The Children


The Children’s Petition                      

We, the fifth graders of Lotus Hill Elementary School...

 

The sun was bright, the sky was blue, and not a cloud was to be seen in the sky. It was the perfect Wednesday for the fifth graders of Lotus Hill Elementary School to spend recess and lunch in the field. Of course, that had to be the day that the horrifying announcement was made. The yard aid walked up with her bullhorn and proclaimed, “Due to younger students being bullied on the field, all fifth graders are hereby banned from accessing the field for the rest of the year. Anyone who tries to get on there anyway, will get a red slip.” A red slip at Lotus Hill meant going to the principle and possible suspension.

            At lunch, most of the fifth grade students looked forlornly at the fourth graders playing in the field. On the lunch tables, shaded from the fierce sun, three girls sat. One had slightly darker skin than the other two, black-brown hair tied back in a ponytail, and chocolate brown eyes. The other was Chinese, with long black hair and black eyes. The third had reddish-blonde hair, green eyes, and rather pale skin.

            “I was hoping to play soccer on the field today,” the darker-skinned girl told the other two wistfully.

            “Ava, it’s too hot to play on the field anyways,” the green-eyed girl told her optimistically. Ava Knight glanced back, an eyebrow raised, and her friend Rebecca Hazel shrugged.

            “You know,” May Yang pointed out, putting her book down, “it isn’t fair to punish all of the fifth graders just because a few kids were behaving inappropriately.”

            “But what can we do?” Rebecca sounded hopeless. “I mean, it’s not like we can make a petition, like the one in our history book!”

            “Well, who says we can’t?” That was Ava, who had an excited sparkle in her eye. The three best friends were on to something. May volunteered to make a cover page, like the one on the constitution, while Ava and Rebecca took out pens and paper to get people to sign. It wasn’t long before nearly five pages had been filled.

            The next day, May showed her friends the paper she had written. It talked about a compromise, what the kids would do if the staff did what they asked, and it looked very formal. Ava and Rebecca had collected signatures from every fifth grader in the school. Putting it together, the three left it for the principle in the office.

Three days passed. No one was called to see the principle, but it was still forbidden to go on the field. By the following Tuesday ,Brianna Krane, tired of waiting, decided to gather all the fifth graders near the pole at recess and march onto the field. Realizing that no one would heed her warnings, Ava wrote a letter to the principal, restating most that was in the petition, and asking for permission to go on the field. Nothing happened.

As the fifth graders gathered around the flagpole the next morning, Ava, Rebecca, and May were filled with dread. Just as it seemed that every one of them would get a red slip and find themselves in even more trouble, a yard aid declared,” All fifth graders may go on the field, but if a younger kid is bullied, that student will be in big trouble.”

Ava grinned. She had learned the value of making a stand. “I guess history does have its uses,” she murmured, as she raced into the field with the rest of her friends.