“Where did our senior traditions go?” is a question that is being asked by high school seniors across the country due to the common consensus that traditions in high school are being lost or watered down into a state where they have become unrecognizable.
Many schools in Hazelwood School District have slowly faded out senior traditions due to a multitude of reasons, including costs, logistics, or threats of punishment. For example, Hazelwood West’s senior trip has been canceled due to a “lack of transportation,” which has eliminated a very dear tradition to many of West’s seniors.
Also, the senior prank has been banned at West with threats of not being able to walk at graduation after a few pranks went too far, this has ruled out an American High School tradition due to a couple of bad apples.
But this isn’t only in Hazelwood; writers in the Wildcat Chronicle (No association) have said that many of their traditions have faded away due to many of the same reasons posted above.
We see many schools are downsizing on their high school traditions and events for many valid reasons but are these reasons justified with the impact they have on high school students and their experience? And what can students do to save their traditions or bring back old ones?
The first question is entirely up to the reader; it is your personal opinion on if traditions should or shouldn’t be canceled. But for those seniors that want to bring back traditions of old and be reintroduced or kept alive for years to come, students could take the lead and make dedicated clubs to events and traditions where they would plan, fund, and advocate for traditions to be unbanned or even be put on by the school.
Having one specific organization work to put on events would help with many of the issues above like when people simply forget about them or realize too late that they haven’t been planned.
Senior traditions give students something to look forward to in school and make becoming a senior more than just another year in high school. It’s essential to foster and care for these traditions because their flames can be easily extinguished due to various issues.