Why Some Students Fight

Part 2

The following is the first-place winner’s essay in the contest where students had to address the issue of fighting in public places. The first-place winner was AriOnna Webster, a 9th grader at Burgard High School. Her prize was $100. Please note that due to space limitations, her essay will be published in two parts. This is the final part of her essay.

Ari wrote that: even though we are young, we go through real things. A friend I am on the phone with sometimes will say crazy things and sometimes I feel compelled to come and be with her. Then one day she had cuts on her arm and then CPS was in her life and that made it worse. Hair is another issue. When I was a girl, I never liked my hair. I always wanted it to be different. My mom always wanted me to wear my real hair and would get mad when I put weave in it because she said weave makes your hair fall out. Now, I no longer wear weave and describe myself as a tomboy.

Once things happen you can’t take it back. You don’t think about it in the moment when it happens. Fighting might be on your record, but one day you might want to become a doctor and it takes a lot of years of college before that happens. I always see fights in my community, either in the neighborhood or at parties. There are lots of people dying from using weapons in fights. I feel bad and hope it’s not me one day. You never know what someone has on them until after the fight occurs.

I advise adults to listen to both sides of the story. Look at the cameras. Really go deep into the story. Listen to every detail and individually interview them. Then bring the two people together. Sometimes teachers mix up the words on the suspension letters and the story is not accurate. When we fight, the school says walk away or tell a teacher. Our mom says to hit them back. If it is a repeated offense, then it is unresolved. Nobody is actually going to walk away, especially around a bunch of people. And if a fight happens outside of school, you still get suspended, so there is no point. It is confusing.

Some people have been enduring bullying since they were little, so it doesn’t take much to tick them off. They are angry inside. The only solution would be talking. Either both parents come in and talk with everyone. Suspensions are ineffective because you get a break from school. Also, some people don’t want to be home during the summer because they see their friends at school. So, threatening them with summer school is also useless.

Author’s Note: This essay was printed with permission from Ari and her mom. If you really read the essay carefully, you will see that our young people have a lot on their minds. They need an outlet to express themselves. There is a need for them to discuss the problems they see every day in their school and the community. It might give them some hope that adults are really listening!!