Opinion: July 2009 Archives

I'm not trying to lecture any teen about drugs. It isn't my place. That job is left up to the parents of that teenager. And lately, I feel like some parents haven't lectured their kids enough. I keep hearing stories about people- people I know that are using drugs. The stories range from a friend smoking pot, to an acquaintance dealing drugs.

Frankly, I just don't get it. At school, they are CONSTANTLY telling us not to do drugs. They hold assemblies with police officers to talk about all the consequences of doing drugs. Last year, they tried to scare us with real life stories of teens that have died or ruined their life because of drug use. Yet, none of this seems to work. I sat at those assemblies and listened to kids laugh at what was being said. They claimed, "Oh that would never happen to me." How do you know that? It very well could be your future.

So if it's not the schools fault, then maybe it is the parents. Parents, you need to be telling your teenager about drugs. Believe me, even if you're sure your teenager will never do drugs, they could surprise you. You need to teach them how to say no. If you don't do that, who will? Certainly not their friends, they're usually the ones pressuring them to do drugs. So do your job and help your kids, please.

And, to all you super cool pot smoking teenagers out there: I hear the reason behind doing drugs, like pot, is to feel that "rush". Well, if that's the reason you're doing drugs, I highly suggest stopping. If you want a rush go ride a rollercoaster. That'll give you a rush without giving you harmful consequences.

I just wanted to add my two cents about the latest Harry Potter movie. Personally, I found it not spectacular, but better than many of the others. I thought that the plot stuck to the story line pretty well, though straying here and there. It was not bad for a movie, and I enjoyed seeing it. However, I find that in practically all situations the books are so much better than their partnering movies, coming across altogether more exciting and entertaining. You do have to take into consideration that they had to remove a lot of scenes to make the movie a reasonable time (it was still 2 hours and 33 minutes), and some of the best scenes that they chose to cut remain, overall, unimportant to the plot.

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Recently, my mom purchased a pair of Crocs to help cushion her feet. While I understand her reason for the purchase, I just cannot fathom their popularity.

Now, do not get me wrong; I applaud those who can pull off the rubber clog look. However, I must admit I've never found a pair attractive and I doubt I ever will. Honestly, I'm baffled as to why people flock to the nearest store for florescent fashion nightmares.

My belief is that there is a happy medium when it comes to fashion and comfort. Perhaps an L.L. Bean sandal or a padded walking shoe? With these selections why would anyone choose the synthetic deathtrap?

If the rubber and sickenly bright color options weren't enough, you also have pins known as "Jibbitz" that can be purchased and placed on your Crocs! Just think, now you can personalize each and every shoe as if it were a charm bracelet.

Furthermore, to those who are more fashion forward, Croc now offers an array of heels and wedges for a night on the town. Please! To the proud owners of Croc products, I offer my most sincere apology regarding their naive belief that plastic shoes are cool.

As everyone knows, Michael Jackson passed away last month on June 26. Arguably, one of the great -- if not the greatest -- musicians and performers the world had ever seen, Jackson lived and died as a legend. But as the media circus surrounded his nationally televised funeral, everyone seemed to either forget or ignore the past controversy that he was involved with less than five years ago.

Yes, I am reffering to the child molestation charges that were brought against him.

Now, personally, I tend to believe that he was innocent (and he was found innocent by the courts, of course), but the fact of the matter is that he was a truly troubled, disturbed and weird man. There is no other way to classify the behavior of having sleepovers with 10-year-old kids, which involved sleeping in the same beds, when you are 40 years old! It was clearly predatory behavior and very disturbing.

But people seemed to forget about this after his death. Those that would bring up his past creepy behavior were shamed by the mainstream media. It seemed as though people were understandbly uncomfortable about some of his past actions -- as if people wanted to forget about them. But his controversies cannot be forgotten, nor should they be. It would be revising history. It would be propping up a mythical version of Michael Jackson; it would be inaccurate and an incomplete portrait of the man.

Although Michael Jackson was and still is a legend, he was not a perfect man by any stretch. Any description of him being perfect is an insult to his history. Like all who have passed away (celebrity or not), Jackson deserves to be studied and judged objectively. Anything else, whether it be unfairly positive or negative, is disrespecting his legend.

RIP

Yes, the untimely departure of this pop culture icon is monumental and a major moment worth documenting and reporting. But really? The amount of media coverage on this topic is borderline ridiculous and quite unnecessary. I acknowledge the fact that Michael Jackson's death was something that is a big enough deal for people to cover it on news shows and the music channels. I guess that each channels conglomeration or documentary on Jackson's life were to be expected. Though each one said the same exact thing and showed the same clips of his life.I got a tiny bit annoyed when my favorite news channel, MSNBC, felt the need to make any new development on the death into a big deal.

But today was my breaking point. Michael Jackson's memorial service was today if you weren't aware when I'm not sure how you couldn't know. Its not like at least six channels weren't broadcasting it live and doing before memorial coverage- oh wait they were. I don't mean to sound bitter but I do not understand why so many stations need to broadcast the same thing. I wasn't surprised when channels such as E!, MTV, and VH1 were showing it, I mean that is their sort of thing. But when legitimate channels like Fox, MSNBC, and NBC were showing it I was genuinely displeased.

I'm done hearing about Michael Jackson's tragic childhood ion the spotlight, his pet chimp named Bubbles, how he was 'the world's greatest entertainer', how he was a beautiful and charitable person, or how his music was overshadowed by his erotic behavior and the media's perception of him. If I hear 'They don't care about us' or see the videos for 'Thriller' or 'Beat it', one more time I may just refuse to ever watch TV again because that'd be the only way to escape this.

Recently, Central York High School authorities captured the public's attention when they chose not to recognize their top two students as Valedictorian and Salutatorian. Naturally, many citizens wanted to know the purpose behind this injustice. One response was that competing for grades created an unhealthy environment for the students. Therefore, by ceasing to award specific students above their peers, there would be no tears and hard feelings.

Sadly, this creates a completely opposite atmosphere compared to the everyday work life. After high school and college are over, these students will be flung into the everyday workforce. There, competition is key in order to remain on top. If hard work is not acknowledged in school, how can our society expect it to be obtained in later years?

The time honored tradition of Valedictorian and Salutatorian not only promotes the idea of striving to achieve your best but also simulates a work environment. In closing, the leaders of our country were those who chose to strive for excellence and at some point or another were given credit for their success.