The Editor,
First of all I would like to say that I never really understood the point of suspending students from school when they have broken a rule. I understand that it is supposed to be punishment for what they have done. But is it really?
As a child, I would always hear of how someone got suspended for doing something like graffiti on the school. I would gasp and think of how horrified and upset they would be. However, now that I look back to it, it doesn't seem so bad.
First, the children who are getting themselves suspended are the ones who couldn't probably care less about school. So by suspending them from school, they are getting what they want. Aside from the possible lecture their parents may give, they get to stay home all day and play video games.
On top of that, they are missing precious days of school that will cause them to be even further behind than they previously were.
I'm not saying the students who break rules should not be reprimanded, but this system needs to change because the students are now looking at suspension as an effective way to miss school.
Although I do not have any friends that have gone to such an extent to miss school, I have overheard people in my school talking about how suspension was not all that bad. They would go on about how they got to sleep in and how they loved the fact that they were actually (for once) allowed to miss school.
School is a right and a privilege, but with people like this, it makes me wonder if it should be made a privilege only for those that actually want to learn.
Julia Tse Richmond
