School Start Times

Recently in Iowa there was an announcement that waivers wouldn’t automatically get approved for schools to start at an early date.  A school would have to show that a later start would have a negative educational impact and get approved by the director if they wanted to start early, meaning before the Iowa State Fair.  While that may benefit some school districts close to the Des Moines area, the later start date will definitely hurt most students in the Cedar Rapids Community School District and our Superintendent and School Board should consider filling out a waiver to have our normal start date of before the end of the Iowa State Fair.  If you are not familiar with this new change, here is a website that explains in detail what has been said and what will be done in the future for an early start date. 

 The main reason for having a later start date was to make sure that students could work and go to the Iowa State Fair.  By doing a recent survey in one of my classes, I found out that the people who don’t go to the Iowa State Fair still wouldn’t go even if there was a later start date in the school year that would allow them to. Most of the kids in my school district don’t work at the Iowa State Fair, which would have caused them to miss the first week or so of school.  The Iowa State Fair doesn’t impact most of the student in my district, so the whole district shouldn’t have to suffer with a later start date.

 Educationally it will hurt most of the Advanced Placement students because although our schools will be starting later, our Advanced Placement exam dates will not.  It just means that there would be less time to learn and study information for the exams.  I would then expect that the test scores would be worse because it already feels like there isn’t enough time to prepare for the exams.  If a student is spending time in class for an exam and if they spend a lot of money on an exam, it would only be fair that they get a fair amount of time to prepare for the exam so they can pass.  

 It was also said that if school was started later, there would still be football games that would happen around the same previous dates.  There would then be around three football games that take place before school even has a chance to start.  With school not being in session and there still being football games, I would think that not as many students would show up to the games.  Fewer students attending games means less money raised at the sporting event that would have gone back to the school.  The school would then receive less money and there would be a lower budget that could then educationally impact the students negatively.  

 Although it may be nice to not start school so early and have what would seem like a longer summer, it would just push back the final day of school.  School would then cut into summer activities that may include college events, church camps, and sports camps.  A student would then have to balance all of those activities together which would most likely cause more stress and a possible decrease in grades.  With all of that being said, the school start dates should not change to be after the Iowa State Fair ends.  It will negatively impact the students educationally and personally.

Uncomfortable Discussions

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                There are always those awkward or uncomfortable conversations during class.  Whether it is about slavery, racial issues, political views, and other stuff; it can always make for a weird talk.  I feel that sometimes those conversations need to stay at home.  It is always good to make students be aware of the issues of the world, but I feel like having an open discussion sometimes leads to students having a heated debate and being judged by the other class mates.  I feel like a classroom should be a safe place to express yourself, but sometimes hearing certain things can make a person feel bad and unsafe. 

                Getting graded on participation is also hard when there is an uncomfortable debate.  

School Uniform

                Although my school doesn't have a school uniform, sometimes I wish it did.  A dress code at times is just not enough and can be abused.  It’s like the staff doesn’t have enough authority to say that a person can’t wear what they are wearing.  It is time for a change.
                Clothes can be a big distraction and if teachers are eliminating phones because they are a distraction to the class, why can’t there be a better regulation on clothes?  If everyone wore the same clothing, there should be little to no distraction and it also wouldn’t make kids feel bad if they can’t afford the new trending clothing.  It seems like clothing is now a part of someone’s social status and many people can’t afford to keep up with new fashion.  Not all kids have parents that will provide them with new clothing for each new school year.  Some kids have to keep the clothes until there are too many holes and can’t be worn anymore.  Just thinking about how they would feel if they had to worry if their clothing was good enough to wear to school is just sad.  A school uniform would make sure that everyone wears the same thing and then kids wouldn’t have to be judged for what they can and can’t afford. 
                Females are not the only ones with distracting or too revealing of clothing.  Have you noticed in your school that there are more guys wearing the pants low on their butts and then having their boxers show?  Well it has happened in my school and it is very disgusting.  It is called underwear for a reason; it is supposed to go under your clothing, not be your clothing.  No one cares what your boxers look like, you have a belt for a reason and should use it.  Why should a person feel like they need to wear something revealing to be noticed?  This goes out specifically to girls.  Yes we know that you have boobs, we don’t need to see them hanging out of your skimpy shirt all the time.  I don’t know about you, but it can be uncomfortable and I don’t think it is appropriate for school.  Do I even need to talk about booty shorts?  No one should be able to see a person’s butt cheeks.  Enough said.  With so many distractions, something needs to change.
                I was reading online the pros and cons of having a school uniform and the number one con was that it would limit a student's rights and they wouldn't be able to express themselves.  I strongly disagree with that.  By having people wear more clothing in general, it would not be severely limiting their rights of wearing what they want.  If a woman thinks that by requiring her to wear more appropriate clothing, it would be going against the new feminist revolution, then they obviously don’t think so high of themselves if they feel that they need to express themselves through their body parts instead of their voice.  If by expressing yourself through clothing, you mean wasting money on stuff that won't last forever and caring a lot about what someone thinks in the way that you dress.  Personality should be a way that you express yourself.
                A school uniform would almost create equality and I think that the whole world needs some more of that.  Clothing choice should not be what represents you the best, if you want to be noticed, use your voice rather than your body. 

Homework and Busywork

                 There is a difference between homework and busywork.  Homework helps reinforce information that was just taught to someone and busywork just gives teachers the time to catch up on their stuff.   While this topic has been widely discussed, many people don’t consider how busywork can actually harm the student.  Busywork can make a student not want to learn and can trigger a negative response to doing actual homework that can help them.  Being assigned busywork can just make a student think that all work is stupid and there is no purpose to doing it.
                Being a high school student, it is pretty obvious to me when I get handed an assignment that is just busywork versus actual homework that will help me.  Have you ever considered an assignment as homework for a teacher also?  I don’t see why teachers would want to hand out so much homework if they would then have to spend a lot of time grading it.  Some teachers have figured that out though and don’t assign homework unless it is absolutely necessary.  Some teachers have also figured out that no matter how much they try to get students to do homework, some students refuse to and believe that it is a waste of their time. 
                Well, there is also a lot of busywork for teachers.  Do you think that they want to grade papers and teach stuff on the curriculum that isn’t important?  As I read this article it made me realize that a lot of the “busywork” stuff that teachers give students is actually meant to help improve many skills.  With that being said, what really is busywork?  Many people have different thoughts on that and most teachers think that there is no such thing as busywork because all homework assigned is meant to help improve a student educationally.  So is “busywork” essentially homework?  Do I have you stumped now?  Homework can be busywork and it may be beneficial or it may harm you, but that is for you to decide.
                Homework isn’t the worst thing ever.  Neither is busywork.  I think that in the end, everything with assignments happens for a reason.  The reason can be to help you improve with skills or to keep your mind busy and active.  Whether it is to help a teacher or to help a student, homework can be extremely beneficial. 

School Food

School food can be pretty nasty at times, but on some occasions students get lucky and there is actually a decent lunch being served.  This website talks all about kids health and food nutrition in school.

Punishment

               School punishment is always under debate by adults, but what about what the students think.  I do not speak for everyone, but I do speak for many when I say that students need discipline sometimes.  How else are we supposed to learn from our mistakes if we don’t even know what they are?  Teachers now hesitate to assign detentions because they are afraid of lawsuits and other unfair retaliations.
                Discipline doesn’t always have to be abusive and sometimes detentions aren’t enough.  What are adults supposed to do if students don’t care about detentions and only want to make teachers mad?  Well I have no idea, but sometimes I think that students respected teachers more when teachers were able to hit kids.  I am not saying that abusing kids is alright, but something has to be done about the lack of respect for teachers. 
                Getting sent to the office can sometimes help with punishment, but some kids get so used to that and see it as a way of getting out of learning in class.  Some kids just need to be put in their place and if fear has to be a way of doing that, then so be it. 
                I rarely get in trouble when I am in school, but one time I did get into trouble for no reason and I got really embarrassed because a teacher yelled at me in front of the whole class.  Yelling should never be allowed by a teacher towards a student and a student should also never yell at a teacher.  Yelling gets people nowhere and it only shows disrespect to both people.  I would say that for me to show someone respect, it would mean that they would also have to show respect to me.  Respect goes both ways and sometimes I think if rebel students would just get some respect and attention, then maybe they wouldn’t be so bad and would also show respect to the teacher.
                What other punishment should be done?  For me I would be devastated if I got any form of punishment, but some people just don’t care.  I would say that it is the parents’ responsibility to make sure that their student is good during school because how a student acts at school represents the home life. 
                How about lowering grades or not allowing someone to go to an activity?  That is already a form of punishment, but what more can be done legally?  Having teachers being able to hit kids with a ruler just doesn’t seem right, but it might be the only option left. 
               What if punishment is only making the kid want to rebel more?  Well in all reality, it is.  I read this one article and it has made me realize that everyone is different and what might seem like punishment to someone can feel like another reason to just keep rebelling to another person.  Children are hard to figure out and no specific thing is going to work for each person.  That is why I think each person needs and individual approach and maybe that is why the parents should focus on punishment at home and teachers should only focus on teaching.  Nothing against teachers, but I don’t think it is their place to discipline someone else’s kids.  Parents just need to get a handle on their children. 

#Hashtag

               Need I write anymore?  Hashtags have become popular with the younger generation and are sometimes used in school as a part of speech.  Hashtags are normally meant for social media sites when trying to link a post or tweet to a similar post or tweet about the same thing.  They should not be used in the end of a sentence as “hashtag single life.”  That has no meaning.  Please leave hashtags to social media sites or don’t use them at all.  Teachers even sometimes use hashtags and it is only awkward and irrelevant to school work.
               Here is a website that explains hashtags and if you need any assistance with using a hashtag, then you probably shouldn't be using it in the first place.  If I have offended you in any way please leave a comment as this blog post could be a debatable subject.

Clics

                There are all different kinds of social groups at school and another name for them would be clics.  If you have not seen any clics at school then you must have a strange school or you just don’t pay attention.  There are the jocks, the plastics (popular people), the nerds, the band geeks, the pot heads, the country folk and so much more.  I recommend that you watch this video because it talks all about social groups.

                Depending on which social group you are in, you view school as a social opportunity or just as another way that the government is trying to control you.  School isn’t just about learning, it is more about preparing you for the real world.  The government wants people to succeed in life and school gives everyone that opportunity in the United States. 

                If you are sitting in a class that has free seating or choose where you sit, it is easy to see the separation of social groups.  You can also tell who is in which social class by looking at the way they dress and how often they participate in class or even interrupt in class.  If you don’t have free seating and are stuck next to a person of a different social group, don’t worry, most people don’t bite.  It may be awkward but they are probably thinking the same thing as you.  Like, why do we have so much homework?  Will that kid over there just shut up?!  Many people have a lot of things in common and being in a different social group shouldn’t stop you from communication with one another. 

                A person can also be in many social groups and have a lot of different friends.  That can come in handy when you are stuck on homework or need someone to sit with at lunch.  I don’t think there could ever be no social groups and have everyone be the same.  It would be like a utopia society and our World right now is the complete opposite of that.  But don’t forget, there are still social groups at a work place, but it might be harder to pick up on because of a dress code or people not having as much time to socialize.

Parking Lots

                Parking anywhere can be an issue, but it is especially bad at schools.  For many schools, students have to pay to have a parking spot and sometimes their spot in the lot isn’t even guaranteed.  As more students are driving in high school you would think that the parking lots would greatly increase in size to accommodate all the cars, but that is not always the case.  Even having several parking lots like my school has, there are still not enough spaces.  What do you do if you can’t find a spot to park and school is about to start?  Well, you better hope you brought your running shoes. You would have to find a legal street to park on that is close to school and hurry to get to school.  Parking can sometimes be so bad at my school to where it takes about 10 minutes to walk to school from a parking spot!  That is unbelievable!  But don’t worry, you are not alone.  Many other places struggle with parking problems also and in this PDF file it discussed all of the problems of one city and possible ways to improve the situation.

                There is a solution to all of this parking madness!  How about putting in a parking ramp?  Yes, I know that would be expensive, but if you have students pay for their spot and have it to where they can only get into the ramp if they have a card access it might work.  In no time the parking ramp would be paid off and then the school could even profit from it.  There would then be less room needed for parking and the school wouldn’t have to be on such a large lot to make all the parking spots fit. 

                Parking at school isn’t just bad for students, but it can also be bad for parents.  A lot of times there are multiple events happening in one night for parents to attend and watch their students, but all the parents and students then need a place to park.  One time there was a performing arts concert the same night as a basketball game and even though my parents showed up twenty minutes early, they couldn’t find a parking spot anywhere and ended up not getting to see the performance because there was no place to put their vehicle.  Isn’t that sad?  Parking for everyone needs to improve.

                There is also the fact that some kids go against rules and sometimes park in the wrong lot that they didn’t pay for or didn’t earn.  Being a junior and having to earn my spot in the lot that I have, it annoys me to see people illegally parking in my lot and taking other fellow juniors and seniors spots.  Sometimes cars get ticketed if they are in the wrong spot and they have to pay a fifteen dollar fine, but there are ways to not get caught. 

                Parking can also be a hassle because most young people don’t respect other people’s property.  I would never bring a nice car to school because it is just going to get destroyed from door dings, scratches, and bumper bumps.  I don’t know if it is just me, but I was taught that if you leave damage to someone’s car you need to find that person or leave your name and number offering to pay for the damage.  People work hard for what they have and shouldn’t have to worry about having a shitty car after bringing it to school. 

                Another option would be taking the bus or carpooling.  I know that that is not an option for everyone because of extracurricular activities, weird class schedules, or not having a bus route, but there are many people that can take a bus and choose not to because it’s not “cool” to ride the bus.  Grow up and deal with it!  Why does it matter what other people think?  Just ride the bus and save money.  Dear all spoiled kids out there who don’t realize all that they have.  Do you need a car to survive?  Do you pay for your gas?  Did you buy your car?  Do you have the option to ride a bus but choose not to because you don’t want other people to see you riding the bus?  Now I have you thinking and possibly upset because you just realized how fortunate and selfish you are.  Sorry not sorry.  It would free up more parking spots for people and would reduce the amount of harm done to the environment from useless driving. 

                Parking all around just needs to be improved and will probably worsen as people have to find air parking spots in the world when everyone has flying cars and cool electronics.  We can deal with air parking later, now we need to focus on parking in the present.