A Good Hobbling

The neighbors

Are called and gathered

One sizes up the next

Making note of any flaws

More importantly

What each does best

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

It isn’t equitable

For anyone

To hoard skill

Or know-how

Lording ability

Above the rest

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

No person left behind

None shall walk

Before the class

They’ll be separated

Culled from the pack

Sent for reeducation

On holding back

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

Once everyone's

Exceptional

None shall be

Any who don't

Fit inside the steeply

Sloping bell

Just statistical outliers

Not to worry

All within the margins of error

An oversight which has been

Permanently rectified

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

Before further damage

Can be wrought

They must be stricken

From the pack

Left to fend

For themself

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

When ideas are

Allowed to flourish

Chaos reigns

K.B. Silver

If you've read or even heard of the short story by Kurt Vonnegut Harrison Bergeron, you may recognize this concept. Unfortunately, we live in a society like this. It may not be as extreme as in the story, but it certainly feels like we get closer to it every day. People may say they support and hold up exceptionalism, merit-based programs, new big ideas, and the like, but that couldn’t be further from the truth in my experience. We live in a culture of participation trophies.

I was sent to a “gifted program” several different programs because I moved a number of times during my school years, but that just meant being in the special education program and being lied to about it, regardless of the strenuous requirements for acceptance. Separated from my peers for one day a week, I was harassed and taunted by not just other students but also my teachers. They were angry that the gifted students were affecting their schedule and curriculum, even though we were expected to do all the work we missed in class on top of the work we were assigned for the gifted class.

I didn't understand at the time, but the real reason they hated the gifted students was that the school district was running their own little experiment and tracking both SPED groups. They put the low-achieving/disabled students who could attend standard classes together, thereby boosting the other students through the bell curve, and grouped the high-achieving/disabled students together, pushing the rest of the students in our classes down. They kept us together as we advanced through the grades, too. I only found this out in 6th grade, after having been in the district since 2nd grade, and would leave again in 7th grade. I honestly couldn't blame them after that.

When my illness got worse, and I started missing more school, was there any leeway for my exceptional grades and the fact that I was doing extra work? Nope, I was threatened with being held back a grade regardless of doctor's notes and hospital visits. So, my sophomore year was the last year I spent in standard public school; I enrolled in “Homeschool” and took all of my classes at the community college. Only having to go to school three days a week made a huge difference for me. I earned my GED, completing almost all of the general education requirements for my college degree at the same time I would have graduated from high school..

The system that has been set up is not designed to custom-fit everyone; in reality, it was designed to weed people like me out. Which was extremely disappointing since I love learning so much! I could spend all day, every day researching, reading, learning, and sharing what I have learned with others; I even went to college for a degree in Library and Information Technology, but that’s not what school is about.

Of course, when I made it into the accelerated college prep program at Fort Myers Senior High School, a school famous for its resistance to desegregation, I encountered a different problem with recruitment to these types of programs. Something I discussed in this article, if you are interested:

If you are giving your all every day and still find yourself desperately struggling, you’re not alone. You don’t have to keep doing everything the same way as everyone else. You aren’t too smart, too strong, or too anything to fail. Sometimes, failure is part of the learning process, but sometimes it’s an indication that things aren’t working and a change is needed. In my experience, a small change can make all the difference in the world.

I included an affiliate link to Kurt Vonnegut’s Welcome to the Monkey House, a collection of short stories including Harrison Bergeron. If you have never heard of Bookshop.org, it’s great because it orders your book through your choice of local bookstore, not taking actual bookstores out of the equation. I see this as a much better alternative to Amazon. I have my books Rhythm and Muse and Ripping the Scales from My Eyes up there.