If you’ve been in an English class at any point at Dominion, you might have noticed that NoRedInk is an occasional assignment that you have to deal with, it’s red and white color scheme and the simplistic sentences. Though the program is used year after year, in reality, it is a terrible grammatical learning tool for high schoolers.

Now, don’t get me wrong; it’s perfectly acceptable for those in the lower grades. Elementary school students are perfect for the program, and perhaps sixth and seventh graders could get something out of it too. But, the fact that it is still being used for seniors is simply stretching it too far. Much like many modern day movie franchises, it’s being overmilked and overused past the breaking point.

As a senior, most of us are either young adults or adults. We’re not children anymore; we’ve grown up. NoRedInk’s simplistic sentences just simply aren’t enough to keep our brains turning anymore. Instead, they end up annoying us, and it feels like we’re being patronized. 

And because of this patronization, it’s really hard to learn. How can I focus on where this period is supposed to go when I’m distracted by the fact that this sentence makes my brain cringe with secondhand embarrassment? Instead of using sentences children as young as five could understand, I would appreciate at least longer and more mature sentences.

Let’s not forget that the “interests” section, which is supposed to make the process more bearable, is remarkably outdated. Most of the material there is geared towards younger students, with only a scant few bits that those in High School might be interested in. Perhaps the most mature thing on there is Deadpool, which came out back in 2016. While in terms of younger kids’ interests, the site is up to date, in terms of older students, it is severely lacking. Surely this discrepancy shows that the intended audience are younger children, and not people that are about to go off to college?

All of this shows that it’s clear as day; NoRedInk needs to be scrubbed away, in favor of something new.