My ride to school

By Female Secondary School Student

I do not live close to Kingstown and so it takes me about 45 minutes on a van to get to school daily and 45 minutes again, depending on the traffic, to get back home in the evening again.

I, along with two friends, will wait at the bus stop and, if we are lucky, we might meet up with two or three other schoolmates on the way.

My friends usually “friend up” with the conductors to get a front seat sometimes and sometimes I wonder if there is not a kind of attitude where if I don’t smile up with them I will not get any good seat in the van.

I don’t want to have any situation where I get touched up too much, but my friends say I’m acting stush sometimes cause I don’t let them pass their place with me.

I’m not sure mommy them don’t know what’s happening these days all about the place. It has so much porn in school on my friends’ phones. Some of the girls in my class are just doing with each other what they see on the phones.

I find it hard to concentrate especially cause it’s like carnival morning and evening on the van. I go to church, but rest of the time it’s just dirty word and bad girl music I’m hearing all the time on the van. Sometimes, the bad words just playing over and over and the songs are about how the girls are putting themselves and what they want. If they say do not watch porn then why we hearing it still?

I usually get headaches, too, and have homework ‘til late and have to get up so early to get ready and pack my lunch.

I’m not sure how many people are supposed to ride in the van but most of the time, I’m squeezed up and if I am lucky to get a good seat; I’m under somebody’s arm that I smell like them by the time I get where I going.

I see our international airport and wonder where we are going in St. Vincent for school children. Is everything for tourists? They talk about “education revolution”, but what about the ride to school?

I doubt the leaders and politicians and those kinds of rich people ever ride in a van. They need to do it to see what we facing every day. And you cannot say anything because everybody silent or vexed.

I do not think this is fair. I am calling for love to not be only in the air but also on the ground. where we are.

The views expressed herein are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the opinions or editorial position of iWitness News. Opinion pieces can be submitted to [email protected]