Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Handmaids Tale
The quote on page 163, "A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze" comes up in many situations today. It is a relevant statement especially for students going to a public school. The constitution is filled with statements explaining an individuals right. We go on with our day to day lives knowing those rights are there and we are living in freedom. In high school, these rights are taught to us making sure we know what we can and cannot do. Ironically all of these rights are eliminated when we walk into the building. We do not have freedom of speech, right to fight against what we believe in, and many other rights that we are given in the constitution. We are allowed to say how we feel, as long as it does not go against a teacher, we are allowed to fight for what we believe in as long as it does not involve being disrespectful to a teacher. As someone who often disagrees with what the teachers think and believe, I find this to be a battle i fight everyday. I find it hard to keep my mouth shut and not tell them how I feel. As students we are the rats in the school (maze).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
HAHAHA excellent post Devin. Good work ;).
ReplyDeleteyes we are giving up our rights to the school. But the teachers give up some of their rights as well. THE problem is when a teacher decides to step over their rights into ours because they are not monitered as we are. THis turns into a horribly frusterating cycle.
true. very true. I wonder if one could defend themselves with this. but then, does it just go back to respect? Maybe. I don't know, do you? SUre, obviously we all have our different and similar opinions, so how do we all express ourselves freely, yet stay in agreement? compromise i guess? oh i don't know. we leave next year, but this doesn't only happen in schools. this will continue on for the rest of our lives. jobs, families, etc. o goodness.
ReplyDeleteIntersting view on it all. I find it ironic how the school is so confining and yet its sole purpose is to expand our minds and allow us to grow as people. To me this is the biggest and most laughable joke on society today. something that traps and releases all at the same time, who would have thought. the rules in the school are meant to keep order, but due to the rebellious nature of teens it only creates problems and confrontations. good thinking devin. very insightful.
ReplyDeleteGoing back to the constituion.... if we were TRULY free, we wouldn't need a supreme law of the land. But yet, could society function without rules? A maze isn't a maze if there are no boundaries. Part of life is facing a road block, or taking a wrong turn, and learning how to get yourself out of it; learning from your mistakes. Freedom is relative, and though we always crave more of it, how much more do you really need?
ReplyDeleteDevin,
ReplyDeleteI always love an angry post (I wonder if blogging lends itself to venting for some reason). I think your peers also chafe at the lack of freedom, but I wonder (at the risk of getting a lot of flak from you all) whether or not students ought to have the same privileges as teachers (or teenagers the same rights as, say, their parents). Does age (and experience) come with no benefits in this regard? (That said, I think it's a fine thing that you routinely challenge your teachers--just so long as you do it in a productive way!)