Advisory Can be Possible

BY ZOE MACDIARMID Editor-in-Chief

When Advisory was cut down to three days a week in November, I figured that would be the last of the changes to it.

However, on Monday, March 20th, it was officially announced to the school that Advisory would be held only once a week on Wednesdays, with a few exceptions due to testing or other scheduled school events.

Some students might be unaware of the history Advisory has at Wilde Lake. There has been an Advisory, in some form, since the opening of Wilde Lake in 1971. How many days a week we have an Advisory has fluctuated over the years.

Every time Advisory has been cut, the problem has been similar: Students were being unruly, spending their Advisory time in the hallways. The same thing is happening now. We’re following a similar trajectory.

I can’t help but resent the students who likely were the underlying cause of this decision. The students who refused to listen to the repeated requests to just go to their Advisory. Even when switching Advisories was made available, some students opted to turn it into a free for all.

This begs the question of whether this was preventable. Though I valued the extra time I received, I don’t blame the administration for making this decision or the teachers who did not want the extra class. If staff has to spend an inordinate amount of time wrangling the wandering students, it’s not worth it.

I know that we need a break during the day. In my first opinion about Advisory, “Advisory Falls Short of Vision,” that I published on November 18th, 2022, I defended the hallway wanderers.

“There are always going to be those bad apples who would rather walk around the halls. But who can blame them? We sit all day hunched over computers and textbooks, cramming material into our brains. We go from periods one to three, a short lunch, and then to periods five to six. There is no real break during the school day.”

Looking back, I think I was too lenient. Yes, we need a break, but there are certain expectations we have to meet as students.

In “Advisory Falls Short of Vision,” I split the blame between students and teachers. I argued that one reason Advisory was failing was that some teachers understandably did not want the additional responsibility of an Advisory. Now, I’m looking at the students.

Some people seem to not grasp that Wilde Lake

BY ARIELLE LEVINE and LAUREN KELLY News Editor Staff Editor

They say, “Don’t let history repeat itself.”

The Holocaust ended 77 years ago. It started with words of hatred against the Jewish people. It did not start with the horror it is often remembered by: the mass genocide of the Jewish people. But just as antisemitism did not start with the Holocaust, it also did not end with the Holocaust.

Over the past months, celebrities such as Kanye “Ye” West and Kyrie Irving have proved to the Jewish community that there is still fear to be felt. On October 8th, just three days after Yom Kippur, one of the holiest days of the Jewish calendar year, Ye tweeted that he was going to go “death con 3 on Jewish people.”

When he tweeted this, his Twitter platform allowed him to reach over 30 million followers. There are only 14.8 million Jewish people in the world. It is likely that there were more people who read that Tweet than there are Jews in the world.

After the tweet, brands that held deals with Ye like Adidas and GAP “terminated relationships” and ended deals. However, these public oustings did not stop him.

On Dec 1, 2022, Ye appeared on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ show, InfoWars, and throughout the episode, made claims that when looked through a historical lens, are horrifying. “I don’t really care that much about Hilter,” Ye said. “I love him…He did not kill six million Jews. That is just factually incorrect… I see good things about him.”

Ye is not the only well-known public figure who has recently shared antisemitic views to large platforms. Kyrie Irving, a Brooklyn Nets player, shared an antisemitic film to Twitter in November: 4.6M followers. On November 12, comedian Dave Chappelle delivered a 15-minute monologue with the majority of his jokes playing into the antisemitic trope that Jews run Hollywood: 4.8 million views, reaching an SNL season high.

Jewish student, Noah Davidson, a senior at Wilde Lake, has been completing research on antisemitism.

“Back in the 40s [in] early Germany, a lot of forms of hatred were turned into action,” says Noah. “After [Ye] made his remarks in early November, a sign was hung on top of an LA highway saying ‘Ye was right about the Jews’, so the fact that his words have now turned into actions from other hateful groups is really frightening to say the least.” offers things that most other schools don’t. But we can’t take these resources for granted. When we run around in the hallways, smoke in the bathroom, and disrespect our teachers, we are showing that we don’t understand the value of it.

Teaching the Holocaust is more than just teaching an event in history. Teaching the Holocaust is teaching the warning signs of hateful people growing in power, the dangers of dehumanization and prejudice, and the way that this hatred still runs rampant today. In this day and age, the Holocaust has shaped into a cultural touchstone, something to be referenced in media, arguments, and jokes. Oftentimes with these references come misconceptions about the Holocaust such as the fact that “jews did not resist” or simply that the Holocaust did not exist, which is pushed forward through the #Holohoax Twitter hashtag.

These misconceptions are dangerous. They are drawing a veil over a horrific event in history while actively tarnishing the memory of the lost lives. They are minimizing the struggles that Jews have faced in rebuilding their lives and culture post-Holocaust. They are denying a critical event in the history of Judaism itself.

If we fail to widely learn about the Holocaust and the address antisemitic misconceptions that thrive to this day, we are not doing our job to prevent a future mass genocide against a minority group.

In response to recent hateful actions taken towards Jewish members of the Howard County Public School System, Howard County Superintendent Dr. Micheal Martirano made a statement primarily sent out to parents and teachers.

Looking ahead to next year, the future of Advisory is unclear. What is clear, proven repeatedly and again this year, is that everyone has to buy in for it to succeed.

But what Advisory advocates know is the good it can bring the school. Advisory can create community. Advisory can give students a much-needed break in the day. Advisory can be possible.

If you want to voice your opinion on an article or a school issue, write a Letter to the Editor

As of 2019 data, Howard County is home to 18,700 Jewish individuals. 3,900 of these individuals are children, impressionable and scared by the antisemitism that frequents their social media feeds, often times from celebrities their generation looked up to.

The Jewish community is small, and as a global community, we have seen what happens when antisemitism is responded to with silence. Jews need allies in fighting antisemitism, which is often cited as the oldest form of hate.

If we as a global population continue to fail to respond to antisemitism, we are actively contributing to letting history repeat itself.

Please, use your voice, for it can be strong, especially when you are echoing a minority community. Even if you aren’t Jewish, your words carry more power than you may believe.

Please, if you are a fan of a public figure who has committed an act of antisemitism, know that there comes the point where separating the person from their art or work is not an excuse. Know that when you stream their content or follow them on Twitter, you actively give them a platform to spread antisemitic views.

Please, educate yourself and others about the history of antisemitism. Do not let your knowledge of antisemitism stop at the Holocaust. Make sure you and others know that antisemitism still prevails. After all, ignorance is not bliss.