December 9, 2001

Dear Sir,

As a CedarBridge student, I would like to voice my opinion at how much I dislike attending CedarBridge. CedarBridge is a great school in that it has great facilities and teachers and administrators. It has small classes, good equipment, plenty of computers, helpful administrators, and great teachers, to name a few assets. CedarBridge is the best school I've attended; however, what disgusts me about CedarBridge is the negative attitude of the majority of its student. They are mean, shallow, lazy, and to be frank, ignorant about life and the world around them.

One tends to wonder why these kids even go to school because they are obviously not there to learn but to be disruptive. They might as well drop out; it would make my life a whole lot easier. Not all the students are like this. There are some real leaders and nice students at CedarBridge, for example the SGA president and vice president; but there are so few that I've seen (I'm sure there are a lot who are afraid to show off that side) compared to the rest of the students at the school.

I feel sorry for my teachers. The types of attitudes and abuse they have to endure everyday are shameful. Also students are savagely abused as well. It's as though CedarBridge is cursed with schooling all the rude kids on the island. If these kids are the future of this island, then Bermuda is doomed.

What I suggest is that CedarBridge students (most of them anyway) should stop worrying about how much hair gel is in their hair and who was wearing what and did what, or worrying about how much "booty" they can get and how much marijuana, yes marijuana, they can smoke, and take school seriously. They need to take life seriously and stop being self-centred and get rid of the idea that life is a BET rap video.

For example, right after the September 11th terrorist attacks my class was having a discussion about the attacks and some of the kids actually made fun of the people who fell out of the buildings to their death - joking that they looked like rag dolls. These kids are so self-absorbed and uncompassionate. They need to be more exposed to world events. They are so sheltered here in Bermuda that they do not relate to tragedies in other parts of the world.

Because these students are so sheltered and self-centred they tend not to be interested in learning and are disruptive to other kids. The school needs to take those disruptive kids away from us students who want to learn and from those teachers who are trying to teach.

They are really destroying and retarding my learning and I feel I should not have to put up with it. Unfortunately I am not able attend private school (I have siblings in college and other siblings at school here in Bermuda). CedarBridge is an excellent school with excellent teachers, so why should I have to go to a private school? The school and parents/guardians need to act now to work with these disruptive students because one of these days, when they are much older, they are finally going to realise how much of a waste their lives have been and wish they were like the few students at CedarBridge who actually went to school to learn.

CEDARBRIDGE STUDENT

Sandys Parish