A 15-year-old boy with newly diagnosed manic depression was suspended from school after his parents divorced and he moved in with his grandfather. The speaker argues schools silence struggling students instead of recognizing their strengths, calling the system a vicious vehicle that strips away young people's voices.
Hey, I just talked to the grandfather of a 15-year-old who got suspended from school. The school system can be one of the most vicious vehicles for taking away our voice, for not empowering us. So this grandfather is 50 years old. It's not like he's out of touch. But the kid, his parents just got divorced, he just moved into his grandfather's house, he got diagnosed with manic depression and a week later was suspended from school, had to go home for a week, and now he has to catch up on all that school and deal with all that other shit. The school system is taking away this boy's voice. He needs to know that he's awesome and he has skills that the school system just doesn't recognize. Did school take away your voice? It doesn't deserve it. It doesn't have that right.
