Oh yes, it's very typical for kids to hate their school. Who doesn't look back on their high school experience and shudder? Who in the midst of their high school experience doesn't dread getting up every single day?
But this one is a totally new sort of hatred. No matter how angsty teens may get, schools always have some sort of undercurrent of school spirit. Not at this school. And what is to blame for this problem? Obviously, the bane of every school kid's existence - the administration.
And when I say the admin, I don't necessarily mean the teachers, but there is most definitely a problem with the teachers. The administration is far too young for its own good. Now, I don't mean to generalize, as I have had some decent young teachers, and some godawful old ones, but on the whole, younger teachers are just less competent - especially the ones who came in during the Harris administration. They seem to have huge egos, yet an incredible amount of difficulty planning lessons, getting the class organized, and even getting people to stay under control. They then try giving low marks out to try and get the class back on track, but this only enrages kids further, and only serves to turn the smarter kids against them. Believe me, some of the teachers I've had to deal with at this school make me want to vote Conservative just so I can see them take a pay cut.
But the real problem lies in the principal and the VPs. All of the problems with Sinclair come back to the fact that the school is run as a business, rather than a school. One major problem with suburbia is that, with most of the populace commuting to the city, adults begin to believe that they actually live in the city, and begin worrying themselves over city problems. Allow me to explain: the school is determined to prevent gang warfare from breaking out.
Yes, that's right. Gang warfare. In a whitebred town consisting of nothing but houses. The school has been implementing a series of increasingly bizarre rules in an attempt to keep these "gangs" from identifying with each other, such as not allowing kids to wear two different shoelaces, keep wallet chains, and banning the bandana. Might I suggest that the principal's time could be better spent dealing with problems that actually exist and are far more of a suburban blight than these mysterious underground "gangs," such as, uh, racially-motivated hatred and other serious discrimination problems the mostly white, upper-class school seriously suffers from? Yet the complaints I've seen others submit about this sort of violence have been ignored, and in one case, the victim was actually punished for supposedly instigating it, while the offenders walked free.
The school will also not allow the students to have an ounce of school spirit. Other typical school activities the other Durham Region schools have are inexplicably banned. For example, the school has banned cheerleaders. Now, I'll admit, I'm not exactly what you would call a huge fan of cheerleaders. But banning them is absolutely ridiculous, because cheerleaders are just one of those things you expect at schools. The school also will not allow "buy outs," or the practice of having kids pay to get out of class and go somewhere, like to see a sports game, or dances during the school day. Well, what the hell do they expect people to look back on their school experience and remember?
These problems are instigated by the fact that the school is directly attached to the Durham Board of Education head office. Oh, the Durham Board of Education. A corrupt cesspool of bureaucrats who couldn't get anything done to save their own lives. A horribly mismanaged nightmare that can't even plan out a logical budget or treat its employees with any respect. The indisputable worst board of education in all of Ontario. When the revolution comes, they're going to be the first to go.
My best buddy Anita was elected to be the prime minister of the school. Even with a bunch of whiny little brats underneath her, (whiny brats who the incompetent administration seem to think are decent), I still hope maybe she will be able to organize something fun at the school. However, considering the amount that administration is willing to block, I'm afraid I wouldn't get my hopes up. That school is beyond redemption.