After the release of our first issue, we have been called a lot of things. Terrorists. Anarchists. Revolutionaries. Delinquents. Atheists (don't ask me how they came up with that one.) Although we cannot truly confirm or deny any one of those particular accusations, there is a label that would be better suited towards your good friends at scrape: journalists. That's right, journalists. It's a name for someone who writes stuff for a newspaper or magazine. And what is it we're doing? You folks are going to have to be able to figure stuff like this out if you want to pass TAAS.
So, you think this paper is subversive and terroristic. You'd like to stifle it. Let's say the paper is silenced in a big court battle. This sets a legal precedent, meaning that in lots of situations just like this one, or even not so similar, the lawyers will refer back to the decision on this issue and say "Look, scrape was silenced, we can legally silence [Generic Student Publication]" This is a bad thing, if we don't fight to keep this publication going then other publications will also be stifled. You might use the generic attack on the first amendment rights, saying our rights stop where yours start. Let's take a look at this. This paper is expressing ideas. It has not made threats. It has not slandered or defamed anyone. According to some, our satirical column on the Dr. Pepper deal was "advocating terrorism." Anyone who would say that certainly does not posses common sense. The article was clearly not to be taken seriously. It's called humor, friends. There are laws to protect jokes. According to codes regarding the publication of satirical content, you are even allowed to disregard standard copyright laws. This is how shows like Saturday Night Live make money. The truth is, we can say whatever we want as long as it doesn't slander or defame a person and does not cause an immediate breach in the peace. If the school doesn't like the publication, they can address those issues during the time when they have a monopoly over us, at school. They can address what we say in the announcements that we are forced to listen to. They can send out letters to everyone. The best way to fight speech is with more speech. By taking away the speech of someone who is offensive, you can also take away the voice of a person who wants change. If the federal government had taken away Martin Luther King's right to free speech we might not have made the advances in civil rights and race relations that we have today. Thank you.
What sad times these are. All over the school, students are arriving to class one, or perhaps even two, minutes late. This devastatingly inappropriate behavior creates an environment in which learning is not possible. So, tardy freezes were instituted. We were all glad to see the administration going after the school's true problems and assigning students 3 hour detentions for being tardy, even speeding up the process by denying them the right to due process. There is only one problem: students are still tardy. And as we know, tardies are the main problem plaguing our otherwise peaceful school. Thus, we have a problem in need of solving. I am here to provide an effective answer to all of your worries: mustard gas. Think about it. The bell rings, and a bunch of young lolly-gaggers are loitering in the halls. All of a sudden, mustard gas begins to pour out of the vents. Boy, we sure taught those punks a lesson! As they cough up their lungs, those mischievous troublemakers will know that punctuality is the most important virtue of society. Due to lack of resources, it it impossible to have tardy freezes every period. But with mustard gas, this would not be the case. Like clockwork, the gas would flow as soon as the bell rang. A few minutes later, a bulldozer would circle the halls, carrying away the corpses of young juvenile delinquents. With this method, we will be able to root out the troublemakers as soon as possible. This is the most effective way to remedy the situation. And, as we all know, tardies are the largest problem at our school.
It seems as if we get an email from a teacher every day. Are they chewing us out? No. Are they pissed at us because we are undermining their authority? No. Do they think we should spend more time studying and forgot the whole underground journalist schtick? Possibly (well, probably.) The feedback from teachers has beenunceasingly positive. Although many of them noted that they feared losing their jobs, they felt compelled to encourage our "crusade for free thought." Apparently, many teachers have been fondly discussing scrape with their classes. Rumor has it that a few copies have been made and distributed (hush-hush of course) amongst some of the faculty members. What's going on here? Teachers are encouraging students to think outside of the lines? Of course. They may feel this way for different reasons. A few teachers have said that our paper reminds them of their "rebellious years." Believe it or not, a few of our teachers are even free speech advocates. Some just genuinely want to encourage thinking. Others are glad to see someone speaking up. Teachers have always been silenced when it comes to their opinions. They dare not speak up for fear of losing their jobs. So it only makes sense for them to be ecstatic when they see someone voicing their ideas. We, on the other hand, have essentially nothing to lose. We do not risk our salary by publishing scrape. Suspension, perhaps expulsion, is the only thing the can threaten us with. And for what? Thinking? Teachers, it makes us proud to have your support. We truly appreciate it. It is good to know that there are some adults at our school who are not afraid of kids writing down their thoughts.
The first issue of scrape seemed to influence a large number of people. Judging from email and article submissions, many of you out there are considering producing your own "underground" publications. We would like to wholeheartedly approve. scrape was established to give students a forum through which they could voice their opinions. However, the ideal way to express yourself is through your own work. Therefore, by producing your own paper, you support the exponential growth of student expression, which results in the increase of knowledge in the general population. And knowledge is a good thing. A lot of people don't seem to realize that multiple viewpoints exist within every possible situation. It would be unfair for scrape to be the only representative of students' ideas. So let your voices be heard! Write what you believe. We would also like to make it known that we have no affiliation with any other publications, nor do we have any jurisdiction over them. If another paper writes something that makes you mad, don't blame scrape, folks.
Did you know that our school receives extra money from the state based on our standardized test scores (namely TAAS)? Also, did you know that failing TAAS will not prevent you from moving on to 11th grade? You will simply have to wait another year to take it again. I wonder what would happen if a bunch of students decided that they would all fail TAAS. The school would definitely not get as much money from the state. But what would happen to the students? They would just have to take it one more time. Just food for thought.
Answer this question: How many windows are in Clark? Surprisingly enough, there actually are some! And the majority of them are located in the art rooms. If you haven't noticed, some construction is taking place by these rooms. Can anyone guess what it is? It's (drumroll, please)...a softball field! Ok, now, using our TAAS skills, let's analyze this. Softball field, windows, softball field, windows. Now what do you think might happen here? |
