This is how to find answers without thinking.

This is how to honor roll, National Honor Society, and to AP classes.

This is being voted Most Likely to Succeed or Most likely to Marry. Most likely to die young.

This is stepping around kids having panic attacks in the hallways.

This is being the kid having a panic attack in the hallway.  

This is hearing crying in the bathroom stalls.

This is choking down your own tears in the bathroom stall.

This is getting an A but having purple moons under your eyes to remind you of your hard work.

This is telling your teacher you need to breathe but, “Unfortunately, no more breaks.”

To avoid eye contact with students you don’t know, to avoid drawing attention, to grip your skin in class to try and draw your own attention there. 

Blood in your hands is better than this humiliation.

We know the contents of dissected fish, but not yet the contents of our own mind and body. 

Empty it into the toilet to cleanse yourself!

Today, you find that the average high school student has the same anxiety levels as the average psychiatric patient in the 1950’s.

We know how to calculate the Pythagoras Theorem, to solve trigonometric ratios.

But how do you assess the question How are you? I don’t know. We don’t.

How are we supposed to know? 

It wasn’t on the study guide.