Freedom. The word rings in my ears and tastes bitter in my mouth. I want to spit it out, wash out my own mouth, or scrub my tongue of the lie that is this word. We are not free. We have no idea what that means. It’s just a lie. All of it is a lie.

What dictates our lives? It certainly isn’t us. We have no control. I’m not talking about destiny here. The world we live in controls everything about us. We change ourselves to fit into it. We are shunned if we don’t conform to it. Yet we are free. We can do what we want. We have our own thoughts. And then we don’t.

Even as I write this, my classmates are giving me strange looks. I’m ignoring the class I’m supposed to be in and writing this instead. That’s wrong, they say. That’s not what you should be doing, they tell me. I have independent thought though, and what they don’t realise is that writing this while I listen helps the words sink in further. It lets me focus more completely. I can do what I want to help me. I’m free. Like Hell I am.

The teacher is annoyed that I don’t focus. He’s upset that I don’t care. He doesn’t see that this actually is helping and that I need to continue doing this. I’m supposed to be afraid of him, but I’m not. When society tells us we’re wrong, we’re supposed to feel bad about ourselves. What is the point of that? We avoid the hurt and the criticism, just so we can catch it and throw it back at the next generation of poor souls that are thrust into our world. We are free. Free to do exactly what our predecessors have done, and only that.

We go through each stage, working for the future. We assume that once we get through our current stage, it will be better. We are led to believe people when they say “one more time!” We think that the end will actually come. Yet it doesn’t. We are forced through the hoops, and told where and when to jump. We go on believing the lies. We are free.

Not me. I will not accept this routine, this silly dance we are forced into. I do not want to be free. Not the same free as all of you. And I don’t mean to say that I am the only one to be this way. If you feel or think the same, then come with me! Follow me and listen to what I am saying! We, the teens, our generation, are responsible for the new world order. We are needed to change things and make them the way they should be. We are the people, and we know what we need. I don’t care where you’re from, what background you have, or any other petty details. You and I are the ones that are supposed to figure this out. Follow me, and we will. I will be something else, and we can share it. We will help each other and we will grow from each others’ ideas. I can not do this alone, and I know I am not the only one that thinks like this. There’s a new world dawning, and we need to be on top of the highest hill, with the best possible vantage point, so we can see this sun rising. We need to know what’s coming, and we need to know what our next steps will be. We are not free. Oh no, we are not. But we can be. And that is where the future lies. That is where our hope is.

We’re put into the system. We’re expected to keep our heads down and do what we’re told. No more. I spit the word out of my mouth. I replace it with these words, on the page, to all of you. Some people might think that I might publish this anonymously, or that it might be the kind of thing that I wouldn’t want people to see, out of fear. But that is exactly the point I am trying to make. I am free. I can do the things that I want to. I can be me. In fact, I am free. I am me. And I believe in a different future. I believe in our power, as the ones that control our own lives. I do not care for society or what it wants us to become. We will be the revolutionaries that throw up the barricade and defiantly shout “STOP!” Come with me into a world of our own, not the one that we are told to live in.