Will Timpview administrators be cracking down on “negative cheers or booing” at assemblies? This was the rumor going around Timpview for some time but it’s not just a rumor anymore, it has been confirmed as a school policy.

Imagine you’re at a school spirit assembly surrounded by many enthusiastic students. The “yell your year” challenge begins. You remember the time when you were a freshman. You and your friends yelled your year and the other grades started booing. You had been warned this would happen, after all you’re only a freshman. So you shrugged it off and moved on. Now, you’re finally older. You think, everyone has to have their turn right? So the freshmen yell their year, and other classes boo. But it’s not just the freshmen that get booed, all classes do. You don’t think too much about it because in your mind, it’s just a playful way to encourage friendly competition among our grade levels. The goal of eliminating booing was to make everyone feel included.

According to assistant principal Thomas Fell, many parents and students complained about the booing because they feel “It’s not belonging, it’s disrespectful, it’s just not right.” Fell stated that the administration has been working on making it a rule for a while, but recently it has gotten out of hand. He stated, “Everyone thinks it’s funny and it’s no big deal, but there’s kids who think they are being picked on and it’s just another reason why they don’t like going to assemblies.” Since it has been made a rule, at least 10 students have personally thanked Fell.

Fell said that he has “talked to many schools throughout the Wasatch front, we are the only school that boos.” He added, “you know how you have a sore thumb? We are that sore thumb. We are the only school.”

When students from Orem, Springville, Provo, Timpanogos, and Mountain View were asked about booing, they all said that there is no rule against it, that the students do what they want.

Fell explicitly said that if there is excessive booing at the homecoming assembly on September 26, the assembly could  be stopped in the middle, along with the spirit bowl and all future spirit assemblies at Timpview, discontinued. When Fell was asked why we aren’t able to be given a second chance, he said that he has already warned students through classes, teams, athletics, performing arts, and sent home room videos. Even for future generations at Timpview who weren’t involved in past booing, spirit assemblies will be done.

This rule may be hard to enforce as some students may not care and boo anyway. Meaning future Timpview students have to pay the consequences as well.

This concern of booing at assemblies has been greatly exaggerated. Ten random students at Timpview were interviewed and not one felt that this was a problem. The students interviewed explained that their intent is not to hurt anyone’s feelings. The Seniors, Juniors, Sophomores and even Freshmen spoken with think about booing the other classes as another way of encouraging their own class. It is seen as a playful and fun way to engage in competition at these assemblies. It’s a way to connect with your peers and shows pride for your class.

Unfortunately there isn’t a way for everyone to understand that it isn’t meant to be hurtful or offensive. Which is why parents and administrators should not attempt to remove challenges and criticism from students’ lives. After high school, there will be many times in our lives when we will be discouraged. We have to learn now how to shrug off criticism, learn from any mistakes, and move forward. Parents and administrators may think they are shielding us from these “challenges”, they are only postponing them. While some students struggle with criticism, administrators underestimate their potential to overcome these concerns.

In addition, freedom of expression is important. Students need to learn that they are going to hear things in life they don’t want to and opinions they don’t agree with. Booing will never stop. Administrators and teachers have good intentions, but just don’t realize the ultimate negative consequences. There is no way to take out every single negative influence from our school. We should try to be kind and include all individuals, but competition inevitably has winners and losers. These things challenge us as high school students to become better people.