High School Happenings

Hi everyone!
There will be no column this week because I have some exciting news.

I've had a little project going on for over a week now, and it comes out today! My boss and I hatched the idea and finally swung things into gear this week.

Each week The Chatsworth Times will now have a page titled "High School Happenings". It's in the B section of the paper, in with the Sports page. This particular page focuses on high school groups, clubs, teams, etc. that have accomplished things that may not get the media attention they deserve because they are not traditional "sports".

I felt like these groups (i.e. Literary Club, FBLA, DECA, Winter Guard, Quiz Bowl Team, Band, etc.) are often left out and their accomplishments are glossed over. Not anymore!

The page will also feature a topic that students can chime in on each week an get their responses published.
Students are also welcome to submit their own articles about anything going on in high school. Each week we will pick one and that student will have their article published with the student's name on their own byline. This is an awesome opportunity for high school students to get involved and let the community REALLY know what's going on in high school beyond sports.

If you have anything you'd like to see published on the "High School Happenings" page of The Chatsworth Times, please submit it to me! My email is lindseybryan@live.com

Thanks and Happy Hump Day! :)

Bullying is not ok- talk to your kids

It was winter of my sophomore year, and the MCHS Dance Team had just taken the gym floor for our halftime performance. I anxiously took my place and struck my pose. The gym went silent in anticipation of the music that was coming on, and then it happened. A chorus of "Suck it in, Sanford!" rang out through the silence, and I, along with the rest of the gymnasium, had heard it. Before I even had time to react, the music began to play and I had no choice but to just do the routine. I was so embarrassed that I couldn't stay focused at all. My face got hot and red and I struggled to fight back tears as I went through the motions I had once been so excited to perform. I consciously tried to hide my face and body from the crowd, and ended up making a few errors in the performance because I was so thrown off. The song ended, and I couldn't get off the court fast enough. I changed into street clothes, ran to my car, drove across the street to the football field parking lot, and burst into tears alone in my Eclipse.
At some point, we have all had our own encounters with a bully, or a "pack" of bullies. Some of us experienced it in elementary school, where it seemed to be less harmful. Someone pulled your hair or kicked you under the table, but you could usually tell a teacher and the problem got solved. For others, it happened in middle school when we got left out or taunted because we weren't part of a "cool" group. For me, it happened in high school. My entire sophomore year, I was traumatized by a group of senior girls who didn't like me because they didn't want me dating a member of their clique. The humiliation went beyond the public jab at my figure- one girl wrote a blog full of horrible and just flat out mean things about me and posted it via social site that everyone used. Another girl would target me with her status updates on MSN Messenger and MySpace. I got hateful phone calls at least on a monthly basis. You would think the problem would have gone away after the group graduated, but one of the girls attended Kennesaw State and was unfortunately close enough to home to keep tormenting me on her agenda throughout my junior year, as well. It finally took filing a police report to get her to back off.
School bullying surveys show that 77% of all students are bullied mentally, physically, or verbally. Cyber bullying, which takes place via blogs, cell phones, instant-messaging, and the like, is also rapidly approaching high numbers. 9 out of 10 teens have experienced harassment either at school or online.
Kids are cruel. Bullying is a real problem, and it isn't getting any better. My best friend, who witnessed firsthand what I went through in high school, is now a teacher. Her students are at the age where teasing and taunting are beginning to happen more often. A few weeks ago, a girl in her class came in crying and sat down at the desk covering her head to block the other students out. Her classmates were teasing the girl and calling her "weird". Another student has been under a psychiatric evaluation after he was viciously and violently attacked by another boy on the school bus. My friend made a speech in every class she had that day: "Bullying is NOT okay, and I better not hear of it happening again."
I have a daughter of my own now. She's almost three, drop dead gorgeous, and has the biggest and most sensitive heart you can imagine- not a good combination for a high school girl. The thought of her going through anything like I did at 16 makes my blood boil. I know that if someone were to ever embarrass HER during one of her events, or make her cry during class, I would be knocking on other mamas' doors until the problem was settled. As a teenager, I was mortified when my mom tried to intervene and talk to the principal about what those girls were doing to me. Now, only a few years later, I wish I had let her handle it.
Talk to your kids. Find out what's going on at school. If there is a problem, address it. If you have to, talk to a teacher or an administrator. If you find out that your own child is involved in bullying other kids, please, take action. Parental involvement can have a huge impact on getting to the bottom of this problem and can help eliminate unnecessary hurt. Going through adolescence is hard enough without having to endure such cruelty at the hand of a peer or group of peers.

Younger generation is more independent

I was saved in a Methodist church when I was seven years old. I can take you back to the very place I prayed. Then at age 14, we left the church where I was very involved in the youth group. I started high school, and life happened. I made some pretty stupid mistakes. Public ones. A few times. But even during the worst of it, I never doubted my salvation. I knew God was with me no matter what I did, and that He loved me through all the teenage angst.

Once I moved away after graduation, I began to interpret the world as I saw it without the constraints of my small town and its conservative way of life. For example, I was taught that being gay was a sin- it was wrong, "disgusting", immoral, etc. But once I got out on my own, I met quite a few gay people, and was somewhat surprised to discover that not only were they not disgusting, but they were not very different from me, except that they loved someone of the same gender. It did not take long for me to shake the "beliefs" I was taught in church and get back to the basics: that I believed in God, and my God was a God of LOVE. There was a picture going around on Facebook this week that I loved: Jesus was standing on the hill preaching to the multitudes, saying "Here's an idea. You love them like I loved you, feed them, clothe them, and shelter them, and let me deal with judging them."

With all the controversy going on with the Republican party, I wanted it to be clear where I, as a member of the younger generation, stand on these issues. The fact is, we're a lot more open-minded than generations before us. We accept that everyone is different. And a lot of us don't stand in the Right Wing or the Left Wing. I don't consider myself a Democrat nor a Republican, just as I don't consider myself any sort of Christian denomination. I base my opinions and vote solely on the candidates running for office, and whether or not I agree with what they're saying and trying to do.

I have never been a fan of Obama. I thought it was absurd that people were so hyped up because he was going to be the first colored President, as if skin color is any sort of reason to vote for the leader of our country. I don't like him because he manipulates facts to make it look like he's done more than what he actually has. For example, in his State of the Union address this year, he claimed he has created 3 million jobs since he took office, which is only partially true. What he failed to mention is that 5 million jobs were lost during that same time frame. For all you math majors out there, that is a total of -2 million jobs on Obama's watch.

So, what do we do about this mess we're in? The natural answer seems obvious- we get a new President, right? But who? Who do we nominate as worthy of taking on the role as leader of our country? The Republican party has put up four different candidates- Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich.

If I didn't hate hypocrisy so much, I might like Newt. Newt Gingrich stands on stages and podiums and claims that gays "violate the sanctity of marriage". In the same breath, he is guilty of cheating on his wife multiple times. I believe the correct term is "the pot calling the kettle black".

Ron Paul has a pretty decent economic policy, but I don't agree with his foreign policies. I feel like we'll be either attacked or at war if he were to get elected.

Then there's Santorum, who is coming out with all sorts of judgements and stances against certain rights, and he is using "God" as a reason to support his radical stances. He claims that he is a Christian, but he is passing out judgements left and right. Not only is he judging, but he wants to make his personal beliefs the law. The fact that someone could say who has the right to marry another, no matter how much they love each other, is appalling to me. Neil Patrick Harris has been with David Burtka for eight years, but they can't get married. Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian can have a 10 million dollar wedding that results in a 72 day marriage and it's okay. Anyone else see a problem here?

Mitt Romney seems the lesser of the evils to me. People seem to dislike him because he's rich, but he has worked hard for the money he has. We need a President who understands how the economy works; Romney does. He was criticized for paying 15% taxes, but he also donated 15% of his income last year to charity. (Obama donated 1%) I'm not preaching Romney, but I'll vote for him over Obama any day.

So in conclusion, the Jesus I know preached love and acceptance, not hatred and judgement. Therefore, I do not believe it's the government's place to try to play God. I also believe it's time for a change- and not the false promises of "change" that Obama promised four years ago.

Vote! No matter how young you are, your opinion matters.