Do you want to know where I am right now? I’m in I.S.S. Skipping, smoking, bad conduct…no, of course not! I was late for school. I’m a good kid. I get above average grades, I’m involved in plenty of afterschool activities, not to mention being Captain of the Dance Line and Vice-President of the Bible Club. I’ve gotten detention a few times but only because I was late. You can ask any of my teachers, I’m a good kid. So why am I in I.S.S.? It’s not like I was late because I was outside smoking, or flushing some kids head down the toilet. Sometimes the alarm clock doesn’t go off and my mom doesn’t wake me up. An alarm clock is not enough motivation to get me to get up early and come here every day. My mom has to get up before she should to make sure my sister and I get driven to school every day. Sometimes the car doesn’t start or it gets stuck in the snow. Sometimes you just can’t get out of bed because you were studying till 3:00am, who can get by with only 3 hours of sleep? I have to. There is always a test, homework, a report to do. And for me I have extra things to do, make up dance routines, studying lines for the play, go over music for District Chorus, practice my flute, occasionally make up a lesson for Bible Club. You think those things won’t keep you up till 3 in the morning? They do if you want to be good. If you want good grades, if you want to put on a good show. And I know that I’m not the only busy person in this school. There are other people that are at dance or play practice till 5:00. When you come home hot and exhausted and you hadn’t eaten since noon. And there are practices for other things that I’m not involved in. I’m sure that many athletes and the cheerleaders can relate to what I’m saying. There are people involved in very active clubs such as FBLA, SADD, Usher’s Club, and Student Council. School isn’t easy. Maybe for someone who is just a brainiac and isn’t involved in anything, maybe for someone who was just born with an I.Q. higher than what most people weigh, maybe for someone who is just a punk and doesn’t care. But what about those of us who are split down the middle by activities and schoolwork. If it came down to picking one over the other I would pick the activities. But it doesn’t work that way, you have to maintain a 2.5 or above or you can not participate in those activities. So what am I going to do? Blow off my school work and go to bed early? Blow off my activities and come home after school? Create a device to dump water over my head and toss me out of bed every morning? Keep the car running all night long so that it’s heated and ready for school every morning? Or the most sensible thing, pack my bags and go live in the L.G.I. High school kids lead busy lives and most of us don’t want to give up the things that make us busy. What I’m asking for is some understanding when we walk into the attendance office and use a cheap excuse like “my alarm clock didn’t go off”, just think they might be telling the truth. I think everyone should be happy that we come to school at all. We don’t get paid to come here. Our reward is a good report card, good performance, and for some it’s making it through and getting the heck outta here. But none of those things come easily, they all require long, late nights and early mornings, 6 hours cramped up in a desk (without bathroom privileges, but that’s another letter). Why do we get punished for making an effort? When I know I’m going to be late I could just stay home, but I don’t. But when I come to school, I miss class anyway. Instead of making the effort and coming to class I get locked up in here. I’m writing this while one kid’s unconscious, drooling down his arm, another one has been staring at the wall and not blinking for the past hour, one that I’m pretty sure had cat for breakfast, one that I’m pretty sure ate my notebook during the bathroom break, one that is going through a nicotine fit, and one I could’ve sworn went to school with my dad. But don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to stereotype I.S.S. students. After all, I’m one myself now. But not all kids in I.S.S. are wearing stolen license plates for earrings, even “A” students with active social lives deserve it sometimes. But not for being late. No one should get I.S.S. for being late, even the kid that ate my notebook (I forgive him.). Let’s face it, it’s a stupid rule. And I’m not upset because this is going on my permanent record or anything. It’s because I have things to do. I have to be in class. Now all I have is more work to keep me up late again. That’s okay because I wonder if I come back tomorrow…would that kid still be staring at the wall? I seriously think this rule should be changed. Not just for me but for the poor boy who was late because his cat wasn’t cooked in time, I’d rather be late than hungry too. Why do you think all these kids are late in the morning? How many possible “bad” things could someone do in the morning to make them one minute late. Are you worried because they might be late because they were smoking or something? Well then, take care of the problem before it comes into school, not afterward. I shouldn’t have I.S.S. because of someone else’s cigarette. I think I’ve made my point. This rule has been bugging me for awhile and I finally decided to do something about it. I’m going to try my hardest to abolish all rules that get good kids in trouble (or bad kids that really didn’t do anything wrong). Maybe it won’t work but I have to try. If there is anyone that agrees to changing or banishing the “late” rule, please see me to sign a petition. I may even get in more trouble because of this but too bad! If there are any other rules that you think should be changed, we can try! So please think long and hard about this and then see one of the following people to sign a petition. I appreciate the time you took out to read my novel. I’ll be autographing free copies in the Commons Area during…just kidding!