We all have times in our lives when we wish we could say things to people, but even if we don’t say it to their face, words still have a way of getting back to people. And no one wants to deal with the consequences of their actions, especially if the person they were talking about was their superior. Those consequences could be severe.

There’s no hiding that almost all students have opinions of their teachers. But since teachers hold a great amount of power over us, we don’t always feel safe to share our true thoughts. If a teacher were to find out a student was talking bad about them or their teaching methods behind their back, it definitely wouldn’t end well for the student in question. Others might be nervous to compliment a teacher in fear of being called a suck-up.

But if we took away that sword hanging over our heads, what would actually happen? What inner thoughts would be shared that otherwise wouldn’t? I was curious, so I approached quite a few students at McPherson High School and asked them one simple question; “If you had the chance to tell the teachers of this school anything at all without them ever knowing it was you, what would it be?”

I received a wide variety of responses, most of which cannot even be included for the “special language” that was used. However, of the ones that can be used, I got both positive, negative, and neutral responses alike. Here are some of my favorites.

“To the teachers; Stop acting like you know what my mental health is.” Unfortunately, many people spoke about how teachers underestimate students’ mental health issues, and how sometimes, we aren’t able to do certain things. Many times students are put in situations that could cause extreme anxiety simply because it’s part of the curriculum. “They complain about everything and they don’t take into consideration what the students are going through.”

“They need to calm down on people because we all have lives outside of school.” Just like adults enjoy their days off of work so they can spend time with their families or doing leisurely activities, students like to spend their free time with their friends or just relaxing, not working on homework or studying for the next quiz 24/7. While school is important, it shouldn’t be our entire lives.

“I’m sorry that my homework is late. I don’t have an excuse for you.” This is a situation we all sometimes find ourselves in. Most teacher’s late policies are strict, especially in high school, which means not doing one assignment could mean a zero in the grade book and a drop in grade.

“I think the teachers are doing a fine job, and I don’t hate any of them.” We all have complaints about the system, but our teachers spend their careers making sure we have a bright future, with little pay in return. Even though there are some that drive us up the wall, we do still care about our teachers and appreciate the work they put in for us.