The world would be a better place if...

by Josh Atkins

On our registration cards when someone new comes (thanks Mark), rather than just putting the usual contact info stuff (which we do put on there), we also put other things as well. One of the questions is more of a "Finish the Phrase" and starts out: The World Would be a Better Place If...
Here are some of the responses from my 7th and 8th graders. Each quote is from a different student; unaltered. I've taken the liberty of loosely categorizing them to show that just because students are in 7th and 8th grade, doesn't mean they don't know or don't care about what's going on in the world.



The War: “There were peace”; “There was no war”; "The war in Iraq would end"; "There was no war"; "World peace, and no school"; "There was no war"; “No fighting/no war”; "There was no war"; “There was peace”; “There was no war”; “No war”; “The war was over”; “There were no wars going on”; "There was no war"



Economics: “I was a billionaire”; “There was more money”; “There was no poverty”; “There was no high gas prices”; “Wii’s were cheaper”



Environment: “There were only solar powered cars”; “There was no global warming”; “No one littered”; “People could keep it clean”; “Global warming would stop”; “No pollution or killing”



Religion/Spiritual: “Everyone knew Jesus”; “No sin”; “Everyone knew God”; “Every one could worship any religion any time”; “People believed”; “Everyone were Christian”; “I don’t know…everyone believed in Jesus”; “There wasn’t sin”



Biological: “There wasn’t spiders”; “Praying mantises, sharks, and crickets didn’t exist”



Sociological: “People could put aside racial differences”; “There were no bullies”; “There was no hate”; “Everyone was nice”; “We could all get along”; “People didn’t fight”; “People didn’t shoot other people”; “People were nicer”; “Everyone was treated equally”; “We all got along/were friends. Speak one language. Everyone knows Christ.”



World: “No world hunger”; "No one would be starving"



Politics: “I was president”; “We had a better president”



Health: “You could eat without getting fat”; “No drugs”; “No more smoking”; “No drugs”



Personal: “Everyone loved me”; “People stopped swearing”; “People didn’t overreact”; “Animals could talk”



Did any of these surprise you? They surprised me. So what about you? What do YOU think would make the world a better place?