The Voice
Red Card Holders-Rejoice!Thursday, November 01, 2007 By Nicki Taugtes
The alarm goes off at 5:30 in the morning, and you groan. We’ve all been there—that perfect place under the covers, where it is so warm compared to the subzero temperatures outside, and there is no way in your mind that you are getting up and going out into that cold just to go to school. Especially to get up early to work on homework that you didn’t manage to finish the night before. Yet you’re a good student, and your grades are important to you, and so you drag yourself up, and go to work. On the other hand, if you are a poor student, then you hit the snooze viciously and settle back down, letting your crumpled homework fester where it is. Eventually, the summer ends and you realize that you’re a senior. Finally! All that hard work is going to pay off soon! Or not. For you students who dragged yourselves out of bed, despite the temptations, and went to school and worked, worked, worked, for the last three years, you will succeed. And the school knows that, and feels like you are trustworthy people, and wants to reward you. Hence the red cards. And the sleeping in. They allow you, if you have a first or last hour study hall, to come late and/or leave early—a privilege that many agree you have earned. You have and continue to work hard, and through doing so have gained the perks that such success tends to bring. And you, of course, intend to enjoy them. Yet there are always those who complain, those who are bitter. And, as always, those are the people that are not “privileged” enough to obtain a red card, and who are stuck signing into study hall just like everyone else. They don’t think it’s fair, even though they are seniors, and they believe just because of their age that they are entitled to such a privilege. But the fact of the matter is that they are not. The high school administration has set fair guidelines to earn a red card, and those students who work hard and do what they are supposed to get one. It is as simple as that. They have proved themselves trustworthy, and have taken their education and responsibilities into their own hands. Others, though, have not, and therefore do not deserve a red card. They cannot take responsibility, and they cannot accept the consequences of their actions, and so they must be dragged around and monitored like little children by the school in order to make them come. So next time you’re in that spot, with homework to do and school to attend, just remember—getting up now could definitely mean sleeping in later. |