Today, it’s not uncommon during lunch to see trash around the quad. Picking up trash in place of getting detention would not only benefit the school, but the kids too.

Trash is a huge problem for schools and other public places. School is a place where kids go to learn, socialize, and make new memories. Additionally, young children and teens need a healthy, clean environment to work in and school is not always the cleanest place simply because kids don’t always clean up after themselves. Schools could improve this by doing one simple thing: making kids pick up trash instead of handing out detentions. 

Mikayla Aguayo, a seventh-grader, states, “Picking up trash would benefit kids by cleaning the school and teaching them a lesson, so they don’t make the same mistake.” 

While McAuliffe has an excellent custodial staff, kids tend to leave trash on the ground thinking people will pick it up for them. However, they need to be taught how to pick up after themselves. The administration team can teach kids and make the custodial staff’s job easier if they made the students pick up their own trash. Litter and garbage is a problem and creates pollution, which affects all of us. 

Carley Mcdaniel, a seventh-grade student, states, “Pollution is a horrible thing and making kids pick up their trash would help the environment as well as teaching kids to not litter.”

Traditional detention doesn’t really teach kids anything except don’t talk for 45 minutes. Trash pick-ups and other alternative options, like helping teachers in the classroom or the office, meditating, or even doing physical activities like push-ups, could all benefit kids in more ways than detention. 

Overall, students picking up trash instead of detention would benefit not only the school by creating a cleaner campus, but the children as well by teaching them to appreciate their surroundings.