wrote an article in The Royal Gazette entitled `In The Real World: A story for all Bermuda's Children'.

In the article Mr. Butler explained that, as a head teacher, he "told students the truth about the real world with regard to standards, housing, sex, work performance, respect for the law, budgeting, financial planning, Sunday School and church attendance''.

Mr. Butler went on to explain that he felt this approach necessary because not enough emphasis was being placed on `the real world' in schools, with the result that some students were perhaps ill-equipped to survive in that real world.

Here, three Grade Nine students from Mount St. Agness Academy give their responses to Mr. Butler's comments.

*** I agree with all the points and reviews Mr. Butler put forth during his article. We all realise that when we perish from this earth, the Good Lord has a specific place prepared for us in heaven. However, as Mr. Butler wrote, we don't usually put emphasis on the real world, which is the one we live in first.

We must put forth the time, effort, and dedication into realising and learning the responsibilities which accompany living in this "real world'', such as spelling, optimism, punctuality, and performance at work which is of good quality.

But the asset which I believe is most important is to come to the realisation that the world is not perfect, as Mr. Butler also wrote. We all have off days and stressful days and days which we feel we should have never woken up for.

It is normal. We never always get exactly what we wished for; most of the time we must compromise to suit our needs as well as the needs of others.

We, the children of Bermuda, must also realise that when the time comes for us to be searching for well paying job opportunities, we will be doing the interview, not our parents or guardians. As we grow, we must learn to present ourselves in an acceptable, respectful, and dignified manner. I've read that those conducting the interview know within the first couple of minutes whether or not you are right for the job by your posture, speech and use of vocabulary. It is vital that we prove to ourselves, our peers, our parents, and the adults in our life that we have the will to try and achieve our dreams. By doing this, we are greatly improving our self-esteem. Mr. Butler discussed that boys were "not allowed to sit around like flies'' and that "such activities were a disgrace''. I, for one, agree. When kids, teenagers in particularly, sit around doing nothing, they are depriving themselves of the education needed to be the best they can be. It is important that we learn values such as organisation and responsibility, which proper schooling can teach us. So to loiter is not only a disgrace to those around us, but to us especially.

Mr. Butler sees people not by the amount of money they have, not by the numbers of personal references they have produced, and certainly not by the quality of education or numerous diplomas they have received. Instead, he judges people by the quality of work they perform and by how dedicated they are, just like it should be.

DAVID AMARO *** I am going to talk about the truth Mr. Dale Butler is telling us Bermuda children. He is saying we need to start straightening up our lifestyle and accomplishments. We also need to straighten our attitude about the real world.

One of our styles is the clothes we wear. He is saying that we need to start pulling up our pants. What he means is that it is not just your style but it is your appearance in front of everyone. Your appearance could say `hey, you better watch me to see if I do something wrong' but yet another person could be the thief walking in the store looking neat and tidy.

People like Mr. Dale Butler are referring to our attitude. he is saying we need to change our way. He is saying that if our attitude towards life is not good it will reflect later in life. It will start showing our outlook and laziness towards living. If you are neither of what I just said than look at your accomplishments that you want to achieve in the future. Your accomplishments are not only achievements but are based on the real world. In the real world you have to worry about your appearance, you have to worry about your styles and you really have to worry about your attitude because if either is bad you have to face the consequences.

STORM CASSIDY *** The article you gave us about Mr. Butler was inspiring to me because it tells about how modern life works. That article is just like the sunscreen song and how it tells about life in a song.

I agree with Mr. Butler's article 100 percent, like the part, "In the real world... you are not going to be chosen''.

What that section of the article tells me is that big businesses want to represent their company in a certain way because a group of people all dressed up looks more professional than a group in ragged clothes.

Another part of the article I liked was: "In the real world attitude is important.'' That sentence was my favourite and it says that a famous college and a little college could have abetter worker than a big college. My mom told me a story that had to do with attitude and that is my favourite story because it is truth, attitude is important.

There is not one part of the article that I think is wrong or a lie about life. Everything you do affects your life and the job you will get.

MICHAEL SINCLAIR Clean-up Schools got together last week to clean-up the Wind Reach petting zoo. Pictured from left to right: James Maclean of Warwick Academy, Aaron Lewis of Mount Saint Agnes, Nicolas Boorman and James Adams of Saltus, Ben Greenstret of Warwick Academy, and James Cooke, property coordinator.