Who’s the Refuser?

Rebecca is a school refuser
The lessons confuse her
Miss knows her sister
is a substance misuser
It doesn’t excuse her
She’s labelled a shirker,
assigned to an overworked social worker,
a conflict defuser
But Becky’s still a school refuser

Mason is a lesson bailer,
afraid of failure
He’s looking paler, feeling frailer
Attention derailer, floored by distractions,
can’t make head nor tail of fractions
Would rather go and find some action

Danny is a school refuser,
a regular recuser, knows he’s a loser
His dad’s down the boozer,
he’s a bit of a bruiser,
says that it’s better to be a fighter
than a reader and writer
It’ll get you further, it’s worth more
than a piece of paper, a C-grade scraper
He’ll get him a job with a flash four-wheeler
with a bloke he knows who’s a grower and dealer

Sanjay is a school absconder
In class, his mind would only wander
Absence made his heart no fonder
He’s an oversleeper, a poor timekeeper
His troubles run deeper
than getting there for registration
He doesn’t care for regulation

Chloe is a school refuser,
a solitude chooser
Her dad’s an abuser
The system pursues her,
letters accuse her of truancy,
no room for ambiguity,
of skiving, depriving
herself of an education,
an entry-level qualification
Kids like her lack motivation

Yashvi is a school avoider,
the noise annoyed her,
the constant pressure near destroyed her,
the pep talks never really buoyed her
She isn’t sporting, found it exhausting,
She cares for her parents and her elderly neighbour
uses up her emotional labour

Or maybe school is a child alienater,
confidence deflater,
forced conformer,
anxiety provoker, anger stoker,
cheerless stresser, peerless pressure,
sense overwhelmer, of taste and touch
It’s just too much

Too disciplined and regimented,
thinly skinned, unprecedented,
Ambition spoiler, prepare for toiler,
streamer, grader, dissent dissuader,
starved and stunted, underfunded,
character crusher, challenge husher,
spirit tamer, victim blamer

J’accuse the accuser
Who’s the refuser?


Watch a video of Janine performing this poem here.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay


Challenging the term ‘school refuser’


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