Speaking my mind….
Well, the Woodmore HS class of 2005 has graduated. My buddy, Nora, is among the graduates. Unfortunately, her graduation was overshadowed by the mindless “pranks” of a dozen+ of her classmates. Their antics alone would not have made much difference, but the local media coverage blew this up into something that was so totally unfair to the “good kids” at Woodmore. I had to follow the lead of my dad and write a letter to those responsible. Here’s what I sent to the news director at WTOL, Channel 11 in Toledo.
Dear Sir,
I am a 1988 graduate of Woodmore High School and a current resident of the district. I’m writing to voice my extreme displeasure over your coverage of the recent graduation “issues” resulting from the illegal breaking and entering and vandalism carried out by 15 seniors at Woodmore High School.
Your misguided coverage has glorified this group of students and thrust near-hero status upon them for “(not letting) a mistake they made mess up their big day.” More importantly, and sadly, it has completely overshadowed the accomplishments of the remaining 85 or so members of the class who worked so hard, only to have THEIR big day pushed aside, ignored, and tainted by the public lionizing of these 15.
I am a close friend with a member of the WHS class of 2005 and today she flat-out told me, “They ruined our graduation!” She was one of the valedictorians who didn’t screw up, who didn’t break the law, who didn’t cry to the media for attention… all she did was work her butt off for 4 years of high school and this is her reward!?!?
This is the reward for the good kids? Going home after their graduation, heading out to friends’ parties celebrating their accomplishments during 13 years of Woodmore, and then tuning in to Channel 11 only to see your coverage of their law-breaking classmates with no mention of the legitimate ceremony or the hard working students who DIDN’T break in and do destructive damage to their high school?
My hat is off to Principal Johnson for not kowtowing to the pressure your station generated prior to the graduation ceremony. It took a lot of guts to do the right thing, when doing the wrong thing would have been so much easier. He set an example and taught a lesson as valuable as any learned in the Woodmore curriculum.
I think you owe the remaining members of the Woodmore High School class of 2005 an apology; the ones you didn’t show in your coverage. They worked too hard to be overshadowed by a dozen or so “pranksters.”
Thank you,
Grant Cummings
Elmore, OH
3 comments June 06 2005 7:31 pm | Grant | Uncategorized
Wow, if that’s all that happened to them I would have had no fear of getting caught for the things I did in HS. Super-gluing lockers shut, putting liquid soap on wet floors during rainy/snowy days, having a master key to the entire building and re-arranging classrooms, etc. Rules at my HS were simple. No pranks of any kind resulting in damage or interfering with class; or the ceremony is cancelled, and we would have to go to classes until the end of the school year (seniors are usually have exams the last week of May, regardless of how late everyone else went). It worked.
And why are your pictures of the ceremony so grainy? The camera takes MUCH better pictures than that. Or should we just chalk it up to a DEU?
there were no lights on in the gym… it was very dark. That’s why the photos are grainy.
Also a past graduate of WHS, no longer living in the area, but news of the 10+ delinquents in the Class of 2005 spread to me even out here. I am completely disgusted with their behavior! As harsh as it may sound, I hope those kids have to spend a some time in jail, pay maximum fines, publicly apologize to the community, their classmates/teachers, and especially taxpayers, and I hope that each one of them loses any scholarship they may have been awarded by their respective college choices. Just because one has spent 13 years in the ranks of WHS doesn’t give him/her the right to destroy property that taxpayers (which they know nothing of) fund, nor do they have the right to endanger their peers (with that oil on the stairs bit). I wonder how funny the prank would have been if someone had fallen down those stairs and broken a neck, a back, or cracked their head open. The “pranksters” (delinquents) could then have been laughing all the way to real jail. Actions have consequences, and their consequences should be just as destructive to them as their actions were to the school.
From what I’ve heard, kids overall, and at WHS especially have become increasingly irresponsible, thoughtless, and destructive over the years. Also from what I hear, the parents of these delinquents perpetually insist that “their little darlings are good kids.” I hope the particular delinquents in question are given maximum penalties and be made into an example of “what happens when you don’t follow the rules of society outside the protective shell of high school.” As you said, there are plenty of kids in that class who chose not to participate in criminal behavior, and they should not be inconvenienced because of it.
As for the Toledo media…I did not see their coverage but can imagine how it was skewed. Toledo’s media outlets, despite their own self-images, are NOT the most responsible in reporting, and it’s no surprise to me that they would glorify some punk kids rather than aknowledging the accomplishments of the good kids.
As for the vandals’ parents…for everyone’s sake, I hope they learn how to hold their own children accountable for their actions, rather than continuously claiming their “poor little darlings” are “victims.” Teach your children some respect for their fellow man!!! These kids are joining the ranks of the rest of society soon, and they need to realize that they can’t just do whatever it is they please.
Woodville and Elmore are two wonderful communities, and these kids have decided to represent their hometowns as criminals, whose actions were filled with malice and destruction. Luckily, there are the minority in their class, and the majority, of which I am certain we will all be proud, will be GOOD representatives of two great communities.
Congratulations to all of the DESERVING (and non-criminal) graduates of the WHS Class of 2005. You are vastly more intelligent and mature than your criminal peers!