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Why We Criticize FROM THE EDITORS It just wouldn’t be the Tatler without criticism. In this issue alone, the value of student leadership elections is scrutinized and Lakeside’s recent environmental policies are called into question. You may be surprised to hear, however, that the Tatler staff doesn’t write critical articles simply because we take some kind of perverse pleasure in disparaging anything and everything at Lakeside. We actually think that our criticism is important, and we have good reasons for writing the disapproving or reproachful articles which often appear in the paper. Firstly, we criticize because, believe it or not, there are problems at Lakeside. Obviously, this isn’t a major surprise to anyone, but occasionally this fact can get lost in the confirmation bias which exists at our school. Students are desperate to believe that they are getting the most out of their quality education and are able to balance the various stresses that their lives put them under. Teachers and administrators want to believe that because of the work they do our school is the best in the world. Parents need to feel that they are getting something out of their educational investment. Because of the enormous time, effort, and resources which the Lakeside community puts into almost everything it does, there is a need to feel that things are going well. It would really be a shame if we spent $22 million on an Athletics Center and decided later that there might have been a better place to put our money, so it’s easy to decide right now that this new building is unquestionably good. It sometimes seems like the solution is to ignore the problem and confirm our support for the status quo. For better or for worse, though, ignorance is never a good solution. Therefore, the Tatler feels a need to bring forward and elucidate those problems which do exist. There is also enough praise to go around at Lakeside. Anyone who has ever heard one of Mr. Noe’s convocation speeches, read through a Parents Association publication, or even just glanced at Lakeside’s website knows that there is no shortage of good things that Lakeside
community members are saying about Lakeside. We constantly—and often correctly—applaud our own intellectual capability, academic excellence, student diversity, and athletic ability. However, one of the best ways this school can improve is by addressing issues which need fixing. In order to do this, a space is needed where criticism can be openly expressed and discussed. Hence, we believe that another important purpose our criticism serves is to constantly identify areas where our school can improve and make suggestions for improvement. We believe that the school got to where it is today by addressing and solving problems, and that it will continue to excel only by treating every problem as important. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we criticize because of the discussions that criticism starts. One of our main goals as a newspaper is to spark interesting discussions and get our readers thinking. There is often no better way to do this than to offer up our criticism of something. Some people will agree with our perspective, while others will disagree. Regardless, those responses are generally strong, and those responses will start conversations. While we don’t take perverse pleasure in criticizing, we are always happy to see students talking about issues which matter at this school. Indeed, it is the response to our criticism which often reminds us why we write for this paper. The Tatler seeks to have an impact on Lakeside, and criticism is often a good way to do that. Of course, for this impact to translate into reality, our readers need to take what they read in the Tatler and do something about it, whether that means having a conversation, fixing a problem, or even just disagreeing with us. At the end of the day, then, we criticize because we feel that this community will do the right things with our criticism. Confirmation bias will be dispelled, problems will be fixed, and dialogues will be started. It is because we are in such a great community that we feel our criticism is so valuable, and for that we are truly grateful.
TATLER
“ ” “ ” Because of the enormous time, effort, and resources which the Lakeside community puts into almost everything it does, there is a need to feel that things are going well.
We believe that the school got to where it is today by addressing and solving problems, and that it will continue to excel only by treating every problem as important.
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Tatler is known for being critical of Lakeside as a whole, but not without reason. Gilda Rastegar.
One of our main goals as a newspaper is to spark interesting discussions and get our readers thinking. There is often no better way to do this than to offer up our criticism of something.
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