Disruption is the Curriculum Now

Originally published May 21, 2014

In his last interview, James “Tricky Shotgun” Woods didn’t mince words. He accused the American education system of manufacturing obedience, not intelligence. He compared schools to factories. He called the whole thing a long con.

Now he’s back—and he’s pointing the finger in a new direction.

This time, he’s talking to the students. Not to blame them—but to challenge them. Because if they don’t take action, he says, they’re going to be the ones left holding the bill for everyone else’s cowardice.

SFL: You were pretty clear last time that the education system is a mess. But now it sounds like you’re saying the students themselves need to step up.

James Woods: They absolutely do. Look, the system is garbage—no argument there. But at a certain point, students have to stop being quiet victims and start being loud agents. Because here’s the truth: they’re the only ones with real leverage. They just don’t use it.

They’ve been trained to be passive, polite, and patient. And none of that is going to get them what they need to survive the 21st century.

SFL: So what do you want students to actually do?

Woods: First? Try the “proper process.” Go to the school board. Organize petitions. Talk to administrators. Push for classes that actually prepare you for real life—financial literacy, modern tech, communication, ethics, climate resilience, AI impact, whatever. Demand flexibility in assignments. Demand project-based learning. Demand critical thinking.

But—and I cannot stress this enough—when that doesn’t work? When they smile and nod and nothing changes? That’s when you stop asking and start disrupting.

SFL: You’ve brought up Gene Sharp’s work as a model for this disruption. Can you explain that?

Woods: Absolutely. Gene Sharp was a political scientist who basically built the blueprint for nonviolent resistance. He studied how people take down entrenched power structures—without using violence, without chaos, without breaking laws. Just strategy. Discipline. Numbers.

He wrote this list—198 Methods of Nonviolent Action—and it’s not some abstract thing. It’s practical. If students read that list and apply it to their schools, they’ll realize they have way more power than they think.

SFL: Most students have probably never heard of Sharp. What does using his approach look like in a school setting?

Woods: Let me break it down. This isn’t about waving signs or walking out and going home. Sharp’s methods are about targeted pressure. Making the system so uncomfortable that it has to change, while keeping the moral high ground the whole time.

For example: You’re stuck in a school that hasn’t updated its curriculum in decades. Still assigning the same five books. Still using fill-in-the-blank tests to “measure” thinking. Still rewarding memorization over problem-solving.

Step one? Symbolic resistance. That’s Sharp’s jam.

You create a “Student Report Card” for the school. Grade the administration on things that matter—does this school teach critical thinking? Are students prepared for life? Are they challenged? Do they have a voice? Publish that thing. Print copies. Post them online. Hand them out. Make it go public.

Now the system’s on the defensive.

SFL: What’s next after that?

Woods: Satire is huge. Use humor as a weapon. Organize a “Funeral for Relevance.” Black clothes, fake casket, eulogies for creativity, originality, courage—all the things your school stopped cultivating. Students will show up. Teachers might get mad. Good. That means they noticed.

Or run mock awards: “The Golden Binder for Most Pointless Assignment.” “Lifetime Achievement in Busy Work.” Keep it nonviolent, keep it clever—but make it sting.

And then there’s disruption by demonstration. That’s when you don’t just criticize—you show the alternative.

Let’s say your school refuses to teach basic digital skills. So, organize a student-led workshop during lunch or after school. Bring in someone from the community. Teach coding. Resume building. Freelancing. Podcasting. Marketing. Run your own “shadow school.” Document it. Post it.

Suddenly the school has to answer: why are the students doing a better job than the staff?

SFL: What if students want to be more direct?

Woods: Then we talk about strategic noncooperation.

You don’t just skip a test. You organize an entire class or grade level to refuse a standardized exam unless it’s tied to something meaningful—like a critical thinking reflection or an oral defense. You’re not refusing to learn. You’re refusing to waste time on tests that measure obedience, not ability.

Or, say the school bans outside speakers. You invite them anyway. You hold your event off-campus. You livestream it. You make it visible. You draw a line in the sand.

Sharp called this kind of thing “civil disobedience.” In schools, it might look like refusing to participate in outdated practices—bell schedules, uniform policies, silence in class—when those practices actively hinder learning.

SFL: But that kind of action could lead to detention. Suspensions. Worse.

Woods: Of course it could. And students need to decide: what’s the bigger cost? Taking some heat now—or graduating into a world you are completely unprepared for?

Because that’s what’s happening. Students are leaving high school and college with zero tools to handle uncertainty, complexity, or failure. And then they get flattened by life. That’s the real punishment.

SFL: So this is evolution, in your view?

Woods: Yeah. Education is a living thing. It either evolves with the world or it becomes extinct. Right now, it’s not evolving—it’s clinging to comfort. Clinging to tradition. Clinging to test scores and AP labels and rubrics like it’s 1985.

Meanwhile, the world is on fire. Job markets are flipping every five years. The climate is changing. There are entire career fields that don’t even exist yet—and we’re still making kids analyze bullshit like Robert Frost as if it’s some sort of life skill.

The disconnect is outrageous. And no one feels it more than the students.

SFL: So why don’t more students fight back?

Woods: Because they’ve been taught not to. They’ve been raised to be polite. To respect authority. To wait their turn. To follow in the footsteps of their parents and grandparents—people who, to be fair, got some value out of this system.

But this generation? That same system is sending them into adulthood broke, anxious, and utterly unprepared for what’s coming.

So yeah, some parents will be disappointed. Some teachers will be uncomfortable. But guess what? That’s not your job to manage. Your job is to survive. Your job is to get the education the world actually demands of you.

SFL: Final message for students reading this?

Woods: Stop waiting. Stop complying. Start organizing.

Use your numbers. Use your brains. Use every peaceful, powerful tool you can. Educate yourself about Gene Sharp. Find your people. Make noise.

This isn’t about rebellion. It’s not about disrespect. It’s about refusing to sit quietly while your future gets decided by people who aren’t going to live in it.

Mostly decided by dead fuckers who never gave a thought about the kids living today or in the future.

Pretty stupid for any students today to let that kind of shit keep going on.

It doesn’t have to be this way.