EDITORIAL : A TERRIBLE TRADITION.EACH year at Grant High School, the Latino and Armenian students get together to extend a tradition: a massive schoolyard brawl. It's a disgusting and terrible tradition that was repeated Thursday. The bad blood between the students is based on a misperception mis·per·ceive tr.v. mis·per·ceived, mis·per·ceiv·ing, mis·per·ceives To perceive incorrectly; misunderstand. mis that started in 1989, when Latino students were collecting money from classmates Classmates can refer to either:
The sad legacy is nurtured in nearby middle schools, condoned by some parents and reinforced by upperclassmen. ``It's handed down from generation to generation, but the kids are not racist at heart,'' said Principal Joseph Walker. ``They come over here as eighth- and ninth-graders and hear about the animosity that's going on and get caught up in it.'' So much so that the Latino and Armenian students hang out in different parts of Grant's campus and are divided by what the school's dean, Daniel Gruenberg, calls ``the invisible line.'' What's sad is these are kids who should know better, and who have the capacity to learn about other cultures if they are exposed to them in classrooms and on playing fields. But what went wrong? Is this merely a case of hate perpetuated simply by a baseless, soulless soul·less adj. Lacking sensitivity or the capacity for deep feeling. soul  less·ly adv. , longstanding tradition of ill-will? And who's to blame? Do we yell and scream at the teen-agers for their deplorable behavior and let it go at that? Do we wait until someone brings an assault weapon to school and starts mowing mow 1 n. 1. The place in a barn where hay, grain, or other feed is stored. 2. A stack of hay or other feed stored in a barn. down people across the ``invisible line''? Or do we try to end this tradition here and now? The answer is simple. If the brawls don't end, if the hatred is not eviscerated, then there will likely be bodies on the school grounds someday awaiting a coroner's van to haul them away. We hope the students realize that their lives are only just beginning. That his is the same kind of hatred and contempt for human life that spawned the murderous rampage at Columbine High School Columbine High School is a secondary school in unincorporated Jefferson County, Colorado. The school is located at 6201 South Pierce Street, one mile west of the Littleton city limits and half a mile south of the Denver city/county line. in Colorado in April and the shooting rampage of Buford O'Neal Furrow furrow /fur·row/ (fur´o) a groove or sulcus. atrioventricular furrow the transverse groove marking off the atria of the heart from the ventricles. Jr. in Granada Hills a few months ago. We urge school officials, teachers, parents and students to get to the root of the apparently ingrained dispute and find a solution. It is unfortunate that school officials knew about the tradition and the ``invisible line'' and have thus far been unable to obliterate o·blit·er·ate v. 1. To remove an organ or another body part completely, as by surgery, disease, or radiation. 2. To blot out, especially through filling of a natural space by fibrosis or inflammation. them. They need the help of parents and the students themselves. These kids need guidance. They need to know there are serious consequences to their actions. This mean streak Mean Streak is a wooden roller coaster located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. It is a wooden roller coaster and was the tallest and fastest one of its kind when it debuted in 1991. It was constructed using 1. must be broken - before it's too late. |
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