April 23, 2005
TV REVIEW | 'NICK NEWS WITH LINDA ELLERBEE'
Students Tell Nickelodeon What's Wrong With School
By ANITA GATES, NY TIMES

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Adults who have found themselves miserable in a job, out of political favor at the office or suspicious that their bosses are trying to build a case for dismissal should easily be able to empathize with the young people in "Nick News With Linda Ellerbee: 10 Things I Hate About School."

"Gossip and rumors" (often in the form of organized campaigns to spread untruths, often using the Internet) make the list, as do "violence and bullying" (sometimes physical, sometimes verbal) and "too much pressure to be popular." And just in case anyone thinks those problems have nothing to do with school's real purpose, education, one victim of vicious gossip points out a frequent side effect. "My grades started going way downhill because I couldn't concentrate," she says. "I got physically sick."

A half-hour special that has its premiere on Sunday night, "10 Things I Hate About School," is what it sounds like: a Top 10 list like the ones David Letterman has fun with on his late-night talk show. But the answers are serious.

"What's wrong with American education has been a hot topic" for a long time, says Ms. Ellerbee, the show's host and writer, but until now no one has thought to ask students for their recommendations. The project began with general surveys to determine the biggest problems. Then the 10 most frequently mentioned were published on Nick's Web site, nick.com, and students were invited to rank them.

One finding is that the students don't think highly of their teachers. For one thing, the teachers aren't very understanding, the students say. They're inflexible. (" 'Rules are rules,' " one boy says in imitation of his teachers. " 'It's my way or the highway.' ") They're negative (always pointing out the things you do wrong, one girl says, but not the things you do right). And they don't understand how hard it is to be a young person today.

More important, the students say, their teachers aren't very good at their jobs. Or maybe they aren't trying very hard. No. 1 on the list is "My classes are so boring." It could be easy to dismiss this complaint as childish whining, especially when one girl offers her suggestion for making school more interesting. "We need trips," she says. "Because in high school, we don't have no trips." And teachers could easily reply that considering their low pay, parents are lucky that the teachers show up at all. But anyone who has ever had one inspiring teacher who got them excited about a subject knows that the complaint is sometimes valid.

Time management is a problem for students today, as it is for adults. Standardized testing and strict dress codes are unpopular. One of the saddest complaints is that school materials are worn out (pages missing from textbooks, for instance) and scarce (not enough computers).

The people who should be watching this special are grown-ups, especially when you consider No. 3 on the list: "The food at my school is horrible." This is not a case of pickiness or overdemanding palates; it's a matter of nutrition. The students mention hot dogs, Tater Tots, pizza and French fries.

"It seems like everything is just fried," one girl says. When children have to tell adults that they aren't being given healthy food, the world has turned upside down.

Nick News With Linda Ellerbee: 10 Things I Hate About School
Nickelodeon, Sunday night at 8:30, Eastern and Pacific times; 7:30, Central time

Linda Ellerbee, executive producer and writer; Role Tessem, executive producer; Martin D. Toub, producer.