am115+citizenship+e

Dear Mr. Swan,
=== Help! My school is trying to get the "Citizenship Credits" policy. This is where you report inappropriate behavior or language, and kids will be saying this when and if you do. Some things this could lead to are breaking friendships, kids will ignore school work to be little spies, and a ton of misconceptions is what you will get! I believe that Bedminster School should not adopt the citizenship credits policy. ===

=== Friendships. One of the best things a kid could have. Lets say that Kate was best friends with Tasha, and she turned her in for saying uh oh... A BAD WORD. Just for extra points! If you were reporting a lot of people, they could get mad at you and you might lose a lot of friends, or have none. Think about it. People always going to the guidance counselor saying "My best friend turned me in for an extra point for her social studies grade!" While it's true that extra point can REALLY help a grade, you also need to consider that it will cause drama. Those kids are just spying and lying. ===

=== This idea of "Citizenship Credits" would not work because children will stop working on schoolwork and pretend to be little spies writing down everything bad that is happening. It's possible it will help you find out what it going on in school, but more likely it will shorten kids attention spands. For example, if someone was in class taking notes, they could get out their little report and start to write down everything bad happening instead of listening to the teacher. "Mai told Jen she was cool, and cool means something bad." ===

== Misconceptions. Ugh. Aren't they so annoying? Imagine misconceptions coming to your desk all day long. Citizenship credits are not a good idea because you could have misunderstandings about something bad happening. "Janie tripped Rachel! I think." Can you see why Rachel would be sad? And what if someone was walking down the hallway and in a class they saw someone square dancing! Unusual, but they were assigned to. You might think that they are true, but soon realize it is a pain trying to explain that someone did not do this, or someone did not do that. ==

== At first, Citizenship Credits sounds like a great idea to help raise grades and turn in bad behavior, but later it will be a big pain. You have to think about what drama is going to be caused by it. "Jane did this, Jane did that!" JUST FOR GRADE POINTS! Even though, those extra points or two can be helpful, Citizenship Credits can bring drama, spying, and sometimes lying. ==


 * -Alyssa M . **