Wide digital painting showing the contrast between school image and reality. On the left, a principal smiles and shakes hands with students posing in front of trophies and an “Excellence” banner, brightly lit and polished. On the right, a dim school hallway shows students slumped against lockers, whispering, and being overlooked while two staff members laugh over a clipboard. In the center, one student stands between both worlds, half smiling in bright light and half looking down in muted tones.
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Why we let social perception outrank human perception

ByTC Marti

Public schools are notorious for letting social perception outrank human perception, even if it’s not what teachers or admin intend.

Or, at least intend on the surface. One good thing about having an insider or two in the public school system is that they’ll tell you how corrupt it is. My job is to expand that corruption to you.

My old public school district uses the supposedly noble “enrollment, employment, enlistment” mantra for each student. It’ll claim they care about all students and want to put them into the best possible position for success and life preparation.

I lol’d while I read the newsletter when I last visited my parents. Yeah, nice try, bro (superintendent’s a dude). My first question is this: Who ghost wrote that shit for you? My second question is: Who the hell d’you think you’re fooling?

Want to know how a contingent of teachers and admin operated in my old district? They weren’t shy on joking about which student would end up behind bars one day. Funny how public schools come across as some noble institution, while some sick shit like that happens behind closed doors. But it’s the tip of the iceberg.

Those running public schools try to uphold an image

One reason we let social perception outrank human perception in public schools is image. Get their newsletter, and you’ll see carefully-crafted messaging and cherry-picked photos.

Like yearbook propaganda, the kids look like they’re having a good time when posing for the pictures. The school lists all of its programs that help prepare students for life, and how to transform them into successful adults.

The superintendent looks all crisp for the camera. He’s wearing a jovial smile and a suit he didn’t get at a thrift store. And to the superficial mind, that shit looks good. “Man, my tax dollars are going to something great, and I’m proud of that,” they might think.

Obviously, they forgot about how much of a drag and how fake, school was. Because they marketed human development, but actually sold conformity.

If social perception doesn’t fall in line, teachers will force it

I remember my junior year, when we elected class officers for president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer. Guess who became class president? The future valedictorian who played two sports. Guess what else happened?

They never won the election. My friend and his “running mate” received the most votes. But the worst history teacher I ever had spoke up. As the story goes, they said something like, “Those two aren’t responsible enough to handle the duties.”

Like, what does a class president do, exactly? Here’s a bulleted rundown:

Official (theatrical) role:

  • Represents the class at school-sanctioned events.

  • Helps plan dances, fundraisers, prom, graduation.

  • Gives speeches (often pre-approved by administration).

  • Serves as the “student voice” (but only within admin-approved boundaries).

Reality:

  • Acts more like a cheerleader for school events than an actual leader.

  • Cannot make meaningful policy decisions.

  • Has no real influence on curriculum, rules, or student rights.

  • Often wins because of popularity, charisma, or connections.

Trust me, this cat had the popularity, charisma, and connections. My friend and his running mate were well-liked, but neither played sports, they didn’t have connections, they came from working and middle-class backgrounds, and were generally average students. Of course, the gatekeeper would step in to “correct” things.

When we forced the teachers to relent…

I swear, we fought a holy war against these teachers. So, when senior year rolled around, that same friend, his old running mate, myself, and a good dozen other guys “fixed” the homecoming voting, where one girl you never would’ve thought had a chance to end up on it did.

And as fate would have it, she was the Homecoming Queen. Why was this spectacular? Here’s a rundown of the chick:

  • Also an eventual valedictorian (our school had more than one)
  • Very involved in extracurriculars
  • And I ain’t gonna lie: She had a pretty face

But she was no athlete. Nor was she friends with that “popular clique.” She hung out with the band geeks, and every extracurricular she was involved in came across as nerdy. It put those running the show in a bind: Take her off the Court and make it look as though the “right” person won, or leave her on there since she, technically, deserved a spot.

It was one of the few times the school didn’t let social perception outrank human perception. And bam, if that wasn’t sweet revenge, then I don’t know what is.

Social perception trumped human perception

The sad, sorry truth about this entire article is that I went to a relatively small school with an enrollment around 500. Imagine what’s going on at those larger schools, where there’s a definite hierarchy and, despite their claims, chances are, they’re more interested in keeping that hierarchy.

Is it any wonder why some kids were far more successful than others? It wasn’t hard to recognize a pattern. Those playing sports, who had parents connected with the school in some capacity, and let’s be honest, who leveraged those connections, often won out.

It was great to, for once in my senior year, beat them at their own game. Not that it mattered, with the most popular girl in the school taking the Prom Queen award later that year. A 4.0 student herself, a 12-time letter winner, and, unsurprisingly, the class vice president.

And to be frank, she wasn’t all that good-looking in my eyes. But every piece of testosterone in that damn school fell into lockstep. Almost on automatic, no matter what clique they belonged to, thought otherwise. Or, maybe they were just told to think that?

I could rant about this forever, but that doesn’t build a solution

The Arcane Prophecy by TC MartiHonestly, I’m not the type who bitches and complains without taking a negative and shifting it into a positive. Karl Marx bitched and complained, and when you read about him, he may be the most miserable SOB in human history.

Instead, I’m doing something about it with my fiction. Yote Diamondback isn’t very good-looking. With frizzy, rust-colored hair that does whatever it wants, pasty-pale skin, and large, forgettable brown eyes too big for her face, it’s easy to see why Yote was second-fiddle to her sister, Jett.

Jett’s gorgeous, with straight, raven-black hair, ivory skin, almond-shaped green eyes, and an athletic build. She looks the part, while Yote, despite her athletic ability and brains, is just there. Well, at least until she attends the market-based Arcane Elemental Academy.

And guess what? The place recognizes her talents. Both in sports and academics, all without the traditional school method. She’s getting a lesson that education doesn’t need to be confined into the four walls of a classroom.

What else? I turned Yote’s story into a full-length novel. Check out the first three chapters now, get to meet her, and find out how she ends up at the Arcane Elemental Academy.

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