Student Slavery in America -- Students Have Rights

Whether the advice I received as regards graduate school consisted of the good, the bad or the ugly, that advice was always accompanied by the same caveat, a required understanding that student abuse at this level is deeply institutionalized. I was even warned by a respected acquaintance that my penchant for telling the truth could serve me no good in graduate school. I have listened as friends in graduate school described legally actionable conduct with little more than a verbal shrug. I try to comfort myself by saying that surely there must be graduate advisors out there who value personal honor, discipline, control, respect and the value of doing great work in their fields. Surely it must be so, but still I find myself afraid to open my eyes and look. A year ago I was so buttressed by that near certainty of purpose that comes from conviction. Graduate school lay in my future. And then zip turned to fizzle.

Though I have a degree, I do not have the requisite credit hours in the field of study I wish to pursue at the graduate level. In recognition of this, I have been taking classes to fill in the gaps in the necessary requirements. Looking around me now, through my own eyes as well as those of friends, I see that the slave-training begins early. I gladly acknowledge that there are many educators and educational administrators who adhere to rules of common decency and respect in regards to students. It would seem, however, that their respect stems more from personal value systems than those cultivated by institutional concerns. From all appearances there seems to be no immediate disdain for those employed in education who would assume that attending a school of study comes with the addendum that the student agrees that further education comes at the cost of accepting subhuman status while walking the halls.

There are many who would argue that the Constitutional protections of our United States are being stripped away by legislation and limp-wrist judges. But this is only the end game. The real game begins with stripping away any ideals of rights or freedoms from the hearts and minds of the citizens. I attend a school at which the student body president was elected in a process in which a mere three percent of the student population participated. I am sure some pins must have dropped at this absurdity, but the sound made was not in the general range of that heard by the human ear... apparently. Now that is one grim acceptance of student powerlessness.

Coming from a plantation society myself, I can not help but wonder whether this current state is some type of payback for those times when only the rich could afford to educate their young, and educators were just another variety of servant. Of course this would not be so much of a good plan in that it is sure to result in a return to that uneasy state of attempting to command respect simultaneous with bowing before the young master or mistress. Or maybe it is just the prevailing of the British attitude that one must continually press every advantage that is at work. Or maybe somewhere in the heart of some jungle, a mischievous fly whispered to a mosquito.

I wondered if enough of us shouted, “Hey, students have rights, and the Constitution does not dissolve at the threshold to the classroom,” whether we would make audible noise. Can we have respect, responsibility and duty of care instead Phds squawking and clawing like the young of some nitwit succubus. Let us bring down the curtain on this shameless cacophony. Let us have education be an arena of mutual respect, learning, unguarded curiosity, unrelenting discovery, passion for knowledge and study.

This begins with students asserting their membership in humanity, declaring their right to personhood, refusing to bow down to the tyranny of inflated egos and deflated self-worth. Most school systems have an avenue of complaint. Use it when your rights are violated. Use it when your dignity is denied. Stand up for yourself even if no one will stand with you. Potmarks in ones estimation of self-worth is too high a price. What rights do you have? Find out. Let us start that dialogue. Share that knowledge with others. Demand more from your educational institution. Organize into student action groups. We can teach each other how to do it. I hope to find in myself this strength.