Mr Nell walked to his Year 9 English class as slowly as his feet would carry him. He had only been at Peace Bay High School for 7 months, and had looked forward to helping students reach their potential. That quaint, happy little dream was instantly crushed when he first met his Year 9 class. Not only did they not seem to be satisfied by his methods of teaching, they seemed incapable of giving Mr Nell any respect at all. So it was with a courageous and heavy heart that the English teacher walked into the classroom.

“Students, please take out your booklets and read the article on page 12,” he ordered. “I wrote it myself,” he added in a friendly manner.

“Nancy,” a student, who had received the prize for citizenship last year, yelled to her friend. “What do you think the article’s about? Teaching for Dummies, by a Dummy?”

That student, or any other for that matter, never saw the hurt in his eyes. It was clear that Peace Bay High produced uncaring and cruel students into the world. As if we needed any more.