Passing Notes

The day we stopped passing notes in class was the day communication died, and trust in our fellow citizens got questioned; accountability became the stuff of legends.

One of the core things we needed to learn was how to speak. The reason was so that we could communicate our needs and desires. Fast forward a couple of years and we learn to read and write. The reason was so that we could communicate without sound and to leave behind information for the next generation. But for a kid in school, learning to read and write was more than just writing down instructions or emotions; it was a form of long-distance communication.

If a teacher separated you from your BFF at that time, the only way you could communicate in a perceived dictator’s class was by writing a note or small letter. The writing being the easy part.

After the thought was written down, you needed to put trust in your fellow classroom citizen to take the note and, most importantly, not open it. A form of trust was implied between yourself and all the kids in the chain connecting you to your BFF.

For the students passing the letter, they knew that one day the favour would need to be returned, and them passing the note would buy some goodwill that you would do the same for them in the future.

Unfortunately, some classroom citizens would rather buy goodwill from the dictator (teacher) than from their peers. The note would make its way through a couple of hands, and the Judases in the room would take the note and give it to the teacher.

Someone somehow gave up the sensitive information of what we thought about the dictator or who we had a crush on. That person was normally not very popular and had tough times building friendships. Not because the class was unreasonable, but because we could no longer trust them to carry the 'sensitive' information. Luckily for most traitors in this elementary stage of life, the rejection was short-lived. Kids’ attention spans are like rubber balls.

If someone in the chain of communication gave up the note, it was not hard to find the culprit. Most of the time, only the recipient of the note would have their name written on it and not the sender. It wasn't hard to find the sender. The teacher would quickly come to the conclusion that it was in fact you.

Now you needed to take responsibility for what was written in the letter. You needed to stand by it, because you wrote it. This taught us responsibility for our actions.

That responsibility was slowly eroded when we started sending messages for little to almost no cost, with no need to practice trust between fellow citizens to take part in the delicate process. Nowadays, if you have something controversial to say, you can do it anonymously (aka the death of accountability).

If you can take back something you wrote with no consequences, there is no reason to think about what you write because it can be deleted or just forgotten in cheap communication.

When we still passed notes, the cost of communication was too high not to think about what you wanted to say. What was the hill you wanted to die on when you got caught? I believe the day we stopped passing notes, communication, trust, and responsibility went out the window.

Can you still remember the time when passing notes in class was a thing?