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MAY 1, 2014 INSIDE: SIGNS OF SPRING P. 10 PROM TIPS P. 17 BOYS RUBGY P. 21
sen•ior•i•tis
(n.) an ebbing of motivation and effort by school seniors as evidenced by tardiness, absences and lower grades - Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Prosecutors: Neil Scott, 25, and Timothy Brooks, 18, led drug business aimed at Main Line youth
“Stogs [sic] alone is a couple a week.” A text message seized by the Lower Merion Police Departpotential source for marijuana sales—landed the school on a list of local high schools and colleges that authorities believe were targeted by a drug distribution ring of individuals aged 17-29. As of Monday, April 28, no cur-
Story by Lavi Ben-Dor, Simran Singh & Yuge Xiao, Co-Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor & Convergence Editor Suprotem Sarkar/The SPOKE
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tudents are still trickling into class 10 minutes after the bell. They walk in with a blank expression on their faces—unmotivated, unfocused and unprepared. These students are tious disease: senioritis. Senioritis describes a mentality that many seniors adopt in general apathy toward schoolwork mon symptoms of the condition include laziness, decreased class attendance, slipping grades and incomplete assignments. The Spoke surveyed four randomly selected senior homerooms in mid-April and found that more than 84 percent of surveyed seniors claimed to have senioritis, just one sign that
Professor Emeritus of Education and Business Administration at Stanford University Michael Kirst, who published a report on the issue in 2001 and currently fornia State Board Of Education, said that senioritis occurs when emphasis on senior year.
“They let the kids do mostly whatever they want to do in the senior year because their high school graduation requirements are largely met and therefore requirements for the senior year into college, so what is the purpose of this?”
tion]. So [senioritis] has become more of a problem because of the importance of being ready for postsecondary education,” Kirst said. Senioritis, however, is uniquely American, according to Kirst. “In England, for example, [col-
Kirst said that senioritis has become more concerning because
think the seniors are working just as hard as they did September versus April. They want those great grades, they want to accomplish the goals that they established in the beginning of the school year,” Boyle said. “But I think the major-
of seniors surveyed by The Spoke said they had senioritis
of high school could negatively ence, which is now seen as almost “Over the past few decades, the percentage of students who go on to some form of post-secondary education has increased dramatiworse, because many of the jobs require [post-high school educa-
drug usage. “I think when incidents like this come up it only bolsters and brings it to the fore-
signed by Lower Merion detec-
of Narcotics Investigation and
alleged that the group was led by
The whole admissions cycle is very
84% `
arrested as part of the alleged ring. However, nine adults and two minors face drug-related charges for allegedly distributing or planning to distribute narcotics to Main Line high schools and colleges according to the Montgomery
your end of year exams in your
the way we do this business, so we lose a half a year of school even for the best of our students,” he said. Assistant principal Patrick Boyle feels that senioritis is not as grave of an issue as others seem to think.
They keep going and going and going and working hard.” ments, however, students and teachers feel that senioritis is pervasive throughout the senior class.
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Principal Dr. Amy Meisinger said the drug operation “hit home” munity because it specifically targeted students. In light of the incident, Meisinger hopes that students, staff and parents use this event to have authentic conversations about making the right decisions. “Prevention, deterrence, support,” are what Meisinger names
Neil K. Scott, 25, of Haverford lanova who supplied marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy to a network of sub-dealers that covered the schools. his freshman and sophomore years before transferring to The Haverford School on an athletic scholarship. Police isolated a text message from Brooks to Scott referring to a “main line [sic] take over project,” implying that the pair hoped to be the sole suppliers of marijuana in the Main Line.
parents,” Meisinger said. In a phone interview with The Spoke, Jonathan Duecker, the special agent in charge of the
can provide support to school districts. “This is a dangerous game and the Main Line is deep in it,” Duecker said. “And for the most the Main Line and whether we have parents that disregard the issue or school administrators that disregard it or want to deal with it on their own, this problem is just too big for any one organization or any one school to deal with on their own.” one of several schools on the Main Line he contacted about organizing a focus group for students, former dealers and parents. The try to expose both users and nonusers to “realistic stories” about drug abuse. After an interview with The office to “gather information” about programs.
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