The Rocket

Issue date: 11/16/07 Section: Opinion

A girl from Mascoutah, Ill., was given two days detention earlier this month for hugging two of her friends at her middle school.

I am happy that I was able to graduate from the school system before these things started.

If you think the Patriot Act has restricted your freedoms, you haven't talked to a person that is in the public school system. If you type "schools ban" into Google, you will find hundreds of articles, ranging from clothing restrictions to the games kids are allowed to play on the playground.

One of the funniest things I have seen is schools banning junk foods to promote better health. Bringing in cookies for parties is prohibited, and having any kind of holiday celebration requires you provide only healthy foods. These children are our future and they need to live forever. Personally, I feel they should eat whatever they want. Let them worry about dying when they hit college and gain the freshman 15.

That freedom-of-speech thing is pretty restricted, too. If you look at Supreme Court rulings, anything that can disrupt the learning process can possibly be restricted or banned, depending on the circumstances.

I was always under the impression that the exchange of different and even controversial ideas expanded a person's mind, but apparently I was wrong. I will not move on to the freedoms school newspapers have, because frankly, they do not exist.

Kids are kids! They eat candy, wear different clothes, have different ideas, opinions and attitudes. When a school district enforces all these rules, you take away kids' ability to express themselves. This leaves you with the stereotypical jock, nerd and high school-type cliques that I believe do a lot more harm than if you let a kid just be himself or herself.

Instead, the school system turns students into mindless machines. You have to be into sports, dress like everyone else and think like everyone else, or you become an outcast that is vilified by classmates.

If more emphasis were placed on teaching kids that it is OK to be different instead of banning anything that "disrupts the learning process," I can guarantee there would be far fewer school shootings.

Many kids realize they are being jerked around on a chain and refuse to give in to this garbage. I was the first one in line to turn in my cap and gown after graduation, and I have not entered my high school since.

I went through the motions and moved on to real life and college, where I could actually learn something useful.

I feel bad for public school students today, but they adjust to stress well.

Kids at my alma mater used their free time after school to slaughter lambs. (I will not mention the name of the school district, but it is located in the central part of Cambria County.)

Maybe a ban on mutton in the cafeteria could prevent such things.

Tony Maiocco is a senior communication major and a regular contributor to The Rocket.

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