Volume 11, Issue 2 | May 2020
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09
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Un if ied Club: the Puzzle Piece to Inclus ion
Per dew: A stan dout player on the court an d f ield
An article about the Unified Club and their special national recognition.
A feature about a stand-out senior basketball player who has scored over 1,000 career points.
Teachers an d stu dents: Keep ing relationships Profess ion al Catching the signs, and stopping it before it happens.
Contents Volume 11, Issue 2 | May 2020
THE ISSUE AT HAND:
SCHOOL
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Unified Club: the Puzzle Piece to Inclusion SPORTS
Trust Trust is an important component of any relationship, but under certain circumstances, it can be broken and never be the same.
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Tough Love Making Tough Players
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Teachers and Students: Keeping Relationships Profressional
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Perdew: A Standout Player on the Court and Field
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Exchanging Social Media Passwords
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Friendships Relying Heavily on Trust
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Trusting Parents Through Divorce
COMMUNITY
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Small Business Saturday
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Dunkin’ Donuts is Moving in
23 Trusting the Willing and Able: Women in the Military
Rea d more at bel i vewire.com
OPINION
27 Cheating in Relationships 27 The Growing Yet Overshadowed Problem of Abuse
Letter from the editor:
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hen something happens in our community that takes us by shock, sometimes we don’t know how to react. The question “How did this ever happen?” comes up and sometimes the answer isn’t always that clear. So, when the time comes, some issues are worth being delved into.
When our editorial board met to discuss how we were going to go about covering the relevant topic of inappropriate student and teacher relationships, we didn’t want to simply replicate the coverage you were able to read from the local news station, because we are not a regular news outlet. We are a student-ran high school publication, whose job it is to report on and cover our school and student body. We asked ourselves how such events could ever happen at our school, how could we not have known sooner? After much deliberation, we came to a conclusion on what we saw the problem as: trust. More specifically, broken trust. In such events, trust between the parents and teachers, administration and teachers, and even simply students and teachers, is damaged. Trust is the foundation of all relationships, no matter if it’s between you and your best friend, significant other, parent, teacher, colleague or any other person in your life. When trust is broken by someone you assumed to trust, it can be hard to recover. But, we all can learn from every situation and circumstance that we are presented with. In this issue we discuss different levels of trust that everyone has in common relationships. Some could be considered healthy, constructive relationships, but others not so much. I welcome all of you to respond to the content in this magazine, whether that is you writing a letter to the editor or simply sending myself or our adviser an email. If you agree or disagree with some of the opinions that are in the magazine, let us know so we can also see your point of view.
- Katie Huffman, editor-in-chief
Unified Club: the Puzzle Piece to Inclusion by emma whitehouse
“I
t’s no longer a project, it’s a lifestyle,” said senior Adam Moore.
career, and all the credit goes to the club for opening my eyes. It has given me 20/20 vision on the aspect of inclusion and being able to realize that the kids want to have a good time just as bad as anyone and they deserve it,” said Moore.
The Bullitt East Unified Club started off as a plan to break down the barriers of intellectual disabilities, but now it is much more. The Unified Club strives to spread an inclusive atmosphere while creating a unified generation. Within the short span of time the club has been at Bullitt East, it has significantly grown and the school has recently been named one of the top five unified schools in the nation. Their next steps to creating a better future for people who have disabilities is to build a stronger inclusive atmosphere within the district and among neighboring schools. In 2016, Special Education Teacher Tiffany Darnell and Instructional Assistant Katie Hoben started the Unified Club, previously known as the Project Unify Club. Never did they imagine that the club would grow this large, especially in the short amount of time. The club started off with 20 members. Three years later, there are now about 100 members in the club, with a leadership team of 10 students who help create and plan inclusive events. The Unified Club is often referred to as the heart of the school because it is where differences are embraced and kindness is always present. The club has two different types of meetings that vary monthly. One month they will have a meeting with the leadership team to discuss events. The other type of meeting they have is with all of the members including students with disabilities. There they do a wide variety of games such as board games or sports. They have an inclusive environment where kids can be viewed as a normal teenager hanging with their peers. “I have fun being with my friends,” said junior Wesley Hill, who is in Special Ed Teacher, Christina Jessie’s class. Through the club, they hope that they can help students who have an intellectual disability to have the same high school experience and respect just as anyone else would have. They also hope to change the perspective of people and let it be known that those who have special needs are the same as everyone else. “I hope that they learn that everyone is different in their own way and just because someone has a difference from someone else doesn’t mean that you can’t be friends with that person or that they can’t be important to you. I also hope that they take away any life lessons or anything that they learned and that they go out and spread that because that is what it is all about, creating an inclusive atmosphere, not only here at Bullitt East, but when you go to college or in your job. Hopefully, when you see that someone is a little bit different from you, you will go eat lunch with them or become their friend,” said Hoben. One student who has dramatically been affected by the club is Moore, who is part of the club’s leadership team. “The club is the birthplace of my love of kids who have intellectual disabilities, it’s where I learned that they are just like everyone else and I feel like I’m there voice. I feel like I’ve been given a gift from a higher power to get to educate and inspire individuals just like me, being in this club is only a stepping stone for me and this club has propelled me to a
Every year, the club has various events such as going to a pumpkin patch, viewing Christmas lights, and hosting a Unified Club prom. “They get to be kids without that label. You just get to see just a 16-year-old kid out with their friends having a good time. That is just what it is all about, those smiles on their faces,” said Hoben. The school also has unified sports such as basketball, track and field, baseball and bowling. Junior David Boyer, student in Darnell’s class, is the school’s baseball team manager and also participates in multiple Special Olympics sports. Last year, he was able to bat for the first time in a real game. After scoring a run, the team rushed around Boyer and cheered pure joy for him. “It is all about family,” said Boyer. With all of the inclusive activities and events that the club offers, Bullitt East was recognized by ESPN and Special Olympics as one of the top five National Banner Unified Schools in the nation. “Did I ever expect it, no, but did I know that we have done some really great things here, yes. While it was a surprise, I wasn’t completely blown away by it because we have such a great school and a great community that supports inclusion,” said Darnell. During school Oct. 30, ESPN presented a banner recognizing the inclusivity that the school has accomplished. “The banner represents that we fully support inclusion here at Bullitt East whether that is in sports, in classrooms, or anything that we do, we always try to include others. Everybody is different in their own way, but that
3 | SCHOOL
doesn’t make them any less,” said Darnell. During the assembly, multiple students and special guest speakers gave speeches, ESPN broadcaster Mike Golic Jr. presented the banner, and then there was a basketball game between Bullitt East’s and Fern Creek’s unified clubs. After the assembly, there was a press conference with special guests from ESPN and Special Olympics along with some staff and students involved within the club. “It’s the little moments that remind you that this is natural for everyone here. High school is a tough place and just remembering what it was like for a lot of kids that I went to high school with and then seeing the way people here treat each other just on a person to person basis when no one is watching, that is what I think your all’s character is. This is a high character school,” said Golic during the press conference.
circumstances. “We want to educate people about what the word means and how it can be hurtful when not used in the correct form. The slogan is ‘spread the word to end the word,’” said Darnell. Other steps that the club is taking to form a unified generation are hosting more unified basketball games with other schools and invite other schools to inclusive events. By getting more people involved in the program, they hope to make inclusion the norm, not only at schools, but everywhere. They hope to make this generation, the unified generation.
Being a National Banner Unified School was one of the club’s main goals, and now after all of the hard work they put towards accomplishing that, they are currently working on their other goals such as getting other schools in the district to grow their inclusivity and for neighboring schools to eventually be a National Banner School as well. To accomplish that, their leadership team is currently planning a district-wide awareness week that will take place at the same time as the school-wide awareness week which is April 13 through 17. During the awareness week, each day will represent a disability and they will give some basic information about the assigned disability. At the end of the week, there will be a basketball game against Fern Creek’s unified club and an r-word pledge. During the r-word pledge, students sign a poster pledging to never use the r-word under any Graphic by Emma Whitehouse.
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Tough Love Making Tough Players by Keelin Davis and Dane Bunel
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hen mid-game adrenaline starts to fly, emotions follow closely.
“These kids nowadays can hardly take a joke, let alone any kind of constructive criticism,” Atchley stated.
To many, Bullitt East is home to some of the finest, most reliable coaches one could possibly ask for, and with tough coaching and guidance, comes tough passion and love on both the player and coaches side. Whether you play basketball, football, or golf, the same emotion is brought out of you when pushing yourself beyond your comfort zones. What may come off as an intense lecture, isn’t supposed to be as intense as it seems. Most coaches try to make it known that the message should matter more than the tone. Boys Basketball Head Coach, Jason Couch is someone who lives by this quote day in and day out. “I’ve always been a big believer in telling kids when they’ve done bad and not sugar coating it. But I will tell you when your good. As long as you remember to still be positive in moments and give off positive reinforcement mixed with your constructive criticism, then their able to adapt and accept evaluation and judgement better,” said Couch. “Multiple variables take place in a high school sports game, there’s a thrill and an agony mixed with it that can’t be described unless you’re the one involved in it. Some people become flustered under pressure but there’s only two key factors to keep in the back of your mind. According to Couch, these factors are technique and attitude,” Couch stated.
Someone holding you accountable for your actions is important because without them, how do you expect to have any kind of improvement on the actions you make. We’re not just here to be your friend, we’re here to give you advice and encouragement, because you kids are the future of America and you gotta take it with a grain of salt,” said Atchley. Every coach here has a story of their own, and with age comes wisdom, and once your at a point in your life where you can share your past wisdom to the next generation of athletes, students, and beyond, it’s good to take full advantage of it. “Discipline and accountability here can be inadequate at times, but you gotta start somewhere. With time comes effort, and despite a few losses on our record, we have all the capabilities of being not only a great team, but great people as well,” said Atchley. Despite what you may think is bitter judgement, is really just a message sounded out with heart and intensity. Being insecure is okay, but don’t doubt that someone has their best interest in mind for you, as an athlete, especially when it’s being let out the way it is. It’s called tough love for a reason.
“While we’re trying to master technique, at the same time, I’m trying to push a specific attitude on my guys as well. Playing with aggression and max effort is one thing, but sometimes that can just be turned into blind emotionalism. When this happens, it can result in poor technique or a weakened mindset.” Thousands of kids have came in and out of their high school athletic careers with their own personal impact left behind, but Coach Couch assures that he makes wonderful relationships with his students every day. “I’ve met many individuals in my time here, I‘d be lying if I said it wasn’t hard to name some of my own students.” “I focus on the qualities more than I do the names sometimes. My thing with coaching and teaching in general is that I like to build relationships here. Whether I’m flooding your brain with knowledge on the court or in the classroom, every student has made an impact on me,” said Couch. The underlying basis of what high school relationships are, is that what they can teach you is far beyond the game. Head Football Coach, Ethan Atchley, brings a new breath of fresh air to Charger Nation and his impact on students has always remained exceptional. 5 | SCHOOL
Graphic by Keelin Davis.
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Perdew looking down the court, contemplating his next move. The Chargers faced Desales on the home court, and lost by three points. Photo by Katie Huffman.
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Perdew:
A standout player on the court and field by tyler mozingo
A
name Bullitt East will remember for a long time.
Zak Perdew is a star on the soccer and basketball teams at Bullitt East. Going from one sport to another, Perdew hasn’t missed a beat. The seasons don’t interfere with each other, so Perdew doesn’t receive a break, but that doesn’t phase his play. Perdew is fresh off a state bound senior soccer season where Perdew was a captain on the team. He led the Chargers to their most successful season in school history. They finished with a (16-2-2) record and they set many milestones during the season. Perdew led his team to their first win in the region tournament in school history and they continued that feat to move on to the state tournament for the first time ever. Perdew goes straight from soccer season right to basketball season. There is no break for Perdew to rest up, so treatment is key. “My muscles definitely feel it so I just have to maintain treatment on my body to be able to perform at a high level and not have any bad practices,” said Perdew. Perdew works with the school athletic trainer to make sure his muscles stay fresh. Last season, Perdew was a catalyst for the basketball team as a junior and started every game. He was a consistent scorer on a team that went to the region championship for the first time since 2015-2016. “That was a fun team to be a part of because I was so bought in with my teammates. We all believed in each other and that rubbed off on the red zone rowdies and they bought in and it just kept growing and we made a successful season out of it,” said Perdew. Perdew is going to be a key leader on this year’s team as they lost 3 senior starters from last year’s squad in Thomas Wiseheart, Rece Watson and Tyler Steinmetz. Those are going to be big shoes to fill, but Perdew is ready to fill those shoes and carry this year’s team to hopefully another region championship and move on to state. Time management is key in a student athlete’s life, and Perdew tackles those struggles head on. As just a high school student, Perdew manages between soccer, basketball, education, family time, and a job. That is a lot on the plate for a high school student athlete. “Having time management is critical for me because I have a lot going on, but once you figure it out, it’s just becomes a routine so I don’t stress about that anymore. I just do what I need to do and it’s a repeating cycle,” said Perdew. A leader on both the soccer team and basketball team has helped Perdew become a natural leader. Leading his teammates for the common good of the team is something Perdew has mastered in his time with both teams. “Being able to lead my teammates means a lot and that they all trust me and buy in to the team means even more. If they are all bought in with me, then we can accomplish more than we ever could’ve thought because we all want the same things for each other and for the team, and so that makes it easy,” said Perdew. A leader and a great teammate is what Perdew embodies and that’s why his teammates love him. “Zak is a good teammate. He’s always there for the guys and wants the best out of everyone because he knows when the best comes out of people, your team will he hard to beat,” said sophomore basketball player Tucker Blanford. Blanford has been a teammate of Perdew’s for two seasons now. Perdew has had a lot of success with sports at Bullitt East, and his last campaign is his senior basketball season. Perdew hopes to make this the best season yet and carry the team to a state tournament berth and send the senior class out on a high note. 8 | SPORTS
Take a look at Perdew’s season highlights:
Small Business Saturday by rebecca watts and makayla stone
G
iving back to the community one stamp at a time.
Small businesses have banded together to help promote their business. In order to compete with big brands such as Kohls or Walmart, business owners have taken strides to help promote each other. Small Business Saturday is one of the most profitable days of the year for Mount Washington’s small businesses. Smaller shop owners pride themselves on friendly service and treating their customers like family. Unlike in previous years, the small businesses in Mount Washington have extended small business saturday to a full week, in order to encourage customers to visit more shops. “I do all the graphics. These go out to all the businesses and people pick them up. Normally you have to get a game piece and you have to get like six out of 12, but we were only open on that one day. But this year we’re doing it all week and you have to collect all 10. There’s no purchase necessary, you just have to get a stamp, but the purpose of it is to get people through our door. Even if they don’t shop and spend money with us that day, they can see our businesses,” said Shelby Packer, owner of Cordial Lee boutique. At Country Vogue boutique, owner Debbie Miller doesn’t have much money to spend on advertising and relies on conversation to promote her boutique. In order to boost their sales, owners all over the city gather to plan and organize Small Business Saturday. The mayor and his staff work to promote small shops around town, but the owners have also taken to social media such as Instagram and Facebook with a joint account that hopes to get the word around to more people about their stores. “Our thing as a community, especially with the shop small stuff is that we try to tag each other in our Instagram and Facebook posts because we’re all going to be involved. So that way their customers see us, our customers see them. It’s just having each other’s backs,” explained Miller. Each business makes up a tight-knit community of entrepreneurs that have known each other for years. With Mount Washington being a small town, it’s no surprise that mostly everyone knows everyone. “I knew Cindy because our children graduated together, but just being hometown folk helps because everyone knows each other,” said Miller. Small Business Saturday does a lot to promote the livelihoods of these business owners, where some rely on this one day to keep their shops going. For these shops, Saturday is their Black Friday. They buy more stock than usual and spend a lot of time to make sure that the store is ready for customers.”They’re starting to spread Black Friday out past Friday and we’re starting to get overlooked again because of these giants, we can’t compete. For those people who do know about Saturday, they really do try to show up. Like I said, it’s our biggest day of the year. Last year I was in tears because I was so overPhoto by Rebecca Watts.
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whelmed because for a small business to struggle all year long and then to have one day where the community shows up, it really means a lot to us if they show up on that one day. Even if they can’t come the rest of the year, that one day means the world to us,” said Packer. Not only do these shops have a strong sense of community, but by supporting them, customers are also supporting their local economies.”If you spend $10 at Starbucks, only one dollar goes back to the community. If you spend $10 at a local business, almost 80% of that goes back into the local community,” said Miller. The businesses try to give back to the community when they can, including providing jobs. When possible. “Something that I think makes us special is that we have a lot of employees from this area and when we’re able to give them a job and help them provide for their families that’s really important for us too and really special. I’m really proud of that, but a lot of small businesses it’s just the owner that’s working there. If we don’t have the sales, we can’t support our staffs and that’s why it’s really important for the sales to be there to help these families,” said Packer. Small businesses like Country Vogue focus on connections and good experiences to keep bringing customers back. “I think we take the time to get to know about the customer and about the person they are, instead of the customer they are. We have customers that come in here and they have this many children and you get to know more about their personal lives. During prom, all the boys I treat more like they’re my own. It’s just more of that family feel instead of them just being a number,” said Miller. Unlike small businesses, corporate chains don’t need to establish good relationships with their customers. They have the advertising dollars and the size to not be affected by one shoppers bad experience. “As a small business, one of our biggest hurdles is an advertising budget. We don’t have advertising dollars like big corporates, all we have is Facebook, word of mouth and very small advertisements from time to time. That’s why it’s really important for us when everybody comes in that they leave with a good experience because I don’t want my main source of advertising to ever hurt us. Whereas Walmart or Target, they’re not going to care because there are so many workers there,” explained Packer These small businesses still have a lot to offer and work hard to keep the prices down. While bringing in a new product is often difficult, these small stores do what they can to keep their stores stocked with products customers want. At Country Vogue, top of the like Micheal Kor tuxedos are available for a cheaper price than average tuxes at stores such as Men’s Warehouse “I think that they just don’t think that I can offer as much because they think I’m a small business. I think that once they come in and they find out what I have they’re like ‘wow I didn’t realize they had this,’” said Miller. “Everyone has an opinion on what we should be doing differently and that’s very hard because everything takes money and to bring in a new product we have to have the funds to support it. During the slow times of the year, it’s really difficult to constantly restock and get in new stuff. We do the best that we can, but we’re not made of money,” said Packer. 10 | COMMUNITY
Dunkin’ Donuts is Moving in by Katey goins
O
utgrowing the choices.
For a while, the community has been unhappy with the restaurant choices in Mt. Washington. People have complained for years that there isn’t a wide variety of places to eat here in town. Naturally, people have spoken on what restaurant chains they wish were here and the problem with not having many options. So with the new Dunkin’ Donuts arriving in town, there is both support and skepticism for the business. Here in Mt. Washington we have the basic chains like McDonalds, Taco Bell, Burger King and a few more. Along with those there are a few locally owned restaurants like Donut King and The Country Diner. On a poll that was conducted on the Livewire’s Instagram, 75% of people said that they felt there wasn’t a variety of food in Mt. Washington while 25% said that they think there is a good variety. One of the main concerns for people is that you have to drive out of Mt. Washington to get something different. “I think it’s inconvenient and if you want to go to a certain restaurant you have to drive all the way to a different area since Mt. Washington basically only has local restaurants,” said Aubrey Stopher, junior.
The idea of a large national chain is something that is threatening to those who own small locally owned businesses. Donut King is the only donut shop in town so it hasn’t had that much competition. Now with a highly popular donut shop coming into town, some fear that the local business will start to lose customers. “We already have Donut King and I think it’s good to keep their business since they are locally owned. Also, because we already have many fast food restaurants in Mt. Washington. It’d be different if we were to add a sit down restaurant or something new besides something we already have. I think it’s important to support the established local place we have now,” said Grayson Adams, senior. Something that has sparked conflict within many people’s minds is that Mt. Washington lacks the space to take in a popular national chain. “I know people love coffee and all that and it’ll make people’s lives easier but it will just be another thing that we don’t need. Mt. Washington is getting so crowded, we don’t need anything else, even if it’s a pain to drive 20 minutes to get a meal or coffee. Also, traffic will be bad since it’s going to be right on the main road,” said Rylee Jenkins, sophomore.
The people who haven’t lived in Mt. Washington their whole lives bring a different perspective to the table because they have lived and experienced a completely different town. “Mt. Washington is much smaller than my hometown and I believe that for the small town that we are, we have a decent variety. Obviously, there is room for growth in Mt. Washington and I’d love to have a few more fast food options. I just believe we have a pretty good variety as of now because my hometown was bigger and basically had the same options we do here,” said Bria Bryant, junior, who moved here from Indiana. With the new Dunkin’ Donuts coming to town there is both support and skepticism. Seeing as how in the past newer businesses have failed in Mt. Washington, some don’t know if Dunkin’ will be able to get enough business to stay open. “I really don’t understand the struggle for business in this area, I feel the market is there and the population is high enough. I have never been to a Dunkin’ Donuts so I’m not sure. But if it’s anything like a Starbucks I think they will do well,” said Brandi Sheehan, math teacher. 11 | COMMUNITY
The avid coffee drinkers not only show enthusiasm towards the idea of having a new coffee place but the idea that it is in town. “I feel like we don’t have anything like that in town except for Starbucks which is all the way in Shepherdsville. I think it will be a big change and a big hit when it comes in,” said Hallie Thornsberry, sophomore. Thornsberry also mentioned the idea that it will be a good stop to make before school to get breakfast and coffee and maybe even encourage kids to wake up earlier to get coffee and to get to school on time.
Graphic by Katey Goins.
Fast food resturants in Mt. Washington Here we have a map of Mt. Washington that indicates all of the large national fast food chains in Mt. Washington including McDonalds, Subway, Taco Bell, Dairy Queen, Little Caesars, Papa Johns, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Arby’s, Burger King, Dominos and Dunkin’ Donuts. There are an abundance of fast food places, but not a lot of sit-down resturants. Graphic by Katey Goins.
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Teachers and Students:
Keeping relationships professional by Morgan harbolt
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hen the line has been crossed.
It’s almost inevitable that throughout high school, students will grow a closely-knit relationship with one or more of their teachers. Teachers are leaders, mentors, coaches, advisers and friends to their students, but sometimes the least expected can come out of these relationships. In order to create a more welcoming and accepting environment, teachers are pushed to form relationships with their students. What can start off as an innocent attempt to make an impact can lead to the new talk of the town. Inappropriate relationships between students and teachers are unacceptable, and the warning signs and cues that it has gone too far may not always be obvious. According to the 2018-2019 Code of Student Behavior and Discipline, the Bullitt County Public Schools system believes, “Relationships are the foundation of a positive culture.” Highschool is a place where students enter as young teens and leave as adults. Having a trusted adult within the school building as a mentor can be beneficial for students during this transition. Inside or outside of school, everyone has a million ways to keep in contact with others through social media. Apps like Remind101 or Google Classroom create ways for students and teachers to have an easy way to communicate outside of school. Learn Safe writer, Emma, wrote an article called ‘How Schools Can Stop Inappropriate Teacher/Student Relationships.’ The article says, “By using social media, teachers have an easier way to communicate with the student. And it’s also more difficult to track.” A lot of schools do use social media as a positive way of reaching their students. Many administrators and teachers use social media to remind students about things, post daily schedule changes and just create a sense of connection. For example, Assistant Principal Tim Ridley tweeted on Twitter, “Last week’s attendance was a 94.56%. Let’s finish the semester strong.” However, it’s important that parents are aware of who their children are talking to on social media, including their teachers. Parents can never be too cautious. One message on Snapchat or Instagram can lead to students being taken advantage of, maybe without even realizing it. In 2015, a Courier Journal writer, Bailey Loosemore, wrote an article called ‘Bullitt County sex with students rises.’ Loosemore said, “Since 2010, three teachers, a substitute and a computer technician — three of whom worked at Bullitt Central High School — have been charged with abusing teens they met while in positions of authority.” The past five years there had been five cases of teachers sexually abusing students. The most recent occurence of an inappropriate relationship in the Bullitt County district was brought to light in August 2019, and involved a former teacher and recent graduate. This case is still under Kentucky State Police investigation. In the article Loosemore states, “Problems outside of school and the desire to feel wanted are a few reasons why BCPS supervisor of social services Susan Bibelhauser thinks some teachers might be capable of making decisions that are not only harmful to both parties involved — but also illegal.” Being vulnerable can cause people to do things out of their character, but there are better ways to react than having an inappropriate relationship. Loosemore wrote, “I think people sometimes might be at a place in life where things aren’t going extremely well, and they start to think and do things they might not normally do,” Bibelhauser said. “You have to watch yourself when you’re that vulnerable. ... Your students are not the answer.” Bibelhauser gave some ways to prevent student and teacher inappropriate relationships. Loosemore wrote, ‘Bibelhauser said, “Administrators need to make sure school staffers know what signs could point to inappropriate relationships and ensure their employees are following district policies, such as an electronic use policy that discourages staff members from interacting with students on personal social networking accounts.”’ In order to catch and prevent illegal activities and involvements from taking place, students, parents, teachers and administrators need to increase their awareness. If something seems off, ask questions. Provide support for students to protect the learning environment from being anything more than that.
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Graphic by Katie Huffman. It’s important to know where the boundaries are for all relationships, and to not cross those boundaries.
What you can do to help: 1. Take rumors seriously - no matter if you think a rumor is just a rumor, go to a trusted adult. If it proves to be nothing, then it’s nothing. But, if it’s true you can keep it from escalating into something even more of what it should not be. 2. Be aware of your surroundings - even if you think it can’t happen to or around you, it can. Be aware of things that seem off and don’t be afraid to question or talk to someone. 3. Know your boundaries - whether you are a student or teacher, know how far too far is. There are many confounding variables that could go into the becoming of an inappropriate relationship (loneliness, depression, vulnerability.) Know what is appropriate to take part in, and what is not. 4. Have discussions - talk to your fellow students, teachers and administrators about things that have happened in the past. Discussing the problem will make more people aware of it, and possibly drive down the chances of something happening that should not.
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Exchanging Social Media Passwords by lilly whitley
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haring isn’t always caring.
Sharing social media passwords may be an attempt to show loyalty, but it can lead to hurt feelings and irreversible damage. These days, most teenagers have exchanged passwords to their social media accounts. Whether its to show affection to a significant other or establish trust between two best friends, password sharing is extremely common. Nevertheless, password sharing can cause undesirable conflict. In regards to relationships, when things are on the “up and up,” it’s easy to share a password or two with a significant other. However, what young couples don’t realize is that arguments are inevitable. They will happen, and the decision to share passwords with their boyfriend can easily come back to haunt them. “My ex-boyfriend told me he wanted my passwords just because I should be able to trust him with them. This decision allowed him to go through my private messages and find reasons to be insecure,” said senior, Shelby Knieriem. Partners in a relationship may want the other’s password so they can feel in control. “My ex-boyfriend wanted my social media passwords so bad because it gave him authority in the relationship. Once this guy messaged me on Instagram asking for my Snapchat username. Because my ex-boyfriend had my social media password, he saw the message and became very angry with me. If he hadn’t had my Instagram password, I wouldn’t have answered and he wouldn’t have known. Instances like this led to a toxic relationship for both of us,” said Knieriem. Most people have no idea how sharing a social media password can affect them. “It was scary because he pretended to be me on social media and my self-image was portrayed in a negative and false way. Even worse, there was nothing I could do to stop it. Even though I changed the password, the damage had already been done,” said Knieriem. In some cases, sharing passwords can lead to unfavorable outcomes. “My ex-girlfriend stayed logged into my accounts and would then text me about stuff on my accounts as if she found it out on her own. I regret sharing social media passwords with her because it was a bad decision. She was manipulative and it was an invasion of my privacy especially after she stayed logged in after we broke up,” said an anonymous student. These days, teens are going to share social media passwords regardless of the precautions advised by adults. “I would not advise other teenagers to do this because if your relationship isn’t secure enough for them to trust you without needing your social media password then it’s probably unhealthy,” said Knieriem. In regards to sharing passwords, the risk seems to be greater than the reward.
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Graphic by Katie Huffman.
Friendships Relying Heavily on Trust by Abi Huffman and Ella Olds
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est friends forever.
‘BFFS’ is a widely known and used term but some don’t realize what effort must be put into having a lasting friendship. Having friendships, same sex or not, requires trust. Many roles play into a healthy friendship and there are many ways one can break. When a friendship breaks, there is a lot of healing for both sides that comes with it. Making friends comes naturally for some. It is important for teenagers to surround themselves with good friends, as they are in a period of growth. According to hhs.gov, “Positive friendships provide youth with companionship, support, and a sense of belonging.” A big role in genuine friendships is trust. You have to be able to trust yourself to choose the right friends and trust others to not deceive you during the friendship. Sophomore Emma Kate Wright and junior Lily Echols have been friends since they were babies. They don’t experience a lot of stress through their relationship because they know no drama is worth sacrificing their friendship over. “Trust plays a big role in our friendship. When she needs something I’m there and when I need something she is right behind me. I’d trust my life with Lily,” said Wright. For them, growing up together has never been a challenge. “We’ve definitely both changed and matured over the years as all people do. Luckily that hasn’t affected our friendship all that much. No matter how Lily changed or I did, we would tell each other what we were thinking and get over the issue. Honestly, as we’ve grown we seem to complement each others personalities even better than when we were little,” said Wright. Friendships as real as theirs can sometimes be hard to find. Broken bonds are just as relevant today as healthy ones. Friendships can end for multiple reasons. These reasons could be relationship issues, unnecessary drama, or something as simple as outgrowing each other. Junior Brynna Crump, had a friendship of 13 years end recently. The bond was broken because of little things building up, drifting apart and some big disagreements. Crump sees trust in her friendships by knowing that they will both put forward the effort to always communicate how each other feels. “There will be trust in the fact that the other will understand natural changes and differences you may have,” said Crump. Location can be another big change in friendships. Lillie Feldhaus moved away after her freshman year and currently goes to a different school than best friend, Alanna Pierce who is currently a junior here. “The move was really hard but the trust didn’t weaken, we still talk every day and hopefully we will live to be lifelong best friends,” said Pierce. Some friendships end after a big change, such as a move but Pierce and Feldhaus make it work. Foregin exchange students take on big changes in their friendships when coming to America. Because of the location and how they are gone for a long period of time many would think that the friendships might grow weak. However, this is not the case for Esther van Dreumel, who is a senior currently at Bullitt East. Coming from the Netherlands was a little hard for Dreumel because the senior class has grown up together and she is an outsider in these already formed friendship groups. As she is still getting to know her friends here, she uses social media everyday to keep in contact with her friends back home. “I think trust plays a big role in friendships. You have to be there for your friends when they are going through a hard time, and you should be able to trust them to do the same thing for you. Even more now that I don’t see my friends every day, I need to have trust that they will still be there for me when I go back home after a year,” said Dreumel. After a friendship ends, it is as if they can’t trust again friends. For Crump, she has and grew her support sysbut I realized that life just we don’t understand yet. that most friendships are best with the ones I have people more than ever right
Graphic by Ella Olds.
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tough on both sides. Many feel or be able to find new, better reached out to her other friends tem. “It was really hard at first has a way of working out that I’ve made peace with the fact not forever, but I’m doing my and I’ve never appreciated my now,” said Crump.
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Trusting Parents Through Divorce by sophia blanton
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ivorce and trust, and the effect it has on the family as a whole.
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Divorce and Marriage Rates According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the marriage rate in the U.S. is 6.9 per 1,000 total population and there are about 2,236,496 marriages in the U.S. However, the divorce rate is 2.9 per 1,000 population and the number of divorces is 787,251; this data comes from 45 reporting states and D.C. The divorce rate decreased by 18% between 2008 to 2016. “Of course, there are limits to the information in the CDC’s model. For example, only 44 states and Washington, DC, record enough marriage and divorce data to go into the report. The excluded states include Calif., Ga., Hawaii, Ind., Minn., and New Mexico, which is a big chunk of the population. But, if you really want to put a figure on the number of divorces in America, that will give you a rough estimate,” said Marisa Lascala with Good Housekeeping. Lascala also adds that “Reports from the Pew Research Center bear this out: “Half of Americans ages 18 and older were married in 2017 ... [which] is down 8 percentage points since 1990,” it notes. Pew says this is because Americans are staying single longer, but the organization didn’t weigh in on whether that’s by choice (to travel and establish a career before getting married), or, if economic conditions mean life isn’t stable enough to get married earlier, by necessity.” Research from the American Psychological Association claims, “Divorce can be a traumatic experience for children, but research suggests that most children adjust well within two years following the divorce; on the other hand, children often experience more problems when parents remain in high-conflict marriages instead of splitting up.” “I am scared of divorce because I know what it does to family and I know the effects of it and even if the effects aren’t severe, I know how miserable they can be,” said sophomore, Savannah Payne. The APA suggests doing your best to keep the conflict away from the kids and keep the lines of communication open. They also propose that divorcing parents and their children should see a psychologist. “Psychologists can also help you think carefully about what went wrong in your marriage so you can avoid repeating any negative patterns in your next relationship,” said the APA.
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Divorce and Trust According to John T. Chirban, with Psychology Today, trust is a cornerstone and a big part of healthy child development. He says, “Children seek opportunities for exploration and rely on a secure foundation from which to seek out the fascinating possibilities of life.” Chirban does say, however, that kids will find that this situation can disappear when their parent’s divorce. In return, this can disrupt the trust between a family. When parents divorce, sometimes, the child may trust one parent over the other. Brooklyn Sauer Quote/interview. For some, like sophomore Savannah Payne, trust is harder to keep after her parent’s divorce. “I used to trust my parents,” said Payne, “I trust my mom over my dad because my dad mentally abused me and my siblings and the way he let his wife treat us, I won’t ever trust him again. I don’t feel safe around him, I left his house forever, best decision I have ever made.” Step-parents. Future Relationships. “I know I’ll have trust issues in the future just because I get attached easily I guess you could say and throughout my childhood before they got divorced I really trusted my parents that they would love us and keep us together that clearly didn’t work. I trusted my dad, that he will keep us safe and that he wouldn’t let anyone hurt us and he would keep us out of harm’s way but that clearly failed with him and my stepmom, I absolutely hate it, I hate them both so much. My mom started telling the family everything and there were no secrets, she loves to spill gossip and I can’t really trust anyone. I trust people who I think deserve to be trusted, but that is clearly bad judgment. I trust people too easily, so when someone says they really like me I believe them just like how my dad said he would keep me out of harm’s way, and how my mom ‘keeps secrets’. I think it’ll be hard finding someone who genuinely likes me and wants to date me but I can hope, right” said Savannah Payne. Graphic by Sophia Blanton.
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Trusting the Willing and Able: Women in the military by Mia Maguire
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o trust or not to trust? For men and women in the military, that is the question.
In the military, trust is important for every aspect of being successful. Between the men and women of the military, trust and respect for one another is something they build from the ground up. As a female in any branch, gaining respect is a concept that has to be worked towards. Trust: Defined by the Webster Dictionary as an assured reliance on the character, ability, strength or truth of someone or something. It is something that makes up every part of our lives, makes it possible to build bonds, relationships and have confidence in yourself. In the military, trust is something that could mean life or death. According to Page Young, Captain in the US Army National Guard, “It is the most crucial part of the military.” Young went to the University of Louisville where she got her ROTC scholarship. She went straight from college to her first deployment in Iraq in 2011 and has been serving in the military since. “If you don’t have trust and you don’t trust the people in charge of you, the people below you, it’s toxic. It can change everything. . . And it’s quick, it can happen very quickly, like one lie, one embellishment, one training disaster, any misuse of trust or fraternization or anything like that can impact the unit like crazy. It can make stuff, just like, stop,” said Young. Young grew up in an Army home and wanted to serve her country her entire life following in her father’s footsteps. During highschool she was a part of JROTC along with other female students. “He [her father] encouraged me as long as I was an officer and went to school first,” said Young. Because of these factors she grew confidence in her capabilities. While she was deployed in Iraq, she was an officer. “I was 21 and in charge of 60 dudes, overseas, making their training plans, making sure they were safe, like everything I was in charge of. It was a rude awakening.” But being outnumbered by men did not seem to have much of an effect on Young. “I think it made me a lot more confident. Just having that comradery, it’s crazy … I do not know what I would do without that part of my life, it has really shaped who I am,” said Young. With Young being around so many men, it was easy for her to pick out women she looked up to. Some words of advice she received from a female captain made her realize she was a little unprepared for her deployment. “I am like ‘Oh my God, she is so cool, I want to be like her’ and the one thing that she told me…is when you are over there you have to watch your back from these men. And I’m like, ‘What are you talking about’ because I still had this like ‘Ah, I love this’ ... I don’t want to say in denial but I was not prepared. But the way sexual assult, rape, all that stuff was so prevalent especially on deployment, she really kind of like made me hold on to some of the trust that I was really freely giving all of these men because I was just like we are all on the same team, I trust everybody infactically, and shes like no, don’t put your trust out there too quickly because sexual assult and rape in the military is huge. She told me to walk around with a knife in my boot, not because of the people we were fighting, but because of the men that I was working with and it blew my mind,” said Young. According to the Battered Women’s Justice Project, “Nearly 25% of women veterans who seek health care services from the Department of Veterans Affairs report experiencing at least one sexual assault while in the military compared to slightly more than one percent of male veterans. Women who enter the military at younger ages, those of enlisted rank, and those who experienced sexual assault prior to entering the military, appear to be at increased risk of sexual assault while in the military.” Young never had personal experiences with this issue and felt that the men that she worked with trusted her, and she could reciprocate that trust in return. “I think that trust was built over time. Like when I got to the new unit, I was twenty one years old, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, it’s really trial by fire and learn because you’ve got really good guys that have been in your unit for a long time and have been doing it for a long time they see you up there and they realize that she really wants to figure this out, she wants to learn, and they help you, and they coach you, and they teach you, and they see as long as she gives a crap, they are going to break their backs for you. So it really took, guys that have been on for twenty years, showing me the ropes, showing me how to do things the right way and not having an ego. That’s probably the biggest thing that made people trust me more than anything else. I didn’t come into it like ‘I know everything’, ‘I’m only ten and I’m in charge of you,’ no, I was super humble, I told them straight up I have no idea what I’m doing, but I want to learn. Like I know how to do an operations order, I know how to make training plans, but that’s about it. Like, help me to make you guys better and I think that helped out tremendously with trust. They realized I wasn’t some jerk just coming in and telling them what to do. So that helped out a lot. It’s important to not be egotistical and have just some humility,” said Young. The experiences that Young has had has changed her life for the better and encourages everyone who is considering the military to join. “There was a girl who was a specialist in my unit and she would look up to me and say, ‘I think I wanna be an officer’ and I always really encourage people to be officers just because of the respect factor, especially as a female. Now, I look at things the way my dad told me just because I’ve never really been enlisted, I didn’t live that kind of life but knowing it’s good stress. It’s good stress to be in charge of people and just being a leader, it’s such an honor. It’s given me ten of the best years of my life. I love it. I wouldn’t change it for anything and I encourage everybody to Graphic by Mia Maguire. do it, its awesome,” said Young. Graphic by Mia Maguire. 23 | THEME
Cheating in Relationships by Ella Olds
O
nce a cheater always a cheater.
Being cheated on or being a cheater in a relationship stays with that person forever. Cheating is a broad term that everyone thinks of and uses differently. Once in a relationship you and your partner can both learn and grow with each other off trust. Once out of an untrustworthy relationship, it can be damaging to future ones. According to dictionary.com, a cheater is “a person who acts dishonestly, deceives, or defraud.” Cheating can be perceived in all different ways. When it comes to relationships, cheating is when your partner physically does something with somebody they have no commitment to. When in the talking stage, the stage right before you start dating, it is considered okay to text others because you have no commitment to your partner, you’re technically not in a relationship until you declare yourselves exclusive. Once exclusive, some believe that flirting and/or texting others is cheating. In my opinion, it’s not cheating until it becomes physical. It is human nature to be flirtatious and talk to other people. If you flirt and leave it at that it is not cheating. Once beyond those walls, such as hanging out with somebody you have even just a slight interest in, is cheating. Junior, Kendall Szewczyk perceives cheating as nothing but a negative blow in a relationship and what can end it between two people. “Cheating shows a lack of trust and feelings. It proves that the one person you thought would have your back doesn’t,” said Szewczyk.
If somebody cheats in a relationship, there can be many factors as to why they say they did it. Such as commitment issues, trust issues, lack of trust altogether, and loss of feelings. If in a relationship where there is multiple boundaries and some too strict it may cause the other to act out. This is where the expectations come into play, if you except trust and love in a relationship and your partner doesn’t live up to those, where they cheated, this shows that they cannot be in a relationship, or are not mature enough to commit to one. When getting out of a relationship where you have been cheated can be difficult for a lot of people. This could affect their future relationship in all aspects; such as where their trust has been broken and a fear of getting into another relationship lingers. “Through personal experience, I can say that cheating affects people after a relationship immensely. It can take a mental and physical toll on a person. A cheater can leave the other feeling worthless, hopeless, and sad. For me, it created cracks in my friendships and my relationship with my family. It can too much to deal with alone which created pressure in those aspects of my life,” said Szewczyk. Being cheated on or being the cheater can and will affect multiple aspects of tennagers lives. If you are ever in a bad situation or are looking for some help or just a trusted adult to talk to, the counselors at school are a good option and so our school’s youth services coordinator.
Graphic by Abi Huffman.
For a relationship to work, trust is a main factor. Having trust between two people can make or break a relationship. For some, this means setting boundaries. Instead of setting boundaries and pulling your significant other around as somebody you control, I believe expectations are what’s important. You tell them what you expect in a relationship; love, trust, forgiveness, respectfulness, responsibility, etc. With these expectations, your partner will either show you they are worthy or unworthy of a relationship and your time/feelings. I believe with boundaries that those can place an unnecessary strain on ones relationship. If you set up expectations and go with the flow, everything will work out. And if not, you can and will find somebody better than can live up to your expectations instead of utilizing strict boundaries. 24 | OPINION
Graphic by Abi Huffman.
The Growing Yet Overshadowed Problem of Abuse by molly shannon
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busive relationships have become exceedingly common in today’s society to the point where tortuous relationships that range from abusing someone emotionally, sexually and physically have almost become the most normalized type of “love.” Domestic abuse, or intimate partner violence, as a whole, is any attempt by one person who is trying to dominate their partner in order to make their partner feel worthless and inferior to them. It is often misconstrued that men cannot not be victims of domestic violence in relationships whenever abuse against men is just as serious as abuse against women. Within the media, abuse is often times glorified because of music, films and books. Emotionally abusive relationships are the most common type of abuse according to a survey conducted in 2009 by the American College Health Association (ACHA). This survey showed that within the preceding 12 months, 9.9% of the respondents were in an emotionally abusive relationships. Other results showed that 2.4% of the respondents were in physically abusive relationships and 1.4% of the respondents were in sexually abusive relationships. Emotionally abusive relationships, or psychologically abusive relationships, are one of the more complicated types of abuse because there isn’t a set definition and everyone has their own perception of it. It can consist of, but is not limited to, verbal aggression, intimidation, manipulation and humiliation; these factors can often unfold patterns of behavior that have the ultimate goal of diminishing another’s sense of dignity, identity and self-worth. However, this type of abuse, despite being a highly serious and sensitive topic, is still disregarded as not a big deal because the relationship never got physical. This ideology causes victims of emotional abuse to be too afraid to speak out about the horrific past of their relationship from fear of being belittled and dramatic since “it’s not that bad.” In fact, this type of abuse is so severe that it can result in anxiety, suicidal thoughts or behaviors and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Excessive jealousy is a major sign of an unhealthy relationship that can often times relate to emotional abuse. Jealousy typically arises when one partner is insecure or lacks trust in the other partner. Feeling jealous from time to time is normal, however, the way one deals with their jealous feelings determines whether or not their relationship behaviors are healthy, unhealthy or abusive. Constantly checking in, asking where the other partner is at all times and trying to control who a partner spends time with are not healthy reactions to jealousy and are indicators that there is a lack of trust in the relationship. When trust is present in a relationship, a person doesn’t feel a need to monitor or control their partner. They don’t need their partner to “prove” their love and faithfulness. If you trust someone, you trust them regardless of who they spend time with or where they go. Physical abuse, on the other hand, is the act of intentionally inflicting injuries or trauma onto another person through contact whether it be bodily or done by an object. Physical abuse, generally, becomes worse overtime. It may begin with a push or a slap then overtime become exponentially worse. This can include, but is not limited to, punching, stabbing, burning, beating and throwing objects at another
person. These acts of violence evokes a fear in whoever is being abused which causes them to remain in an unhealthy relationship feeling trapped and exposed to danger. Physical abuse can lead to the victim feeling depressed, hopelessness, having low self esteem, developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety, insomnia, chronic pain and guilt. In November 2019, actress Melissa Benoist posted a lengthy video captioned, “Life Isn’t Always What It Seems,” in which she shared her story of battling domestic violence. Benoist described how the abuse of her relationship did not start off as violent but more so manipulative. The unnamed abuser did not want her to talk to other guys or flirting with other guys when necessary for a film. She had turned down many film opportunities to avoid hurting him and now realizes that the behaviour he possessed is a major red flag. However, as the relationship advanced so did the violence. Benoist stated that the violence started with a smoothie being thrown in her face before escalating to the point where she was pinned down, slapped and repeatedly punched. “I learned to lock myself in rooms but quickly stopped because the door was inevitably broken down,” said Benoist. Looking back on the relationship her most vivid memories are arguments ending with wave of guilt washed over him as he would carry her to an empathy bath before crying and giving what she calls, “the typical abusers apology speech.” Sexual abuse, while although it is very serious, is still disregarded by authorirty. Victims are often times referred to as overdramatic or treated as if they were asking for attention. Even within well-known sexualt assault hearings there are striking parallels. American lawyer and academic, Anita Hill accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment in 1991. Oct. 11, 1991, during televised hearings Hill stated that Thomas sexually harassed her while he was her supervisor at the Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. “He spoke about acts that he had seen in pornographic films involving such matters as women having sex with animals and films showing group sex or rape scenes. He talked about pornographic materials depicting individuals with large penises or large breasts involved in various sex acts. On several occasions, Thomas told me graphically of his own sexual prowess,” said Hill. Thomas’s hearing was uncomfortable for viewers because they couldn’t help but notice the face that Hill, a black woman, was up against an all white, all male Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Joe Biden, that attacked her credibility, grilled her with a series of unpleasant questions and downplayed, while even mocking, Hill’s assertions to her face. The lack of diversity within the panel prompted outraged and even inspired a wave of women, including Dianne Feinstein, to run for office. During the time of the hearings, crude comments were made regarding Hill. Such comments were made by various members of the committee and even past acquaintances. One comment in particular was made by John Dogget, who stated in an affidavit that Hill was prone to romantic delusions and had “a problem being rejected by men she was attracted to.” Despite her undying efforts to expose the truth about Thomas and his inappropriate actions he was still confirmed as an associate justice of the Supreme Court with a 52-48 Senate vote. Now, 27 years later in 2018, history repeats itself with another accusation that had striking parallels to the Hill-Thomas hearings. Professor Christine Blasey Ford accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexaully
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assaulting her while they were both in high school. When word got out in July of 2018 that Kavanugh was reported to be on President, Donald Trump’s shortlist of possible appointees for the position of Associate Justice for the United States Supreme Court, Ford contacted the Washington Post and congresswoman Anna Eshoo. Shortly after Trump nominated Kavanaugh, Eshoo and Ford met and after deciding that Ford was a credible source, her and Ford took the matter to ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Dianne Feinstein who would deliberate Kavanaugh’s nomination. In a letter to Feinstein, Ford went into detail on the assault committed by Kavanaugh then in August 2018, Ford took a polygraph test with a former FBI agent who concluded that Ford was being truthful when attesting to the accuracy of the allegations. After wrestling with the choice of whether or not to let her name be known, Ford ultimately went public with the allegations despite the backlash she knew she would receive. She spoke to a reporter of the Washington Post where she explained how in 1982, at the age of 15, 17-year-old Kavanaugh who was intoxicated held her down and groped her while covering her mouth and trying to take off her clothes as Kavanaugh’s friend Mark Judge watched. Therapists notes, while not directly stating Kavanugh’s name state that Ford was attacked by students from an “elitist all-male school” who went on to become “highly respected and high-ranking members of society in Washington.” On top of that, two other women accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct yet he denied all of them. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a supplemental hearing over Ford’s allegations, after which it voted to advance the confirmation to a full Senate vote. After delaying the vote for an additional FBI investigation, Oct. 6, 2018 the Senate confirmed Kavanaugh’s nomination by a vote of 50–48. However, even after Ford’s efforts to expose the truth of Kavanaugh, similar to Thomas, Kavanugh filled the position vacated by retiring Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy. The MeToo movement is a movement against sexual assault and sexual harassment. This movement initially began being used in this context on social media in 2006 on Myspace by sexual harassment survivor and activist Tarana Burke, then resurfaced and became viral again in October 2017 as the sexual assault allegations against film director Harvey Weinstein. The original goal of this movement was to empower victims of sexual assault through empathy and to raise awareness to the mass problem that is sexual violence. It is commonly said by critics of the movement that sexual assault has become a trend in the media, which is why so many people are only staring to speak out now. However, the real reason why people were just then beginning to speak out is because they were aware of the immense amount of backlash they would receive similar to Hill. As more people speak out about the issue, less people feel as alone thus making them more likely to find the strength within themselves to speak out. There are cases in the media where accusations have been proven to be false but those said cases are not an indicator that all cases are built off of false accusations yet a large part of the population will still disregard victims as people who are lying to seek out attention which only adds onto the fear that victims have when deciding whether or not they should speak out. While it is less common for a man to experience abuse in comparison to women, it is still just as serious yet remains an overlooked issue. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, around 10% of men in the United States have experienced rape, physical Photo by Molly Shannon violence and/or stalking by a partner and 26 | OPINION
have reported the behaviour of the abuser. Often times, men who are victims of abuse and who do come forward about the trauma they have endured have to then face a social stigma regarding their lack of masculinity. In 2018, actor Terry Crews came forward to discuss his experience with sexual assault and even filed a lawsuit against Hollywood Talent Agent Adam Venit. Crews stated that at an event held by Adam Sandler in February 2016, Venit groped his privates. However, prosecutors declined to file criminal charges in Crews’ sexual assault case earlier that year. Crews complaint was ignored by the Los Angeles City District Attorney’s Office because the allegations “did not meet felony filing standards” and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office because “the statute of limitations expired.” Crews however did not believe this was the real reason as to why criminal charges were not filed. He tweeted in late August of 2018, “Adam Venit has been the Event Chairman of the LAPD Foundation, which raises millions for the @LAPD, anyone wonder why my assault case against him was thrown out by the D.A.? Yeah, #MeToo.” This case, and many more, are examples of how overlooked abuse against men is in the media while also bringing awareness to the extensive problem that is abuse in Hollywood.
out to supportive family members and friends. There is still hope after an abusive relationship even while it is difficult to overcome and recover from.
Abuse in the media is often times romanticised within films, books and music. Books that were soon turned into popular movie franchises such as “Twilight” or “50 Shades of Grey” exploit and glorify obsessive and domineering behaviours that are highly dangerous in real-world relationships, yet are portrayed as ordinary characteristics of a significant other that people should be accustomed to because of these films. The mistreatment of women is also often times perpetrated within the music industry. Popular Hip-Hop songs often times use derogatory terms towards women and promote physical and sexual abuse. This type of music was especially popular within the 90s but still holds true today. In response to this, women in the rap industry have attempted to take back the ownership of women being sexually active yet it is often overshadowed by their sex appeal. There are many red flags that could be potential warning signs of an abusive partner. Qualities of an abusive partner can include possessiveness, a controlling or violent nature, excessive anger and jealousy. However, often times these qualities are concealed until their significant other has already begun to trust them, making it more difficult for the victim to leave the relationship without an immense amount of guilt and trust issues. On top of that, abusers make the process of ending the relationship even more stressful and tedious for the victim by trying to keep the victim roped into the relationship by placing blame on their partner or apologizing and claiming they won’t do it again. Few red flags of an abusive partner are apparent before a bond has formed and while the list is shorter it is still something that helps many ro know what qualities to avoid in a prospective lover. Abusive lovers often place blame onto others, are resentful towards others, have an extensive amount of entitlement, and/or think of themselves are superior. Abuse is a major factor that comes into play on the topic of trust. Abuse not only affects the relationship in which it occurred but also all future endeavors with potential partners and even changes the victims day-today life. It is very rare that victims of abusive relationships ever leave the same way they went into the relationship, even if they are successful with leaving their partner. They tend to have a harder time opening up to others from fear of getting attached to someone only to be hurt again, they may be overly anxious and easily overwhelmed and they could lose a sense of self value that they once had. In order for a victim to heal after an abusive relationship there are different sources they can turn to such as turning to people who are certified in mental health and abuse such as therapists or reaching 27 | OPINION
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Adviser Editor-in-Chief Executive Editor Website Editor Co-Creative Editor Co-Creative Editor Magazine Editor Sports Editor Photography Editor Business Editor Social Media Editor Copy Editor Copy Editor Calendar Coordinator
Larry Steinmetz Katie Huffman Morgan Harbolt Lilly Whitley Mia Maguire Katey Goins Ella Olds Keelin Davis Emma Whitehouse Abi Huffman Rebecca Watts Keelin Davis Sophia Blanton Natalie Allen
Staff Writers Brodie Curtsinger Hunter Mahoney T.C. Etherton Montrell Page Dane Bunel Makayla Stone Molly Shannon
Livewire is a 32 page newsmagazine and accompanying website that is updated daily. All content is generated by student journalists at Bullitt East High School in Mount Washington, Kentucky. The Livewire operates as an open forum following the guidelines laid out by the Student Press Law Center which our staff presented to the Bullitt County Board of Education. The staff appreciates your patronage and, as a public forum, encourages any feedback or submissions you care to offer. Letters to the editor must be typed and submitted via email, to Mr. Steinmetz’s mailbox or directly to room 606 within one week of the publication to which you are responding. Letters will not be censored, but must be deemed appropriate according to staff policies to be published. In order to be eligible to appear in the magazine, all letters must be signed and verifiable. Names may be withheld upon request, but must be submitted with the original letter. The Livewire is printed by aPrintis Printing Company. Its website is hosted by Student Newspapers Online.
Bullitt East High School 11450 Highway 44 East, Mount Washington, Kentucky, 40047 (502) 869-6400
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