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No Time for Reflection

We take our education for granted. Itโ€™s easy to forget, but what we now consider a necessary evil was once considered a privilege.

So why is there so much aversion to it? โ€ฆ My problems with school stem from more than just the individual establishment that I attend every day. โ€ฆ School has developed a monopoly over my life. I spend hours each night trying to wade through overwhelming amounts of homework and find myself learning nothing.

My classmates and I move through school each day with lifeless eyes, hoping to just make it to that 2:30 p.m. bell when we are free to go home (and continue working). We have worn ourselves thin. In an effort to challenge ourselves, we have lost sight of why we ever wanted the challenge to begin with. Grades donโ€™t represent understanding or interest but rather an ability to get through what needs to be done. There is no time for thought. No time for reflection. No time for growth. I donโ€™t think I will leave high school with any confidence in my personal strengths or with any indication of what I want to do for the rest of my life. โ€ฆ

Read the complete story at http://youngwritersproject.org/node/5460.

Our School

At Hartland Elementary School, all the teachers are nice. If we donโ€™t understand something, they will help us get through the day.

When we are at school and are having a frustrating time, we can get help. We have special teachers to help us, and we have a take-a-break chair. When you go there twice, then you have to go to the buddy room, and they will email your parents. I think this is a good routine because it lets the parents know that the child has had a bad day.

About Tunbridge Central School

Some things I like about Tunbridge Central School are that itโ€™s a smaller school. It has a good library and good reading time. Some things I donโ€™t like are that itโ€™s too hot in the classrooms, and the gym is too small.

โ€” Loren Young, 9

Some of the good things about our school are we donโ€™t have a high school so we have choice for which high school we want to go to. Also we have a very good cook so our lunches are very good. โ€ฆ Some of the bad things are we have a lot wasps, and in the winter, we are not allowed to go skating.

โ€” Zachary Johnson, 9

I like my school because itโ€™s small and you can know everybody. I also like my school because my P.E. teacher is also my coach and my favorite teacher. Something I donโ€™t like is that our gym floor is rubber and it gets really dirty because our gym is also our lunch room.

โ€” Camdon Bradford, 9

Lunches are very good, especially the macaroni. I like P.E. when we play fun sports like polo and elimination. But the bus rides are very loud and we arenโ€™t allowed to have snowball fights.

โ€” River Terami, 9

Some of the good things at our school are the good lunches, a fun playground and, in winter, we can go sledding. The worst part is that there is some bullying behavior in the school. I donโ€™t get bullied, but I try to stand up for the bullied. Next time I see someone being bullied, Iโ€™ll stand up for them. Maybe you should, too.

โ€” Ben Mattern, 10