How to Quell a Riot

Submitted for Volume 2, Issue 4

    First things first, this is not intended to be a conspiracy theory; it is a simple cause and effect argument, and if you choose not to believe it, that’s fine.  If, on the other hand, you do see the logic in this article, more power to ya. 
Do you want to change things in your life?  Do you want to speak your mind, and not worry about the hard hand of the administration slapping you in the ass?  Sure, why wouldn’t we?  Nobody likes to be silenced, so why do we continually let the powers that be put us in our place?  The answer is simple.  We don’t have the desire to strive for absolute freedom of thought and speech.  Did we ever have this desire?  Yes.  Otherwise, things would never change in society.  And we are the ones who change things.  The youth.  Peace movements and anti-nuclear demonstrations from the sixties, right up to anti-fur and anti-logging protests today.  The youth have been the catalysts behind all of these movements, and for some reason, this tradition has not been passed on to a local level.  There is a simple explanation for this.  The majority of youth at Woodlands, and most likely at other Mississauga high schools, have been pacified by cigarettes and liquor.  The easiest way to take someone’s mind off an issue is by intoxicating them.  Think about.  It happens every day in the "real world";  A guy comes home from a tough day at some faceless corporation, his kids are brats, and his wife hasn’t looked at him for two years.  What does he do?  He has a Scotch on the rocks, and for just a little while, his problems seem to dissipate.  He doesn’t think about finding happiness at his job, he doesn’t think about how he could identify with his kids better, he doesn’t think of ways to attract his wife like he used to.  He just sits, complacent, and content with his average, but unspectacular life. 

    This situation is no different then at school, although instead of  Joe Schmoe buying legal, government-licensed alcohol to distract him from a mediocre lifestyle caused by higher taxes and lower benefits due to that same government, we see the quelling of students.  Obviously, the encouragement is not as blatant in this case.  The government allows liquor companies to access the public through million-dollar ad campaigns which show people having good times due to alcohol.  The adminstration cannot simply tell its students to smoke and drink.  Underage consumption is illegal, and outright encouragement would outrage parents.  But are they encouraging us in more subtle ways?  Let’s examine that question. 

    Technically, what’s the worse thing that you can do at school?  Get caught smoking?  Even worse; maybe get caught drinking?  Well is it really?  When someone gets caught smoking on school property, you’d think it would be taken quite seriously.  After all, it’s illegal to buy cigarettes unless you’re 19, and if you didn’t buy them, you either stole them, which is even worse, or got them directly or indirectly from an "adult", who would be contributing to the delinquency of a minor.  Needless to say, a crime is being committed according to Canadian law, not to mention Woodlands law.  What do we do with these deviants?  They usually get a note, which they take home, and show their mommies, who sign the note, and everything’s kosher.  Wow.  Those bastards.  Every month, several students will be suspended for yelling at teachers, or being "oppositions to authority" as they say.  Why is that?  People yell at total strangers all the time in real life, no one cares.  It’s not illegal.  The above infractions involving smoking are illegal, yet the punishment is next to nothing.  Interesting. 

    It’s not like the administration is unaware of this.  We have a designated smoking section right off school grounds!  Kids smoke in their cars!  Kids also bring liquor to school, disguised in mouthwash bottles, nobody does a thing!  Do you think that this is a new trick?  Do you really think kids haven’t been doing this since the dawn of time?  Of course not!  They just don’t have the time or manpower to do anything about it.  Friends of mine once brought a small beer keg into the middle of the cafeteria, UNNOTICED, during fourth period lunch.  The keg was filled with gatorade, but still, they were never approached by a staff member. 

    The fact of the matter is, the administration would rather have you bleary-eyed and blotto then thinking for yourself.  This is not limited to school, by the way.  I saw a quote from a CIA handbook which stated that "heroine is an excellent way of suppressing the youth."  If your head is preoccupied with fuzzy thoughts, the chance of you processing and getting those thoughts heard are slim. 

    Therefore, I suggest that if you want your freedom to express yourself, stop all consumption of mind-altering substances.  Smoking, drinking, drugs, all of it.  It ain’t as hard as it sounds.  You may think that quitting all forms of consumption would turn your life into a dull nothingness, but let me ask you this:  Would you rather stay sober, and have fun doing whatever else you do with your friends, or weekend after weekend, wake up in a pool of your own vomit wondering if you made a pass at your chemistry lab partner the night before?