It's Ok NOT To
I don't know about you, but from where I was sitting, EVERYONE was paying attention to Milton Creagh yesterday. I didn't have Big Milt's point of view, but within my group of juniors I didn't see or hear a single inappropriate giggle or cynical remark during his entire presentation. Not that there's much to laugh about when it comes to drug, alcohol, and sexual abuse, anyway.Milton Creagh's talk should give all of you an excuse NOT to take part in the many coming-of-age / senior rituals that you've been looking forward to. If you really think about it for a few minutes, these activities have all the relevancy and meaning of the stoning ritual in The Lottery. I mean what do senior pranks, food fights, senior cut day, drug and alcohol parties, wheeling out of the parking lot, taking part in the Assassin Game, senior week, etc. have to do with the maturation process? Nothing.
Sadly enough for most seniors, in between college acceptances and graduation, there is too little time for schoolwork and too much time for tomfoolery. And tomfoolery mixed with fast cars, hormones, drugs, alcohol, and the need to BE COOL can be a lethal concoction. No, I don't have the 6'7" frame and eloquence of a Milton Creagh that could hold your attention. But I, like most of your parents and teachers, could tell you plenty of stories of a good kids who made bad decisions that led to terrible lives, or worse yet, more dead teenagers.
Somehow in class this week, the subject of teen coming-of-age movies came up, you know, the ones where, in the end, the nerdy guy gets the prom queen, where the quiet girl gets a makeover and wins the football quarterback, where the guys from the wrong side of the tracks beat the guys from the right side in a football game. Totally unrealistic, someone said. I agree.
But no more unrealistic as the trivialization of the so-called fun, typical activities in which these movie teens participate. Where the teens are consuming outrageous quantities of drugs and alcohol, where guys and girls participate in primitive dating and mating rituals, where high speed car chases and races determine which guy REALLY has what it takes . . . all without anyone getting hurt.
Totally unrealistic, I agree.
posted by JTF @ 8:24 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
Mr. Fiorelli,
Congratulations on your coaching position for girls basketball. I am very happy for you. You are truly a great guy, both on and off the court. I wish you all the best!
what does all that stuff have to do with senior year, college, school? nothing.
but have some fun once in a while.
Fun is okay but make sure you're careful where you hang out .... just ask Vito if you can find him.
Life is ritual.
What you make of the rituals is choice.
Choices come from learning.
Learning comes from experiences.
Expriences come from experiments.
Experiments lead to danger.
Danger leads to mistakes, harm, death.
Mistakes lead to experience.
Experience leads to learning.
Learning leads to choices,
Making right choices leads to happiness, safety
Making wrong choices leads to the ultimate understanding that..
Death is ritual.
Baby, you are right. You have matured to the point where you can participate in senior activities for the good involved. But unfortunately many of us don't come to that realization until after something goes terribly wrong. That's what Fio wants to say. I hope he knows that there is a large group of students who like you can have fun without the danger. He should have recognized that in his post. But I know you know that all kids aren't like you, and it's a lot more than a handful. And no one can simply tell them not to engage in such activities. They have to experience it. They have to learn from it. That's maturity.
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Baby,
I prepared a long response to your comment, but I've decided to hold off on posting it for now. Schoolsville will remain a place, if not to rant, but to voice your opinion.
Distracted,
You've thought out this whole ritual thing more deeply than I. However, I don't think we need to personally experience death in order to understand that it's an inevitable ritual('death, I think, is no parenthesis'). The Grim Reaper is NOT on my speed dial. Play nice and safely.
Paulie,
Woa! None of that kinda talk around here! What do you do for fun? Looks to me like you haven't been in the gym lately. You getting a little soft sitting out and tanning in front of the pork store?
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