In today’s teen culture, the media is dominated by false perceptions of beauty. In this generation the pressure put on girls and boys to be “perfect” is ruthless. Fashionable clothes, bigger muscles, current hairstyles, tanner bodies, “slim” bodies, and makeup trends all contribute to a teens self-esteem. On television, billboards, magazines, and flyers there are images of celebrities and models that are supposed to be ideal human beings. These images are influencing teenagers to grow into the mold of their icons. Juniors, Brianna Corsini and Amy Drazek, have taken an interest in this issue and have decided to take a stand against societal influences.

The inspiring Juniors’ first researched self-esteem issues so that they would be able to develop appropriate workshops that would raise self-esteem awareness in our schools and community. They wanted to focus on seventh graders because statistics show that 70% of girls between ages 12-15 begin to disengage themselves in activities such as going to school, speaking in class, or going to the doctor when they feel bad about themselves. Thus, they felt it was crucial to target girls before they developed low self-esteem.

To start the campaign, they contacted the principle of Plymouth South Middle School, Mr. John Siever, and notified him of their mission to help the students. They organized an event to complete activities with the girls and teach them the importance of self-esteem. The event was extremely successful. The girls, including the junior directors, had a lot of fun and were inspired to develop more self-esteem. The self-esteem awareness workshop they created for the seventh grade girls provided not only the students, but the community, with knowledge about having positive self-esteem.

Self-esteem is developed over experiences and time. One way to boost self-esteem is by giving and receiving a compliment. Brianna and Amy gave the 7^th grade girls the challenge of giving compliments every day to themselves and someone else after their workshop. The junior directors are challenging the town of Plymouth to start a chain reaction of generous words.

To aware the town of Plymouth about the importance of self-esteem, Amy and Brianna were interviewed by the Old Colony Memorial newspaper; and they were guests on WATD AM radio. They have also created a Facebook group that anyone can join to ask questions or give opinions about self-esteem. The inspiring juniors will be premiering on Panther TV to spread their message to high school students. On their own they have started a self-esteem movement by sending out a text message that people should forward to others. The text message reads, “You’re Beautiful, Pass it on. Sent by someone who cares. Forward to ten friends or family to increase the self-esteem in those you love.”

The main message they want to get across is that everyone is “amazing just the way they are,” quoted by Bruno Mars. It’s one hundred percent true that everyone is unique and beautiful in their own way. It’s time to embrace your beauty and care about your own self-esteem as well as others.

“You must love yourself before you love another. By accepting yourself and fully being what you are, your simple presence can make others happy.”

-DOVE Self-Esteem Movement

Freedom of choice of what you wear to school may NOT be the policy any longer at Plymouth South beginning next year under a pilot program being considered by the school administration.

“School uniforms could become a possibility as early as next year” Mrs. Fry said, as the school considers the idea of uniforms for Plymouth South students.

School Uniforms or a strict dress code?  This is always a hot topic for debate in public schools. There seems to be as many positive aspects as there are negative when it comes to uniforms. Mrs. Fry, Principle at Plymouth South High School, thinks the uniforms would be a great idea. “Uniforms create a more serious environment in the classroom” said Mrs. Fry.

In an environment where everyone is classified by what they have, uniforms would bring equality to the hallways of the school. Students wouldn’t be able to judge one another based on appearances.  If students had uniforms then they wouldn’t have to worry about spending most of their money on clothes in order to fit in. Mrs. Fry said “Uniforms leave more money for students to buy school supplies. Instead of buying the hot new pair of jeans, students are able to go out and afford a calculator which is a necessity”.

There is also the point that school uniforms discourage self expression. By forcing students to wear a certain style of clothing it can also send the message that everyone has to look the same. Providing school uniforms could be like taking away an art class. For some students, the way they dress is how they express themselves. Taking that away can have a bad impact on each student and the school as a whole.

Mrs. Fry said “The dress code will not be put in place to completely restrict students.” She is more than happy to work with students. Maybe it can be considered more appropriate jeans or khakis, a shirt with no writing, and a pair of shoes of the students choice.

When we asked Mrs. Fry about those students who may feel uncomfortable in jeans, khakis, a golf shirt, or school orientated T-shirt, she replied with “the staff of the school will work directly with that student and their family; so that the student will feel a lot more comfortable wearing these clothes”.

During high school students are going through a trial and error age. When students get to choose what they wear it teaches them what clothes are appropriate and inappropriate for a working environment. As a compromise for everyone a dress code that is taken seriously could be a great option. Depending on the strictness of the dress code, it can show individuality as well as tone down what the students wear. Uniforms would better the students and faculty as long as there is some sort of an agreement.

There is always a way to look fashionable and appropriate. One question to ask yourself before you leave for school is, “Would I want my son wearing his jeans this low?”, or “Would I want my daughter revealing this much skin?” We all have to remember that school is a place for education, not a fashion show. A stricter dress code would put limitations on clothing without forcing students to match each other.

Don’t panic yet students, uniforms are currently undecided. Mrs. Fry said “Nothing is 100% yet. If it is improved; the school will ‘pilot’ uniforms. Similar to advisory when it was piloted in 2009.”

What do you think Plymouth South? Take our poll (on the main page) or comment to this story with your thoughts! Stay appropriate–only thoughtful comments will be posted!

The point of the Fashion Talent Show is to give students the chance to show off their modeling skills down the runway, and to show off their unique talents. To start the Fashion Talent Show Plymouth South High School’s choir took the stage to warm up the crowd. Next, students and the children from childcare took their turn, showing off their moves down the runway. The rest of the lineup consisted of rotations of fashion models, and talent performances. Having the fashion models on stage in rotations and then including a talent performance between each interval made the Fashion Show have a great variety of performances.

The talent performances consisted of the musical styles of Alyssa Delos Reyes, break dancing by Cameron Buckley, the singing of Audrey Medeiros, the guitar skills of John Glidden and David Groom, the dancing styles of Tiffany Delos Reyes, the singing of Julianne Delos Reyes, the dancing styles of The Manomet School Of Dance dancers, the musical styles of Jesse Boncek, and many other amazing talents.

Although most of the talent show went well there were many “glitches” that were considered annoying to the audience. Some of the participants weren’t prepared to go on stage, which caused a delay in the show. Also there were a few changes in certain acts which also became frustrating to watch. The microphone at one point had a malfunction for a few minutes and if you sat in the back of the cafeteria it was hard to hear some of the participants.

Also having such a large audience attend the show had some major drawbacks. There weren’t enough seats for all of the audience members. Many people sat on the stairs or stood against the wall. There were also people who sat uncomfortably on the floor. Since there were so many people it was also very distracting. There were people moving from one place to the other, it was noisy, and having to move around other people was difficult. The models were frantically running back and forth which made the show appear a bit unorganized.

Other than a few annoyances, the show overall was a success. The audience roared for Plymouth South High School’s talent. The fashion models did an excellent job using their creative skills to think of entertaining ways to walk down the runway. Even some of Plymouth South’s faculty participated in the show with the students. The talent performances were spectacular. Every singer, dancer, and musician was amazing on stage.

This year’s Fashion Talent show was truly a success. The audience left entertained and all of the students did a great job putting everything together for the special evening.

Spirit Week has been successful so far, and there are plenty of days still ahead! Many students wore their favorite team gear on Wednesday, and students and  faculty helped make South hallways a blast from the past on Thursday for Decades Day.  Here is the upcoming schedule:

FRIDAY: UGLY SWEATER DAY / PLAID DAY

MONDAY: P.J.’S DAY

TUESDAY: DRESS LIKE YOUR HALLWAY

* GRADE 9: UNDER THE SEA

* GRADE 10: INTERNATIONAL

* GRADE 11: TOY STORY

* GRADE 12: HARRY POTTER

WEDNESDAY: TEAL & BLACK DAY for the PEP RALLY