Seventh-graders at Anshe Emet Day School in Pine Grove had a lot to say about our Oct. 24 Tough News story about kids’ ethics. (A recent study says kids are really unethical, but critics of the study say that’s an unfair depiction of kids.) Here’s a peek at their letters:
Sure, kids do questionable things, but sometimes they don’t know better. It should be the adults’ job to set the example and teach us what is right. Some children do not have the privilege of having a reliable family and a safe, up-to-date school. If all a child sees in their environment is lying, divorces, flunking grades and drugs, how do you think that child is going to act?
Kids do many extraordinary things, but their mistakes are more commonly recognized.
— Caroline E., 12
What Mr. Josephson [the man who headed the survey] is saying is technically true, but he presents the information in such a negative way that it sounds more like he is trying to blame kids, their parents and their teachers very harshly. When I saw that he compared kids to a Mafia hit man, that put me over the edge. Nowhere in the article does it say that Josephson helps kids at all. His job is to sit at a desk and criticize kids. If he were a child psychologist, he would most likely say something different. I think these statistics don’t help anyone.
— Michael K.
I think a good percentage of kids do cheat on tests or other things, but most do these wrong things because of pressure. For example, if kids do really badly on a test, they know they did badly and punish themselves enough. When they get home to their high-expectation parents, they get scolded. Parents set high expectations, and that can make the kids start to set high expectations for themselves. Sometimes they set too high of expectations, and they try to do well, but if they can’t, they cheat to satisfy their parents. Sometimes a teacher gets really upset over nothing and puts too much pressure on a kid to do well, so that kid cheats. I don’t think this should be going on and hope that less kids will cheat in the future.
I think that the statistics should measure bad qualities but should do an equal job on the good qualities. If all that kids are asked are bad questions, then bad results are going to show up. Because of this, the people who give the tests need to ask good questions along with the bad ones.
— Ryan L., 12
I think all cheating has to do with pressure. When parents don’t know much, they really want their kids to do better than them. So if a kid got a B, then some parents say stuff like, “You know, that was the worst essay I have ever seen.” Those remarks make kids do things that they sorta don’t want to do. If some students earn straight A’s, then either they want to do that or their parents worry them. Once I got a C+ and my mom said it was an “OK” score. She was implying that I did terrible and I could have gotten a better grade. So now I try too hard to be the best student. Also, I think sometimes the teachers expect too much. So they give harder homework.
— Ellen C., 12
I don’t think the article shows the whole picture. It states that “crime, teenage pregnancy, drug usage and suicide are dramatically down, approaching the lowest levels since those dates have been kept.” That shows that the adults of today may have been more unethical than us, so they shouldn’t be pointing fingers. Well, sure, there is some teenage crime, but I’d hardly say that children have enough power to make a difference. I’d hardly say that the world is all that great. The adults are the ones who are in power, and they have more control of what’s going to happen. I would not say that the world’s problems are on all minors’ shoulders.
Also, it seems to me that most adults don’t understand what it’s like to be a kid now. First, it seems that grades matter as much as the process of getting them. Sometimes adults only care about grades, grades, grades, grades. If adults showed a little more compassion, kids could talk to their parents, but I know some people who are too afraid. Kids would lie and cheat less if they had somewhere to go.
— Maxwell L.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
I’m a freshman in high school. This year, there are so many students who are disrespectful to teachers. This was never a big problem in middle school. I see students all around me who have total disregard for their teachers. They just think teachers are meant to be ignored. For example, if a teacher tells a student to quiet down, the student will just get louder. Another example I see is that a teacher will tell a student to sit down, and the student will yell at the teacher, “Why do I have to sit down?” All I want to know is, where has all the respect gone?
— Kiran S., 14
Adults on scooters?
Wheely weird!
I am writing in response to May S. [Oct. 24 Backtalk]. I think your mom should give up the scooter, but no offense to your mom. I am just saying I never saw a mom or a dad ride a scooter. I only saw them ride bikes.
— Michael S., 10
I honestly don’t think parents getting scooters is a bad thing! I think it makes it more fun! I mean, if I came home and saw my mom or dad on a scooter, I wouldn’t be mad. I would just laugh! I don’t think I would be surprised to see my dad riding a scooter, because he likes all kinds of toys. I also don’t think that the people who made the scooters said this toy is only being made for kids, not grownups. I don’t even really ride the scooters, anyway, but I will once in a while, I guess. That’s why I think it would be funny to see parents, at least my parents, riding scooters!
— Erica W., 10
I do not think that parents should ride scooters with their kids. It just doesn’t seem like that was the intent of scooters. (When I say scooters, I mean the Razor ones. I think it’s fine for adults to have the motor one.)
— Krista K., 12
I think parents shouldn’t have a scooter. No offense to May’s mom, but it really kills the thrill, like that Backtalk note said. I thought it was a children’s toy. I would be pretty embarrassed if my mom had a scooter.
— Erin O., 11
Life-or-death
debate
I don’t get what Bridget G. [Sept. 26 Backtalk] means. Sure, people are cut up to find out what killed them. But that’s just the thing — these people are already dead. Frogs and other animals used for dissection aren’t. Tell me, would you rather be chopped up while you’re alive or dead? I’ll take dead anytime.
Besides, what’s the point of dissection? Unless you want to become a biologist, why do you need to get “hands-on experience”?
— Melina L., 10
Movie mess
I’m responding to the letter about movie ratings [Oct. 24 Backtalk]. I counted the number of PG and G movies in the list of theaters. There were six. I didn’t even bother counting PG-13 and R movies. Does this show something about our society? I think it’s sad that there are six movies for children under 13 and dozens of inappropriate movies.
— Anonymous, 15
The band beat
I am writing in response to Michael C. [Oct. 17 Backtalk]. I am not in my school band, but most of my friends stopped playing instruments. A couple of my friends thought the teacher was not fair. Some of my friends said they did not like the easy music they played (happy tunes). I like a variety of music. I like the new stuff, oldies, classical and swing. If we did not like all kinds of music, there would only be one kind of music.
— Natalie S., 10
I play the clarinet in my school band. Our band is very big. There are so many students taking band that the band teacher has a hard time organizing each students’ lesson time. But I feel lucky to be part of a great band. I also think kids should join band at their school, but if there is no band at their school, they should try to join other activities, such as park sports or private lessons.
— Emily S., 11
I agree with Michael C. I play two instruments too. I play the flute and the piano. In fact, I play in the same band as Michael, and I agree that people are quitting, because two of my friends quit last year. I know that the music is changing, because my brother has all the rock band CDs. None of the people today want to come to classical band concerts, because everyone wants to listen to rock music.
— Megan R., 10
I agree that the only music people want to play today is rap. Most of it isn’t even music. I am not saying it is all bad, but most of it I can’t even understand. I like some of it. I mean, not to be mean, or maybe it is just me, but most of them don’t have any talent when it comes to music. So they come up with something that makes them sound kewl. It’s not only the fact that you can’t understand most of it. It also gives a bad influence on kids, teens and sometimes even adults.
— Erica
Mideast mayhem
Could you put something in about the situation in Israel? Israel is not a vicious, heartless murderer. Why are all the Palestinian kids in the streets to begin with? The U.S. is prejudiced against Israel. In The New York Times, they ran a picture of an injured Chicago student and an Israeli soldier protecting him. The caption said the Israeli was beating a Palestinian. Palestinians killed soldiers mercilessly, because they were in the wrong place. Yet when people read the papers, all they see are the death tolls rising for Palestinians killed by Israelis.
— Anonymous
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KidNews note: We’re working on a Middle East page right now; look for it in about three weeks.
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