A Declaration of Grievance and Change

IN CLASS, OCTOBER 21, 2010 

BY REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 

NEW CANAAN COUNTRY SCHOOL STUDENT BODY  

A Declaration of Grievance and Change  

IN 7 McDONOUGH HISTORY CLASS ASSEMBLED.  

All men are put upon this earth with the same rights and the same being to freedom, happiness, and the pursuit of justice. If this be true, we must obey the rights of others and ourselves in agreement that all citizens of any community are created equal; and it is thus that we send this most urgent complaint to those who disrespect our honor and unjustly represent our rights (administrative staff of New Canaan Country School). We have dealt with appallingly vile and abominable suffering at the hand of tyranny for too long. With the utmost glee, I am pleased to inform you that upon your regrettable comportment, our humble people have concluded our only option is to demand change from your grisly school. If the administration is unwilling to heed our cries for justice, we have no choice but to remove, revolt, and relieve you of your role as dictator. If students can do what they want when they want, they will pay more attention in class. They will pay more attention because they will be in a comfortable environment and not have to worry about anything. If you listen to us I am sure we will get better grades, and New Canaan Country School will be a place where everyone will be excited to go. Many people such as Mr. Delehaunty or Mr. Bazemore may argue that there are many good reasons not to change any of the rules. They may insist that it would be silly to have recess after each class because the students would be all rallied up and not focused during class. Mr. Delehaunty or Mr. Bazemore may say that it would be crazy for kids to be able to wear whatever they want to school. They may argue that this is absurd because kids may come in with inappropriate clothing giving off a bad message when visitors come to tour the school. Lastly, they might disagree that there should be free seating at all times because people’s feelings will be hurt, and that is not what NCCS is about. However, Mr. Delehaunty and Mr. Bazemore’s arguments are fatuous. Certain changes at NCCS would help the students benefit in many ways. For instance, shorter classes would give students more time to relax and have a break in between classes. More class electives would give kids more freedom to do things that they enjoy and they would excel in subject matters that they find interesting. Students sit on metal chairs all day; if there were more comfortable chairs, kids would feel calmer and more at home. For many people it is hard to find this special trait and it would be advantageous to have more electives such as cooking or hip-hop class. Moreover, it would benefit us if the school had Apple computers instead of Dells. More than 70% of the students with laptops have Macintosh computers, and we all feel that teachers are wasting too much time explaining how to use the Dells. Everyone already knows how to use the Macintosh computers. To the person who is reading this, you should know that NCCS students have borne the burden for too long! There are simply too many concerning issues with the school and on behalf of the students, we declare that you must fix them! Long enough have the rock hard chairs and the eight hour school days been tolerated by us. Our complaints are simple, easy to accept and I hope that all of you, students of NCCS, appreciate this when we say that these suggestions should be met not just

because we want them to but because we have taken these endless rules for countless years and now we have had enough. If these needs are not met, we will be forced to remove ourselves from this community, declaring independence from the tyranny of Country School’s regime. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of our Cougar mascot, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor. For starters, since third grade, every night has been dedicated to endless hours of homework. Restless nights after endless days have led to unhealthy students, which does not only hurt us but hurts the school’s reputation. Rules have to be set for the amount of homework given in each subject and limited to only fifteen minutes. Students are trying but our voices aren’t being heard. In addition, every student has a hidden talent; it is the teachers’ roles to help us uncover these hidden caches.