When we picture a school, some of us, especially adults, tend to say that it is a good place. A place of happiness. This is where a person could learn, but sometimes, it isn’t. Why, you might ask?

Yes, school is a place for us to learn about things that we could apply in the real world, but it can also be a place where we could learn things that we shouldn’t even do or are just plain unlawful. Many teens suffer depression, stress, and other mental maladies due to such an environment.

Many schools have a different set of rules that students follow; some have stricter rules, some have relaxed rules, but in the end they still have their own set of pros and cons. Some schools actually take action when someone is being bullied, but sometimes some schools only try to take action but ultimately brush it all off. 

At my former school, I wasn’t really aware of words that are offensive to others because I had never encountered them. Currently however, I’ve met a lot of people, some who became my friends and some who aren’t in the school anymore. Some of those friends taught me good things that I haven’t learned yet, such as liturgy, history, Christian history, and many more, but a few also taught me bad and downright illicit things.

It’s true, school is a child’s second home, with teachers being their second parents and schoolmates being their siblings—that is why schools possess the ability to influence a child so easily, be it academically or behaviorally. However, these influences aren’t always nurturing. Thus, we can never label a school’s environment as healthy or unhealthy, for we don’t experience every varying moment, pressure, and relationship built inside its walls.