THE
TOWER Issue 06 MMXXI
DETAILS
PHILOSOPHY The Tower is a student-run publication at The Bishop’s School in La Jolla, CA. Writers and editors work together under the guidance of a faculty advisor to enhance the Bishop’s community and stimulate meaningful conversation through the collection and distribution of news. The Tower aims to educate the Bishop’s community about issues and events that pertain to the experience of young adults. Sections of The Tower include Sports, Arts, Culture, Campus, Local & Beyond, Opinion, and The Bell. The Tower prints six issues each academic year, in addition to continuous online content.
CONTRIBUTORS Editor-in-Chief Daniel White
Graphics Editor - Print Lucie Edwards Assistant Graphics Editor Kyle Berlage Online Editor Sariah Hossain Social Media Manager Maya Buckley
POLICY The Tower refrains from prior review of its issues and maintains the right to publish anonymous quotes when the privacy of the individual is a concern. All quotes are subject to editing for clarity and length. Opinions expressed in The Tower do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff or of The Bishop’s School.
Copy Editors Crystal Li Clare Malhotra
COLOPHON The Tower is printed by Streeter Printing Company in Mira Mesa, CA. Due to COVID-19, Issue 04 was published online and sent out to the Bishop’s community via email. The Staff uses Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Illustrator to arrange photographs and graphics. Typefaces include Didot for the cover, headlines, and subheadings; Minion Pro is used for bylines and body text. Issue 03 and previous issues of The Tower are available digitally on issuu.com.
Faculty Advisor Ms. Laine Remignanti
Staff Writers Isadora Blatt Leila Feldman Katherine Ge Max Stone Tate Vaccaro
CONTACT The Tower c/o The Bishop’s School 7607 La Jolla Blvd, La Jolla, CA 92037 www.thebishopstower.com thetower@bishops.com IG @thebishopstower TW @thebishopstower
All members of the Bishop’s community are invited to submit letters to the Editor-in-Chief by visiting THE BELL our website, The Bell is a section of The Tower www.thebishopstower.com, and that intends to serve as a relief from clicking on the ‘Submit Letter’ tab. the depth of the magazine. Satire, puzzles, quizzes, and the like are frequent inside The Bell.
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OUR COVER Art by Lucie Edwards (‘21)
In this issue, Kyle Berlage (’22) explores differing student and teacher opinions on the effectiveness of the DEI program and how it seeks to prepare students for tough conversations regarding race, prejudice, or politics. The cover depicts the Google Forms that students fill out after each DEI meeting.
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t my core, I am a critical person. Movies, shows, albums, ideas, even people on the rare occasion—you name it, chances are I have a whole host of things to say about them, a concerning number of which aren’t exactly positive. It’s been a quality I’ve had to reign in somewhat as I’ve grown up and it’s become significantly less endearing to raise whatever concern came to mind to anyone who would give me two uninterrupted minutes to talk. I’d like to think, in short, I’ve gotten a lot less annoying about it. But for all my self-restraint, I cannot deny my true nature: at my heart, I am a critic through and through. To me, there are two types of critics, and being the sort of person who has gone through extensive, extensive character development throughout my life, I’ve spent time as both of them. First, there’s the tasteless sort of critic, the type I used to be when I was a lot younger. Mix an inability to read the room with a whole boatload of opinions you’ve been dying to share since the second you learned how to talk and you’ve made yourself a perfect tasteless critic. These are the sorts of people who raise whatever concerns come to their mind about whatever they happen to be thinking of at the moment, regardless of who wants to hear it or not. Needless to say, while this quality has its moments, it’s not the most helpful thing across the board, and often causes a lot more trouble than it’s worth. Then there’s the second type of critic, the one I’d like to think I’ve modeled myself into after a lot of trial and error: the evolved critic. This is the person who still has a lot of opinions, certainly, and still has the burning desire to share them with the world, but has learned how to dial it back somewhat. They know when their thoughts might be saved for a better time, they know how to deliver them in a way that’s tactful, and—most importantly, I’d argue—they know how to splice criticism with something altogether more positive: the next step. This issue’s cover story, written by Kyle Berlage (‘22), looks into the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion program, more colloquially known as DEI. Throughout its duration, it gives both students and faculty the space to raise some valid concerns about the efficacy and productivity of the program. It raises some questions that I’ve heard floating around the student body for as long as DEI has been in place, and it does so in a way that, I think, is both tactful and productive. Because it is not always enough to call out flaws and leave it at that; oftentimes, that is only the first step, and without taking any more, nothing will actually be done. Rather, I think it is important to both recognize the bad where you see it and start to work towards fixing it. Sometimes that takes the form of offering up solutions; sometimes it’s as simple as starting a conversation—what we hope to be doing here at the Tower. Criticism is necessary. Awkward to give and painful to receive sometimes, certainly, but necessary all the same. We are living at a time where societal standards are being rewritten for the better, and such actions have not come without prompting. But we have not come from nothing, either. We have made progress, and we have the capacity to make even more, and recognizing that is, in my eyes, just as important. Love,
Daniel White, Editor-in-Chief
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR | Issue 06
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04 CONTENTS | Issue 06
CONTENTS [culture]
[local & beyond]
[opinion]
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THE LIFE OF TRISHA PAYTAS
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SOCIAL WITHOUT THE DISTANCING
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TRUMP TRUMPED A close examination of Trump’s social
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SHE DOESN’T EVEN GO HERE
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OWN OR GET OWNED
A look into one of YouTube’s most celebrated, and most controversial, creators Daniel White
The divide between those who acknowledge COVID-19 and those who disregard it completely Isadora Blatt
media ban and what it means Crystal Li
The negative effects of casting twentysomething actors to play teenagers on TV Clare Malhotra
A look into how the awareness of social justice is being spread through sports Max Stone
[cover]
[the bell]
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DIVERSITY ABOUT DIVERSITY
The vast range of student and teacher opinions on the DEI program Kyle Berlage
TOP TEN QUARANTINE HAIRSTYLES CONTENTS | Issue 06
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THE LIFE OF TRISHA PAYTAS A look into one of YouTube’s most celebrated, and most controversial, creators Daniel White
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even books. Three podcasts. Eight EPs. Two YouTube channels. Over 1.7 billion views amassed throughout her career, and what feels like an equal number of controversies. In the 12 years that YouTube sensation Trisha Paytas has been in the public eye, she has cemented herself as one the most instrumental content creators out there—and one of the most controversial. Paytas got her start on YouTube back in 2007, with her channel originally being dedicated to the movie director Quentin Tarantino. She soon branched out, though, with her content focusing primarily on fashion and beauty-related videos. Nowadays, her exact brand of content is a little hard to pin down definitively, but generally speaking, Payatas is known for personal vlogs—often positioned on her kitchen floor with her appearance in some state of disarray—Mukbangs, and constantly being caught in drama and controversy. She has an innate talent for making even the most mundane of topics— such as her simply cooking scrambled eggs— into a spectacle that toes the line between amusing and embarrassing in a way that leaves viewers continually looking for more. The first thing to know about Paytas is that she is—or at least, as she now claims, used to be—a troll. A troll is someone who makes deliberately provocative or offensive content online in order to spark a re-
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action and bolster their own platform size. While the trolling does produce the intended effect—giving Paytas more attention—it’s not a strategy without pitfalls. Paytas has worked herself into a boy-who-criedwolf type of situation—her viewers have grown so accustomed to her posting controversial content online only to get a rise out of people that’s it’s hard to believe her when she says she’s being serious. For the most part, the effect of this is a humorous one—it’s hard to listen to a grown woman insist, with apparent seriousness, that dogs might not actually have brains because they can’t talk for a full three minutes and 15 seconds and do anything but laugh—but in recent years, Paytas’ reputation has gotten her backed into a corner on more than one occasion. The first instance of this came back in October of 2019 when Paytas uploaded a since-deleted video to her channel entitled “I AM TRANSGENDER (MALE TO FEMALE),” in which she explained that she feels she is a gay man due to her attraction towards other gay men, her proclivity towards glam, and, as she puts it, her “penis envy.” “I identify with men better,” she explained in the video. “People always think, like, there’s something wrong with me because I don’t have, like, that many girlfriends. But that’s why I identify more as, like, a gay man, because I like guys, but I also identify as a guy.”
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A pretty simple general consensus as to why this is the case has started to emerge: in order to be canceled, you have to care. And Paytas? She just doesn’t.
CULTURE | Issue 06
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In the days following its release, the video caused untold amounts of uproar across social media, with individuals banding together both for and against Paytas. YouTuber Stef Sanjanti, whose channel centers heavily around transgender activism and education videos, spoke out against Paytas, saying, “this would be more funny if girls weren’t being killed for disclosing this fact.” Drag queen Vicky Vox shared a similar sentiment. “Using gender identity as clickbait is a privileged act of violence,” she said in a Tweet responding to Paytas’ announcement of the video. “I’m not gonna stand for it. I don’t care what it’s actually about. The headline and photo used cannot be serious. Trans people are murdered for quietly trying to live their life.” Despite the backlash, though, Paytas maintained that she was being entirely serious in her video. “It’s not meant to be funny,” she said in response to Sanjanti. “Because I don’t look like a traditional male on the outside, I’m a joke? Close-minded and ignorant.” And Paytas was not the only one sticking up for herself—some media figures condemned the hate her coming out video received, such as popular trans YouTuber Jake Edwards. “My main issue with the video was the lack of understanding and conflating gender stereotypes with gender identity,” they said. “But this should be met with allowing Trisha the space to learn.” Another particularly public controversy Paytas found herself in came during March of 2020 after she claimed to have Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) in a video entitled “MEET MY ALTERS.” DID is an incredibly
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complex disorder that typically forms due to repeated and prolonged childhood trauma and has oftentimes been severely misrepresented and demonized in the media. The fact that Paytas’ video contained misinformation and a litany of outdated terms did not help matters. Neither did the fact that, in the video, she openly called Chloe Wilkinson, a YouTuber who identifies as a system and whose channel centers primarily around DID education and information, crazy. Like her coming out video, this video landed Paytas in some hot water across all fronts. “It’s hard to sit here and watch someone call me crazy and spread information that’s very incorrect and damaging about our community, which undoes a lot of the hard work that me and a lot of other content creators in the DID community have done,” said Wilkinson in her 40-minute-long response video to Paytas. She declined to comment on the validity of Paytas’ diagnoses—which had not been professionally given, another point of contention many had with the video. Instead, she stressed the importance of using correct language and terminology when talking about DID, something that, in her opinion, Paytas did not do. But the DID controversy, too, ended up blowing over—though not before Paytas squeezed in three more videos on the topic, accused Wilkinson of faking her diagnosis, and somehow managed to rope YouTuber Anthony Padilla into the whole affair. So did the controversy between her and the D’Amelio sisters, a pair of influential young TikTokers Paytas went after earlier this summer.
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So has her defense of Shane Dawson in the midst of calls for him to address his history of inappropriate behavior towards young children both on and off camera. So has her history of anti-semitism, only bolstered by the fact that she now claims to have converted to Judaism in the past year. So has her history of racism, from blackface to usage of the n-word repeatedly in the past. In fact, once you sit down and look at it, it’s pretty easy to identify a running theme here: regardless of whatever controversy Paytas finds herself in, the ramifications never really seem to stick. In an age where more and more YouTube celebrities are falling victim to the ever-notorious cancel culture, the fact that Paytas’ finds herself in relatively the same position as before after the end of each drama she winds up in is more than a little surprising. That’s not to say people have held their tongues about Paytas—the opposite really, and her presence on TikTok this past year has only increased the number of content creators both large and small using their platform to draw attention to her history of offenses towards virtually every marginalized group in the book. But where content creators like Dawson and Jenna Marbles have been virtually de-platformed following their own problematic pasts coming to light, again, nothing with Paytas really seems to stick. A pretty simple general consensus as to why this is the case has started to emerge: in order to be canceled, you have to care. And Paytas? She just doesn’t.
Take August, for example. Paytas uploaded a video to TikTok in which she appeared to be dressing up as a pharaoh with the caption, “Will prob delete. Prob offensive.” And yet the video went viral and remained on her page, with many in the comment section commending her brazen, head-held-above-the-water attitude towards posting what was undeniably a poor-taste video. This instance illustrates the star perfectly: it’s not that she’s unaware that the things she says online are harmful or offensive, it’s that she simply is not bothered by it, especially not if it gets her views. “I never cared about being rich or anything,” Paytas explained in an interview with Insider last March. “I just had this constant need for attention. Maybe that’s a bad thing, maybe not, but it’s how I thrive.” In many ways, perhaps this is the inevitable outcome for someone whose entire brand was structured around being as out of pocket as possible simply because she could. After all, this is the same person who, for years, made videos with titles such as “My Ethnicity Has Changed” and “Why I Retired From Being Gay.” Perhaps expecting any better from her— or those who consume her content, fans or not—is naive. “It’s the reason why Trisha Paytas can never be canceled,” YouTuber As Told By Kenya explained in a video from December of last year. “Because Trisha Paytas started her channel on not trying to get you to like her.”
CAMPUS | Issue 06
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SOCIAL WITHOUT THE DISTANCING The divide between those who acknowledge COVID-19 and those who disregard it completely Isadora Blatt
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ometimes when you’re scrolling through social media, seeing all the videos of influencers collaborating and photos of famous people at fancy restaurants together, it’s easy to forget that we’re even in a pandemic. Many popular social media stars—if not most—are acting as if COVID-19 is no longer an issue, hanging out indoors without masks or social distancing. These same individuals constantly preach staying at home and COVID-19 safety. One of the most prominent examples of this is TikTok star Charli D’Amelio—if you have TikTok, you most likely already know about it. When D’Amelio, a 16-year-old dancer who has over 100 million TikTok followers, went on a trip to the Bahamas with many of her friends, a recording of her live stream on December 29 started circulating around. In it she condemns those who have been breaking regulations for the sake of seeing their friends. “If you’re using this time to hang out with your friends since you don’t have school,” she said, “I’m asking you—please stop
being so inconsiderate to others.” It was only a few days later that Instagram account @tiktokroom exposed their vacation. Photos and videos of some of the trip attendees like Madi Monroe and Bryant Eslava started circulating around social media as well. Even some politicians have failed to follow their own COVID-19 restrictions. Despite state guidelines prohibiting gatherings with over three households, California State Governor Gavin Newsom was seen at an indoor dinner party on November 6th, eating an expensive meal with at least a dozen other people. Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, was spotted in a hair salon in San Francisco without a mask, getting a blowout despite all other local businesses being closed. Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, traveled to her vacation home in Delaware the day after Thanksgiving, with her extended family from multiple households. She had warned the public to “be vigilant” and celebrate with only your immediate household in these coming holidays. And the list goes on. It’s dis-
On December 28th, @tiktokroom posted photos of Dixie D’amelio with her friends at the Bahamas, exposing their vacation on Instagram.
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appointing and infuriating to see them breaking the rules and standards they’ve directly preached to the public. Of course, these leaders should be setting the example. But they’re only human, and this proves how difficult the pandemic guidelines are to follow, how easy it is to want to make exceptions. None of their actions should be excused, but we’re all trying our best, and they need to do better in the future. However, though COVID-19 restrictions are challenging, it appears that not everyone is making an effort to follow them. Ever since the beginning of quarantine, countless students have posted pictures or videos hanging out with their friends without any clear attempt to follow COVID-19 guidelines. Often times, it seems as if they are not even aware of the state of the world around them as they go to huge parties and on extravagant vacations, not bothering to try to cover it up on social media. It has created a sort of divide, between those who acknowledge the pandemic and make efforts to stay safe and those who disregard it completely.
The Tower
“When people can’t even stay a few feet away from each other and simply put a piece of cloth on their face, it is so frustrating because they are sacrificing other people’s lives for their comfort.” - Anonymous
Within the Bishop’s community, many students have been frustrated with their fellow classmates’ irresponsibility. Haha Shi (‘22) has seen numerous examples of Bishop’s students ignoring COVID-19.“Throughout the end of last year and the summer there were multiple parties and vacations with lots of people,” she says, adding that there was one party that basically half the school went to. Niamh Malhotra (‘23) has noticed more and more people disregarding the guidelines as time goes on, especially in her grade. Sophia Gleeson (‘24) agrees, saying a couple weeks ago, “Today I saw pictures of an indoor, maskless birthday party with people I was at school with just yesterday.” Social media plays a huge role in this divide. “It seems more rare to see people social distancing on social media,” says Lily Gover (‘24). “It really disturbs me.” Seeing people disregarding COVID-19 guidelines completely and flaunting it on social media feels twice as insulting for her. One student, who wished
to remain anonymous to protect their private medical information, describes that “after having COVID-19, it is so much more frustrating to see people disregard the rules.” The student explains that since they now understand how bad the virus and its lasting health effects are, they find it even more disrespectful and insulting to see others ignoring it. “When people can’t even stay a few feet away from each other and simply put a piece of cloth on their face, it is so frustrating,” the student says, “because they are sacrificing other people’s lives for their comfort.” The countless unsafe gatherings posted by their classmates on social media cause many students to feel controversial about coming to school. There is supposed to be a level of trust established between students on campus that everyone is staying safe outside of school, but instead it feels much more uncertain. Shortly after Halloween, an email was sent out by the Dean of Students Mrs. Michelle Shea regarding “off-campus extracurricular
activities, like large Halloween gatherings, where students are not wearing masks and not observing physical distancing.” Mrs. Shea writes, “We have a collective responsibility to follow basic protections when we are on and off campus.” It’s extremely frustrating for the students who take all the necessary precautions outside of school, however inconvenient they may be, that the others are even allowed to come to campus. “What’s worse is that their ignorance has become casual and routine,” Sophia notes, “so it is not questioned, nor do they face any consequences.” Although simply hanging out with friends inside may seem harmless, small acts like these are the reason COVID cases are still climbing. In San Diego alone, more than 20,000 new cases are confirmed each day. The holiday season showed an all-time high, with December 26th bringing over 64,000 new cases, proving how effectively gatherings spread the virus. What may not affect you directly does, in fact, greatly affect the health of our community and our nation.
CULTURE | Issue 06
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TRUMP TRUMPED
A close examination of Trump’s social media ban and what it means Crystal Li
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he Day the Internet Turned on Trump.” “Trump Social Media Bans Come Too Late, Experts Say.” “Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump.” While Trump’s name echoes across headlines and social media feeds without an end in sight, his voice—for once—is not. On January 6, a large crowd of Trump supporters violently stormed the United States Capitol in an attempt to overturn Donald Trump’s defeat in the 2020 presidential election. Clashing with police just as Congress convened to validate Joe Biden’s presidential win, rioters breached barricades and smashed windows to arrive in the building’s halls. Several lawmakers, including members of the Republican Party, have condemned Trump for the violence in and around the Capitol. At the rally held in Ellipse park, critics have pointed out that the ex-president had persuaded his followers to go to Capitol Hill. He repeated his claims that the election had been “rigged” by “radical democrats” and the “fake news media,” pushing his supporters not to believe the results of the presidential election. Trump suffered backlash yet again when he shared a message on social media and seemed to justify the destructive mob’s actions while acknowledging his supporters, “I know your pain. I know you’re hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us.” Following his last two tweets by Trump on the afternoon of January 8, Twitter suspended the former president from the platform, announcing their decision that same evening. The first tweet was concerning Trump’s supporters, while the second tweet indicated that Trump did not plan to attend Joe Biden’s inauguration. His first statement about American patriots implied that “he plans to continue to support, empower, and shield those who believe he won the election,” Twitter said. Trump’s other statement concerning the inauguration could be viewed as a further statement that the election was not valid. Many also perceived that the tweet could be construed as Trump asserting that the inauguration would be a safe target for violence because he would not be in attendance. “After [a] close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around
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Within moments, Trump’s account on Twitter was no longer accessible. His posts were replaced with a blaring label—“account suspended.” them—specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter—we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” Twitter executives declared. The tweets infringed on the company’s policy against the glorification of violence, as the social media platform carefully explained the reasoning behind their decision. It is not only Twitter that de-platformed the ex-president. Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, and even Pinterest suspended Donald Trump’s appearance indefinitely. And with this, a question may arise in all of our minds: why now? Over the preceding decade, technology sites have been hesitant to censor Trump’s posts, even as he frequently violated hate speech regulations. Before his presidency, Trump used Twitter to augment his discriminatory campaign asserting bold, false claims targeting groups of people and, at times, individuals. As president,
The Tower
“After [a] close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them… we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.” - Twitter
he shared racist videos attacking Muslims on Twitter and Facebook to prevent Muslims from entering the US. Trump had also retweeted to his tens of millions of followers a video of his supporters shouting “white power” in June of last year. He appeared to promote violence against Black Lives Matter demonstrations in a message shared to various social media platforms that incorporated the phrase “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” From his online presence, individuals can see that Trump’s rhetoric found an eager audience online. One that may not dissipate when his presidency concludes. Professional opinions from specialists seem to be divided. For many, these social media bans were the right thing to do but done quite late. After all, the event has already occurred, and the Capitol has already been disturbed. “While I’m pleased to see social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube take long-belated steps to address the ex-president’s continued abuse of their plat-
forms to encourage discord and violence, these isolated actions are both too late and not nearly enough,” said Mark Warner, a Democratic senator from Virginia. “Disinformation and extremism researchers have for years pointed to broader network-based exploitation of these platforms.” However, some professionals analyze the ban in a different light. “There isn’t a lot of regulation in this [online] space,” explained social media researcher Jennifer Grygiel. “So, we have a couple of laws that allow, essentially, platforms to moderate their content but also nothing really properly motivating them to make sure that they do it fast enough or that they run these companies in ways that are safe.” Now, what does this mean for the future? Is this a turning point for social media regulations? Many observe that the Trump ban has driven a global discussion around whether private companies should hold so much power over “free speech.” Others contemplate the difference between free speech and hate speech. “It was truly an unprecedented situation in US political history,” said Facebook’s Vice President of global affairs, Nick Clegg. For Facebook, the board has 90 days to decide whether it thinks Facebook did make the right choice in suspending the ex-president in the fallouts of the Capitol attack. “If they have thoughts going forward about how and in what way we should be comporting ourselves in analogous situations in the future, it will be really interesting to hear,” Clegg says. Aside from the board’s significant resolution, Facebook has also asked its board to accommodate added guidance on implementing its policies toward political leaders’ diction in the future. Through this ban, many problems and questions arise as people’s divided opinions search for an answer. Despite this issue’s intricacy, more information and actions will likely implement changes shaping our world for the long term.
LOCAL & BEYOND | Issue 06
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SHE DOESN’T EVEN GO HERE The negative effects of casting twenty-something actors to play teenagers on TV Clare Malhotra
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erena van der Woodsen. Jess Mariano. Finn years old or younger when the first season debuted. Hudson. Jughead Jones. Spencer Hastings. Well, it’s painfully clear that the teens on the TV Damon Salvatore. John B. What do all of tend to look unrealistically conventionally attractive these popular teenage TV characters have in com- in comparison with today’s real-life teens. Part of this mon? The actors were in their mid-to-late twen- is due to the extensive makeup that is applied to actors ties as their characters navigated high school. before shooting. Rebecca Perkins, the makeup artist It’s not a new concept to cast actors who are for Law and Order SVU, said, “every time the director far older than the characters they play. Olivia New- yells ‘CUT!,’ someone like me runs in with blotting ton-John was 29 when she played 17-year-old Sandy papers, sponges, brushes, and various tools to move Olsson in Grease (1978). A lot of the time, TV shows that hair and makeup back into [the] perfect place.” have good reasons not to want to cast minors. Ac- But another factor is that most teenagers tocording to Marcia day battle acne, Ross, casting didark under-eye rector of Clueless and “It creates a false image of how circles, and 10 Things I growth spurts, a teenager should look. By showHate About You, something ing younger audiences these “actors under the that the twenage of 18 need to ty-something fully grown-up actors, it’s easy have guardians on actors don’t exfor us to internalize that that is set and work a limperience nor ited set of hours what we should look like at that display. Accordbecause of schooling to Rebecca age.” ing.” Child labor Feasey, a gender, laws mean that mimedia, and film —Nadia Bitar (‘22) nors typically can’t studies teachwork night shoots; er at Bath Spa in California, even University “The those aged 16-17 can only work four hours on a school lived reality of puberty does not play well on screen. day. The network sometimes has to hire on-set tutors, This is not about aesthetics, but rathso children are generally more expensive to have on set. er about continuity—continuity which would However, any actor 18 years or old- be challenged by developing bodies and deeper can be legally treated like an adult. So why ening voices.” For the teenagers watching, howdo shows tend to cast people in their late twen- ever, this can spark unrealistic expectations. ties rather than newly turned adults, and what ef- Think especially of shows like Gossip Girl and fect might this have on the teenagers watching? Vampire Diaries, which create the illusion that every Consider even a show like Glee, which was one in the friend groups dates one another, andevdesigned to give a voice to the losers and the out- eryone in the high school is attractive. “It creates a casts. It features a range of body types, and not ev- false image of how a teenager should look,” Nadia Biery character is conventionally attractive. Even tar (‘22) noted. “By showing younger audiences these then, according to a Vice article, the average age fully grown-up actors, it’s easy for us to internalize gap between the actors and their characters was that that is what we should look like at that age.” eight years, and not a single actor was eighteen
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The Tower
At age sixteen (left), Cole Sprouse had yet to mature physically and still looked more or less like a gawky kid. At age 24 (right) Sprouse began starring on Riverdale as sixteen-year-old Jughead Jones, but the actor had long developed past the appearance of adolescence. Additionally, adolescents on television have entirely different lives than the average teen. Part of this is for dramatic purposes; a TV show where teens had totally normal lives would be boring. But they are almost never shown attending class or doing homework, and they rarely face repercussions for their actions. It’s like school is a side hobby to their life. They have time to chat between classes and time to go out for breakfast before school starts. They almost never speak to their parents (depending on the show), and they go to a different party every night. “I think I speak on behalf of most Bishop’s students when I say I wish I have all the extra free time characters in shows have,” noted Tanvi Ghosh (‘22). The physical differences in appearance can also contribute to the watcher’s perception of the characters’ actions. It doesn’t seem as weird to watch their drinking or partying because they look like fully-fledged adults. Occasionally, TV shows will have
plots such as teacher-student relationships—for example, Aria and Ezra on Pretty Little Liars. However, the viewer often doesn’t feel the weight of these plot lines because the characters both feel like adults. Aria was 15 and Ezra 22, but in reality, the actors were both in their twenties and only three years apart. So what are some possible solutions that might help adolescents see themselves in the characters they watch? Ideally, this would involve casting actual teenagers with a range of ethnic backgrounds and body types. If the show takes place during school, they should either be shown occasionally in class or doing homework or, if not, at least suffering a blow to their GPA. If productions hope to circumvent child labor laws, they could cast 18-year-olds, not 30-year-olds. Changes need to be made, even if this means sacrificing some aesthetics or continuity, in order to help teenage watchers feel like their own lifestyle is accepted and represented on the TV.
OPINION | Issue 06
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OWN OR GET OWNED
A look into how the awareness of social justice is being spread through sports Max Stone
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n May 25, George Floyd was murdered, sparking a series of protests that spread across all 50 states, extending even outside of the United States. These protests centered around the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, with a specific focus on systematic racism among the police in the United States. Bringing movements such as BLM into the national and international spotlight is crucial for the spread of the movement, and what better way to do that than sports. Let’s think of it like this: sports have famous athletes, famous athletes have access to national coverage, national coverage gives the ability for a widespread message. Using some basic logical skills that we were taught in middle school, sports allows a widespread message. In 2016, Colin Kaepernick famously knelt during the National Anthem right before his game against the Chargers. He was nationally criticized for his actions and then-President Donald Trump encouraged the NFL to drop him from the 49ers roster. There was a flip side, though: in his protests, he effectively kick-started a national movement. Many other athletes joined Kaepernick,kneeling during the national anthem. They, too, were criticized, but it did not stop them. Later, in 2018, National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell instated the NFL National Anthem policy which stated that players must stand and that those who chose not to should either be in the locker room or be fined. A similar instance occurred 20 years prior in 1996 when NBA player Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf received a one-game suspension for not standing during the national anthem, he later said that it was a “stand” against racial oppression. Although he had come to an agreement with David Stern, the commissioner of the NBA at the time, Abdul-Rauf saw a dramatic decrease in his minutes per game. The following year he was essentially forced out of the league, after having a career-high in almost every statistical category. Kaepernick received a similar outcome when he opted out of his contract in 2017. He had
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expected to be signed but was left a free agent since. On July 31, 2020, the players and coaching staff of both the New Orleans and Utah Jazz knelt in front of a BLM logo during the national anthem while wearing shirts displaying that same message before the official restart of the NBA season in the Orlando Bubble. The Lakers and Clippers did the same the next day, and when being interviewed by reporters, Lakers star LeBron James said, “I hope we made Kap proud, I hope we continue to make Kap proud. Every single day, I hope I make him proud on how I live my life, not only on the basketball floor but off the floor. I want to always speak out against things that I feel like are unjust.” LeBron has been one of, if not the most prolific athlete of the last decade, and he has the power to influence so many people. Recently he tweeted, “Think I’m gone put together an ownership group for The Dream. Whose in? #BlackVotesMatter ‘’ He referred to the WNBA organization, the Atlanta Dream, which is under the current ownership of Georgia Senator, Kelly Loeffler.
The Tower
His whole reason for wanting to start an ownership group for the Atlanta Dream is what Senator Loeffler has said about the BLM movement. She said she “adamantly opposes the BLM movement” in a letter to the Women’s National Basketball Association commissioner Cathy Engelbert in early July. This was especially significant given all of the athletes on her roster have publicly spoken out in support of the BLM movement and ten of the 12 athletes on the team are African American. In fact, before one of their games, all of the members of the Atlanta Dream wore shirts saying “Vote Warnock”, referencing Senator Loeffler’s opposing candidate Raphael Warnock. The players and the fans want Loeffler out of her ownership position. That then raises a key question: how much power do the players have over who their owner is? Although it is very uncommon for such a conflict to arise between owners and players, there have been several owners forced out of their franchise as a result of such clashes. For most of these cases, it is purely a violation of some legal agreement; for a couple though, it was just the owner’s radical belief and hatred towards others. An example of this was Marge Schott. Schott was the owner of the Cincinnati Reds from 1984-1999 and was
forced out for her racist remarks regarding Jewish people and African Americans. She was first suspended in 1993 for her racist remarks, and was later forced out of ownership in 1996 for the same reason. Although she was eventually forced out of her franchise, it took them three whole years to force out a woman who used derogatory racist terms, and another three to get her to sell the team. Blatantly saying these racist and antisemitic things without punishment paints a picture about not only the sports franchise but also the organization as a whole. Yes, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but when it is in almost direct opposition to the people who they are supposed to be supporting and encouraging, that is when the problem arises. Renee Chong (‘22), who plays point guard as a part of the Varsity Girls Basketball team at Bishops, said, “I think they have a good amount of responsibility to spread their message because like I said before, a large number of people who play basketball professionally are people of color so they have a lot of influence on younger kids who look up to them.” She is referring to the owners and pointing out that they have a responsibility as an owner of a sports franchise like the Atlanta Dream. That is the consensus that goes around the sports community in terms of what responsibilities the owners have for spreading the positive messages of their athletes. The owners of these big franchises are more than just the financial support, they are a part of the franchise and have a responsibility to spread the messages of their athletes and if they don’t, they are to be held responsible, whether it is financial retribution, or being forced to sell the franchise.
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DIVERSITY ABOUT DIVERSITY The vast range of student and teacher opinions on the DEI program
Kyle Berlage At the end of every A Day, Bishop’s students reconvene after lunch with their Advisory, where they follow a lesson plan and discuss topics from the school’s program of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, also known as DEI. In these thirty-minute enrichment sessions, students and advisors are confronted with topics that provoke deep and meaningful conversations. While some students and faculty have raving reviews of these sessions, some have other, more negative opinions on the program and its effectiveness. During the summer of 2020, in response to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others at the hands of local police departments, many protests arose supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and calling for an end to discrimination against minorities as well as tighter regulations on the power of police departments throughout the country. Attempting to do its part in the sweeping new awareness of and focus on inequalities in America, Bishop’s doubled down on its support for these endeavors by making “justice” the yearly school-wide theme, sharing statements surrounding that theme, and expanding the already-existing diversity programs to take up an enrichment slot each cycle. As music teacher and co-leader of the DEI program Ms. Lara Korneychuk said in a Diversity Blog post on the Bishop’s website, “In my time at Bishop’s (a short four years), our DEI curriculum has had many iterations. A few years ago, the overwhelming sense was that our diversity curriculum was reactive more than it was proactive. As a teacher at a new school, I didn’t feel prepared to have difficult conversations with my students when there were difficult things going on in the world.” And her experiences with our diversity programs of the past have largely contributed to the guiding philosophies of the program. Ms. Korneychuk
A
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and History teacher Mr. Raul Ruiz said in a joint statement as co-leaders of the DEI program, “The guiding principle… has been to create dialogue around contemporary issues that revolve around diversity, equity, and inclusion. The presidential election in November presented an opportunity to think about civility and polarization and political unity. We then turned to lessons inviting students to look at racial disparities in some of the most consequential areas of life.” But even with that guiding principle, some students feel some of the lessons fail to do what they set out to do: preparing people for dialogue around diversity, equity, and inclusion. Eli Browne (‘23) said, “DEI talks a lot about societal problems regarding diversity, which is important, but I think that discussing local issues that students experience would create more dialogue and serve as better practice for having respectful discussions about difficult topics.” James Frerichs (‘22) agreed, saying, “I, along with quite a few of my friends, along with people in my advisory, feel like DEI isn’t the most constructive use of our time because we aren’t really learning anything from it.” He said he feels that students at Bishop’s already are competent in the areas being taught by DEI, and don’t need more statistics to back that up. “It feels like a chore that we have to endure before we can end the school day,” he concluded. Although there are criticisms of the DEI program, some students are completely satisfied with the sessions. An unnamed sophomore poll respondent said that they would change nothing about the sessions, adding, “they are going really well!” Eli, while not completely satisfied with DEI, said, “I do think that the goal of DEI is a good one.”
Director of Diversity & Community L lain Rev. Nicole Simopoulos spoke in Biden’s inauguration regarding
Life Mr. David Thompson and Chapn chapel on the week of President Joe diversity, equity, and inclusion.
COVER STORY Many students agree that DEI sessions do not effectively prepare them for tough conversations regarding racism, prejudice, and politics. In a poll from The Tower sent to upper schoolers and faculty members, the 157 respondents from the student body were asked to rate DEI on a scale of one to five in different categories. When asked whether DEI prepares them for these types of tough conversations, the average was a 2.57, well below the midpoint rating of 3.00. Similar results appeared in other categories too, with a 2.44 and 2.39 average for engagement and learning in DEI respectively. Students propose several possible causes for this lack of learning and engagement. As indicated in the survey, some students said that their political beliefs get attacked in DEI sessions. An unnamed freshman poll respondent said, “[It] just feels like whatever lesson we talk about, politics always comes into the mix and I don’t feel safe to talk about it so I lie because I’m afraid of people not liking me just because I support a different party.” An unnamed senior poll respondent said he thought that there was not only peer pressure to conform to one viewpoint, but also explicit bias against a political view. “I would change how they are intentionally biased against the right,” they said. Proposing another reason, James said he feels that discussions feel very limited in scope and forced. “Mostly, it’s my advisor talking for fifteen minutes about a topic or statistic that I already know, and then me and my breakout room awkwardly staring at each other for five minutes, and then returning to the breakout room only to have one person share what they had “learned” during the time we spent together,” he said. Elena LeTourneau (‘22) added, “I agree that it is important to discuss societal issues—however, DEI proposes a preconceived cause for the issue of concern and forces a limited discussion.” She said that constructive
conversations consists not of complaining, rather discussing solutions. “DEI presents such an oversimplified view of a topic that it feels more like offensive babying than like a potentially constructive, insightful conversation,” she concluded. Jeffrey Wang (‘21) thinks that there should be an overall change in the DEI program. “Firstly, talk about current events more. Secondly, focus on political polarization and information differences in right vs. left. Thirdly, stop talking about talking [and] start talking. Finally, encourage people to be uncomfortable! How are we ever going to make progress and get to the core of issues if we just sidestep and circumvent the issues?” he said. One specific DEI lesson drew a lot of criticism from students and faculty alike. Commonly known as the “flute example,” it presented a problem in which three children must decide who gets to keep a flute considering their individual circumstances. James said regarding the flute example, “it didn’t feel like I learned any diversity-related skills. It felt more like an online BuzzFeed quiz titled “Find out what Harry Potter House YOU belong in! Are you a Slytherin? Gryffindor? Or would you give Mary the flute and become a utilitarian? Find out today!” I feel like that lesson would have been more interesting if we had actually discussed why we chose each option that we did.” Defending the flute example, Mr. Ruiz and Ms. Korneychuk said, “In essence, the scenario unlocks different conceptions of equity or fairness
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The Tower or justice. All of those concepts can, and have been, defined differently, but at their core, they deal with who gets what, when, and how. A lot of issues of justice concern the distribution of resources, endowments, or rewards. The lesson invited students to articulate where they were in the process of defining or understanding their own ideas of justice.” Science teacher Dr. Keller agreed, saying, “The flute example is a strange one. I don’t think that the purpose of these lessons is to “teach” students anything, I approach DEI as a mechanism to generate conversation around important topics.” Faculty members like Dr. Keller have been the strongest proponents of the new DEI system and average much higher DEI ratings from the poll than all of upper school combined. In terms of the general value of the DEI program, faculty members gave an average rating of 4.86 on the one to five scale. In terms of effectiveness, faculty gave an average of 3.93 on the one to five scale, much higher than the student body. One English teacher poll respondent said that the only thing they would change about DEI would be to have more of them. Head of School Mr. Ron Kim said, “there is a high de-
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gree of difficulty to set up these conversations. It’s easy to critique, but it’s really hard to do well. I have been so pleased with our ability through the DEI program to initiate discussions that are not always comfortable but are important, and I am grateful to all of the adults and students who have made them possible.” Not all faculty members are satisfied with the DEI program. English teacher Ms. Amy Allen believes that DEI lessons are not always effectively designed to challenge older students. Regarding the flute example, she said, “I advise seniors, and so for that age group I found the flute example and lesson plan simplistic in its content and detached from the current political moment—a moment ripe with DEI material like the Black Lives Matter protests and the Supreme Court Justice nomination after RBG’s death, which occurred the week prior. The flute lesson was a lost opportunity to engage students in the news and reality rather than in theory and an unrealistic hypothetical.” An unnamed Science department faculty member responded to The Tower survey with some criticisms, saying that in order to maximise the effectiveness of the
DEI meetings, the frequency of them needs to be changed. “The weekly trend is a little too often, so that it becomes routine in a bad sense of the word,” they explained. “They should stand out and not blend into our weekly routines.” A World Languages department faculty member shared a similar sentiment, adding, “Keep them simple and focused on real life situations.” With the many diverse opinions on the program from faculty and students, Mr. Ruiz and Ms. Korneychuk responded by saying, “[We] would… call for patience and good faith. As a diversity coordinator, [our] goal has been to package difficult, large, deep conversations into twenty-five-minute segments. The nature of the program is diffused. The coordinators plan lessons that advisors then execute in the form they were designed or with alterations to fit their perception of the needs of their students.” One thing’s for sure: DEI is sticking around for the long haul. What is open for change, however, is the format of how we can use that twenty-five minute session each cycle and how we can make that a more enriching experience for all.
The Tower
“I... feel like DEI isn’t the most
constructive use of our time because we aren’t really learning anything from it.”
- James Frerichs (‘22)
It’s easy to critique, but it’s really hard to do well. I have been
so pleased with our ability through the DEI program to initiate discussions that are
not
always comfortable but are
important. - Head of School Mr. Ron Kim
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Top Ten Quarantine Hairstyles Blunt Mohawk
6.
Rapunzel
2.
Glossy
7.
Faded Rainbow
3.
Unintentional Bowl Cut
1.
a common style among those that sleep on both sides of the bed and then just really don’t care afterwards.
worn by those who haven’t showered for a really long time and the oils get all up in there.
due to an acute lack of salon availability, some people have unfortunately fallen victim to how their hair grows out, and it isn’t pretty.
4.
No Hair Visible???
5.
Modern Mullet
GIRL take that hoodie off your head it’s Zoom class not a Lord of the Rings meetup.
maybe you’ve been spending a little too much time on TikTok...
22 THE BELL | Issue 06
8. 9. 10.
some people are just letting it all grow out with no mind for when it should stop.
after all the fun and games from dying their hair is over, the only things left are faded colors.
Barbed Wire
it’s really not hard to look through the shampoo aisle for one that works, but some people—and their hair—live in ignorance.
Shaved Head
a rare hairstyle which used to be seen on our Editor-in-Chief; you either look really cool or like Caillou... there’s no in between
Perfect and Flawless
these are the people who still set their alarms for 6:30 a.m.
PHOTO
CREDITS [culture]
[local & beyond]
[opinion]
06
THE LIFE OF TRISHA PAYTAS
10
SOCIAL WITHOUT THE DISTANCING
12
TRUMP TRUMPED Art by Crystal Li (‘23)
14
SHE DOESN’T EVEN GO HERE
16
OWN OR GET OWNED
[cover]
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[the bell]
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Photo courtesy of @trishlikefish88 on TikTok
Photo courtesy of @madimonroe on Instagram
Photos courtesy of @briannmorgaan and @colesprouse on Twitter
Art by Max Stone (‘22)
DIVERSITY ABOUT DIVERSITY
Photos courtesy of The Bishop’s School on YouTube. Fist courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
TOP TEN QUARANTINE HAIRSTYLES Design by Lucie Edwards (‘21)
Front and back cover thanks to Lucie Edwards (‘21)
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