Merriam Webster defines pep rallies as “an event before a school sports event that is meant to get students and fans excited and to encourage the team to win.”
With this definition in mind, I invite you to picture this:
It’s an ordinary Friday afternoon at Altoona Area High School. In preparation for the upcoming football game against rival Hollidaysburg, select students and staff have put together a pep rally for the entire school to attend beginning at 2 p.m., lasting until the end of the day at 2:40 p.m. The gym is packed to the brim with freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors while on the floor below the Lioneer and cheerleader dance groups put on their best performances to the tunes of the marching band playing in the stands.
And then, head principal Andrew Neely walks in with a mannequin the health classes use to practice CPR—dressed in a Hollidaysburg T-shirt. A select group of teachers begin scoring touchdowns against this “Hollidaysburg student” while administrators, teachers and staff begin hyping up the football team and criticizing Hollidaysburg.
Students not only pictured this, but experienced it in real life on Friday, Aug. 23. And this wasn’t the first time.
Last school year, before the annual Hollidaysburg-Altoona football game, a stuffed tiger was brought in and used at the pep rally, which involved kicking it, shaming it and attaching it to a fishing-pole-like contraption and strutting around the gym with it. The tiger is Hollidaysburg’s school mascot.
Now, having said all that, I have nothing against pep rallies. Don’t get me wrong—I have no problem with showcasing school spirit before a football game. But when we start bringing other people down to bring ourselves up? That’s when I have a problem.
The Altoona-Hollidaysburg rivalry has been in place for years, and being rivals pushes both Altoona and Hollidaysburg to perform their best. However, Altoona has taken the “rival” meaning too seriously. Has anyone ever asked Hollidaysburg if they kick a stuffed Mountain Lion around the gym and have adults come down to take a swing at it before the Altoona-Hollidaysburg football game? You have to admit, picturing other schools doing it makes it clear how absurd this is.
My question is: in a country as divisive as the United States, why are we encouraging even more of this division? On top of that, why are we encouraging this in high schools and colleges when students are most susceptible to development and change influenced by their environment? According to the National Library of Medicine, “School is typically the largest and most important institution with which young people are involved, and it is a primary context for their development.”
Teenagers are the future. This population is going to grow up and become engineers, artists, historians; some are going to hold leadership positions later in life. Setting a good example starts here and now. This goes beyond Altoona, beyond Blair County—beyond Pennsylvania. This rivalry “enemy” mentality is displayed in pep rallies across the nation, and it needs to stop.
In a poll sent to the entire high school with 127 total responses, 15.7% responded they don’t like how rivals are treated during pep rallies. In addition, 19.7% selected that they don’t like the atmosphere, nearly one-fifth of the entire respondents. So what can we do to change that atmosphere?
Let’s start with ramping up our school spirit without trashing other schools. That might just improve the atmosphere.
I realize I am only one person and my opinion may not count for much, so I’m going to let the student body speak. Here’s what students like about pep rallies and what they think should be improved:
Students also have suggestions on what should be improved about the pep rallies:
- More opportunities to get involved: students who aren’t out on the gym floor would like to be more involved in the activities.
- The volume and altercations: students would like to lessen the volume and crowding factor in the gym during the pep rallies and prevent the altercations afterward. In addition, some would like to choose where they sit.
- Pep rallies should be optional: for the students who don’t want to participate, they believe pep rallies should be optional.
- Focus on other sports and clubs: some students believe other sports aren’t given enough attention and most of the focus is on the football team.
- The agenda of the presenters: some students believe pep rallies should be shorter and the presenter topics should be focused on Altoona spirit instead of making fun of rivals (i.e. Hollidaysburg).
All of us learned in kindergarten we shouldn’t bring down others to bring ourselves up. Altoona Area High School needs to hold to this principle, even on a bigger scale. As one of the student survey responses said: “Less yap, more pep.”
What's your opinion on pep rallies?
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