It is time for another "special assembly" here at Menlo. Hundreds of people push their way in to the gym, to hear a speaker talk about things relevant in today's society. However, the past few speakers have talked about things that were basically pointless and boring. It is time we had a speaker who would speak to us about things that matter in our society.
Just a few weeks ago, we had that environmental speaker come to our school. I will admit that I learned things that I had never known before, like how to tell which way a fox is looking if I see his tracks in a desert, how to tell what is going to happen by what the birds are saying, but is that really as important as the problems plaguing our society today? Enough with the environment, we have all had our fill of it, and instead of pumping useless information into us (unless you are going to
be a park ranger), we should hear about things that really matter, such as crime in our communities, the loss of values that made this country what it is today. What would you rather hear about, how to tell what an owl is going to do by the sound it makes, or how to prevent becoming a victim of a crime, helping people with drug abuse problems, and how to help people in you community?
I learned the three topics I mentioned above from Freshmen Seminar. However, half of a semester is not a lot of time to learn all about these things, and with so much stuff to cover, we briefly skimmed over it for about five to ten minutes. However, that five to ten minutes taught me more stuff than one of these environmental assemblies have. To me it is more important how to help out in the community, than finding out that a crow has found a meal by the way it is squawking.
However, it is not just environmental assemblies that bother me; the politically correct assembly that we heard last year was just as pointless. I believe that everyone by the time that they get to high school knows what should and should not be said around people, seeing how your parents probably taught you that when you were a child. I don't need a speaker tell me what I can and cannot say, because I have the right to say what I want. Instead of dedicating forty-five minutes to a topic which we already know, we should use it more constructively.
The best assembly I can recall is the one where George Schultz, a former Ronald Reagan cabinet member, told us about his failures and successes serving as our Secretary of State. True, we did not learn about drug abuse and the loss of family values, but we got to hear one of the leading men of the eighties speak to us about his career, a once in a lifetime opportunity for most of us.
It is time that the administration start realizing that the important topics do not all lie in environment, and that it is time that they broaden the topics which are discusses instead of switching off from the environment to being politically correct. It is time that the faculty realizes that their is more out there than watching what you say, and listening to the hawk tell all the birds it has found food. I am tired of the school getting liberals to speak to us, blaming all the problems on racial tension. True, race is a big issue today, but not all the problems are because of racial divisions, rather because of the simple loss of family values.
Anonymous