AFTER SCHOOL SPECIAL<br /><br /><br />Dear Mr. Schneider,<br />I attended your elementary<br />School almost thirty years ago<br />And I'm very sure that<br />You will remember<br />Me.<br /><br />My name is Suzy.<br />I'm that hyperactive girl<br />From the Egyptian family<br />Who used to always play dead<br />On the playground during<br />Recess.<br /><br />You used to keep me<br />After school a lot,<br />And then my father would<br />Force me to make the long<br />Walk home in the cold or rain.<br />Sometimes I would arrive<br />After dark.<br /><br />I'm writing to tell you<br />That I was bored as a kid.<br />I was bored by your curriculum<br />And the way I was always taught a<br />Bunch of useless<br />Junk.<br /><br />I did not like being locked up<br />In a prison of scheduled time<br />Learning about irrelevant material,<br />And watching belittling cartoons and<br />Shows approved by academia that<br />Made me even more<br />Bored.<br /><br />As a kid<br />Who was constantly<br />Growing, evolving, and<br />Being shaped by all around me,<br />I wanted to travel, <br />See other kids<br />In the world like me,<br />To understand what was going<br />On amongst us and around us,<br />To know what we were here for<br />And what was our real purpose<br />For existence.<br /><br />I have some questions<br />I would like to ask you, Mr. Schneider,<br />Now that I know that you are no<br />Longer a school principal,<br />But the new superintendent<br />Of the entire school<br />District.<br /><br />I want to know<br />Why racism today<br />Was not clearly explained to me<br />Even though we covered events<br />That happened long ago.<br />I want to know why you<br />Never shared with us<br />Why other countries<br />Never liked us,<br />Why we are taught to compete,<br />To be divided in teams,<br />And why conformity is associated<br />With popularity, while<br />Eccentricity is considered<br />Undesirable?<br /><br />I want to know<br />Why my cafeteria lunches<br />Were slammed packed<br />With bottom-tier<br />Processed junk food<br />Only suitable<br />For pigs?<br />And why is it<br />That whenever a bully<br />Slammed a kid into a locker for<br />His lunch money,<br />Nobody explained to us<br />That egotism, selfishness and greed<br />Were the seeds of<br />War?<br /><br />I want to know<br />Why we were never taught<br />To stick up for each other,<br />To love one another, and that<br />Segregation sorted by the<br />Occupations of our fathers,<br />The neighborhoods we lived in, our houses,<br />Choices of sport, wealth, clothing,<br />Color of our skin<br />And the texture of our hair<br />Should never, ever<br />Divide us?<br /><br />And lastly,<br />I want to know why<br />Is it that whenever I pledged<br />Allegiance to the flag,<br />I was never told that I was<br />Actually hailing to the<br />Chief?<br /><br />You used to say that<br />I was a troubled child,<br />A misfit, and that I needed<br />Obedience training,<br />But you never acknowledged that<br />I was the fastest runner in the district<br />And that I took the school<br />To State and Nationals to compete<br />In the Spelling Bee among kids<br />Grades higher than me.<br />And that it was me,<br />Who won that big trophy<br />That sat in your office when you<br />Used to detain me for hours<br />And tell me I was no<br />Good.<br /><br />Mr. Schneider,<br />If we are not taught truths as kids,<br />Then how do you expect us to<br />Grow up to be truthful citizens?<br />If we are only being taught the written way,<br />And it has not shown positive effects<br />In societies of yesterday or today,<br />Then how can we progress as a<br />United and compassionate<br />Nation?<br />What good is it, <br />To memorize the histories <br />Of our forefathers,<br />Without learning what could be<br />Gained from their lessons and mistakes<br />To improve our future <br />Tomorrows?<br /><br /><br />And finally,<br />I want to thank you;<br />For I know you have a tough job<br />Dealing with rebellious children like me.<br />Your job of mass processing and boxing<br />The young minds of America has not been an easy one,<br />And I congratulate you <br />On your recent promotion.<br />But I sincerely want to thank you,<br />Thank you,<br />And thank you,<br />For always pointing out<br />That I was<br />Different.