Melvin Mendez

English 1 MW 8:00-9:30

Mr. Chiang-Schultheiss

March 19, 1997

There are many negative and positive aspects to both private schools and public schools. People tend to put public schools below private schools. They say that the eudcation at private schools is better than the education at public schools. They also say that there is more control at private schools than there is at public schools because not just any students go to them. In my opinion, and experience, public and private schools are about the same.

It seems to be that most private schools are more interested in the money that they receive from the student than the education that the students get. They do not seem to care if a student does not learn because he or she is late or absent to school. During the time I attended a private school, I was about an hour late to school every day and the teacher never said or did anything about it. My brother was absent for a month and nothing was ever done about that, either. When he did returned to school the school did not bother to ask for a note from my parents. The school did not mind his absence as long as they were paid.

Many of the things that happen in public schools also happen in private schools. There have many cases in which students have love relationships with their teachers in private schools. I have recently heard of two cases from friends that are currently attending two different private schools. Drugs could also be found in private schools, but not as much as in public schools. I remember once seeing someone smoking a joint in Lynwood Academy, the private school I attended. I also remember seeing a gun at the private school. The student that took the gun, took it to show it off. He took the gun only once but he many times took bullets. He would take the bullets to pop with a hammer. He once even took a shotgun shell and popped it in school.

Not all things in private schools are bad. Something that is good about private schools is that they are small and that makes it easier to know everyone. Maybe for that simple fact all the students cared and looked out for one other. Maybe that is why there are not that many fights in private schools. While I was at the private school there were only three fights.

Another good thing about private schools is that they are almost all based on their own religious belief. That makes it easier for a student, who has the same religious belief as the school, to feel comfortable at that school. That student could feel free to participate in all school activities without going against his or her religious beliefs. For example, many public schools have dances, and if a student's religious beliefs do not allow him or her to go to those dances and dance, that student will feel left out. That is less likely to happen in a private school the do not allow dances. The private school may also help a student grow spiritually because they teach from the Bible, something public schools do not allow.

The violence in public schools tends to be much higher than in private schools. Fights happen on a daily basis in public schools. This is probably because of the many gang members that attend them. There have also been racial fights at public schools. These racial fights sometimes lead to the closure of the school for a couple of days. Those closures of the schools set back the whole school's learning process. There have also been many deaths at public schools because of violence. There was a death while I attended a public school, Lynwood High School. A student was stabbed in the head with a screwdriver. All this violence does not make public school a safe place to study.

Drugs are also very common in public schools. There have been many cases in which students are found overdosed from some type of drug. Many students smoke pot at school without having any fear of being caught. I recall seeing a student walking around school smoking a joint as if he was smoking a cigarette on any street. I also remember two students doing cocaine in school. Many students also go to public schools and sell drugs.

Like in private schools, not all things are bad in public schools. Something that is positive about public schools is the encouragement that the teachers give the students. Many teachers go all out to see their students get a good grade. Some do it by being friendly to the students. Others are hard on the students. Many students need those kinds of teachers. In my experience, I had a friendly and a hard teacher. The friendly one was a math teacher who would buy candy for us to sell so that we could raise money to buy some calculators. The hard teacher was a government teacher that made me take his class because he did not want me to take an easier class. These kinds of teachers are teachers that if a student is late or absent too much they do whatever it takes to make that student go school. Whether it is punishing the student with more homework, considered a punishment from the point of view of the student, or making a call to the parents of that student. These kinds of teachers are most likely to be found in a public school. Also in public schools students are encouraged more to succeed. There are more programs in which students can be involved in. Two that were found in the public school where I attended were, one that got students to become registered nurses in a short time and the other that gave the students baking skills.

All these good and bad things about both public schools and private schools have lead me believe that they are just about, or just, the same. All the good and bad aspects may apply to both of them. If asked which I would rather go to, I would say a public school.