To you who find school unbearably painful. A story about how you can get by even if you don't go.

First, I want to state clearly that I have no intention of encouraging or promoting school non-attendance.

However, I decided to publish this article with the hope that those who cannot go to school for various reasons and view their future pessimistically, as well as their families and those around them, might find hope that life can be restarted at any time.

I was a child who did not attend school.
I often missed elementary school, did not attend middle school for a single year, and did not even enroll in high school. Eventually, I obtained a Certificate for Students Achieving the Proficiency Level of Upper Secondary School Graduates, went on to a vocational school, and then found employment as an IT engineer, which brings me to where I am today.

※The Certificate for Students Achieving the Proficiency Level of Upper Secondary School Graduates (High School Equivalency Exam) is a qualification that proves you have the academic ability of a high school student. If you obtain this, you can go on to university or other institutions without having attended high school. It used to be called the 'Daiken'.

Also, the reasons why I stopped attending school are off-topic, but if you are interested, I touch upon them in the following article.

Now, when you don't want to go to school or don't go, I think most of the reasons are more or less related to human relationships. I apologize for saying this as someone who barely attended, but the human relationships from elementary to high school have a somewhat closed-off feel.

Teachers can sometimes be unreasonable toward children, and on top of that, there is a mysterious system called the school caste. It is difficult to freely transfer schools or change classes, and once you fail to build relationships, it is hard to escape. In the first place, many people likely find the mechanism that forces socialization to be painful.

Even so, I think there are various merits to going to school. It is highly likely that it is easier to live as an adult if you have gone.

However, if those human relationships or the atmosphere that forces socialization are truly painful, and you are so distressed that you think it would be better to die, then I don't think you need to force yourself to go.

This is because, if you look at just the studies, elementary through high school can be supplemented by self-study or cram schools.

From elementary to middle school, you can graduate even if you haven't attended a single day.

The obligation of compulsory education is the obligation to have children receive an education, not an obligation imposed on the children themselves. Therefore, if they were to not grant a graduation certificate because you didn't attend, the problem would lie with the elementary or middle school. That is why they will graduate you normally, and they might even kindly give you a certificate, but since you won't use it in later years, there is no particular problem if you don't receive it.

As for high school, nowadays there is N High School and others, but if that is also difficult, you can self-study or go to a cram school, and there is no problem if you obtain the High School Equivalency (※This is a secret, but in reality, it only requires the academic ability to enter high school, so it is not as difficult as most people imagine).

In this case, there will be a gap in your resume later, but if you say 'due to family circumstances...' during an interview, you won't be pressed much further. Though it is better to have an excuse ready in case you are pressed.

It is legally problematic, so you shouldn't do it, but even if you were to pretend you graduated from a high school, unless it is a company that conducts background checks, I don't think it will be discovered later. However, personally, I do not recommend companies that judge whether or not to hire you based solely on whether you graduated from high school. They are likely intolerant of other people's circumstances and would be difficult to work for.

If you are not going on to university, you don't even need to obtain the High School Equivalency. Well, you can obtain the High School Equivalency at any age, and you can go to university at any age, so if you decide you want to go, you can obtain the High School Equivalency and aim for it. That can be done at any time.

Anyway, if you can somehow survive until you are old enough to attend university or similar, then you are free. Unlike elementary, middle, and high school, universities and vocational schools do not have that closed-off feeling, and they don't require such close socialization. Of course, if you want to socialize, you can. Depending on your effort, ability, and money, you can even aim for the University of Tokyo while throwing away everything up to high school.

Once you graduate and get a job, you can freely choose a workplace where it is easy for you to live, and if you move, you are free to work anywhere. In Japan, once you join as a regular employee, company employees are well-protected, so you won't be fired unless something extreme happens. If you don't like it, you can just quit. I think it becomes significantly easier to live.

Even for non-regular jobs, I recommend joining a company that has a path to becoming a regular employee.If you don't like that either, you can just go somewhere else.

In summary, you can graduate elementary and middle school even if you don't go at all, high school has N High School, and if that doesn't work, there is the High School Equivalency. University doesn't have the same social burden as elementary, middle, and high school, and there is also the option of finding a job without going. You can manage somehow.

How about it? Have I made you feel like you can manage somehow?

If everything is difficult, I just want you to stay alive, even if it's just by enduring day by day.

In any case, with the evolution of technology such as AI, the number of people needed to sustain society will decrease, and life security such as a basic income might be introduced in Japan as well. If that happens, it might become a world where you can live without forcing yourself to work.

We don't know what the future holds. Therefore, you can also hope for things to get better.

I hope that those who read this will not lose hope.

Also, if you are interested in mental health, I have summarized it below, so I would be happy if you could refer to it.

Thank you for reading to the end. If you like, I look forward to your likes, follows, and comments. May good things happen to you.