High School Yearbooks

[riff]

One of my high schools students brought me his yearbook to sign. About a quarter of it was devoted to these "Most Beautiful" or "Most Handome" type things (then you get to the Homecoming and Prom Sections and it's all the same horseshit again). Let's not forget the Miss and Mr. High School Pagents and Contests. More excrement. I looked at all of this, thought of the many wonderful (the truly beautiful) kids I have taught, and thought to myself: "This is just plain Wrong." Totally fucked-up, if you ask me.

It's so ridiculous. When (Billy) had me sign his book, I asked him if I could sign anywhere. With his consent, I gave the Homecoming Queen a moustache and a black eye and told him he had better keep in touch.

 

[Willing and Unsure]

that's one way to go about it.. i would have made a big display of it myself, making him at least consider what you said..

 

[riff]

that's one way to go about it.. i would have made a big display of it myself, making him at least consider what you said..

Don't worry, my friend. In my warm-up with the class the next day (I usually talk about something non-related to networking that is interesting to get their brains moving), I told them exactly what I thought- how ridiculous all of that is. Almost all of them agreed.

"Then why?" I asked. I had to raise both hands and shout for silence to calm the waves of protest. They don't like it anymore than I do.

 

[CW]

Then why?


TRADITION ! ( doing my best Z. Mostel imitation )



And it's most likely just that simple. I assume you have a student yearbook staff, perchance they simply modeled this years book after the previous ones.


I graduated 30 years ago this week, and that sure sounds like what we had as a basis for the yearbook.

EDITED cause I just couldn't subtract nor add worth a damn,,, graduated 1971

 

[riff]

Sure...

Like you, I am class of 81.

We had sections like that too, but it was nothing compared to what I saw in this kid's book.

I don't mean these things shouldn't be there, but when you flip the pages of this school's book, you simply cannot help but notice the PREPONDERANCE of it.

I am not against tradition, but I can think of so many students worthy of attention for their accomplishments and just who they are.

 

[Morden]

<shrugs>

"I gave up caring about something that was masterminded by a bunch of highschool weenies that have no clue about life and want nothing but to have thier friends in a book that will be held by everyone."

 

[riff]

<shrugs>

"I gave up caring about something that was masterminded by a bunch of highschool weenies that have no clue about life and want nothing but to have thier friends in a book that will be held by everyone."

I probably wouldn't care either, but I do teach them and happen to love most of them to death.

 

[Morden]

<grins>

"Well then I would say you have a stake in that. But, I am afraid my discontent with the school system only allows a little joy from school time."

 

[lavender]

 

[unusuallyconfused]

I'm sorry Riff, but you've got an immature bunch of kids (I'm acquainted with it!) and kids just are into appearances. If you could eliminate that, you would eliminate the girls that get picked on because they don't wear the style, or boys that are geeks, etc..... It is always been like that, I don't see how it will change. Admittedly, I was very into appearances and wanted to be the pretty, popular one. I chose boys to like by appearances only. I wish I had a teacher like you who would of set me straight.!!!

Ha, I found another one I'm younger than, 2 years!!!

 

[riff]

Good Question. I wonder, myself, sometimes.

What do you teach?

I teach networking. Internetworking, routing, etc. For the last two years I was also teaching PC Repair (which I hate- boring to me), but after coming short of quitting, they hired another teacher for that. THANK GOD!

 

[riff]

I'm sorry Riff, but you've got an immature mentality (I'm acquainted with it!) and kids just are into appearances. If you could eliminate that, you would eliminate the girls that get picked on because they don't wear the style, or boys that are geeks, etc..... It is always been like that, I don't see how it will change. Admittedly, I was very into appearances and wanted to be the pretty, popular one. I chose boys to like by appearances only. I wish I had a teacher like you who would of set me straight.!!!

Ha, I found another one I'm younger than, 2 years!!!

Oh, I know how much the appearances and "identity" thing is important to them. And I know that human nature is human nature. I am not trying to change their nature. But I think that if you saw this particular yearbook, even you might agree it was a little bit warped.

As far as my immature personality- guilty as charged, though I am curious as to how you would go about qualifying that.

 

[unusuallyconfused]

As far as my immature personality- guilty as charged, though I am curious as to how you would go about qualifying that.

I was referring to mine, not yours!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[riff]

OH!

I was referring to mine, not yours!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, but in your post (if you will re-read it) you said: "I'm sorry Riff, but you've got an immature mentality (I'm acquainted with it!)"

Naturally, I thought you were referring to me.

~LOL~

 

[unusuallyconfused]

Re: OH!

Sorry, but in your post (if you will re-read it) you said: "I'm sorry Riff, but you've got an immature mentality (I'm acquainted with it!)"

Naturally, I thought you were referring to me.

~LOL~

Its been edited, sorry. I think I am going to have to give it up this week, what the hell.

 

[Guest]

I wish I could find my senor picture.... I hated it.
It was the most awful picture I had ever taken LOL Of course aren't yearbook pictures the ones that suck?

You know those pictures where they send the 'school photographer' out to take? Then they splatter them all over the yearbook and they are the 'appointed representatives' of what our school deemed as 'popular'. I was never in those. I never dated a jock..... I was never in the 'popular' crowd...... but it was my choice.

I could never make fun of other people because they were less fortunate... or they weren't supermodel beautiful in high school.... and I guess that was a requirement for my school's in crowd.

But now that I look back.... I can laugh. Things back then were so stupid........***** is so much bigger than that.

 

[Ksss]

I graduated in a class of 750+ students. Our yearbook was one of the slimmest going for back then, due to the fact that we lost alot of our "priviledges" during the year. Sadly, over the years I have noticed that the yearbooks are indeed segregated, the jocks and brains always winning out over the less popular.

I was more appalled when my daughter brought home one of her yearbooks and captioned underneath some of the pictures were things like: least likely to succeed, Queen of the unpopular, etc.
*shaking head* I can't fathom a school allowing these types of things to go to print, how awful for those kids. And then they wonder why kids have such low self-esteem.