Pep rally tradition stirs debate

‘Booing’ freshmen is a harmless right of passage

Upperclassmen participate in class yells during a pep rally in September.

Eve Sharpee

Upperclassmen participate in class yells during a pep rally in September.

Among the many traditions at Randall High School, one of them is booing the freshman class during pep rallies. While some faculty members and administrators encourage upperclassmen to put this tradition to rest, many students see it as a harmless right of passage.

Every student, at one time or another, has been that freshman getting booed during a pep rally. Everyone has been through it. Some call it bulling. Others say its just fun that you have to go through before you get to do it yourself. In my opinion, it’s harmless teasing that students have to endure for only a few days out of the school year. It’s a tradition that teaches students a bit of humility, which is a healthy lesson for any person to learn.

Traditions come in many different forms and they make school that much more enjoyable. If the booing is limited to the gym and only at pep rallies, there really isn’t much harm done. Freshman year is only one out of four years a student will spend in high school. If they earn their right of passage early on, they will spend the remaining three years on the opposite side of the gym heckling the freshman class.

Booing at pep rallies has been a tradition at Randall High School for years, and no one has reported having lasting mental anguish as a result of it. Why should it stop now?