Diary Entry #9 - Tagging

Ms Gruwell made her class write or draw a picture describing their neighbourhood. The student does not believe Ms Gruwell is making them do this task. The student hates writing. Although, the student describes her neighbourhood as being surrounded by gangsters and drug dealers twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. He/she says it is hard to ignore these events. If you do, you will only get caught in their wars and be the next victim. Dealing drugs or kicking it with gangsters is not his/her type of thing.


Instead, the student got into tagging. Tagging is when mark your name anonymously against other work. The student says that it helps him/her be free from all these unnecessary day and night fights. During school, the teachers say that they are there to help, but in a couple months even days time, they give up on you. That is the gist. So the student skips school, hiding from staff and goes to the restroom to kill time, just tagging. Tagging gives thrill to him/her. The student thinks that hearing people talk about her tags givers him/her the Ganas (strength).


My thoughts and feelings for this student is deeply empathetic, not being supported by teachers or even their own parents, being severely scared by the underworld activities twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and can only tag for happiness and attention. This aspect of escaping from the world just to tag is ominously tragic. The student can only tag to get everyone's attention. How could a simple task about writing or drawing, Ms Gruwell asked to complete, turn into a teen's life story, threatened, lonely without a hope for goodness.


The student says in their diary entry, they have no goal, just tackle what comes to you in presently. To me, this is a quote or motto of someone who is suffering, loosely grasping the edge of their lives with their middle finger. Word Count: 324