Thinking Out Loud [rough draft] v. I hate retards.
You’re a bitch. Yes, you. You’re a bitch. I heard about what you did that one time, from this girl I used to know. You know what I’m talking about. Bitch.
Aaaaaaaaaaand welcome to high school. “I don’t like drama,” almost any student will tell you, with that look of self-importance stuck on their face. “I hate it.” But they’re lying to you. What they mean to tell you is that they hate when they are involved in drama. In actuality, they love drama. They live off of it. Most students do, anyway.
Which is why rumors still float around school and stereotypes are paramount. It happens for the same reason that people watch NASCAR and boxing. It’s not “for the love of the sport,” it’s to see people get hurt. To see people run into walls at 200MPH or have their own snot beat out of their head.
As a high school paper, or any news publication, it is the responsibility of the writers to back up anything published in the “OPINION” section with fact, or even elementary reasoning. The latter remains true for any section, including in columns like this one. Otherwise, journalism would not be journalism and everything could be deemed hearsay and writers could be sued for libel (written slander) and defamation of character. The moral of this story, as you’re about to find out, is that group generalizations and bad journalism never pays.
Once upon a time, Mascoe was a junior at El Camino High School. A member of the journalism staff, the brazen blonde was expelled from El Camino for vandalism earlier this year. More specifically, there was a weekend party thrown on campus, where fire extinguisher foam decorated the 60s hall.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a foam party as much as the next person, but it wasn’t the fact that he got kicked out that brings him to the forefront of this piece - it was what happened afterward. Mascoe transferred to Rio Americano, and in his new niche in the journalism department, he wrote a story entitled “Does El Camino match up to Rio?” which was placed in the OPINION section of Rio’s newspaper.
Mascoe writes about all aspects of student life in his article, but states his opinion, without any support. He writes about how Rio Americano has a much more diverse snack choice at lunch. In comparing schools for academic excellence, does variety of junk foods really make a difference? I mean, if you’re going to a school for the food - I don’t think academics really factor into the decision-making process.
He also writes about how their students are more "independent” than El Camino students that have “more group work than anything; people relying on other people.” He writes about how a larger focus is put on athletics at El Camino as opposed to Rio, with an illustrating cartoon to the top right of the article depicting Rio students as nerds and El Camino students as jocks.
“Here [at Rio], the principal and vice principals are totally aware of what is going on in the school and what students are doing… At El Camino, the administration sometime slips and messes up when it comes to handling consequences with the right proceeding,” Mascoe writes. Hold on. Am I on glue? Last time I checked, he was the one “totally” kicked out by this bumbling administration.
After Mascoe put Rio’s administration on such a high pedestal, student body president Aly Kronick, wrote that one of the few problems about Rio was “there is a lack of understanding between the administrators and the students which [in tern] puts a strain on the cohesiveness of the student body.” This just shows that students have different reactions to, quite possibly, the same facts.
Mascoe concludes with, obviously, the most important piece of information in his article: girls. “The girls here [at Rio] treat each other with complete respect,” Mascoe wrote - not giving the El Camino alternative. It doesn’t take being a girl to know that this is the most absurd generalization of all.
So, what did Mascoe gain from writing an article of bastardized school pride? I have yet to hear back from Kronick about what she thought about his article; however, she believes that all rumors and stereotypes begin from a half-truth - which, in essence, is what they remain. When taken as fact, stereotypes and generalizations can cause much more damage than they are worth.
The point at hand is this: even if it were possible, it'd be extremely arrogant and/or ignorant to classify entire populations, students in this case, as either "good" or "bad." How could it be possible, if even an individual cannot entirely fit into one of two polar categories? Personalities are so complex that it is never just black and white. Life just isn’t that easy.
I have to cut like, 150 words.
Aaaaaaaaaaand welcome to high school. “I don’t like drama,” almost any student will tell you, with that look of self-importance stuck on their face. “I hate it.” But they’re lying to you. What they mean to tell you is that they hate when they are involved in drama. In actuality, they love drama. They live off of it. Most students do, anyway.
Which is why rumors still float around school and stereotypes are paramount. It happens for the same reason that people watch NASCAR and boxing. It’s not “for the love of the sport,” it’s to see people get hurt. To see people run into walls at 200MPH or have their own snot beat out of their head.
As a high school paper, or any news publication, it is the responsibility of the writers to back up anything published in the “OPINION” section with fact, or even elementary reasoning. The latter remains true for any section, including in columns like this one. Otherwise, journalism would not be journalism and everything could be deemed hearsay and writers could be sued for libel (written slander) and defamation of character. The moral of this story, as you’re about to find out, is that group generalizations and bad journalism never pays.
Once upon a time, Mascoe was a junior at El Camino High School. A member of the journalism staff, the brazen blonde was expelled from El Camino for vandalism earlier this year. More specifically, there was a weekend party thrown on campus, where fire extinguisher foam decorated the 60s hall.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a foam party as much as the next person, but it wasn’t the fact that he got kicked out that brings him to the forefront of this piece - it was what happened afterward. Mascoe transferred to Rio Americano, and in his new niche in the journalism department, he wrote a story entitled “Does El Camino match up to Rio?” which was placed in the OPINION section of Rio’s newspaper.
Mascoe writes about all aspects of student life in his article, but states his opinion, without any support. He writes about how Rio Americano has a much more diverse snack choice at lunch. In comparing schools for academic excellence, does variety of junk foods really make a difference? I mean, if you’re going to a school for the food - I don’t think academics really factor into the decision-making process.
He also writes about how their students are more "independent” than El Camino students that have “more group work than anything; people relying on other people.” He writes about how a larger focus is put on athletics at El Camino as opposed to Rio, with an illustrating cartoon to the top right of the article depicting Rio students as nerds and El Camino students as jocks.
“Here [at Rio], the principal and vice principals are totally aware of what is going on in the school and what students are doing… At El Camino, the administration sometime slips and messes up when it comes to handling consequences with the right proceeding,” Mascoe writes. Hold on. Am I on glue? Last time I checked, he was the one “totally” kicked out by this bumbling administration.
After Mascoe put Rio’s administration on such a high pedestal, student body president Aly Kronick, wrote that one of the few problems about Rio was “there is a lack of understanding between the administrators and the students which [in tern] puts a strain on the cohesiveness of the student body.” This just shows that students have different reactions to, quite possibly, the same facts.
Mascoe concludes with, obviously, the most important piece of information in his article: girls. “The girls here [at Rio] treat each other with complete respect,” Mascoe wrote - not giving the El Camino alternative. It doesn’t take being a girl to know that this is the most absurd generalization of all.
So, what did Mascoe gain from writing an article of bastardized school pride? I have yet to hear back from Kronick about what she thought about his article; however, she believes that all rumors and stereotypes begin from a half-truth - which, in essence, is what they remain. When taken as fact, stereotypes and generalizations can cause much more damage than they are worth.
The point at hand is this: even if it were possible, it'd be extremely arrogant and/or ignorant to classify entire populations, students in this case, as either "good" or "bad." How could it be possible, if even an individual cannot entirely fit into one of two polar categories? Personalities are so complex that it is never just black and white. Life just isn’t that easy.
I have to cut like, 150 words.