My Letter to the Prior Lake American

As a graduate in the Class of 2009, I must say that Prior Lake High School's administration is going much too far in their regulation of school dances. When I read the article about "inappropriate dancing" and how administrators are reacting, I was shocked. Since Dr. Olson left our school, the atmosphere has become more and more like a prison. I understand some rules that have put into place such as the cellphone policy and others that may directly improve the safety and integrity of the school but I don’t see how regulating how students dance affects either of these components. If these ridiculous policies continue, students will soon not be allowed to talk during lunch or they will be required to bring their entire wardrobes into the school to be checked and approved.

Administrators at Prior Lake High School are abusing their power and infringing on students’ First Amendment rights. Yes, I realize that students have very few rights in school, certainly nowhere near what is guaranteed by the Constitution but this is still an unfair and unneeded infringement.

In my freshman year, students were generally happy with the school and administration, most of the time not so much as complaining about early start times. Since then, I have heard and experienced more and more unrest and discomfort among the student body as the administration enacts more restrictions and takes away more freedoms from students.

I have a feeling that if too many rules are placed on school dances, attendance to those dances will drop significantly. The administration may not mind this but it would be tremendously unfortunate for students because, in my friends’ and my experience, dances were a large, integral portion of our social lives, ranking up there with Friday night football games and “Taco Bell runs” after sporting events. I would hate to see students be deprived of the fun and social experience that I enjoyed so much in my four years at Prior Lake High School.
-A Concerned Alumnus

10-22-2009

© 2007-2009 Jacob Tauer
This information is not to be used in any form, online or off, without the express permission of the author
 

A Mid-Teen-Life Crisis?

Remember when everything you knew was 100% true without a question? When you could believe anything anyone told you and it was perfectly acceptable knowledge to keep? What ever happened to those days? Just last night I realized I’m going through this midlife crisis thing, teenager style. I’ve started to doubt everything I have ever known to be true. I used to believe in my faith without question. Now I’m somewhat unsure about whether what I have can even be considered faith anymore. I was always told (and have told others) that everything will end up okay in the end but I’m not entirely sure I can even believe that anymore with everything that goes on in this world. Just like a mid-life crisis, I’ve started to doubt if what I have been doing in life and what I had planned for my life is what I really want to do. Do I really want to go into the Guard or do I have the wrong motives? Do I want to go to school and, if so, where and for what? I’m even questioning and going as far as regretting many of my past decisions relating to school, relationships, friends, and family. I just can’t help but wonder what might have happened if I had made the opposite decision or chose to do one thing over another. This isn’t to say that I’m unhappy with my life because, in some areas, I’ve never been happier. It just bothers me not knowing whether I would have been happier if I had stayed in touch with this person or if I hadn’t decided to try something. Now I’m scared to make any major decisions because I know that, later in life, I could potentially go through this whole thing again, regretting the decisions I’m making right this second. Who knows, maybe I’ll even regret writing this instead of paying attention to my math review. I just don’t know what to do anymore. I would ask people for help but everyone either tells me what they want me to do or they won’t tell me anything. Neither answer helps me much since neither helps me to consider options that are best for me. It really sucks that that’s how this world works but it also sucks that there’s a constant possibility of nuclear war or contracting some new, deadly disease that hasn’t been discovered yet.

And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country, friends, family, or leaders can do for you (because they won’t be able to help much if your goal is to be happy), ask what decisions will best benefit your country, friends, families, and leaders. That’s the only real way to ensure that ANYBODY is happy.

1-5-2009

© 2007-2009 Jacob Tauer
This information is not to be used in any form, online or off, without the express permission of the author
 

Problem...solved?

I feel like this won’t go away no matter how hard I try to squeeze my eyes shut so I can’t see the pain…Everything that I can say to you won’t help you. Everything you need is right in front of you, just take it… Try to make it through the daily pain that you feel. Maybe tomorrow won’t be so bad. I know it because I once felt that way. Nothing I could say made it go away. I lived through this, I still feel this, I just live for my tomorrow. Make it go away, just make it go away.

Through the last few years, I have actively listened to and helped my good friends with their problems whether they are relationship problems, family issues, or other things that may come up. I love helping my friends in any way I can but I sometimes wonder if I do too much. I know I get a lot of help from my friends when I have problems and I appreciate it but I also went through a long period of time without any help from friends and I got through it just fine. I know that I can handle anything that comes up by myself if need be. Some friends, however, seem like they have never dealt with anything by themselves before. They always seem to want a plan for exactly how to handle things in their lives and I don’t have all the answers for them. I worry about what will happen when they go away to college or if I ever can’t be there for whatever reason. Daily I contemplate not helping these friends who need help constantly. A tough-love lesson in life may do them some good and teach them how to deal but, at the same time, I worry that they will either take it the wrong way and completely erase me from their lives or that they will end up hurting themselves or someone else. Either way, I could very easily end up the bad guy because I either “abandoned” my friends or I’m babying them and risking making them so dependent that, throughout the rest of their lives, they cannot get through their own problems without serious help. Who knew that someone who impacted only a small handful of people in his freshman year could potentially be making so many people’s lives so very difficult? I love my friends to death, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything, but why the heck do I have the power to influence them so much? I would almost like to go back to 9th grade when there was not nearly so much potential to negatively influence people. Unfortunately, this is not an option so I must take my chances with life as it is, hoping no one ends up hating me. I am just trying to help after all. It’s just too bad that, in this world, trying to do the right thing is almost always considered the wrong thing.

12-17-2008

© 2007-2009 Jacob Tauer
This information is not to be used in any form, online or off, without the express permission of the author