#parent | #kids | #teacher | ‘We need teachers as much as they need us’ – Times-Standard

I am a freshman at Arcata High School. I might get a detention because I walked out of school on Oct. 2 to support the teachers in a walkout directed by students. The reason for this walkout was to raise awareness that teachers aren’t getting paid enough. Kids from Arcata High walked out of classes to raise this awareness. As I walked out, a teacher told me, “Thanks for supporting us.” It felt good.

Teachers play a big role in our high school lives. They train and prepare us for everyday life. They help us try to succeed in life. And they put up with annoying kids, both the lazy ones and kids who think they know more than the teachers. What people don’t understand is that lawyers and doctors get paid more money than teachers. But they wouldn’t be lawyers or doctors without the help of their high school teachers. Why do they get paid so much more when teachers were the reason they got there?

Society doesn’t understand. And clearly some kids also don’t understand how hard is to be a teacher. When I was in class, our teacher asked us if we were going to do the walk out and a student told her they thought it was stupid. But what they don’t understand is how not only teachers help us with our lives to make us successful in life but they also have bills to pay and mouths to feed. Life isn’t cheap and we need teachers as much as they need us.

I feel it is not fair that we might get a detention because we walked but I would gladly do it again.

Ana Schwartz resides in Arcata.