I don’t have any specific examples, but the zero-tolerance thing in schools where self-defense could get you expelled. Just some cold, banality of evil shit
Probably when I was abused and the social workers did nothing because I was gay. Fun times.
In Reception (pre-school for you yanks) when I was about four I had a really awful teacher who seemed to hate kids and was basically a bully. We’d done paintings and I was proud of mine and wanted to show my Mum so asked to take it home.
She said I couldn’t.
I asked why.
She said because she said so and they weren’t for taking home.
I asked if they were going to be hung up in the classroom then.
She said no.
I told her I was taking mine home then and took it off the desk.
She snatched it out if my hand and ripped it.
I threw the still half full pots of paints at her, turning her into a living Jackson Pollock painting.
When my Mum showed up to collect me the teacher kept us behind to give us a big lecture about how she’d never known such a rude child as to dare ask questions and that my outburst might be proof of some mental imbalance. My Mum was silent and I was sure I was in big trouble.
We got in the car to go home and my Mum burst into hysterical laughter and said that she deserved it.
That was the first time I was outraged by injustice and the first time I found out my Mum was based.
That’s fucking awesome kid you did nothing wrong your mom sounds cool as fuck.
Not first, but I remember watching early youtube of police arresting skaters, kneeling on their backs, and mocking the person filming by saying something along the lines of “yeah, your tax dollars pay my salary ha ha”
Learning that my mother was punched in the stomach by a police officer when pregnant with my brother was probably the first I remember. My family were anarchist though so it was pretty ingrained in me from an early age.
Mostly normal we didn’t live on a commune or anything. I went to school, watched pokemon, played video games all that jazz. We’d go to road protests (they were a big thing in the UK in early 90s, train gang since birth) and other demonstrations regularly but would always leave before the police came charging in on horseback. Mostly it was just great to have the world around me explained accurately from the begining. I’ve always seen politics for the sham it is. I’ve always know the wealth of the western world is built on exploitation. I’ve always known capitalist exploit their workers. I’ve always know kindness and compassion is how you try and approach other people at first not just seeing them for what they can offer you. Basically I’m the only one on this site who isn’t a lib.
It did not make school easy though. I had a huge anti-authoritarian streak and it caused me to get into trouble. I was the weird kid who would say God didn’t exists and that gay people aren’t sickos. Caused me to be bullied a lot and gave me terrible anxiety. But at the end of the day it means my parents can be my heroes. My mother was at Greenham common in the 80s protesting american imperialism how fucking cool is that. My dad was a genius historian and marxists who I was in constant awe of . The breadth and depth of knowledge but also compassion and kindness was staggering. They are both dead now but I try to live up to them every day by living and emodying their ideals.
