"yeah, i heard there was a party this weekend"

I'm in the opinion writing class and we read an article about how West High School's yearbook was under review for publishing a spread that had the title of "Yeah, I heard there was a party this weekend" and it contained controversial pictures. One was of a guy holding a beer keg over his head. In defense, the advisor said "Don't shoot the messenger."

While it is a publications job to report what's going on in high school, I think some take it too far and abuse the freedom of being able to write whatever you want. It's a question of ethics and while you can right about whatever you want... there are some things you shouldn't write about.

Underage drinking does go on in high school, but publications shouldn't glamorize it. Most everyone knows it goes on so there's no need to report about it and have the possiblity of a younger sibling read the page and think "Woah, I get to drink in high school." Also, it can give the school (and sometimes community) a bad reputation, and not every single person in high school drinks.