Comments

Mr. Oto, I feel your pain. I am currently a junior at Deer Valley High School, in Antioch, and desperate to transfer somewhere else. At least in Berkeley Confederate flags on the backs of cars and emblems saying things like "Redneck bitch and proud of it!" are rarely seen. Our bathrooms are Colombia in a microcosm, with more variety. Cocaine, marijuana, opium, mushrooms, prescription drugs, you name it. If you want some, pretend you're going to take a piss at lunchtime. In my U.S. History Honors class, the teacher has us do three main pieces of work: collages, coloring maps, and posters (that's right, it's an Honors class, weighted and all).

Coloring maps in an Honors History course? Brilliant :)

hey guys, is there anything we can do? anything I can do? Seriously.

"Anything I can do" in regards to what? The situation at BHS? I believe Mr Oto is largely exagerating the situation, which makes for some very enjoyable reading material, and I hope he keeps doing what he does, because he does it very well. But I wouldn't worry too much.

The truth is this: it is quite possible to get through BHS without any sort of community. It is possible to just treat it as an educational institution, and spend 4 years here as one would at any old academy. But I believe that many folks at BHS are far more mature than that, and want more out of life then just school. They want to give thier day some meaning, and would like to express themselves in some way other than the restriciting classroom environment. For those who seek more out of BHS than merely education, it is an extremely depressing institution. What can be done? Well I believe this website shows that some folks want to give the place some more meaning. In general I think there needs to be a slight shift in attitude from folks: they need to WANT to improve the overall community at BHS. You can't just sit there hoping it will happen naturally. It won't, not with the kind of systems and restriction currently in place.

So in other words, nothing NEEDS to happen. It is only a question of whether folks WANT something to happen. I respect that for many folks BHS isn't their entire life. They spend as little time there as possible, and make up for it with activities outside of school. And for those folks the system is just fine. Others simply don't think it can be any better, and assume this is how high school HAS to be. They just say "high school is hell," and blame it on the attitudes and turmoil that naturally stem from students and low budgets. And there are even a small group of others, or so I've been told, that actually enjoy BHS as a full experience. But for me, it just seems extremely self-opressive that anyone would want to spend 6-8 hours a day being in an environment they don't enjoy, and being there for 4 whole years. Either you leave the place, or you make an attempt to improve it. Most high-students don't have the kind of self-confidence to actually leave, and are more often than not scared of the "outside world." This is understandable. But if they plan on staying, the only way to get through these 4 years with a smile on your face is by trying to improve your life. You can do that outside of school, but I say that is just escaping the real issue. If BHS can become a place that people WANT to come to, then I coul deffinitely see high school being an experience that folks don't get scarred by. I know that had I stayed at BHS for the full 4 years, I would have been scarred for life. I'd sooner work at McDonalds.

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In other unrelated news, a new little tradition has sprung up in the courtyard on Fridays. Folks group up around the red bricks, and engage in rap "battles." These are ussually hillarious, and it has a real community vibe to it. I was surprised by the amount of talent and diversity there. Come next Friday at around 3:30 to the courtyard to witness this little event. This is the sort of thing I'd love to see more of at BHS.

To pour water into a sieve... Emery

Soft fire makes sweet malt... Hansse

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