Having spent my whole life attending the Ramsey school district, I have been through countless spirit weeks. This includes blue and gold days, pajama days, jersey days, crazy hair days, mismatched sock days, and the list goes on. In elementary school, these were something to be excited about, and almost everyone participated in any way possible. However, once I entered middle school, I noticed this trend begin to die down. No matter how much the staff tried to promote it, no one really took part. Then, by the time high school came around, I constantly found myself deleting emails reminding students of themed weeks and to plan their outfits accordingly.
With the rise of social media has come an increase in judgmental and socially awkward teens who find everything cringy or embarrassing. No one can make small talk, or trip up the stairwell, or ask a question in class, or cough in a quiet room. Everything always feels like someone saw and is just bubbling over with excitement until they can make fun of it to their friends if they haven’t done so already. On account of this anxiety, nobody wants to participate anymore. Everyone sits and watches from the sidelines, hoping somebody else will jump in and bear the attention and humiliation themselves.
On the contrary, there’s Friday Night Lights: where essentially the entirety of the student body gathers in the bleachers of the back field to watch the varsity football team play. Everyone in attendance dresses along with the determined theme, students wave a blue and gold flag, and the noise can be heard all over town. This is the one thing that seems to make students feel genuinely proud to be apart of this community, so why can’t other activities do the same?
Pep rallies aren’t peppy; they’re excuses for shorter periods. Pajama day is every day. Kids only wear their jerseys to school when it’s gameday. A hair out of place is the end of the world. I can’t remember the last time I saw more than a handful of kids actually partake in a spirit day. Nothing is fun anymore. No one can be themselves, or embrace who they are, or even show some school pride. Most can agree on how fun it is to see people’s Halloween costumes at school when the time comes around, so why should another theme be any different? Why do we constantly allow others’ opinions to determine our own course of action? Maybe not everyone is proud to be a “Ram,” and maybe I can agree with that. However, that doesn’t mean something like spirit week can’t be fun, especially if we stop letting ourselves feel ashamed for the simplicities of everyday life.
