The seniors are considered leaders to our school but they seem to follow like sheep. When we don’t communicate with the faculty, then the line between right and wrong is blurred. On Dec. 6, the seniors had a meeting with principal David Benson about all the things that were acted on in an inappropriate manner.

All the seniors were called down in the morning to have a group discussion about the speakers in the cafeteria, vandalizing the boys bathrooms, the 18,000 ladybugs released and how the rest of the year will go. We all knew going down the hallway that we were about to get an important talk from someone we all highly respect.

Benson had these three points to talk about. As he was talking, he made the point that he had no idea the speakers and the vandalism were connected. How was he supposed to read the minds of all the people who started this destruction, and give them what they wanted when they never talked to him about? If we don’t discuss what’s bothering us or what we want to achieve, we will never get anything done in OHS or in the real world.

“It was also clear that Mr. Benson just wants this to be over. He wants to put it behind us and move forward with the year. Dwelling on it just takes time away from important things,” senior class president Mattie Rice said.

Everyone in the school is important in their own way so disrespecting one person can mean disrespecting everyone. Benson explained that he would like the rest of this year and the years to come, to be better. But, if we show the underclassman that it’s okay to trash the bathrooms over some speakers, then we’re setting an example to be bullies to the people who help us everyday.

We didn’t get a point across, we didn’t make a change, we just hurt the people around us. The janitors have done nothing wrong and in fact, they only help us, yet we disrespected them in a way that left the rest of the school shocked. We just let something affect us in a way that made us turn into something were not.

“I was voted into this position by my classmates, so that’s who I’m going to speak for. I know that our grade messed up– we all know that. But I will continue to represent the interests of our class and do my best to better the relationship between the seniors and the faculty,” Rice said.
We all learned from the teachers and our peers that this kind of behavior is not acceptable and will not be tolerated. We are very lucky people to be able to go to a school that cares so much for us and I think we need to pay them the respect they deserve.