Recount blog prompt

Decisions are hard to make. Why are they? I didn't understand. I didn't know. Should I? But why should I? Why was it a sacrifice that was worthy? Why? I pondered. I took a few seconds to filter it through my mind. "Here, quick." I whispered as softly as the purr of a cat. I knew I would regret this decision...

It all started out in the morning. My close friend Ian had come up with a outrageous request. I was his close friend, and the class knew the "power" he had. We all wanted to get into good books with him. He had a particular charisma of which could get people to follow him. I have had enough examples of class discrimination by him. Nonetheless, I treated him as a good friend, because I believed that he was a nice guy. Silly I was. He came to me discreetly that morning. He asked me for help. Thinking that it was just asking me a Chinese question regarding the class test later, I accepted immediately. But it wasn't what I thought it was. He asked me to allow him to copy my answer during the test. I was stunned. He may be my good friend, but should I? I told him that I needed the toilet. Then ran out.

 I was split between the 2 decisions. To help or not? If I didn't, he would have spread rumors of how "nice" I was to turn him down. But if I did, I would have been acting against rules, and even my own guiding principles of black and white. I splashed some water on my face, looked myself into the mirror. I had a decision to make. A hard one in fact. I told myself that I should not do so, but then the thought of getting discriminated and ostracized scared me. I went back, still thinking, but when I talked to him, for some reason, I said, “Ok”.

As the paper was given and we started attempting the questions, I found the paper a piece of cake, quickly finishing half of it by the first 30 minutes. I took a quick glance at Ian, struggling he was. Just moments later, he started knocking his pen on the table, out of irritation, I turned to him and stared, only to see him pointing to page that was totally blank, asking me for the answers. I thought, and stunned, for a few seconds, and passed him the paper, “Here. Quick,” I whispered. I used my question paper as a cover, to think that the invigilator would not realize. Yes he didn’t, but it was the head of department that was making her rounds that did. “Hey! The two of you!” Her alarming voice broke the fragile silence of the class, heads turned to the back door to look at her, with the exception of 2.

I was filled with guilt, this sacrifice for him was not worthy in any sense. I stood with my heads facing the ground, thinking and regretting my actions. And here went my test results, and my reputation. I didn’t know how am I going to face my parents when they get informed. Why did I only think of pleasing him, and making him happy, resulting in myself making such a grave mistake and sacrifice? It was not worthy. At all. 


P.S. This incident is NOT true.

Schools should focus and put more emphasis on character developmentthan on academic excellence. Do you agree or disagree?

I agree that schools should focus and put more emphasis on character development than on academic excellence. Students spent most of the time they are awake in school than at home when receiving secondary education or higher, which make the school an vital factor when it comes to the character development on students, especially during secondary school when students are under-going puberty. Teachers also have more experience handling students then parents who are generally amateur when it comes to talking to their children. Lastly, academic excellence can be independently achieved, but characther development requires guidance from experienced guardians, which is achievable from experienced teachers in schools.


An average secondary student would spend half his day in schools for lessons, and staying back for afternoon lessons or co-curriculum activities are not of any rarity when receiving secondary education or higher. People name schools as a 'second home', and in some cases, students spent more time in school then at home, awake. Being in school more often, students would mix around with their friends more, of which may include negative influences. Thus character development when the child is at school is important and focusing on it is no lesser of an importance.


Having interacted with different students, teachers would have the upper hand when it comes to coaching, compared to an ordinary parent. Especially if the child is their first one. Teachers would naturally come across various cases of which students face emotional problems, or when their students get rebellious and do things that are against the school rules. Teachers would then have to interfere with such matters and have the equal responsibility to help their students get back onto the right track, and not be suspended on the rusty and broken track that they have been riding on. As such, teachers would have more experience in guiding their students. Parents on the other hand, have lesser experience, as being a parent has never been experienced by them in the first place. thus parenting and even talking to their children may be a chore to them.


Academic excellence can be achieved independently at home after lessons in schools, but when a student is alone, character development cannot be achieved without guidance. A student can study by himself, but certainly, when an action is made, he/her would not have thought as much, as they have relatively immature minds, thus making it hard for them to guide themselves proper. In response to this, school time can be used to help out different students through character development. Character development does not have to be specifically moral education. It is proven that learning the different forms of arts can help with the students' character.


In conclusion, I agree that schools should focus and put more emphasis on character development than on academic excellence since they spent much time in school and that the teachers there are more experienced compared to parents who do not have experience at all. Adding on, academic excellence may be achieved by the child alone but this is certainly not the case for character development.

The Ideal School

The ideal school should be one that is fun for both students and teachers, and at the same time, allow to studets to learn. The teachers could be a little more interactive and friendly, allowing the students to treat them as their friends. Lessons would be fun and interactive, instead of boring lessons of which the teachers talk and the students listen, neither is it boring lessons where the interaction between students and teachers are dry. Fun and interactive lessons would be something as simple as jokes made by the teachers. Jokes don't have to be plain jokes, but it can be a little cheeky of a acceptable level. There should also be a comfortable learning environment for the students, allowing them to feel comfortable and looking forward to going to school.


Teachers can be friendly and allow students to joke with them more, reducing the 'stiff' relationship. Having this would allow the students to clarify work with the teachers more, since there is a much smaller margin between the 2. This is bring about better results, or at least a better improvement in results from the students. Adding on, while teachers be more friendly to teachers, they themselves find it much easier to not have put up a strict face in front of students. Instead, they can be much more friendly with their students, this making it a comfortable working environment for the teachers as well.


Lessons can be edited in a way that the students enjoy them. Getting away from the usual boring lessons, there could be more laughter in each lessons to bring up the atmosphere. This would also serve to wake the sleepy students up. Jokes could be cracked by teachers and also interactive games such as charets can be played during lessons. Through such innovative ways, students can learn with more interest and laughter during lessons, they would not feel sleepy since lessons are much livelier, thus allowing more to be learned during lessons.


A comfortable learning environment would be vital for the students. The school is what we call our 2nd home. Students spend most of their time in school. Having a comfortable learning environment is certainly necessary. Instead of only the basic tables and chair, the school can have decorations around the classroom, making the place look more attractive. Tables can be covered with a plastic cover, and students may draw and decorate the plastic cover to their own liking. The canteen could also be decorated. The walls can be coated with bright colors such as yellow or orange, such colors make the whole canteen look fresh and thus perking up the canteen.


In a nutshell, in order for a school to be fun for both students and teachers, the teacher-student relationship should not be as strict, but instead friendly. Lessons should also be fun and interactive where students use more enjoyable ways to learn. A comfortable learning environment should also be included in order to allow students to perform at their peak.