How would you feel if, all of a sudden, you were forced to take on an extra task like participating in an extracurricular activity? My principal has decided to make it a requirement that all students participate in at least one extracurricular activity. I completely disagree with this decision because there are students who have other important responsibilities, this decision could take students' focus away from school work, and students should be allowed to make there own choices.

There are multiple students that have quite a few responsibilities outside of school. For example, there are students who have jobs, chores, and homework to complete. Everyone has a different situation. What if there is a student who has a sick relative, or a sibling they care for after school? What happens when there is no one else to fill that students role as caretaker? That student can't neglect there responsibilities to take part in an extracurricular activity they are forced to participate in. By making this decision, not only are we being forced to participate in activities we might not have time for, but we are also being forced to put our priorities on hold and juggle more tasks than we can handle.

The main reason we go to school is to gain knowledge and obtain skills to help us become successful. The principal's decision to make participating in extracurricular activities mandatory could take students' focus away from learning and make completing school work difficult. For instance, students who play sports have to stay after school and do not not arrive home until late evening hours. Those students are being deprived of extra hours that could have been used to study, do homework, or catch up in a class they are behind in. Some students already struggle with classes, and by adding extracurricular activities to their plate, it would only make it more difficult for them. Our principal should be focused on making our education the main priority, not prioritizing activities that will not cause significant benefits.

Every individual has the right to make their own decisions. Students' freedoms are being limited by the principal's decision to make participating in extracurricular activities a requirement. There are students who are just simply uninterested in these activities, and do not want to participate in them. It should be our choice, as students, to decide our interest and the activities we take part in. Adults are not forced to work at a specific job, or even forced to go to work at all. Likewise, student's should not be forced to participate in extracurricular activities. We have the complete capability to make decisions for ourselves and we can not allow the principal to take away our freedom of choice. If we allow this one freedom to be taken away, we can only expect to be limited to even more freedoms in the future.

I strongly encourage our principal to rethink his decision on requiring all students to participate in extracurricular activities. This decision fully impacts the students, and we should be allowed to have a say in the matter. We are being forced to put our priorities on hold, try to maintain focus, and be limited to our freedoms. Students have to stand up for themselves and we have to take back control of our lives.