A Message to the
Lazy Student
by J. B., Hudson, NH
I am writing to respond to a problem I am becoming increasingly aware of. Having just entered high school, I cannot help but notice the growing lack of motivation among many of my fellow students. Being one of a few who bothers to try for (and achieve) A's in my classes, I am sometimes regarded as an outsider.
My message to these students is this (and you know who you are): grow up. You are being provided with a free education and you are lucky to get it. Since you are not taking advantage of this, you don't really deserve it. Your parents, your friends' parents and your neighbors all have to dish out hard-earned money to your town government, which in turn has to struggle to find a way to pay for your education, along with all of the other needs of the town. Still, you abuse the system by flunking your exams, not doing your homework, and subjecting your teacher to both verbal abuse and the difficult task of putting up with you.
You obviously aren't going to achieve anything with your life when you graduate, considering that few colleges accept students with grade point averages of zero, so you might as well stop acting like a lazy slob and begin to work at being something. You are being provided with the tools for success but you aren't using them.
It is possible to get A's on your report card and have fun too. Some of us actually survive the day without once threatening a teacher. There are students with some disabilities who manage good marks, but this is possible only because they try. You are obviously in a more advantageous situation than these students, so why is it you're not doing the same?
It takes just as much effort to hide that report card from your parents as it does to open up your textbook and read the script within. It's better to worry about how you can improve your test scores than to have to worry about how you can alter them to make it appear as though you passed.
There are many children throughout the world who would jump at the chance to receive an education, yet you, the underachiever, go to school at absolutely no personal expense every day. Not everyone can become the next NBA super star, the rest of us have to work at getting anywhere in life. Stop wasting the town's tax dollars by lounging around all day, and start improving your attitude and workmanship before it's too late.