Post X

I recently read an article about an incident that took place at Bellevue East High School. Six students face suspension or expulsion for taping another student to a wall. All six students were charged with misdemeanors, three for disturbing the peace and three for disorderly conduct. This was most likely part of a stunt or prank that are common in high schools and colleges. Senior pranks are something that nearly everyone has heard of or been a part of during their high school years, but when does a prank go to far? This incident involving several students at Bellevue was a prank that went to far, but there have been far worse pranks that have ended in people being seriously injured or killed. The part that bothered me most when I read this article was that there were dozens of students witnessing their classmate being harassed and humiliated and instead of stopping this they took pictures of it. It is terrible that people are so unwilling to help someone who is in such a situation, instead they just go along with the crowd and laughed at the boy’s humiliation.
I know that I am naïve at times, having been sheltered in small private schools for most of my life, but I cannot imagine just watching while this happened, let alone taking pictures and video taping it. It is very sad that there were not enough people willing to stand up and stop this from happening. This complacency and unwillingness to stand up for anything is something that worries me about my generation. I know that there are many good people my age but I also know that there are many people who will do whatever is easiest for them and whatever is in their best interest no matter the consequences for others.