BY: MIRANDA SHEELEY

Pep rallies and sport assemblies are things that many high school students complain about, but now middle schoolers get to dread them too. Suddenly, these types of events are being given at some of our local middle schools, but this takes away from the anticipation students feel when they enter high school.
When I found this out, some questions arose: why would Amphitheater district administrators do that when that is one of the many things junior high students look forward to experiencing when they are freshman? Even though most of the students don’t enjoy attending these events at CDO it doesn’t matter because it’s all about the experience the middle school students are getting robbed of. Yes, they will attend the rallies/assemblies at CDO, but it’s different when you already have an idea of what to expect.
Personally, when I went to my first assembly, I had no idea what would come of it. As I approached I heard booming music and saw tons of my peers staring at the shenanigans taking place on the basketball court. I’m sure that some of the other middle schools had loud music and skits occurring when they walked into their own pep rallies, too. So by the time they come to high school, how new will it be to them?
Pep rallies are a quintessential high school obligation that middle schoolers should not be able to experience.
Maybe it’s not the idea of this specific pep rally change that bothers me; what bothers me more is the thought that we don’t know when these drastic changes will stop. What if suddenly local middle schools start having an official eighth grade prom? Although the middle school prom would be much different from the high school prom, it’s the principle that high school should be a completely new, exciting experience when freshman enter CDO and other high schools that counts.
Pep rallies, sport assemblies, and other events should be for high schools only. How would high schoolers taking mid-day naps be accepted? Sports assemblies should be exclusive to the high school experience, just like recess is to elementary school.
As the next school year starts, I hope to hear that middle schools get rid of these changes and think of new, creative ways to distinguish themselves and create individual traditions.