My Personal Opinion

Due to technical difficulties on the previous attempt, this blog may not be as outstanding as before; bear with me.


My opinion of the ASTI Constitution involves its objective, and what our students really think about it. After about an hour of reading through the posts of fellow ASTIans, I've received the same message from just about all of them: "Bullies have onced been bullied...bullies bully others to make themselves feel better...bullies are pressured to bully...blah,blah,blah...".  The word bully has reached its limit with me.
    
So who decides what a bully is? Teachers? Students? Outcasts? When do we have the time to stop and label a person as a bully? What prevents a bully from doing...what bullies do? How should they be punished? I ask these questions because they tie into my thoughts on the effectiveness of the constitution.

Speaking for myself only, the constitution is just something to fall back on. It is a piece of paper that we as a school, and as a unit, can point to and say, "Yeah, we made that. We follow the rules and love each other." (No disrespect intended.) The teachers, I believe, felt that if us students collaborated on our own to think of rules/consequences for the school, that we would take responsibility for it and embrace it with the best to our abilities. They. Were. Wrong.

A student - especially an early-college high school student - knows right from wrong. From there, it is their own responsibility to decide what choices to make. Having a piece of paper stapled around campus will most likely not make the least bit impact on the decisions made. Truthfully, half the time when that choice is made, the student didn't have a reason for why. Think of it this way: you're walking down the street, and see a lone, freakish styled woman. In your mind you think, Woah, what the hell is she wearing? You judge her, but you don't know why. If she didn't want everyone passing judgement, she wouldn't dress that way. Right? And you do that to anybody who seems a little different from you, or just a little off in some kind of way. Can you explain why? No. But the constitution is there so that when you are caught, the adult can say, "You should have remembered the constitution."

One quote I found through the thousands of posts, was one by Constance Wilde:

If you're privileged enough to be one of the cool kids, you don't notice the changes because for you there aren't any changes. Suddenly there's someone new to be mean to, maybe, if you're so inclined. That's all.

Kids tease each other, they gossip, they bicker; that's life! School is for academics; but in between all that there are important, adolescent, social concerns. We begin to form our reputation and our position in school 8am-3pm from the very first day of school. After that, we're on our own. Whether the constitution is there or not, kids will be kids.

My point is, the constitution has a great purpose, and will may be the guidelines to surviving life at ASTI for some students. On the other hand, I think teachers should know that most students are not going to commit themselves to it. At least for now. That's my opinion.


*My opinion on the ASTI Constitution has no relation whatsoever to my opinion of ASTI itself.*

#13 - 'Just Kidding' and 'Ganging Up' from Odd Girl Out, by Rachel Simmons

      I have experienced many situations of students at school being bullied, teased, or excluded - and I myself am guilty of letting it happen. I don't consider myself a bully. To me, bullies are what Hollywood and cartoons have portrayed them to be: kids who steal lunch money, pick on kids smaller than them, and tease others about their hair, clothes, shoes, etc. One thing Hollywood and cartoons have not done however, is show how cliques, gangs, groups and alliances can make or break a student's reputation at school. Everyone wants to be a part of the "in-crowd", but not many people can be. In middle school, I was definitely what Hollywood would consider popular. I had countless friends, boys liked me, teachers adored me, and I was a great person to be around. I was never open to making new friends however, until one incident. Myself and a group of my peers were sitting at our usual lunch table, and a new student - her name was Andrea - took it upon herself to sit at our table without asking. Everyone looked at me as if to say, "Are you going to make her leave, or what?". I was never a mean person, but I thought to myself, She doesn't belong here anyway. Without compassion, I made her leave the table and exit the lunchroom on the verge of tears. I felt horrible afterwards, and never could let myself speak to her again, let alone look her in the eyes. This point in my school career is much different from then. I've realized how horrible it was for me to do that. Now I try not to exclude other students when possible. At the same time however, why not be honest here - everybody likes to stay within their comfort zone. Allowing others into our personal bubble is just not an option. We pick our friends and we stick with those friends, nobody else, because that is what we are comfortable doing. I believe the best solution to avoid people from being excluded or hurt, is to allow ourselves to be open to new friendships. It isn't wrong for anyone to want to be a part of a group or clique - belonging to one can sometimes give the backbone most people need to survive school - but it is wrong when that group or clique is mean to a person, for no apparent reason. Gangs, alliances, affiliations - whatever! - in my opinion, are outdated.