This is an editorial. For more information on editorials or commentaries, click here.
Today marked the last assembly for Rock Bridge’s 2013 class, and wrapped up the year with performances and awards that showcased the very best of RBHS. It was a special event, with dozens of former teachers and administrators present, recognizing the 40th anniversary of the school.
It’s a shame that today we must also recognize the atrocious way we students treat our classmates in performing arts.
Each assembly starts and ends with the jazz ensemble playing songs as we arrive, songs the musicians have spent countless hours of practice perfecting, only to receive no acknowledgement other than from rehearsed MCs. But this is to be expected, for at these moments, the band is just playing background music to usher classmates and teachers in and out. Later they’ll get their moment to shine, showcasing their talent and hard work in a performance just for them.
But as we all know, their moment of glory rarely comes. Sure, there are individual moments where friends cheer for their drummer friend or teachers lead a standing ovation, but for the most part, we ignore the band. We ridicule them by mocking how they close their eyes during intense moments of the song or the rests that we perceive as awkward silences, not understanding complex musical arrangements. What was with that solo? It was all over the place. How embarrassing for them. And for all their hard work, these students don’t even get to play on the stage, forcing the camera to shakily pan across the sea of students who are more interested with their hand being on screen than recognizing the musicians.
Things didn’t improve this morning when our award-winning show choirs went on stage. These performers are phenomenal – there’s no debating it. Straight out of performing at the Grand Ole Opry and winning best in show, champions in the glee club world, Rock Bridge can boast a truly amazing musical team. But by the way we treated them, you’d never know it.
A show choir performance is not meant to be a typical sight, and for that reason, today they wore outrageous, sparkling dresses, and even the boys had caked-on layers of makeup. It’s necessary for performers to overdo it a little so everyone in the audience, regardless of proximity, can get the full effect. Instead of understanding this, students took to making fun of these musicians and actors, and taking pictures for Twitter. In a move so stereotypical it deserved to be in a 1980s John Hughes film, an RBHS student tweeted, “Why would you take part in this,” captioning a blurry picture of City Lights’ performance. It garnered eight favorites and one retweet.
But a better question is, why would you tweet that? Why would you make others feel bad about a performance and a group that is exceptional in what they do? The students who favorited the tweet should be equally ashamed. The internet is a place where it’s incredibly easy to be mean, but a trial to do the right thing. Because of this, at least eight students decided to encourage the bullying, and dozens more ignored it altogether, thinking it’s best to just stay out of it. By going along with it, we proved how gutless high school students can be when it comes to standing up for one another, and that for all the progressive, accepting traditions at RBHS, we haven’t learned anything at all.
At RBHS, we pride ourselves in our athletic and academic achievements, yet we ignore and ridicule those who step outside the box and shine in a more creative way. It’s unacceptable, and a disgraceful way to close 40 years of our school’s open and free traditions. Hopefully, we as a student body can learn from this, and show performers the respect they deserve. We need to take the plunge and cheer on our school’s artists. A standing ovation at every note isn’t expected, but showing some interest during and after shouldn’t be too hard.
Most importantly, we need to stand up for the kids who sing and drum and strum the guitar. They put their music on the line when they get on stage, or below it for that matter, so maybe we can risk a little popularity so that at our 45th or 50th anniversary, we’ll commend not only the kids with their 4.0s, and the all-state basketball champions, but also the piano soloist.
By Jilly Dos Santos
This is an editorial. For more information on editorials or commentary, click here.
Denise Winslow • May 6, 2013 at 9:33 am
I agree with focusing more on the good things during the flashback assembly. I think we often focus more too often on the negatives in life because it seems to stand out more which is so much better than the opposite. As a teacher, I certainly find myself focusing on the negatives and have to remind myself that there are more positives happening in the classroom than negative. I was very impressed overall with the large number of students in the gym during assemblies as I know some schools who do not have assemblies due to the overwhelming stress of managing student behaviors. I thought the seniors acted mature and were tremendous. For the first time I have been here, we did not have constant projectiles throughout the assembly. As usual a few bad behaviors stand out but let’s not forget that the majority of students truly enjoyed the performance and gave respect at the end with a tremendous applause. I am always impressed with our student body and incredibly proud to have been there.
Another Emily • May 4, 2013 at 6:31 pm
Thank you for writing this! The person waving their hands in front of the camera sat right in front of me. It is very disheartening to see such great programs forced into a gym that is not built to host these performances. It makes the programs look less awesome than they are!
Anonymous • May 3, 2013 at 7:09 pm
Thank you, Jilly, for writing this. I feel this is something that really does need to be addressed, or at least acknowledged. For being a school that prides itself on the character of its students as well as academics, I think it’s ironic how many students actually counteract that high standard we claim ourselves to hold. I’m glad I’m not the only one who disagrees with how some of our fellow classmates behave.
I’d leave my name, but God knows I may get cyber-bullied like other people have been at this school for stating their opinions.
sophiewhyte • May 3, 2013 at 6:33 pm
Yeah, I saw kids snickering during performances and whispering rude things to those next to them. I can’t believe high school students would act like this. Though these rude kids are the minority. I think most of the students of RBHS were able to enjoy the amazing performances. At least I really enjoyed the assembly. Congrats to everyone who participated in it!
alexgompper • May 3, 2013 at 6:10 pm
A well written editorial that made me consider my actions at the assembly. I’ll be sure to watch myself next time.
Hm... • May 3, 2013 at 5:53 pm
This editorial seems to be written with the express purpose of inciting a reaction; I feel this doesn’t really reflect the true nature of the reaction. I enjoyed both the show choir and band performances, and didn’t find many people had anything negative to say. At least, no more people than with any other event, music, school, or sport related. I may be wrong though.
RBHS student • May 3, 2013 at 5:49 pm
Great article and great writing! While I’m sure there were people with less than positive reaction;there were more people who had complimentary things to say! I don’t think there was much negativity to the performances on the whole, no more than there would have been if the basketball team lost the game. And as for a shaky camera, there seemed to be technical problems going on throughout the assembly.Rock Bridge often seems to ignore arts and academics in comparison to sports, but this is one of the times they actually gave both the show choir and the band their due attention. This article wasn’t at all reflective of the true nature of the assembly and reaction. In fact, the article seemed to highlight the negativity more than if it had been left alone. There wasn’t an overwhelmingly disappointing or rude reaction. However, it’s just my opinion and I commend you on writing an editorial and putting yourself out there. Keep up the good work.
Shane Wacker • May 3, 2013 at 5:47 pm
I’m a hickman student but i completely agree that fine arts people deserve our respect. luckily band and theater students usually look out for each other, but all students should do that for each other despite their talents and interests.
Emily • May 3, 2013 at 5:25 pm
Band kids love u right now Jilly. Very well written!
Kayla • May 3, 2013 at 4:31 pm
You go girl!!! Thank you for posting this!