From the mouths of pre-teens

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By Barb Ickes | Saturday, April 26, 2008 |

They’re smart, funny and quite serious. In fact, one of the 62 letters to the editor that landed on my desk last week ended, “I hope my letter can change the world.”

The letters, some of them four and five pages long, came from Jeff Corman’s 7th-grade language arts students at Frank L. Smart Intermediate School in Davenport.

Several of the 12- and 13-year-olds speculated with great indignation what a gallon of gas will cost when they start driving. Some quoted war statistics, while others stuck with the run-of-the-mill gripes, such as lousy cafeteria food.

Here are some unedited snippets of what the kids are thinking about this year:

Gas prices

“My dad owns a 4x4 Ford truck and he spends near 500 dollars a week just to fill it up. I could get an xbox 360 with that.” Dominic Allen, 13.

“Now if you weren’t rich think about how we feel. Put yourself in our shoes. Some families are barely even getting by. Now that gas is going up so are other things like milk and eggs. And if you weren’t getting by that good you would be here with me too. Both on the same tracks. I think you know what I’m talking about.” Katelyn Clay, 12.

“My dad is always complaining and talking about when gas was hardly a dollar! Truckers literally pay millions of dollars a day just to fill up. Gas isn’t going to be here forever, and once it’s gone, it’s gone.

“My mom said when she started driving she’d fill up then search for change and have enough to pay!” Amanda Whitfield, age not given.

“My solution to the problem is cars that run on water. They already have some but they are expensive. If you use water it’s a lot better. Also water is covering 75 percent of the earth. It’s salt water but filters help.

“People also have hoses in their yards so they don’t even have to leave their house.” Tim Murrow, 13.

War in Iraq

“I know you’re probably thinking what does a little 7th grader know about these types of things. Well to tell you the truth us middle school kids know a lot. If parents and teachers saw the world through our eyes they would be shocked.” Alexis Davis, 12.

“Did you know about 4,000 people have died in the Iraq war. Just because Obama and Hilary are saying their gonna stop war it’s still not gonna happen. Both of them are just trying to get us to vote for them.” Erica Ortiz, age not given.

“We have been in war for a little over 5 years. We aren’t progressing. We have had the same strategy for 5 years.

“I have an older brother. He just got back from training. I don’t want him to go (to Iraq) if we use the same strategy we have now. If we use the same strategy, he could be there forever and he might even (be) killed.

“If we get a new strategy, not so many more soldiers will die. I have a solution. We get a new strategy. The first step would be to think of a new strategy.” Alexys Devlin, 13.

This and that

“Privacy to teens is like the Powerball to adults.

“Parents should learn that teenagers are going to do what they want. Parents should let teens have more privacy and, if they make a mistake, don’t be all in their business.

“Let them learn from it!” Kaylynn Robinson, 13.

“As you know, cigarettes are a very dangerous drug to some people. Cigarettes can kill people, give people lung cancer, and can also make a whole in your neck if you smoke enough of those horrible things.” Porscha Howard, 13.

“Our cafeteria food is so nasty. They freeze the food before they cook it. Then they warm it up. There is hair in their dessert too.

“So what I am trying to say is please get way better food. There is gray hair in it. If you came here and ate you would be like eww.

“So please help because it is nasty. They should put a little effort in it and some teamwork.” Jasmine Ratzlaff, 13.

“My problem is that I think police don’t react to some parts of the city as fast as others.

“I think that the police department thinks parts of the city are bad, ghetto, and trash.

“We’re not. We’re just as good as others.” David A. Belz Jr., 13.

Barb Ickes can be contacted at (563) 383-2316 or bickes@qctimes.com.