As a 17-year-old former student of East Brighton College of Media Arts (Comart), I believe I have a better-informed opinion on the school in light of plans to close it than some ignorant snobs.

I left Comart last year with GCSE results which would have been very credible for a student of any school, let alone a school which is supposedly failing in every possible way.

I am a prime example that the school is nowhere near as bad as some have made it out to be.

The number of students attending Comart stands well below its full capacity - largely due to people's prejudices.

The majority of students at COMArt live in Whitehawk or its surrounding area and there is still a great deal of narrowmindedness about students who attend the school, resulting in falling numbers of new students and therefore less money and resources.

The dated and discriminative views of some people have been further fuelled by the countless rumours and bad publicity about Comart.

Some people believe the intellect of students is lower than that of elsewhere.

These ignorant people have overlooked the fact that many children living on the Whitehawk estate, most of whom attend Comart, have learning difficulties.

Unwitting morons may regard this as a result of a poor education within the school.

This is definitely not the case. Unfortunately, as a result of the social attitudes and backgrounds of families living in the area, many students who attend Comart do not reach their full potential because they are not willing to learn.

Regardless of which school they attend, children who are eager to learn will succeed and those who do not, will not.

By closing Comart and re-designating schools, the education authority will not be doing anything to remedy this.

All it will be doing is causing upheaval. The money the Government is wasting on larger buildings should be spent on more worthwhile purposes such as incentive schemes to motivate students.

Another issue seems to be the allegedly high level of bad behaviour. But every school has students who misbehave.

One thing which definitely does not help with statistics of suspensions and exclusions is the school's supposed role as the council's "dumping ground".

During my five years at Comart, my classmates and I saw many students come and go who had been excluded from other schools, only to be excluded from Comart as well.

But somehow Comart managed to take the brunt of the bad publicity and the blame.

I hope I have opened the eyes of some narrow-minded people and persuaded them that things aren't always what they seem.

You should never judge a book by its cover.

-Lianne Shaw, Brighton