Here in the In-Between

31 : Emails

Thursday, October 22nd
7:29 PM

Day ten of counting until I reach the anime world.

I wrote a frustrated email to my school's principal today. Wanna hear it? It's 1,036 words long.

1,036

Damn.

Well... Here it is.

Oh, and the "XXX" is me censoring my last name or personal information. :P

"Dear Mr. Ertl,

My name is Harmony XXX, I am a student in your school. Thank you for sparing time to read my email, this may be rather long and disorganized and I am sorry.

I am aware you cannot change school curriculum and I am aware I am just another student in the mass that you see on a once daily basis. But I feel helpless and worthless going to your school.

You see, everyone says, "School is needed, you need an education."

That's right. Too bad that isn't what school is giving me.

School isn't about learning, it's about passing.

It's about competing with your classmates for a letter in the alphabet, 'A'. God forbid you get an 'F', kids see themselves as failures for a 'C'. The student body complains about school because the only thing it ever gives us, is stress and anxiety.

You will never hear a student say they miss school, or learning, or their teachers. The only reason people disliked online school was their lack of friends. No one cares about school.

School has taught me a lot. A lot of useless information that adults often say they never use.

• Pythagorean theorem
• The order of the presidents
• Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell

News flash, NO ONE CARES.

We however have information shoved down our throats at a painful speed. The way schools work is based off of the past while they say they are aiming kids towards the future.

You're not. You're leading us straight to unemployment or "failure". You're teaching us how to become mindless workers who are meant to give the government money and nothing else.

You don't focus on on creativity and expression. Even art class had rigid structure. Did you know prisoners have more time outdoors than students? In fact that's not the only thing tying prison and school…

• Dress code
Teach girls to cover up instead of guys to control themselves. You see my shoulder? Are these gorgeous freckles distracting you? Oh my, you know I, a teenage girl, wear bras? Scandalous!

• Emphasis on silence
I always see teachers sit expectedly waiting for the class to answer questions, but after so many years of being punished for speaking you think they would jump with joy at our silence.

• Negative reinforcement
Going into the hall or to the office. In Baltimore there is an elementary school that sends kids to meditate instead of detention.

It helps the kids reduce stress and calm them down, rather then them getting even more annoyed at being trapped in a room for God knows how long.

• Loss of individual autonomy
We no longer have any control over our bodies. If we ask to use the bathroom we are bombarded with "Why didn’t you go before class started?" I apologize that my bladder does not run on your time system.

• Abridged freedoms
To speak or voice our opinion we must wait to be called on, even then we may be deemed unnecessary and moved past. We are in constant fear of being wrong and avoid eye contact so as to not risk it at all.

• No input into decision making
Teachers and staff control our every movement, our thoughts and ideas go unused.

• Set times
Not only do we have a set time for the bathroom, to eat, to speak, and to get information crammed into our brains but there is no time for relaxation.

Don't get me started on the lunches. Y'know there has been research done, that shows at best school lunches are as good as prison food. At worst, school fails to compete with prisoner food.

Not only is it absolute trash, but I have found more than disturbing things. Mashed potatoes that were still made of powder, clear plastic pieces found in all sorts of foods, hair, people have gotten food poisoning from it for God's sake. Students have even warned me to check the expiration date on the milk in fear that it may be expired.

We shouldn't have to worry about that.

We should feel safe or comfortable eating our own school's food.

For years school decides every decision we make, then one day they expect us to make some big decisions. Decisions that dictate our entire lives.

School has given me things. Although I doubt you'll like them.

• I have gotten the ability to sit for hours (barely, but I manage)
• I have gotten stress
• I have gotten anxiety
• I have been shown that justice doesn't truly exist
• I have been shown that people can get away with anything
• I have gotten insulted
• I have been hurt
• I have felt stupid
• I have felt like a failure
• I have lost willpower
• I have lost my creativity
• I have lost my desire to be me
• I have gotten suicidal

All because of school.

This is the only thing school has given me.

Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S.. In 2018 from the ages of 15-24 the suicide rate was 14.45. It's not a large number, but the many people who attempted or died is huge. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for that age range.

I grantee some if not most is because of school. Stress, bullies, feeling worthless, failing, becoming the outcast in school because of how you are. School has turned a blind eye on bullying in many cases and even sexual harassment.

This fact is not okay and shouldn't be ignored or overlooked.

I can go on for hours, about how ruined the school system is and how it is ruining the mental health of thousands of kids. That won't help though. Especially when I am writing one email to one principal of one school in all of America.

In the end this will probably be a waste of time for the both of us. I have a lot to say and even a few ideas bouncing around, but I am just a XXX year old. And thus, au revoir.

With all due respect,
     A stressed and depressed student"

I'm debating on sending it to him. I mean, I got nothing to lose.

Hi, I'm Harmony.