Interview with jonah

 I interviewed my friend Jonah on what was good and bad about this world. This is what he said:

Good- people who help other people; Friends; the idea of school (the opportunity to have an education).  

 Bad- poverty (people that don’t get an education); bad things that happen to good people; high school process.  

        I think that Jonah is right about the fact that people that help other is a good thing. It shouldn't be a good thing, though. It should be expected. Honestly people have become so busy these days that they can’t see the fact that someone needs help. We’re always in a hurry; we can’t notice many things because as time goes on so fast and we’re becoming self absorbed. Also, at this age friends are crucial. Everyone needs one friend or many friends that they count on. Because honestly, lets face it; life is lonely and miserable without friends. Jonah had said that he didn’t like school, but the idea of that he always can go back to it is important. I think that’s true but it’s also linked with the idea of friends. Normally school is to help you lean academically but also socially as well. This is where you meet your friends and you grow and prosper with them.

        To contradict that idea, he had listed the fact that because of poverty people may not get the opportunity of education. I think that’s true. In many places there aren't public schools and parents have nothing to pay for the education of their children. I kind of think that we take school for granted. For example: We go to 51 and we get such good education and pay nothing for most of the part. And 51 helps us to keep us ready for the future. Not everyone gets that. Jonah had also listed that bad things happen to good people. I think he was talking about a death of a classmate we just recently lost. It affected all of us in different ways. Sammy was a good kid from what I had known of him and I know he never deserved what happened to him. As eighth graders in New York City we have the pressure on us to go to high schools. Not any of us likes this. Every other city in the country just sends their children to the zoned school. We have to compete with millions of other kids. I do not think it’s fair. We don’t need all this pressure on us. But no one wants to hear us out.

                 

Banned books Essay

Dear Mrs. Berner,

  It has come to my attention that you have wanted to take out books from various sixth grade libraries because you believe they are too mature. I believe that if sixth graders read them then they should make the choice deciding if they are ready or not to face reality of the world.

     Some books are banned for no reason at all. In the video “Top 10 banned books” the book   Where’s Waldo is banned for a tiny illustration of partially naked woman. This makes no sense because no kid who is looking for Waldo will be looking at the partial naked woman. In the same video, the dictionary is banned for inappropriate words but that also doesn’t make any sense because a dictionary was meant to find meanings of all words.  This isn’t letting Kids decide for their own and if you take books from sixth grade libraries then you will be taking away their choice and decision.

          Some books are thought to be very heavy with very sad scenarios. The article “darkness too visible” by Megan Fox Gurdon is about how these days all YA books are too much and filled with dark matters. She says that teen books had an influence on a “child’s happiness, moral development and tenderness of heart”   That is not true. Kids in this school have already dealt with the loss of a peer. They’ve dealt the struggles of facing reality.  I don’t think this made us any less  tender of heart, that are just made us a little innocent but this may not lead to things like depression. An article by Michelle Pauli defends banning books by saying “illness, depression, sexuality, - these are all issues that teens are going to bump against in their lives”. I agree, because you never know what’s going to happen. There are so many realties in life Ms. Berner; we need to be prepared for them, the earlier the better.  

         Some may say that sixth graders are too young to deal with many books. Such as a book like Scars, this is about a girl who cuts herself. Yes, that is true. Some are scarred or unprepared to read this. But there is an alternative. Have parents sign a paper which tells you what type of books their child should read. I don’t think it’s up to anyone but the child and maybe their parent to decide what to read or not. That’s because then the child can come to their parents to understand the meaning of what they are reading. Bill Moyer had once said “A lie can be exposed, but censorship can prevent us from knowing the difference” this means that you can’t see books as they are but you have to see who it can affect and if it doesn’t affect anyone then don’t ban them.

        I hope this essay challenges you to think about not banning books without asking sixth graders first. Whatever you are banning affects the sixth grader and how they want to see the world. You cant shelter us forever because we all have to grow up and face reality one day.

                             Yours Truly, Areebah Pervez