Switched-On :: Blog

As we grow up, we’re expected to mess up more than a few times. While it feels terrible when you botch a homework assignment, fail a test, or disappoint a friend, it’s pretty much inevitable. The hope is that you learn from it. Tiger Woods’ fall, from a golf superstar to a ridiculed and denounced figure, is an extreme example of such an erring. Unless you refuse to digest any media, you probably know he had several affairs. He’s been in rehab for sex addiction, and has apologized. But does Tiger owe the public an apology? Haven’t we all done stupid things? Cheating on a spouse is a horrible thing to do, but Woods is far from the only offender. The fact that Tiger is in the spotlight puts him in an unfair position – being attacked for being human. It’s obvious that he has a serious problem that warrants a rehab stay, and blaming him for this is wrong.

- Will

So last Friday my class was one of the few who were able to go on a field trip. It was an in-school field trip to see a play. This play was called The Laramie Project. This play was about a theater company going to Laramie, Wyoming to do interviews. Their reason: a hate crime. In 1998 a guy named Matthew Shepard was beat, tortured and left for dead just outside of the small town of Laramie, Wyoming. He was picked up by two men. They were homophobic. They took Matthew Shepard to a place where no one would find him. They dragged him out of the truck, beat him with a gun and their own hands, robbed him and tied him to a fence. If no one found him 18 hours later he would have died without going to a hospital. He was in a coma for days before he actually died. The killers are serving two life sentences. The fact that my school put on a play about a theater company going to do interviews on actual residents was amazing. I thought the play was really awesome. I even started to shed a tear or two.

- Tatiana

Just recently I overheard my mother talking on the phone. She was talking to someone about having a baby. She was like, “You are too young….Who is going to watch it?….You have your whole life ahead of you…..He’s in jail?” So of course after she finished talking I wanted to know what was going on. Supposedly my mother’s friend’s daughter is fifteen and pregnant. You heard me right – but I’m not finished. Her boyfriend is in jail and she plans on keeping the baby. Now that just made me really mad. I mean, what 15-year-old girl wants to have a baby in the first place? When I was 15 I didn’t even want to have kids. She has her whole life ahead of her and her boyfriend is in jail. What happens if he gets out of jail then what? He will probably leave her all alone and with a baby to take care of. I’m sure she doesn’t even have money to pay for things for the baby. My mom also told me that she wants to have the baby. I don’t know all the info but the stuff I do know I think is JUST WRONG!

- Tatiana