1. The bell doesn’t dismiss you, I do!
Actually, the bell does dismiss us, and is an important signal that it’s time to move to the next class. It if doesn’t dismiss us, then why is it there? Teachers can tell time and dismiss us instead of the bell if that truly were the case. It’s also not fair because teachers when teachers keep you after the bell, then you get a tardy for being late to your next class.

2. All I hear are excuses
It’s so unfair when the teacher says this. Sometimes it’s not an excuse, we literally can’t get things done. They often say this when they give us homework or a large assignment and 24 hours to get it done, not considering that we might need time for homework in our other 6 classes, work, taking care of things at home, or god forbid, sleep and a minute to breathe. What if we don’t understand what to do? What if we’re slow at learning or doing certain things? The first assumption should never be that we’re making an excuse.

3. That will be a tardy
I understand that if you’re really late to class that it is tardy, that’s fair. But if you’re late for something that you had no control over, then it’s not fair to get a tardy. One time I went to the media center before school started to print my paper so that I could have it to turn into class, and even though I gave myself plenty of time, the printer wasn’t working. I ended up having to take a tardy to wait to print it off, even though it wasn’t my fault that the printer stopped working. This happens daily – students move slow, the bathroom is full, or sometimes the bathroom is even closed. If you;re intentionally late, that one thing, but if you’re not, that’s another.

4. If you paid attention, you would have a good grade
Sure, sometimes this is true, but not always, and probably not even most of the time. Some kids can pay attention, take notes, and still not understand. I know this because I do this. No matter how hard I try, sometimes I don’t understand things, and sometimes I need more time. Not to mention, when teachers say this to students in front of the class, it’s embarrassing.

5. That’s it, now it’s ruined it for the whole class
Whether it’s an exception to a rule or a planned fun activity, we’ve all heard, “one person ruined it for everybody.” This makes no sense. There are literally 29 other students in the room impacted by this decision. This puts everyone in a bad mood, not to mention that it’s unfair to the students who are behaving and not abusing anybody’s good graces.