Event Private Finished Impromptu Debate

Andrasta knew she couldn't win with just the votes of delinquents - that's why, in the week leading up to the election, she had started handing out fliers to people during her lunch period. This way she would hand them out to everyone - even the "good" kids and the honors students, like Amber. A lot of them thought her detention abolition thing was stupid, until someone took the time to explain it to them. So she was handing out fliers to everyone she could get the attention of now.

At one point, she handed her flier out to a certain plant boy with a big purple flower on his head. "Hey. Check this out. Did you know the school should stop doing detention?"

Andrasta had prepared for this. The kids who did detention - most of them just seemed to get it, because they lived it. They knew it didn't make them any better.

This scrawny plant kid didn't really come off as the frequent detention having type. And like so many others, he was comfortable with the way of the world. Or the 'status quo,' which is a word she learned in class one time. He would need it explained to him.

"Well, it doesn't really make people behave any better. And that's supposed to be the point, right?"

"Right. I mean," Andrasta continued. "That's how people usually think it works. And that makes sense. But that's not how it really works. What really happens is that it makes kids get pissed off at their teachers for putting them in detention, so they act worse. To like, get back at them."

Andrasta felt a little proud of herself. She was doing a good job so far not getting mad.

Right. Plant boy was still having trouble believing her. Stay cool. She was gonna focus on this point first.

"I have some suggestions to replace it, but. There's studies that basically prove what I'm saying. And if you ask kids who go to detention a lot they'll prolly say the same thing. Most of the time, detention actually either doesn't make anything better, or it makes things worse. This isn't just an opinion, it's science. Check it out."

She pointed to the part of her flier that covered this. There was a brief summary of the science on this, and some short links he could type into his computer or his phone.

Okay, that part pissed Andrasta off a little. She gritted her teeth.

"Listen. I haven't been in detention for about a year. I might not even get it again for the rest of my time at school. That's not the damn point. The point is that I know detention is making people act worse. I know it's making people miserable for no good reason. So that's why I want it abolished."

She took a breath. She was getting heated. It wasn't helping. "Plus like... I mean, neither of us is an expert on this stuff. Sometimes you have to be open to the idea you believe stuff that isn't true. Otherwise you'd never learn or get better. Right?"