The School Stopper's Textbook - A Guide To Disruptive Revolutionary Tactics

by E. Goldstein

Liberate your life -- smash your school! The public schools are slowly killing every kid in them, stifling their creativity and individuality, making them into non-persons. If you are a victim of this, one of the things you can do is fight back.

This chapter is not written for people who are not yet sure whether school is good or bad. It is written for students that realize the way that compulsory education and grades destroy the natural curiosity so many children feel... who realize how the tracking system keeps the poor people and minorities in our society on the bottom while keeping the rich and powerful on the top... who realize the danger of teaching complete obedience to authority and who are fed up with the racism and sexism in schools. It is written for students who have 'gone through channels' trying to correct these problems and who are tired of helplessly waiting while the schools destroy more and more minds each day. It is written for young people who realize that because they are trapped in school they don't have a chance to learn what they need to know to create a free and good life.

Before trying any of the ideas in here you should think about the effect they will have in view of the situation in your particular area. Not all of them will be effective at all times in all areas. If you think of other ideas please send them to us so we can print them in future editions.

About 20 of these ideas were first printed in 1967 by some high school kids in America's industrial heartland. They were most recently used in England after the riots there in 1982. Since those first 20, several (80, to be exact) have been added by various people and groups. You can look at the title window yourself. Some interesting ideas have been lost over phone transmissions, etc., but for the most part every way we can think of is here. Most were reprinted from the 'School Stoppers Textbook', a small section of the 'How to Revolt Handbook', the fourth book of 'The Blacklisted News', available for 13 bucks from the Youth International Party (Yippies). Keep in mind that the writers and distributors of this text assume no responsibility for the actions taken by our readers; these are simple suggestions only. Anyway, here we go... our list of 100 ways to trash your school.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

(1) Get a syringe (minus needle) or similar device. Mix both tubes of epoxy glue with a little rubbing alcohol. You now have about half an hour to fill locks, door jambs, soap dispensers, drinking fountain nozzles, video tapes, etc., before glue hardens. This glue can also be placed on the outside of doorknobs and tops of chairs for a sticky surprise. If you can't get the epoxy glue and syringe, a tube of airplane cement can also be used although it is not as permanent.

(2) An alternative use for the syringe is to pretend to shoot up while a teacher is watching. If they speak to you tell them you have to do it because school is so horrible.

(3) Call the school and leave the phone off the hook. The way some (but not all) phone systems work this will tie up their phone for as long as yours is off the hook.

(4) Protest U.S. aid to reactionary regimes abroad by defoliating plants around the school or by digging a bomb crater on the front lawn.

(5) Draw or paint something obscene on roll down maps or slide/movie screens.

(6) Get some of the punch cards that your school uses for taking attendance. Punch new holes in them either with a keypunch machine or a screwdriver. Then switch the cards with others wherever they are stored. If you can figure out the code the cards are punched by this has even more possibilities. You can often be just as effective without actually repunching the cards by redistributing them a few days after you collect them (particularly when they're used for attendence).

(7) Start an information service to get new students opinions and warnings about the teachers and administrators before enrollment day.

(8) Bad food? Have a good old fashioned food riot.

(9) In gym classes or in hallways between classes have massive searches for 'lost' contact lenses telling people not to walk through the hall or 'you might step on it'. Pretending you've lost something is good cover for all kinds of subversive behavior.

(10) Buy some little metal number plates and switch around classroom and locker numbers. This works very well if you can find number plates that look exactly the same as the old ones.

(11) If your school still has a dress code protest it having everyone do something disruptive that does not violate the code. For example, dye your hair green with food coloring. If you still have to wear uniforms, try wearing them back to front in protest, or dare boys and girls to wear each other's uniforms. If this doesn't work, try a blanket protest. You could also try posting up the article, 'Take Off Your Clothes' from 'How Old Will You Be In 1984?' or passing it around. It provides good arguments about why there should not be a dress code.

(12) Free all the animals in the biology classroom.

(13) Write a 'consumer report' on the 'education' you've been consuming. Distribute it to parents at school functions and post it on hallway bulletin boards.

(14) Periodically have students go to the office to have some rumor confirmed or denied.

(15) Perform citizen's arrests of administrators for destroying the minds of youth then telephone the police to come and take the criminals into custody. (This would be an excellent guerilla theatre action.)

(16) Try political games. School is 12 years brainwashing without trial. Slowdowns, work to rules, strikes, and occupations are fun, but don't let leaders or ego trippers speak for you.

(17) Rip off dishes and silverware from the cafeteria, towels from the gym, stencils and paper from the duplicating room, layout equipment from the art and drafting departments, tools from the wood shop, and light bulbs from the sockets, movie projectors, and incubators. Give them to yourselves or a needy movement group.

(18) During lunch turn on and light all the gas jets in the science labs. Be very careful with this one; try a good mask.

(19) Demand to see your school records on file because everyone else (police, social workers, teachers, etc.) is allowed to see them.

(20) You can make a very effective fuse by inserting a non-filter cigarette in a book of matches so that it touches the head of some matches and will ignite them when it burns down that far. Then loosely crumple paper around the matches and cigarettes so that they are hidden. Toss it in a wastebasket or any other area with a lot of papers, preferrably in the office. It takes about 5 minutes to ignite -- by then you can be on the other side of the building. Practice this at home before trying it.

(21) Have giant coughing or sneezing epidemics in class or study hall.

(22) Rub lipstick, glue, vaseline, or shit onto the doorknobs of the school's administrative offices.

(23) Swallow some snake bite antidote then walk into the principal's office. The antidote (most types are harmless -- make sure you get that kind) will make you vomit. Do so all over his carpet, desk, clothing, etc. then apologize profusely.

(24) Pick up some dog training liquid at any pet store -- it smells like concentrated piss. And if you can't figure out what to do with that then you shouldn't be reading this.

(25) Remove contents of teacher's mailboxes. Print up everything that's confidential or interesting. 'Borrow' any special notices that may be found sitting on their desks like lists of excused people, etc. (as long as you're not on them).

(26) Leave notes and hints that 'Tuesday's the day'.

(27) Impersonate parental voices and make irate phone calls to the office.

(28) Make a super stink bomb out of Hydrogen Sulfide and put somewhere in the ventilating system. This has cleared school buildings for days.

(29) If your school has a suspended ceiling (a ceiling composed of rectangles or squares resting on a frame so that the rectangles can be pushed up) you can put a dead fish -- or anything else -- above them. Or put it into empty lockers and glue them shut.

(30) Put signs on your locker saying 'this locker will self-destruct if opened for inspection'. You may even decide to make a locker bomb for it as described by King Tut.

(31) Give your school library a subscription to a good underground newspaper from your area and insist that they make it available to students.

(32) Print up false notices frequently using the same format as the school uses and distribute them to the teachers' mailboxes. Eventually they'll never know what to believe.

(33) If you can get to the school's sprinkler system, change the start time so that it will come on about 3 minutes before school starts and get everyone wet. Then a bus will have to take them home for dry clothes.

(34) Make your own passes, forms, tickets, etc. or lift them out of teachers' desks.

(35) Need a signature? Collect things that have teachers' signatures on them. Paste them all down on a sheet of white paper and either xerox or print up a bunch of copies. Forge when useful. (When getting started you might put a piece of carbon paper under the signature with the carbon paper facing down on what you want signed. Then trace over the name with a steady relaxed hand. Practice makes perfect.)

(36) Do some revolutionary wall painting. All you need is a can of spray paint (red?) plus a little imagination and courage. Then write your favorite slogans on walls, sidewalks, blackboards, etc. If you are a perfectionist you can make a stencil, but that limits the size of what you can do. WEAR GLOVES or you will certainly get tell-tale paint on your spraying finger.

(37) Are certain teachers or administrators misbehaving? Print up a rat sheet with their names and telephone numbers and distribute it. Now students can call up at any time and reprimand them -- 3:00 AM for example. Also you could order them pizzas, plumbers, landscapers, electricians, etc. Think big!

(38) Break into your school at night and burn it down. To get inside you can either hide in the building during the day and wait until the janitor leaves (know in advance what time that is), or come in later at night and either force your way through the door, find an open window, or break a window (see Monroe Mindfuck). If you use the latter method do it a few hours or days in advance so you don't get caught if it attracts attention. Be careful not to leave fingerprints -- wear gloves all the time if possible. Once inside make sure the walls will light well by placing loose paper or wood around them, or squirting lighter fluid, kerosene, or gasoline onto them. If a lot of burnable boxes are stacked in one area spread them around. Start the fire from the inside of the building so it will take longer before it can be seen from the windows. Make sure the fire has a way to travel from one burnable area to another. Of course you should wear dark clothes and know exactly where you are going when you split.

(39) Get hold of a film to be shown at a school assembly and splice in parts of another movie of your own choosing before the assembly. A little imagination on your part will make for an unforgettable day.

(40) Clog up the drains of sinks with clay then turn on the water after everyone leaves school.

(41) Teachers often leave gradebooks, conduct sheets, and attendance records unguarded. Add in and rub out ticks and replace, take out selected pages, steal it, or just burn it. Take every chance to help yourself.

(42) Put up posters all around the school. Take down 'Just Say No' signs or whatever needs adjusting, and then change the slogan to whatever you wish and put them back up. To make them stick permanently use Pet evaporated milk for glue.

(43) You could ice-pick tires as a warning--but make sure you have a total enemy before you put sugar in their gas tank.

(44) Just for phun, you could toilet paper your school the night before the first day of the year.

(45) Start wailing in the halls.

(46) If you can't find any skunks, let chickens loose in the school...or pigeons.

(47) Create the 'WEB OF THREAD' in your classroom. Have everybody in your class bring a spool of thread--with extras for people who forget. Tie your thread onto something and pass the spools around till you run out, winding thread around everything. (It is best to pick on one of your more dullwitted teachers for this one). Explain that you did it in the name of art.

(48) Carry and pretend to sell oregano rolled in papers and aspirin with the name filed off.

(49) Put Calcium Carbide (available in some parts of the country as 'Gopher- Go', also available in some hobby and joke shops) in a gelatin capsule and flush down a toilet or sink. Calcium Carbide reacts violently with water, quickly producing large amounts of HIGHLY FLAMMABLE gas and bursting pipes, etc. as soon as the water dissolves the capsule.

(50) Ride a bicycle (not your own) down a busy hall.

(51) Save your book reports and essays. Give them to other students to use next year or re-use them yourself with different teachers.

(52) Play with lighting and microphone controls during 'important' assemblies.

(53) Flush things down the toilets (preferably faculty johns) like balloons filled with air, baseballs, M80's, huge amounts of toilet paper, etc. Then build an ark.

(54) Start a campaign to have the letter Z appear everywhere as the mark of angry students.

(55) You can short-circuit the school's wiring by taking a regular plug with a short cord attached. Connect the 2 wires with a switch between them. Plug it in, turn the switch on, and you've blown a fuse. Turn it off, pull it out, and try another. You don't have to use the switch, but if you don't sometimes the current will arc and weld the plug to the socket.

(56) Set up a fake school and hire away the lousy teachers -- or put up notices inviting the entire school to a going away party for a teacher who isn't really leaving.

(57) Read the school budget. Reprint and distribute a list of the stupid expenditures.

(58) Take booze to lunch in a thermos and pass it around.

(59) During some important test (SAT/ACT/etc.) on each subject have some student who is good at that subject stand up and read the correct answers for as long as possible. When they're finished or silenced have someone else stand up and do the same thing. The test results will be worthless and it will have to be given over at great cost to the school.

(60) Take down the American flag in front of the school and put up one of your own. The best way to do this is to lower the flag that's already up, replace it with your flag, and cut the rope about a foot below where the flag is attached. Then tie a slip knot around the other end of the rope that is hanging down to raise the flag. At this point there is no way your flag can be lowered without someone climbing up the flagpole.

(61) Take signs off office doors (ones that say 'principal' or 'private') and switch them around with the ones on bathrooms. Or just switch the 'men' and 'women' signs before too many people know their way around. This can make for some good laughs.

(62) Put alarm clocks in various lockers set on 'loudest'. Set the alarm clocks so they will go off about every 10 minutes then close and lock the lockers.

(63) Have a group of people march around the school with a flag singing the Star Spangled Banner. If the administration tries to punish you, telephone your local radio stations and patriotic groups and complain that your school is being run by pinkos.

(64) In a class where there is a rule against chewing gum have everyone blow a bubble at the same time one day.

(65) On a Monday morning, try turning around all the desks, including the teacher's, before the teacher arrives. Act completely normal and it will usually take the teacher about 10 minutes to figure out what is wrong.

(66) Many schools have automatic sprinkler systems which go off automatically when sensors in the ceiling feel too much heat. Find the sensors and hold up a match to them.

(67) Persuade the graduating class to use their senior gift money for something useful or subversive.

(68) Reprint School Stoppers Textbook in your underground paper or on a leaflet or buy bulk copies and pass them around. 'Borrow' your school's copy machine paper or computer paper for this purpose and to save yourself money.

(69) Demand that all equipment being stored rather than being used be made available to students.

(70) If your school won't have a teacher evaluation make up some forms and do it yourself. Compile the result and publicize them to students, faculty, school board, and community.

(71) Use your 'free choice' book reports, term papers, etc. to read revolutionary literature and further the political education of you and your class.

(72) Have a student lie on the ground. When a teacher comes scream 'he jumped' and point to the roof or third floor window. Mumble 'Fred dared him' or 'Maybe it was LSD.'

(73) Make an address list of disliked adults in your school. Answer sex ads for them--or order them a few gross items (C.O.D. of course).

(74) Toss handfuls of BB's on the floors of busy halls, assemblies, graduation ceremonies, weddings, funerals, etc.

(75) Steal cafeteria trays or plates, burn large holes in them, and turn them into the school washer saying 'I guess the food did it'.

(76) Leave phony letters of resignation from teachers or administrators on the principal's desk.

(77) Get a small group to always carry screwdrivers and slowly dismantle the school.

(78) Always carry around a small magnet that you can use to erase any kind of magnetic media--cassette tapes, video tapes, and especially computer grading disks.

(79) Lots of bomb scares tend to break up the boredom especially during exams or on beautiful days. Also try flood or fire warnings. Be sure to disguise your voice and call from a fortress phone. You can also pull the red fire- alarm switches or dial 911 from school phones.

(80) Photograph teachers and administrators constantly--even without film.

(81) If you've got the nerve, piss in your pants while giving an oral report.

(82) Splice into your school's intercom system (from a remote hidden spot). Now you have your own guerilla radio station. Play on!

(83) Drop large bottles of ether in science class.

(84) Hang your teacher! Hang a hangman's noose from a tree - make a dummy and hang the dummy from the noose. Pin notes on it like 'Weatherbee in '73.' To add realism put holes in the body then let dilute ketchup trickle down.

(85) Call up your local newspaper or TV or radio station and tell them about what a good Samaritan your worst teacher is. Tell them how he does community service and helps out old people and you think he deserves some credit. Hopefully you can persuade them to do an article and interview.

(86) Newspaper stands in buildings are usually left unguarded. Take out papers and replace with rotten comics or papers.

(87) Remove handsets from office phones, steal typewriter ribbons, paper, and take any kind of sign-up sheets.

(88) Put a rotten apple or stale sandwich on the teacher's desk.

(89) If your school intercom has phones that connect into the intercom switchboard, put a small magnet either where the cord comes out of the handset or in the part where you hear. If the intercom just has a speaker, put the magnet near or on one of the electrical connections of the speaker. In either case it will short out the system. It may take weeks for them to find the trouble.

(90) Tape-record the stupidest lectures from your principal and later walk by them while playing the recording and laugh. Another idea would be to edit it yourself and recreate sentences so that the official is saying something he/she never intended. Then widely distribute the tape.

(91) Take the door of the administration offices off its hinges but leave it standing there so that when the principal tries to open the door in the morning it will have a slightly crushing effect.

(92) Pretend to have food poisoning after lunch break. Get lots of people to join in. Roll on the floor, or get sick by pushing your fingers down your throat. With luck you can start general panic.

(93) Steal textbooks from classrooms and magazines from the library. Donate them to your local Deseret Industries or Salvation Army, or just burn them.

(94) Get everyone to bring in all their pets to school to show the teacher.

(95) Purchase massive amounts of those 'Fun Snaps' that little kids get around the 4th of July. They're cheap and make for lots of fun during filmstrips, assemblies, funerals, tests, etc. They may also be hidden behind doors and under books to wake up teacher. You may also want to make a boltbomb for throwing in halls or the gym, as described by The Leftist in Phrack V.

(96) Get instructions for as many different types of bombs as you can. They can be found scattered all over BBS, but some good sources are The Anarchist's Cookbook, Sir Galahad Du Lac's demolition and munition files, and surplus military books. Make a bomb and blow holes in school lawns, parking lots, sports fields, running tracks, or anywhere else. You could use a bomb that puts out a lot of schrapnel to brighten up school doors and walls.

(97) If you can patch into the school intercom or PA as mentioned earlier, put a bug in the teachers' lounge or principal's office (see 'Making the Lunch Box' by Dr. D-Code) and record some good conversations. Patch together the best parts and connect it to the PA system. Then listen to the screams!!

(98) Test out the methods for cheating on Scan-tron tests (see 'Mastering the Scan-tron' by Ivanhoe and The Warhead) and then modify the article for your particular school system and distribute it a few days before major exams.

(99) If at all possible, get into a chemistry class because you then have the resources for making about any explosive you'll need. Simply smuggle out what you need. Of particular interest is the manufacture of nitrogen triiodide. It can be placed in books or under toilet seats and explodes upon any pressure or contact. See Luke Skywalker's article for more information.

(100) If there is any trouble in getting any of the above to work, simply talk a few people into having fake decoy fights to attract the administrators' attention so you'll have time to put your plan into operation.....

Society abuses us; society is beginning to pay...

*** Completed 13 September 1987 E. Goldstein ***