Christmas Filler

It's that time of year again. Where I have to post stick figure comics because I'm being forced to spend time with my (ugh!) family. This year, since I had no other ideas, I decided to pontificate on the reasons I hated high school so much...

Reason #1: The Mid-Winter Fire Drills

Reason #2: The Guidance Counselors

Reason #3: The Teachers

Reason #4: The Stupid Logic

Reason #5: Did I mention the teachers?

Sloth

No, not this. 

Although it is adorable.

There’s been talk in my home town about switching the school times so the middle and high schools started later and the elementary schools start earlier. Whether or not this is feasible is being debated in the town, but my own reaction was “That would have been soooo awesome if it happened when I was still in school.”

Unfortunately for anyone longing for extra time to sleep in, there are a variety of reasons it might not work. Some are understandable, like how it may push after school practices too late and whether or not students will just end up staying up later, thus negating the whole extra sleep thing. But there are other reasons that are just plain rude. One man claimed parents were coddling their children and refusing to make them get up early like in the “real world.”

I hate the “real world” argument. The whole thing smacks of prejudice. Not every job makes you get up at six a.m. A nurse working the swing shift doesn’t have to get up early. Neither does a writer who works from home. Or a stay-at-home parent whose sleep schedule revolves around a child’s. Do these people not live in the “real world” just because they aren’t the majority?

When I was a teenager, I preferred sleeping until noon and staying up well past midnight. Getting up to go to school was painful for me. It’s not like I didn’t try to sleep more (that is, going to bed earlier) but at the time, I was plagued with pretty bad insomnia. If I went to bed at eleven, I was lucky if I got to sleep at midnight. There were nights that I tossed and turned until two, three, even four in the morning and then I had to trudge to school. Which I did every day, and worked hard for good grades. Same goes for college. Not very lazy for someone who slept past noon on occasion.

So I really don’t like it when people automatically associate late sleeping with laziness. Now I sleep at times that are considered “normal”, but that doesn’t mean I work any more or less hard than someone who stays up until four a.m. and then sleeps until noon.

What say you? What do you think of late sleepers? And what do you think of later school start times for older kids?

Sunday Is Fast Becoming “Rant Day”

And maybe that’s not such a bad thing. I know this blog is supposed to be about writing and language, but my opinions tend to jump out. Besides, I’d like to encourage arguing—as in debate, not fighting. I’ve written about how important effective, rational arguments are for a reason. If you’re going to say something, you should make sure there aren’t more holes in your rationale than in a sieve.

School. All of us have opinions on it, either as students, former students, or parents. There isn’t a lot of arguing about what a school should do for a student (i.e. teach them how to function as adults), so why do there seem to be so many problems with school systems? We have struggles with unions, debates over class sizes, and knock-down drag-out fights about budget. Why?

In a nutshell, it’s because reality encroaches on the idealistic version of school in our minds. We’d like small class sizes, fairly compensated and extremely competent teachers, and enough money for both of these. But the fact of the matter is that schools get a lot funding based on property taxes (at least where I live) and the wealthier communities will have more money to attract more/better educators, not to mention fund a variety of classes.

Property taxes aren’t their only source of funds, but they are enough to make a huge difference. And that is only one part of the harsh reality of education! There’s the turning away from creative classes, the focus on passing state tests, the ill-preparedness most graduates face when they apply for their first credit card.

Any others? Sadly, I don’t think it’s too difficult to come up with them.

I know this was a long post, so I hope you just scrolled to the bottom to get this important message. Contest. Go now.

The Bully Wars, Part II

I didn't mean for there to be another part, but bullying is a sensitive topic for me.

I don’t know how many of you have heard, but a 16-year-old named Casey Heynes from Australia has become an internet sensation after video surfaced of a smaller, younger kid, apparently bullying him. The kid was hitting him and Casey hit back, picking up the 12-year-old and body slamming him. The boy wasn’t seriously hurt and Casey was suspended.

Support gathered around Casey, congratulating him for standing up and understanding that he snapped after years of being bullied. This raises the serious question of whether violence is ever appropriate. No, we don’t want to ever encourage violence or outbursts, but I don’t think it was fair that he was suspended. When you’re bullied, you feel powerless and that often begets anger, which is then suppressed because you’re in a situation where telling a teacher might be just as bad as letting the bullying continue.

For one who is bullied, there is no way to fight back. Words give the bully attention, which leads to more bullying. Ignoring it may cause it to go away, but it does nothing to erase feeling like utter sh*t. And it’s just as likely that they’ll continue because they see it upsets you (there’s nothing you can do about that, either) and they know eventually, you will react. Which, again, leads to more bullying.

This is the life of a bullied child. I know because I remember it happening to me.

Go to a teacher? It might shut the bully up for that class, but what about the next? What about after school? Especially now, when the internet gives bullies twenty-four hour access to victims?

Go to a parent? Another iffy situation. Some parents want you to “tough it out.” Some go to the school, which will get you labeled as a snitch and a baby.

It’s not easy. So I understand why this kid snapped, and I hate that he was suspended. When a bullied kid loses control, it is rarely violent, but it often results in negative consequences. I was yelled at dozens of times by teachers because I yelled at kids bullying me. Once, I was given a detention because a teacher was sick of hearing me say “Stop it.” Another time, I pushed a girl for calling me a bitch and was given detention for that, too.

From what I’ve read, Casey Heynes is not a troublemaker and he’s not a normally violent person. He didn’t know how to stand up for himself and just lost it after what classmates agree was years of being bullied.

It isn’t fair that he’s being punished because of it.

Later, the bully was interviewed and he claimed Casey was making up the stories about being bullied and was himself a bully.

Which I don’t believe for a second. Because this is the exact same line a bully used when I complained about her behavior.

Back in middle school, one particular girl (who I’ll call “Jamie” just to make things easier) really had it out for me. Name calling, rumors, saying bad things about me behind my back—actually behind my back. I was in the seat in front of her and she knew I could hear what she was saying. She did it all. Except for physical violence, the one thing that would really get her in trouble.

One day, we were both sent to the guidance counselor. I explained how much Jamie was bullying me and the counselor turned to her to ask if it was true.

She burst into tears. She was scared of me, she said. “She said she has an enemies list and I’m really scared now. I’m afraid to come into school every day because she might shoot me.”

None of this was remotely true. She took it from something I said years before, when someone told me a girl said something nasty about me. I was frustrated and said something like, “it isn’t fair that there’s nothing I can do except list her under people who don’t like me.” And then it got yanked around to what Jamie was crying about to the guidance counselor.

I was dismissed. Jamie stayed because she really had to talk about all the bad things in her life.

The point is, when confronted with their behavior, bullies take the specter of truth and twist it in any way they can to make themselves the victims. No matter who was violent that day, no matter how much this kid cries, he was the bully. Not Casey.

Headache of the Day

So I came across this. Anyone else as ticked off about it as I am?

A seven year old boy points his finger like a gun and is suspended (well, given in-school suspension) because of it. The school said they told him to stop repeatedly but he would not. And you know it's totally unlike a seven year old to do the exact opposite of what they are told. I know I never went against what my teachers or parents told me to do. Also, I have a nice beach property in Florida to sell to you at a steal, I'm practically giving it away. Cash up front. You send it to me and I'll hand over the deed.

When I was that age, if someone got in trouble for not listening or acting up (which is the only think I can say he did), they were scolded, given little frowny faces on this chart or--for the most heinous of crimes--held in for recess. But I doubt any of the other children felt threatened or harassed by the boy's finger, so I really don't think it is an appropriate response. There just doesn't seem to be a reason for the punishment other than he's doing something they don't like! It's not a rude gesture and like I said, it's not really threatening. Not to mention he was probably doing it because he got such a reaction from the school.

I'm all for keeping the schools safe and suspending people for threatening others, but they can't just hold every word under a blanket policy. When I was in eighth grade, I threatened another student in a note. Yes, it was very stupid. But I wanted him to stop saying bad things about my friend. He threatened to tell on me, which would have gotten me suspended for words written in anger if my friend hadn't stolen the note from him. It was a stupid mistake, one of many kids can make. And I would have gotten a huge black mark on my record for it, even though I was never a trouble-making student and the school knew it. A detention, that I could live with. But that's not what would have happened and it scares me to think what might have happened if my friend hadn't saved my ass.

I think the zero tolerance policy is lazy. It morphs every situation into one crime without taking into account the millions of different factors that inform it. Years ago, I saw a story where a twelve year old was suspended because someone else gave him a Ritalin tablet on the bus. The kid promptly through it out the window but the driver saw him with it and he was kicked out of school. I think they even brought charges against him! And all this because the rules said handling any drug required automatic suspension. Preposterous.

It's time to start focusing on actual problems in school and remembering that there is no uniform policy for every situation. Kids do stupid things. Is it really that hard to distinguish threats from bad behavior? I don't have children, nor do I teach, so I don't know. But as a former student, all I can say is what I experienced at the other end of zero tolerance. It didn't stop kids from bullying me and others and it didn't teach me any lesson besides "if you ever screw up, you'll be in big trouble."

Zero tolerance is intolerance. Let the kid play his game and find a real problem to worry about. I'm sure they're there.

More Complaints About Penmanship

First of all, my mom keeps things in the weirdest places. I was looking for a recipe in the recipe box, which also contained prom pictures of someone I don’t know, old popsicle sticks with jokes printed on them, a business card, and a letter I wrote in third grade.

I can’t remember the exact reasons I wrote it, but I think it was an assignment to teach us how to write a letter and mail it. I’m amused to note that the spelling and grammar has improved (boy, I really loved capitalizing everything; must be the German in me) but the actual writing is almost exactly the same.

Kind of sad, isn’t it?

I especially love how I write “It’s not Perfect But its good.” And my spelling of different, gym and music (muice…that’s not even close)! And mack instead of make! But, strangely enough, I spelled Wednesday correctly. Must be because I made up a mnemonic: wed + NES (the game system, duh) + day.

Just loved finding this.