The Shoemaker Bugle

By April Zavala

As we all know, John Glenn High School had a rough start to the 2021-2022 school year. By the second week of school there were approximately five altercations on campus. It saddens me, as this is not the reputation a student should want for their school. Every physical altercation that occurs on school grounds has to be reported to the district office, who keep strict records and keep track of our school’s positive and negative attributes on a dashboard and on things like the WASC Report.

This will ultimately reflect poorly on the community. Is this the reputation you want for your community? Sure, many of you could seemingly care less about our school’s reputation, but we need to acknowledge that our peers are working hard for their education. For many who plan on going to College or University, the reputation of our school is extremely important. It is not fair for those who worked exceptionally hard all four years of high school to build a good name for not only themselves, but for John Glenn, just for someone to ruin it with their careless actions. Distractions like these make it hard for us to feel motivated and want to continue to attend school when these fights continuously occur. 

Something we must keep in mind are the responsibilities we hold as students. We are here to learn. We are not here to start problems with one another. Sometimes, we can’t control who we like or who we don’t like, nor can we control who likes or dislikes us. What we can control is how we handle these situations. Since we will all be going out into the real world in a few years, we must learn to handle things maturely. This could be as easy as being the bigger person and letting the situation go, or you could even talk things out.

Here are some things you can keep in mind: when someone makes you mad or upset, it is hard to look them in the eye, and I understand the feeling of wanting to take that anger out on them, but something that helps is giving yourself time away from that person. If they continue to talk about you or do you wrong, be the bigger person and ignore them.

Once it gets to the point where you feel that you can’t control your anger much longer, try talking to someone. Our counselors here at John Glenn are great people to vent to about any situation you find yourself in. If you don’t feel comfortable speaking to your counselor, try talking to a friend, a family member, or even your favorite teacher.

Something we must take home with us at the end of the day is, we are almost adults, and it is important we start acting more maturely and with responsibility. Because remember, once you turn 18, fighting is a crime. We must not allow fighting to become a comfortable solution to minor inconveniences.