By attending a laptop school, students at Empire get to enjoy a variety of distractions, many of which are actually allowed. From music players to class assignments, there's always some enjoyment to sidetrack us.

In a way, these distractions are preparation for future jobs. While in school, you can figure out what off-task cover-ups work, and which ones don't. Now that's a useful bit of information. In reality, we will have to face these same distractions in the workplace. It's just a matter of if the distraction will help you get the assignment done, or forget about it completely. Disturbances can keep students from becoming bored and spaced out, but some can take away a student's attention from an assignment altogether. This is where personal work ethic comes into play. Someone who doesn't do work in the first place shouldn't have the privilege of distractions. It would just make them worse of a worker. When you're a terrible worker, where are you going to get in life?

Empire prepares students for the use of computers and the responsibility that comes with them when they're in college and entering the workforce. They will already have first-hand experience of the struggles that come with having so many applications and tools to play with. Through years of experience in this area, students will develop a good work ethic that allows them to balance work and play, making them not fail in the places where it matter most: life, work and school.

So what should teachers know? Yes, we are going to make mistakes and be off task, but that doesn't mean that we won't be taught. We are going to try and watch movies or play games when you are presenting the importance of grammar or solar systems. However when teachers show personality and how education can have life -- that it's not all bland textbooks and robotic thought -- students will take an interest, no matter how big or small. They'll remember what they were taught and the intellectuals who taught it. That information may even be what leads them to their dreams in life. Whether it's out in the open or not, teachers have changed the life of their students for the better.

Spencer Taylor,
Sophomore/Empire High School