MTA METROCARD PROTEST: OUR GENERATION WILL Shut It Down Written by Henry Cames- A NYC High School Student  December 21, 2009

Seventeen years in New York teaches you two things regardless of who you are.
Number one never trust the police, number two never trust the government. At a
young age my father picked up, and left my mom, and so she struggled for years
to provide for my sister and I. Through hard work and dedication, I was admitted
into a Bronx specialized high school out of the thousands and thousands of
students who apply. Because I was determined to attain the strongest education
possible, I took the offer without second thought.

This decision meant I was forced to ride the train over an hour from Brooklyn to
the Bronx everyday. Everyday the train was dirty, filled with tasteless
advertisement, and packed like a sardine can. For three years I endured the
endless time I spent on the trains, through blizzards and thunder storms,
because I was inspired by the countless other youths in my school who came from
all over the city, and endured the same grueling commute. As the years wore on,
service cuts resulted in fewer trains, and when they did come, they were packed
past capacity.

When I arrived at the High School of American Studies, I was seeking to find a
place where the student is respected for his intelligence, however, I was
dismally disapointed. The school ranked 19th in the country, and deemed the
pride of the bronx, was a reburbished storage shed with inexperienced teachers
and broken computers. The worst part is that just like all other public schools,
we students were criminalized by the over policing in NYC schools. officers
followed us from class to class questioning us, harrassing us as we played ball
in the field, and arresting students for free speach. I remember the second day
of school they surrounded us and called for backup when we told them we had
the freedom to play in the park. I also remember sadder days like when they
handcuffed and brutalized my friend Pierre Singh because he shared his water cup
with a peer during art class. But what showed me that the American education
system is broken when they
placed me in a re-education center for standing up to a teacher and telling her
all that is wrong with the education system we have, and why it drives students
to drop out and sell drugs, or shoot up schools.

And now they are demanding that I pay money to make my trip to jail and back
everyday. Well the MTA needs to know that we youth will hop everyday, and when
they arrest us, we will never go to school again. This is the only option they
have left us, and this is the message they have sent us. Time and time again we
watch the rulers find the money to wage wars for oil, and yet they can't find
the money for our welfare. This has got to stop, or my generation will make it.

Guardian Chronicle Street Beat

We Took Our Camera To The Street To Interview Students

Standing Up For Their Rights

Ralph E. Smith- Reporter

NEW YORK CITY

December 22, 2009