Punching Bag on Pages

School

I could go on for hours about school systems. I wrote an essay on education itself and the problems. I'll spare you of the tedious formality of the actual essay, though.

I have not heard of a public high school that has great food in the cafeterias, except large schools of course. Lunches are overpriced ($2.30 at my school I believe) for barely edible food, ripe-a-month-ago fruit, and milk that expired days ago. The only meals that I trust are our chicken nuggets, chicken patties, and Italian dunkers. Our Italian dunkers are two almost rock hard, bland bread sticks with rubber cheese on top. All other menus items appear to be road kill. Oh the “popular” pizza Fridays are a tiny layer of sauce and rubber cheese thrown on cardboard. The only way to improve the flavor is to dunk everything in hot sauce. I just don't understand why we can't have decent food. Furthermore, students have twenty minutes to each lunch. By the time we are out of the lunch lines it is reduced to ten minutes at most. These precious ten minutes are spent trying to scarf down questionable food, and trying to converse with friends.

Our schools, like many in my area, focus on the athletic department. We have countless amounts of championship titles for basketball, soccer, baseball, etc. Our entire budget was poured into building a brand new gym, which we did not need. If you take a look at the art classrooms, we are pushed into a tiny room without enough space for walking let alone storage. My art teacher struggles each year to have enough art supplies. Brushes, paint, chalk, oil pastels. We don't have enough space for a kiln (or the money). The art programs at many schools are lacking the resources to thrive. We need to balance school budgets to each department, not just athletics.

 Maintenance. Our water and toilets are all screwy. Parents in the community pay to send their children to school. Payments are high enough, where is all of the money going? Our toilets don't flush; our sinks have room temperature water and barely any pressure. The cleanliness is nonexistent. Oh yeah, we clean the toilets everyday before the next... what a relief. With all of the janitors and such, couldn't we get someone to check each bathroom at least twice a day? If a toilet isn't working, fix it. If we are out of soap or paper towels, refill the dispensers. A revolutionary resource would be a disinfecting wipe. Maybe you could put a box in the stalls so we don't feel so disgusted.

 There's also the daily heating problems. The temperatures in each classroom vary from 55 to 75 during the winter, and we only have air conditioning for the hot days in the computer rooms and faculty room. Yes, some school districts may have it worse, but really? For the last two months of school we are trapped in saunas, girls wanting to wear tank tops and shorts.

 Oh wait, we have to uphold our dress code. We cannot have anything that reveals a strap of any kind (bra or "spaghetti"). The length requirement for shorts is that they "have to be longer than your fingertips" when you put your arms straight down. Um, Earth to faculty, stores won’t sell shorts that long. I apologize for Bermuda shorts not being worn since my classmates and I were in the sixth grade. Miniskirts are unacceptable, nothing strapless, and nothing that reveals your stomach. Those are sort of the general guidelines (not disagreeing to those three). But volleyball girls can wear spandex as their uniform bottoms? Sports events are essence of representing our school. I've seen girls who wear skirts that are just covering their ass... is that not the definition of a "mini skirt"? There was classmates of mine who wore white skirts that were practically transparent. Those individuals are not called down to the office. Yet I will get called down for shorts that are "too short". Again, I am endlessly apologizing for my 6' stature. Clothing stores make shorts universally. They don’t add an inch or two like jeans would. They do make longer shorts that are formal and for thirty year olds. If a school is to make dress codes, make them reasonable and actually stick to them! Consistency is needed for a dress code to be reasonable. Maybe just calling down girls whose shorts dont cover their butt.

 In the education essay that I wrote a couple of months ago, I talked about students being pressured during adolescence. Individuals from Kindergarten to senior year are criticized for the tiniest mistakes. We have this set ideal of one correct answer. Why do we not explore other options? If a student wants to share their opinion, let them! One may possess a fresh perspective, bringing in aspects that were never considered before. If we silence their mind, we also silence their imagination, talents, and character. We can improve this dilemma by introducing more debate clubs, and listening to each interpretation of a novel that we read in English classrooms.

 I'm not trying to eradicate homework assignments, because that would be promoting bigotry. Math, I understand how homework is essential to comprehending the lesson on our own. As for our other classes, the teachers need to start communicating. Why do we have assignments for Science, Math, History, and English on one night and just Math the next? I believe they should be balanced. Even if I'm an advanced placement student, I should not have to spend hours on U.S. history homework. Just no. I want to arrive home to have some crucial relaxation time. Yes, a student may procrastinate but it should not require hours of their time each night! Those who are dedicated to receiving high grades (or even just passing the class) stay up late to finish it. We could spend these stressful hours with family, reading a book, or actually sleeping. Most teachers do not understand that there are other matters to attend to outside of school. I don’t play sports currently. During soccer season in the fall, relaxation was impossible.

 Wake up at 6:30 to catch the bus at 7:15, school goes to 2:30, stay after until 3:00, go to soccer practice from 3:00 – 5:00 (6:00 on game days), go home, eat dinner, take a shower, do homework until around 11:00, read a chapter or two of a book, go to bed at 11:30, and sleep maybe seven hours. How is that healthy? I don’t eat breakfast in order to gain another twenty minutes of valuable sleep, and thankfully do not slap makeup on my face or curl my hair. That would require another half hour at least.

 Schools are unanimously corrupt in the context of a student's personal image. For approximately six hours a day, those buildings are the metaphorical breeding grounds for cliques. There is a predetermined ideal of beauty. The so-called "popular" kids plague the self-esteem of those "below" them. I hate that teachers think that bullying will stop, because it's impossible... but that's for the next rant.