You must march in a silent line without any physical expression of your individual emotion. You must wear the uniforms that they designed with the purpose of erasing your individuality. To them, free thinkers must be repressed and conformed until they are no more. 

Conformity. Conformity. Conformity. It is the order of the day, and if you refuse to set down your pride and instead stand by your own judgment in defiance of their ridiculous rules, they will simply limit your influence by not letting you communicate with anybody and sending you home with a warning of what will happen to you, and more importantly, your grades if you dare to so much as raise your hand in question of the school's methods or even think about discussing your personal opinions with your classmates. Call me naive, but I was not aware that Dictatorial Communism was a viable school management system.  

In the face of their mission to eradicate free thought in the student body, they ignore our basic rights to freedom of speech and personal opinion. Every day at school I feel like little more than a trained animal: sit, walk, stand in line, be quiet, do as you are told. Their motto should be "Think not for yourself, but follow blindly." 

Is the purpose of high school not to teach us the basic skills which we will need later on in our adult life? Then why not allow us even an inkling of personal freedom? The real world is not a military institution where you must obey every command without thought. It is a place where you must think for yourself and manage your own affairs, so what use is this indoctrination of conformity and closed-mindedness?

I acknowledge that there is a possibility that my opinions may offend the views that some students and faculty members hold of this school, so I urge you to remember that the opinions expressed herein are merely the opinions of one individual, and if anybody would like to dispute said opinions with an intelligent argument and perhaps educate me on the necessity of these rules and regulations in a civilized manner, please feel free to do so; I merely ask that you do not remove this posting and its' copies prior to explaining to me the motivation behind these rules.

Thank you for keeping an open mind and taking the time to read my inquiry, and I look forward to being educated on the necessity of said rules. 

Sincerely, 

Mike A. A. Meijer, grade 10 student.

Epilogue.

A day after I posted sixteen copies of this letter on various billboards around DEANS and gave four signed copies to relevant people in the DEANS faculty (Principal, Vice Principal, Academic Coordinator, & Hallway Supervisor), I was called into the conference room and ‘warned’ by the principal. 

He basically said that one more “outburst” like this would “severely affect your grades”.
This isn't the first time he threatened to inexplicably lower my grades, but when I requested more specificity about the manner in which writing a letter asking for an explanation behind the rules as well as the consequences of not abiding by said rules, and requesting a civilized conversation if possible, so severely affected the grades of subjects that have nothing at all to do with the letter I wrote, he couldn't provide a response. 
Instead, he retreated to his office and handed me down to the Vice Principal, Ahmed -my bestest of friends (please note: heavy sarcasm)- who proceeded to "lecture" me in the school's conference hall for a good forty-five minutes. 

It was an interesting experience; rather than point out my disciplinary issues and discuss ways I could improve upon my behaviour, Ahmed -for whom I have long lost any respect- proceeds to reenact a typical B-rated movie police interrogation scene, with me as the street scum and him obviously as Sergeant Bad Cop. 

Much in-my-face shouting and loud hand-on-desk-slamming ensued; it was hilarious. 

It really was amusing, so I just sat back in my comfortable wheeled office chair, put on my oft-utilized Eat My S**t grin, and never broke eye contact. 

I was enjoying the experience thoroughly, occasionally laughing out loud if his ridiculous overacting got the better of me until Ahmed -probably realizing that his little routine wasn't working on me-, decided to take his "Tough Cop" routine a step further, and put a hand on my left shoulder. 

Now if there’s one thing I hate, its people I have no modicum of respect for laying a hand on me. 

I stood up fast, the chair slamming backwards into the wall. The noise was surprisingly loud which was something I hadn't counted on, but a welcome bonus judging from Ahmed’s flinch-factor. 

As I stood up, I simultaneously wind-milled my left forearm counter-clockwise in front of me to swipe his heavy paw off my shoulder, and as my face came literally five or six inches away from his face, the warning presumably already written in my eyes, I growled “don’t f*****g touch me” through clenched teeth. 

He must have picked up on my vibe because he instinctively backed away and shakily told me to go back to class. I shot him a comically big smile, thanked him cheerily, and sauntered off to class. 

Just another day at DEANS

Nothing really changed in the school, except that they gave me exemption from all the bullshit rules. 
I didn't want or ask for any special treatment; I would much rather have followed the rules like everybody else, if only they had made sense or served a purpose.


Update: DEANS International school is being closed down by Dubai's Ministry of Education because it has been discovered that they were employing "teachers" who had no actual degrees or educator certificates whatsoever, that the faculty was accepting bribes from students who were enrolled in the school and never actually showed up yet were passing with flying colours, and that they also tampered with students' grades.
This was the case with me, and it kept me from enrolling in university for a full year as I was jumping through bureaucratic hoops trying to get my final grades evaluated and approved by the Ministry of Education.

The only tragedy is that it took so damn long for this farce of an educational institute to finally be exposed.