th115+Citizenship+Credits

Dear Mr. Swan,
==As you know, some schools have now started a program called "Citizenship Credits." The point of Citizenship Credits is to stop bullying and the use of inappropriate language at school. If a student sees someone being bullied, they can report the bully and earn Citizenship Credits. Once these points add up, grades on a student's report card can be raised. Though this may seem like a good tactic, there are three main reasons why Citizenship Credits shouldn't be a policy in our school.==

==My first reason is that kids could lie about what they see to get extra points. Suppose that Joe's grade is struggling. He could just go tell on Tami to earn some more points. If you were a kid and you found out that just by seeing a classmate do something wrong you could get extra points in school, would you really want to do your math homework after that long hour and a half at baseball practice? Why do your homework when you could just tell a tiny untruth about Natalie pushing Jasmine? Anyone could lie to get revenge on someone else. For instance, if Sally beat Mary in the volleyball tournament, now Mary can get her back by lying and saying she did something inappropriate. Plus, Mary gets free points added to her grade as well as revenge. On the one hand, kids are supposed to go to a teacher when bullying occurs; but on the other hand, are they really telling the truth? This new Citizenship Credits program tempts kids to lie too much.==

==Another reason using Citizenship Credits is not a good idea is because it encourages kids to want others to be bullied. Kids will hang out in the halls hoping for something bad to happen! Sue might even tell Carly that Grace said something about her so that when Carly confronts Grace, Sue can report it as bullying. People may just start classifying everything as bullying because they're so eager to get points. For example, if Scott trips over a pile of books in the hallway, the owner of the books is automatically a bully, when really, it was Scott's fault. While it's possible that Citizenship Credits push bullies not to bully, you also need to consider how much students now want bullying to occur. So, instead of encouraging kids to want to bully less, they now want bullying to happen more.==

==Misconceptions may occur which lead to false accusations. A misconception is a misunderstanding, or when something is interpreted wrong. If Amanda steals Candace's headband as a joke, someone might see it and report her. Is that really bad? They're just two friends playing. Even though you may think Amanda was being rude, whoever reported her for that didn't have enough information. Also, things people do naturally can be thought to be bad. Do you slap your friends on the back when they tell a funny joke? Do you punch them in the shoulder when something funny happens to them? We all do it; it's not bullying. Unless someone is involved or really knows what's going on, they shouldn't be telling the principal unless the situation could be dangerous.==

==Some people may think Citizenship Credits can stop the problem of bullying in schools, but even if they do, you have to think about all of the problems they create. What about you, the principal? Reports may just start piling up and overwhelming him. As well as encouraging bullies not to bully other people, you're also encouraging students to lie about bullying, want other people to be bullied, and take bumping into your friend to be funny as bullying. And all for one or two extra points! Does this really help our school? Have you heard of the show the show the lying game? Well now it's in middle schools. Citizenship Credits shouldn't be used in our school, because they increase the problem of bullying just as much as they prevent it.==


 * Signed, **
 * TJH **