Although our parents will try to convince us that middle school wasn't really THAT bad, most teens remember it as an intellectually dead holding tank between elementary school and high schoool. "Forty in a classroom" starts out by describing a scene familiar to many - students walking into their middle school for the first time - and then delivers the surprise: the classroom is overcrowded, stinky, and unclean. At this point in the story, anyone under 18 will nod slowly, recognizing the sounds of their own golden years being wasted away in a portable, while adults will be surprised, even disturbed, that students are still expected to be happy and productive in these conditions. The piece goes on to elaborate the suffocating environment: police cars parked outside and unfriendly peers are both commonplace. The story is simple, with no music or effects, but it does an excellent job of narrating the bleak social landscape that is middle school. This piece would fit well in any series about education; the issues it brings up need attention.
Review of Southwest Side Stories: Forty in a Classroom
Emily Raymond
Posted on March 07, 2006 at 01:59 PM
Although our parents will try to convince us that middle school wasn't really THAT bad, most teens remember it as an intellectually dead holding tank between elementary school and high schoool. "Forty in a classroom" starts out by describing a scene familiar to many - students walking into their middle school for the first time - and then delivers the surprise: the classroom is overcrowded, stinky, and unclean. At this point in the story, anyone under 18 will nod slowly, recognizing the sounds of their own golden years being wasted away in a portable, while adults will be surprised, even disturbed, that students are still expected to be happy and productive in these conditions. The piece goes on to elaborate the suffocating environment: police cars parked outside and unfriendly peers are both commonplace. The story is simple, with no music or effects, but it does an excellent job of narrating the bleak social landscape that is middle school. This piece would fit well in any series about education; the issues it brings up need attention.