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Opinion
Xavier High School
What has entertainment come to? W h i l e reading one of my delicious Revolutionaryperiod stories for English this week, it suddenly hit me that neither this story, nor any of the stories that we’ve read, contained any swear words or spoke provocatively about sex or drugs. I found myself asking, “How did they get people to read this? How did it sell at all?” Isn’t it horrible? In the world we live in, it seems to be that the only things that sell are scandal and provocative stories. It isn’t just
writing either. I have noticed forms of inappropriateness in almost all mediums of art. I recently went to a dance competition in which the winning routines included halfnaked girls who went on-stage and pretty much just shook and popped the whole time. Most of the girls were about seven too, and the whole experience was quite repulsive. The costumes seem to get smaller and smaller every year and I always find myself asking, “What’s next?” It’s so sad that not only are we teaching our children that wearing outrageous costumes is acceptable, but we are telling them that this
is what it takes to win. We are telling them that outrageous sex-appeal is what will get you high scores. That is just gross. The age-old critique of music also becomes more evident and note-worthy as time goes on. I don’t understand how this world went from Frank Sinatra to FloRida, I really don’t. I’m not saying that I do not listen to popular music today, but it makes me sad that swearing and repulsive language is the norm. Songs used to be creative, clever, and sweet. Now I feel uncomfortable listening to the radio with my parents. Maybe it’s just me being a girl, or maybe it’s because I
Do you remember Monday, January 28, 2013? This was not just any ordinary day. This was the day that Xavier High School was filled with people hugging each other, different groups of people conversing, everyone smiling, and tweets filling my timeline of how there is so much love going around. The energy in the school was almost tangible. The explanation can best be described as a spiritual high. The previous weekend was full of retreats including Kairos, Quest, and Awaken. Students were given the opportunity to get away for the weekend to find God and themselves apart from their typical busy schedules. My question is, what happened
to the high? It seems that the new perspectives that were gained are being easily forgotten. What I have come to realize is that each day you wake up is a new start, a new time to become more of the person God intended you to be. Don’t let those feelings you had from the retreat slip away as the days move on. If all you needed was a reminder of the spiritual high that once filled the halls, you just got one. If you are looking for ways to keep on the spiritual high, try going to seven o’clock morning Mass on Fridays. I tried going to see what it would be like and one time was all it took before I was hooked. Thanking God for the blessings around us is the perfect way to start the day. It helps me keep things in perspective throughout the day and gives me a positive attitude. Don’t forget to try to go out
of your way to talk to people that you may not talk to very often. I saw a quote that I try to remind myself of: “Be extra kind to everyone you meet because you never know what they are going through.” It can be as simple as smiling at someone in the halls or asking people how their day is going. Sometimes making other people happy is exactly what it takes to find your own happiness. Imagine what it would be like if everyone continued the spiritual high throughout the rest of the year. There is no reason why we can’t start it back up again! It can’t get any more cliché than this, but remember that God loves you!
I have found that we spend a good deal of time critiquing the behavior of other people around us. It’s so easy for us to point at others and ask, “How dare they?” However, when it comes to our lives and our mistakes, there’s always a reason to explain our bad behavior. Why is it easier to look across the classroom and criticize a peer’s wrongdoings than it is to look in the mirror and identify our own mistakes? Having an opinion on another person’s life doesn’t make ours any better, so why do we do it? It seems that the more excuses we make, the more hypocritical our world becomes. We are impatient when a friend is late
to plans, but when we are late ourselves, it was because of a slow driver ahead of us. We can’t cut our teachers any slack when it takes them a week to grade our tests, but when we are late turning in an assignment, we blame our busy schedules. We complain when we are grounded for not making curfew, yet we moan and groan if our parents are late to our sporting events. Who are we to sit back and judge another person’s life when we are still making mistakes ourselves? A couple of weeks ago, the Gospel was 1 Corinthians 13:4 (Love is patient, love is kind…). The priest gave an interesting homily on how we can use this reading to make evaluating ourselves easier. He said to replace the word love with your own name, and ask yourself if the statement
still remains true. At the end of every day can you honestly say you were patient, kind, humble, and so on? If not, you have work to do before you can go out and pass judgment on others. Mr. Keating always says we should try to make Xavier the best it can be. Imagine how Xavier would improve if each of us spent the time and energy we use forming opinions on others, and instead used it to evaluate and make better choices in our lives.
Keep the retreat experience alive
believe I was born in the wrong time period, but the fact that you usually can’t get through jamming out to a song in your car without swearing is kind of pathetic. It may be old-fashioned of me to want some cleanliness in the arts, but if we continue with the whole “sex-sells” appeal, when will we finally say we’ve had enough? When will people finally say “too far”? There are so many more ways to be interesting and I think it’s time we go back to some of them. Morgan Noonan Opinion Writer
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Stop forming bad opinions of others
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