We constantly consume media that skews our perception of the ideal American high school experience. Popular shows such as “Stranger Things” and “Never Have I Ever” create a narrative that the so-called ideal high school experience is dominated by athletics. However, in Princeton, that experience is far different. We place emphasis on accelerated classes, college applications, and other academic achievements. Although it can be good for us to have an outlet for our academic stress, school spirit events such as forced pep rallies and monotone spirit weeks do not actually bolster our camaraderie as students. There are better ways to bring about a sense of belonging among students at PHS.

PHS closed out September with the Homecoming football game, Pep Rally, Homecoming dance and Spirit Week, only to open October with the Week of Respect. Although many students participated in the activities, the vast majority of the student body tried to ignore the bombardment of school spirit events or did not even know that they happened at all. For many students, the events felt like a nuisance more than anything else. The Pep Rally consumed three hours of the school day, wasting valuable time where students could have continued to learn in class or work on assignments. Personally, I had a lab due on the day of the Pep Rally and would have preferred to be in class rather than outside, obligated to participate. Having security to make sure that students could not leave even though classes were over made participation feel like an inconvenience rather than a way for students to feel closer together, and underscored the entire event with a slightly dystopian tone. In fact, making participation mandatory did not increase our support of our school’s football team, because it made the event seem somewhat disingenuous, causing many students to only participate halfheartedly. If PHS had allowed students to participate without mandating it, school spirit would have felt more organic, and less like forced “fun.” For example, Homecoming was not required and it was far more exciting because our connections with others felt less orchestrated.

Furthermore, our Homecoming game and pep rallies overemphasize male dominated sports. Although PHS faculty encourages students to attend the tiger cage for all sports, the athletic events with the highest attendance are male dominated. For example, The women’s tennis team has received minimal school support throughout the season even though they are virtually undefeated. Similarly, whenever field hockey, women’s soccer or volleyball have games, there are far fewer students in attendance than there are for men’s soccer or football. This is in large part because our school makes more announcements about men’s sports than women’s and encourages students to focus on men’s sports. There were no pep rallies when the women’s soccer team advanced at MCTs, or when the women’s tennis team advanced at sectionals. However, when the football team lost their homecoming game, we were all encouraged to come out and watch. Although we shouldn’t be taking more time away from our studies than is already being taken away by school spirit events, it would be nice for PHS to encourage students to rally around all sports. Not only would this be encouraging students to connect with one another but it would be creating a more supportive and inclusive student body.

Aside from Homecoming, PHS had Spirit Week and Week of Respect back to back, in which the main attraction was rewarding students for dressing up. However, considering how the only days that more than a handful of students seemed to participate were the dual pajama days, neither initiative was much of a success. Not only did the two weeks have extremely similar dress codes for each day, making them feel redundant, there seemed to be no point to dressing up. Many students—myself included—wondered how dressing in pajamas could make us be more respectful of our peers and teachers. Instead of focusing on having the students dress uniformly for the Week of Respect, PHS should focus on actually creating a more respectful environment—one that embraces differences. If they pushed us to compliment one another, or help people in our neighborhood, or say hi to people we never spoke to before, PHS would actually be helping to make students more respectful. Rather than rewarding students for simply wearing a shirt, the school could encourage teachers and administrators to commend small acts of kindness that they witness from students. Respect is not about dressing up, but it’s about being attentive to the feelings of others, and PHS needs to teach that.

Although all of these events can at first seem like a way for the student body to get closer together at the start of the year, they have never been particularly successful. For most students, they feel superficial — just because the entire school is forced to sit through a three-hour assembly doesn't mean students are making new friends, or finding reasons to be proud of their school. Moreover, we should not have to look the same or dress the same to be able to respect one another. It is important that the PHS administration recognizes that we are not the Steve Harringtons or the Paxton Hall-Yoshidas from the shows that we love, but real-life people who have their own senses of fashion, their own unique hobbies and extracurriculars, and their own individual ways of showing kindness. Students will only show true spirit when it’s of their own volition.