The Pen Licence
A pen licence is a classroom rule that some schools continue to defend
Only children with the neatest writing earn the right to “use a pen.”
It sounds like harmless motivation,
a little prize to help them try
but it accidentally draws a line between who’s lifted up and who’s left behind
They say he needs a licence
just to use a proper pen,
like writing’s some big privilege
That must be “earned” then.
But his hands don’t move as easily as others’,
and his letters sometimes stray,
so they tell him he’s “not ready,”
And his words get pushed away.
They talk about pen licences
as if a biro were a car,
as if he must pass some test
before his thoughts can travel far.
No one asks a child his age
to parallel‑park a pen,
so why do rules about neat lines
decide who counts as “ready” then?
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