An Autograph Please

Written by Dominique Houle on 13/06/12

Photo by Dominique & Shawn

You know that time of the school year, when you finally get your yearbook and can pass it along to all your classmates to sign… it’s a lot of fun, right? Unless, what you find in your yearbook isn’t exactly what you expected…

Imagine getting your yearbook back at the end of the day and finding doodles on every photo of you, mean comments written everywhere, ripped pages, etc. Or suppose the only sign that you even went to school is a photo from picture day and of course it had to be your bad hair day. And it doesn’t even have to be a situation involving your yearbook for you to have a bad yearbook experience. What if the whole school is making fun of what you wrote in your best friend’s yearbook – it’s just like a replay of the yearbook scene in the movie Just Friends! The bottom line is, some uses of yearbooks (books on which we should be able to look back and remember great moments) can end up making us want to forget that whole year instead.

Well, not for high school’s students in New Jersey (United States) as they came up with a brilliant goal – “for every student to appear twice [in the yearbook], regardless of whether he or she is the senior class president, the yearbook editor’s best friend or the student who comes late and leaves early” (The New York Times). All to put forward the idea that yearbooks are no popularity contest and no one should feel left out because of its content. “Everyone deserves to be remembered”, included and respected. A fantastic idea that schools across Canada could definitely put into action; wouldn’t you agree?

In the meantime, even the smallest gesture can make a difference. For example:

• If you find someone else’s yearbook, bring it to a teacher or the main office so that it is returned to its owner;
• If you see others doodling, ripping pages, etc. from another person’s yearbook, tell them to stop;
• And we can all find positive things to write in other’s yearbooks. Even if we’re not buddy-buddy with everyone, we can wish them good luck for the future.

So, how about it? Let’s make great memories for everyone!

Links

Familyeducation: Yearbook Prank – Would You Call This Bullying?
The New York Times: A Yearbook Dedicated to Inclusion

One Reader Comment:

1. 

   Dominique HouleJuly 3rd

   En faisant que chaque élève apparaisse deux fois dans l’annuaire, les jeunes s’opposaient, à leur manière, à l’exclusion de certains de leurs pairs, étant une forme d’intimidation. Il existe de nombreuses autres initiatives comme celle-ci et tu connais CHOIX.org, toujours heureux de les reconnaître! Ceci étant dit, nous avons récemment lu un article sur une campagne contre la cyberintimidation en Nouvelle-Écosse appelé « As-tu une idée? » Va voir ce dont il s’agit et surtout n’hésite pas à suggérer tes idées pour mettre un terme à la cyberintimidation! http://www.unlikecyberbullying.ca/fr

   By aiming to have every student appear twice in the yearbook, youth were, in a way, rising against the exclusion of some of their peers, which is a form of bullying. There are many other initiatives like this one and you know DEAL.org, always happy to recognize them! That being said, we recently read about an anti-cyberbullying campaign in Nova-Scotia called “What’s your idea?” Check it out and don’t you hesitate to give your ideas to stop cyberbullying! http://www.unlikecyberbullying.ca/