In a recent Eye of the Needle, senior cheerleader members were interviewed and the discussion led to Charisma Burg referring to cheerleading as the “hardest thing you could ever do in your life.” And while I don’t think she made this statement as an end-all be-all this-is-how-it-is statement, it has created quite the ruckus at AHS. Between comments made in the hall, to sometimes-passive-but-mostly-just-aggressive social media outbursts, everybody seems to have something to say about the interview.

There are several things to take into consideration here. First of all, I don’t agree that cheerleading is the “hardest thing you could ever do in your life,” but I do think it’s hard. Just like any activity or sport, it takes hard work, time, dedication, and practice. So does football and swimming and band and theater and cross country and every other activity. We’re all very focused on being the best and the struggles we go through to get there that we forget about what challenges others face in order to be the very best they can be at their chosen focus.

Which brings me to my next point: the response of the swim team. While I can’t personally speak for the swim team or the AHS Needle, I can say that there have been several discrepancies in the reports made in the Eye of the Needle. Some sports are focused on more than others and certain groups are left out or nearly left out altogether. I think the backlash made on social media was more targeted on these discrepancies than the cheerleaders, but unfortunately, the cheerleaders received the backlash. Either way, the retaliation should not have happened, let alone on Facebook. Both parties made questionable choices on social media in regards to the situation, and I’m not proud of how the student body has responded.

Guys, we all go to the same school. It doesn’t matter what sport you’re in, what activity you do, or what classes you take; we’re all Trojans. Every single one of us. Tearing each other apart because of what sport they participate in is one of the most disrespectful things you could do to each other. You rant about how clique-filled we are or what people say about each other, but then you turn and do the same thing. Even the kids that are not involved with cheerleading or swimming are making crude, snarky comments about the interview, and frankly that makes me ticked off. And maybe it’s hypocritical of me to say that, given the context of this article, but I think if we took a second to think about the things we say, I wouldn’t have to write this article anyway.