Art that rings true

This silkscreen painting is hung in the corridors, across from the teachers’ office. “A world where the stronger prey upon the weaker.”. In this setting, the words are true in so many ways.
The third year students will graduate this coming December. Most of them have no idea what they want to do, other than satisfy their immediate urges and act on impulses. They can get away with it for now, but many are going to be in for a big shock when they finish school and find that employers and co-workers aren’t going to put up with their nonsense.
I was told that some students come to school for the sole purpose of getting into fights with other students. You can tell who the thugs are, but so far I haven’t seen any violence. However, disrespect, laziness, and Attention Deficit Disorder are things I see in bulk here every day. You have to be a predator in this environment and assert yourself, or they’ll eat you alive. Some of the teachers here didn’t learn this, and you can see how it has shaped them into wraiths of their former selves.
This painting is the first thing I see when I climb the stairs each morning. As if on cue, the drum and bass from “Built for the Kill” loads in my head and gets me ready for the day. If I get cornered, I’m not going out like a Thompson’s gazelle. I’ll go hippo on their ass.