Prairie Point students' letters

Editor's note: Following are selected letters from dozens submitted by students in teacher Wendy Anderson's eighth-grade language arts classes at Prairie Point Middle School, Cedar Rapids.

Art benefits students and should not be cut

In my opinion, cutting art out of schools is one of the worst things school administrators can do. Cutting art may cause kids to get involved in something that can harm themselves, like drugs. If art is kept, it may have a positive effect by keeping kids in the after-school clubs based from the art classes and possibly cutting down the number of kids using drugs.

Also, if art is cut, students may find other ways of expressing themselves. Keeping art in school can help cut down on the graffiti vandalism in the neighborhood. Previously, kids have put graffiti on parts of schools, libraries and neighborhoods.

Cutting art out may cut down on what students are learning in class. Students may be tempted to draw on the margins of their papers or in a sketch book they brought with them, which would cut down on what they are actually learning from the lessons in class. They wouldn't have another outlet or class to express themselves and would be distracted and even possibly fall behind the other students.

Allyson Waltz

Cedar Rapids

Take time to prevent pollution in our world

Pollution is one of the things that is killing our world and the things living in it today. There are many causes of pollution that we can prevent. When we see trash on the ground, instead of just walking by, why not stop and pick it up?

Also, if you own a construction site and have leftover material, instead of leaving it there like most people do, or throwing it away inappropriately, get rid of it the right way. Also, if you have a bonfire, do not burn leaves and other debris that may release toxic chemicals into the air.

Dumping chemicals or trash down sewers leads into the ocean and eventually makes the water polluted, too. If the fish population goes down, that means other animals have no food.

The chain goes on and on, leaving us with no animals. There are many ways to prevent pollution, but some people don't want to try and are just being lazy.

Shayla Shreeves

Cedar Rapids

Dress codes needed

to prevent ‘distraction'

Every school should have a dress code. Dress codes make sure that kids do not come to school with inappropriate clothing on. This is important because they could come to school with clothes that are too revealing or clothes that get made fun of or cause them to lose their friends.

Also, dress codes make it so that people don't walk around with everything hanging out of their clothes.

Dress codes are good for making sure that kids are not causing a “distraction.”

Kailee Evans

Cedar Rapids

Abortion only OK in

life-or-death situations

I feel that abortion should be illegal unless it's a life-or-death situation. If someone makes a careless mistake and ends up getting pregnant, they are responsible for the baby even if they didn't want it, because it was their choice to make.

If it becomes a life-or-death medical situation for the mother, that would be a time when abortion would be all right.

Another thing is that baby could have a lot of potential. What if they grew up to make a great discovery like a cure for cancer or another major disease? If someone did get pregnant but couldn't keep the baby, they could put it up for adoption instead of having an abortion.

Abortion is ending a life. Would you want to end a life for a careless mistake?

Hannah Williams

Swisher

School should offer healthier lunch entrees

Pizza, mozzarella sticks, ravioli, chicken strips. Does that sound like a very healthy entree to you? That is what the average lunch is like here at Prairie Point Middle School and Ninth Grade Academy, and I personally don't think it sets a good example for healthy eating habits for students.

Also, our school combines mozzarella sticks and pizza. The crust on the pizza is a mozzarella stick instead of bread. These should not be put together because they are both a meal by itself.

Last, the school's homemade pizza you have to blot with a napkin because of all the excess grease on top.

Fresh fruit and salad bar costs extra money for students and not every family can afford salad bar items. Fresh fruit and vegetables are essential in a healthy diet. Each child needs two to four servings of fruits and three to five servings of vegetables each day.

Kennedy Fisher

Solon

Healthy Kids Act fails

to influence behaviors

The Healthy Kids Act is officially the most non-influential act in Iowa. What child is going to go out of the way to exercise, just because he or she got a letter in the mail, or because the school says they should?

Would you buy a car just because Ford sent you a letter saying you should? Teens and children aren't going to listen to a piece of paper telling them to go out and run or sign up for a sport. Who would? There's no consequences if they don't.

If anything, it's the parents who should be helping. It's as simple as saying “no” when children ask for candy or fast food. Teens and children eat what's available to them. If junk food is available, they'll eat it over healthier choices. Why wouldn't they? If there isn't any junk food available, they have to eat something else.

Even if this continues, who will be truthful? Are kids going to go out and exercise for three hours, or are they going to spend three seconds to just write down that they did it? There is no way to enforce it. If children don't want to exercise, they simply won't. You can't force them to join extracurricular activities; you can't make them go out and run. You can only supply them the right foods and try to teach them healthy habits.

In the end, the Healthy Kids Act is nothing more than a waste of paper, ink and people's time.

Allison Mosbeck

Fairfax

Days off needed for more religious holidays

I think that the school district should have more days of the year off for other religious holidays such as Hanukkah and Ramadan. There are few U.S. public school districts that allow days off for any Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu or Muslim holidays. The majority of schools that do allow these holidays to be celebrated are non-Christian or non-public. There have been many boycotts and protests against the schools and districts that are not allowing other different religious holidays to be celebrated.

Now is the time to change the rules and reorganize our school year calendars because there are more and more non-Christian immigrants coming to the United States. Some are coming here for religious freedom and what better way to let them have that freedom than to let their children get out for their holidays. Our country is known as the land of the free, so let's show it by letting other religious people spend time with their children on the holidays they celebrate.

Joey Mnayer

Fairfax

BCS should move

to eight-team playoff

The BCS cannot decide a college football champion effectively and should move to an eight-team, single-elimination playoff.

With the current system, Texas Christian University has only a slim chance of making it to the national championship game. Even when TCU moves to the Big East in the 2012 season, Oregon and Auburn would still advance over TCU. If college football moves to an eight-team playoff, TCU would have a definite shot of advancing.

In college basketball, there are teams that would never have a shot of winning the championship that can because of the large tournament. More teams have the opportunity to win and could be a Cinderella story. Some might say that there would be no race over the season like there is now, the race to become the top two, but that is not true. There would be a race to qualify for a special tournament, which would make many more possibilities of a champion. More Cinderella stories would occur.

Lastly, in the BCS, you must go undefeated to have a chance to win the national championship. Sometimes even that is not enough. With an eight-team playoff, teams will have a chance of making the playoffs with one loss. This will develop a true champion, the team that can survive the season down the stretch.

Jimmie Bragdon

Cedar Rapids

Year-round schools have many drawbacks

America was built by our forefathers to give us freedom and rights. So why take away the best time of year that everyone looks forward to? Year-round schools will take away summer vacation. People say that year-round schools will make people smarter, but how do you know it isn't just an individual and not an entire population of people?

Also, summer break gives adolescents a chance to know what it is like being on their own. They can learn valuable life skills like cooking, cleaning and other important jobs around the house, along with the chance to play outside and get the nutrition they need for their body.

Many school districts find that year-round school is more expensive. In Tempe, Ariz., a high school experienced an increase of $157,000 per year in operating costs. Similar increases have been reported by other Arizona schools using a year-round calendar.

There is little down time available to make necessary building repairs with a single-track calendar. This can cause significant disruption of classes while building and repairs occur during school and can also shorten the life of the school.

And finally, amusement parks and pools will have a shortage of money via (fewer) child spenders.

People need to see that year-round schools are not what they really seem to be.

Jacob Sherman

Cedar Rapids