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Rhetorical Reading Response: The War on High Schools by Wendy Kaminer

Rhetorical Reading Response: The War on High Schools by Wendy Kaminer

Written by: Mina Raines 
Wendy Kaminer’s essay, The War on High Schools (2001), claims that schools are attempting to remove students’ rights. Kaminer uses facts and evidence to develop her essay. Her purpose is to provide information in order to show that students are being suspended or simply persecuted because of the narrow-mindedness of school officials. Kaminer attempts to link with the general audience through the high school experience.
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After reading Kaminer’s essay, I was shocked at how seemingly harmless acts or potentially misunderstood words lead to severe sanctions. I also agree with her, what the schools are doing is wrong. Prohibiting students from expressing themselves is wrong, especially if what the students are doing is peaceful. I find myself confused at the actions and interpretations of assumedly intelligent, mature educators. How does a school official go from “no guns at school” to suspending students for playing war games near, but off, school grounds and after school hours? Speaking as a high school student, I believe this level of intolerance is almost unforgivable.
Kaminer uses shocking pieces of evidence and facts to help clarify the intolerance that some schools are heaping onto their students. One of the pieces of evidence she used is, “In Virginia a 10th-grader was suspended for dyeing his hair blue.”
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What happened to personal expression? As Kaminer’s essay continues, the examples of suspended students are joined by mass strip searches performed by school officials and police, over small amounts of money. Another scary thing the police are doing in Kaminer’s essay is, “In Houston, officers wearing bulletproof vests, trained in assault tactics, and equipped with dogs as well as guns are patrolling middle schools, high schools, and school neighborhoods.” Restraint and wisdom are wonderful tools that seem to have gone unused by school officials and police. Kaminer’s descriptive word choice helped convey her message. This medium is evident when she writes, “Unhampered by logic, judges have ruled that clothing choices are not expressive…” The unabashed imagery that results as the reader considers an entire class of fifth-graders having been forced to endure strip searches is unnerving. Have some school officials placed expedience above the well-being of students? Perhaps local school boards should re-evaluate the overall goals of the education system.

Works Cited

Kaminer, Wendy. “The War on High Schools.” The American Prospect, The American Prospect, 14 Nov. 2001, prospect.org/article/war-high-schools. Accessed 8 Sept. 2017.
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Comments

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  2. Mitchel StarcJuly 18, 2018 at 11:22 PM

    Wow, great post.

    ReplyDelete

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