Essex

If you live in England, then on Thursdays at 9 o' clock you can watch Educating Essex on channel 4. This is a documentary about how awful the students are in Essex. The featured school is Passmores in Harlow. I don't to Passmores but I do live in Essex.
For those of you who haven't seen it, last week focused on two girls. One, Charlotte, was on her mobile in class and was basically a rude bitch. The teachers were unbelievably soft. Despite Amelie's complaints about how awful they are. At my school, we're meant to hand our phones into the office. Only the year 7s do and the teachers know that. But we keep them on silent and try not to be too obvious if we text people. Because if we get caught with them the teachers have to confiscate them and then we have to get our parents to come and get it back.
The second girl, Carmelita, falsely accused a teacher of assault. She was suspended for a couple of weeks. We would be thrown out. Permanently.
Next week it features a guy called Sam being a prick. I used to fancy him actually. But I do seem to have the worlds worst taste in guys. I'm getting smarter though ;)
As well as this negative spotlight on our shitty little chavvy county, there is The Only Way Is Essex. I have never seen it. But it portrays all the stereotypes of Essex.
I'm sorry to say this, but in a way, it's very true. If I told you about half the girls in my school you would be in shock. And we're one of the best schools in the town. Having both braincells and morals, I'm a bit of a novelty. Which they see as bad.
I'm in my last year of compulsory education. After this, it's off to do my A-levels and then to university. My grades are rarely below a B and normally above and I rarely get into trouble. I'm part of the Fairtrade group at school. My Saturday mornings are spent doing volunteer work. I speak English rather than Chav, I don't feel the need to be orange and I give a shit about other people. Normally getting into university shouldn't be too hard.
But as they get pickier and pickier it gets harder and harder. I'll never make it into the top universities, but I'll still try. And I should be able to make it somewhere.
But what if they take one look at where I come from and decide not to let me in? What if they refuse to take a chance on me because people are slagging us off so badly and so often? What if for the rest of my life I'm haunted by that stereotype?
So thanks TV companies. Try sharing the criticism out a bit? Then no-one can be truly looked down upon. And to be perfectly honest, your ideas suck. You're really running out of ideas. There are other ways to provide entertainment. You have a thing called an imagination. Use it.