Kassir1

Jennifer Kassir

Professor Jon Beadle

English 115 8:00 AM

December 5, 2017

Private School Terror

Most people believe in the stereotype that private schools are better because theyre

smaller, are more disciplined, and have better academic opportunities. As a student who attended

private school for 10 years, this statement couldnt be more false. Between fake people, terrible

teaching techniques, enforcing religion, and a lack of freedom, I wanted nothing to do with

private school ever again. Although I am who I am today because of my awful experiences at

private school, I still wonder sometimes how I would have turned out if I hadnt gone. I went to a

school called St. Robert Bellarmine Elementary School, which was the worst school a child can

go to because it lacked many opportunities. The school was extremely small with about 100

students and the teachers were way too strict. Due to the small environment, strictness, and harsh

discipline, private school can become a monstrous space and affect students negatively because

of the lack of self-expression, which is significant because it reveals that private schools dont

necessarily make students morally or academically better individuals.

Since the school was so small, lacked school activities, and had less than 20 students in each

class grade, I was a loner, which took a toll on my mental health. I chose to be by myself than to

hang with students who created drama. I wasnt able to be involved in anything school related

other than sports, which I hated because I was made fun of if I got scared of the ball. This

affected my self-esteem. Every day for PE, I had to face these mean students. According to My

Zombie, Myself: Why Modern Life Feels Rather Undead in the book Monsters, Chuck
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Klosterman states, the principal downside to any zombie attack is that zombies will never stop

coming (Klosterman 41). These students represented zombies because they never stopped

bothering me. Even when I ignored them, or defended myself, they still continued the next day.

It was so boring going to school with nothing to look forward to, which caused me to be

depressed and perform poorly on my report card. I wasnt the only one affected by this, others

were as well, and they never knew what to expect the next day because of these monstrous

people. I had a best friend eventually and she was constantly bullied. I couldnt even defend her

because I was afraid of others hurting me as well. This is significant because it shows how

private schools dont teach students how to behave that well. It all depends on the person and

how theyre raised at home. Morals usually dont come from schools, its usually from the

parents. These monstrous people in this space caused me to live in fear, as well as a few others.

Rules are important in schools, however, this school went over the top by completely

controlling how students acted and dressed. Only solid black shoes were allowed. This made it

hard for some parents with lower income to buy their students the exact shoes the school wanted

instead of having the child wear any shoe available. No makeup what so ever was allowed and

no other hair color even if it is natural. This can make girls who feel unattractive feel very

limited, showing the amount of ignorance the school has. An example of this was when a girl

who was blonde, dyed her hair brown and got in trouble. This can damage young girls. No nail

polish was allowed either or jewelry unless it is gold. First of all, not everyone owns gold

jewelry and second, this rule is too hectic. These rules limit students because they are over

exaggerated, which makes this space more monstrous as it is exactly like a prison. This is

significant because it shows how just because private schools are smaller and have stricter rules,

it doesnt mean the rules are reasonable. Students start to fear that every little thing they do,
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theyll get punished. Rules are good, but not when they start to mess with students minds

because it can cause paranoia, which is bad for the health because stress causes aging and a

higher risk of heart attacks.

Teachers would waste the entire class time looking for people who even whispered instead of

continuing the lesson. Teachers would say, Dont look at others or yawn or breathe loudly. It is

exactly like solitary confinement and this can result in worse behaviors because then students

would want to rebel. Students were always in fear of getting in trouble for the smallest reasons.

People also couldnt hug others in a certain way or even kiss on the cheek. Teachers would

always write names on the board, even of innocent people. Cameras were everywhere. You were

always being watched. This is monstrous because schools should not be like prisons. Students

should be treated like humans with a little bit of freedom. This doesnt teach kids manners. It

causes them to rebel more. If students arent allowed to even kiss on campus, they may kiss off

campus, which could also lead to other sexual activities. These limitations will cause students to

do worst things off campus. If they had more freedom on campus, they wouldnt feel the need to

rebel elsewhere and potentially hurt themselves and their future, which is why it is significant

that schools dont have too many limitations.

They would keep the whole class in including me due to one persons horrid behavior. Because

of this, I had to convince the teachers to let me go by using pathos. According to Understanding

Rhetoric, pathos is the use of emotion in debate or argument (Alexander, Cannon, Cannon,

Losh 46). I always had to make myself cry and tell them how innocent I am and that it is unfair

for them to keep me. I used to tell them stories of why I need to be home or that I have an

emergency. I always got my way out of detention because I didnt deserve it, so I argued. Pathos

was definitely valued in this space. Most people didnt know how to appeal to the emotions of
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the teachers, but I did because I knew my worth and knew I was a good student. I always had to

be cautious of what is happening around me. It was a jungle and I still would get in trouble. The

whole class would get detention for two hours even if some people didnt do anything. This

drove me insane. I have never been in a worse school environment.

Although private school was a bad experience, I do not regret going at all. Had I not

gone, I would not have made the friends I have today or any other positive experience.

Everything happened perfectly. Continuing private school freshmen year made me transfer to

public school sophomore year, which means I would not have any of the friends I have if all this

didnt happen. Private school was pretty monstrous, however, I never faced any drugs or sex.

The school was clean and since there were fewer students, there were less problems and the

school was able to identify them. If I had gone to public middle school, I would have probably

been influenced by others there or been introduced to more negative things. Private school isnt

that bad if it is in elementary because children are young, nave, and still havent matured yet. It

can be scary if they attend public school at a very young age. I believe middle school and above,

private school is horrible because there arent as many opportunities for the students to grow and

come out of their shell. Other than that, private school will teach students how to be well

rounded, it teaches them religion as well discipline, which can be good. Also, since private

schools arent part of the district, there are more days off school and more early releases.

Additionally, according to Education Bug, private schools have smaller class sizes and they

focus on specific topics. This is a credible source because its an education article and discusses

not only the pros of private school, but also the cons. It wasnt exactly biased, so it is trustable.

Most parents claim their children will learn better if they study in a smaller environment because

there wont be any distractions and the teacher can help each and every student more directly.
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Small environments do help lots of students focus better, but not everyone. Also, in private

schools, they usually dont finish the whole book like in public schools. This isnt good because

then students will have less knowledge. It is significant to finish the whole book because then

students will miss out on other important information thus causing them to be behind in the

future. It is understandable why they dont finish the whole book. They want to make sure the

students understand specific topics whereas public school goes through the whole book quite

fast. However, it is usually better for students to learn at a faster pace. It teaches them more

skills, so that in the future, they can work at a faster pace in their careers. In general, private

school was negative for me, but was a positive experience for other students.

Private school was a monstrous space because it gave students no voice or freedom, they

had limited options, and their times were wasted by teachers who were ignorant. This shows

students constantly lived in fear and had no option but to follow these unnecessary prison rules

or else they faced consequences. However, although it was a negative experience for me, it can

also be seen as a positive experience for others as there are smaller classes, more focus, and it is

religious based, which includes more emphasis on discipline and behavior. Private school was

vicious, but it made me who I am today and I will forever cherish those memories and share my

stories with my future children.

Works Cited

Alexander, Cannon, Cannon, Losh.Understanding Rhetoric: a Graphic Guide to

Writing. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2017, p. 46.

Hoffman, Andrew J. Monsters: a Bedford Spotlight Reader. My Zombie, Myself: Why Modern

Life Feels Rather Undead. Bedford/St. Martin's, a

Macmillan Education Imprint, 2016, p. 41.

Private Schools Pros and Cons. Education Bug - a Complete Listing of Educational

Resources, www.educationbug.org/a/private-schools-pros-and-cons.html.

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