Not all wars are fought with guns.
At Wauwatosa West, the preferred weapons are duct tape, stickers, and any other adhesive material. All were brandished Thursday during Color Wars, the annual day of class warfare; not all were met with enthusiasm.
“Any students using anything other than tape to tag, i.e., markers, glitter, paint, will be excluded from homecoming, placed on social probation, and/or receive additional consequences,” declared Associate Principal Lena Patton midway through the spirit day.
Patton made the announcement after a rowdy morning that the school administration felt was less than safe.
“A lot of it is safety and maintaining the cleanliness of the school,” she said. “My first year here, I had a parent call us because their kid got spray painted in the eye. Just earlier today a kid was tackled on the ground and seniors just poured a whole can of glitter on their face.”
Not all everyone agrees with administration though. Some students, like sophomore Henry Morgan, feel that the administration has gone too far by not allowing any form of tagging other than duct tape.
“I think we should be able to use markers and hair dyes; its not hurting anybody anyways,” he said. “I don’t support her policy. [Kids] have been doing it [marker tagging] for years and its not too big of a problem as long as it doesn’t go too far.”
Other students feel that tagging with markers or paint can be a nuisance.
“I won’t agree to that. It can damage my hair or clothing,” said freshman Namijah Moore.
“It’s a fun thing but it depends on how far you go with it,” replied Alyssa Saxe, a junior. “No spray paint. Markers and stuff are okay because they can come off.”
However, students for the most part agree that the penalty for using banned tags is too harsh for the offense.
“I don’t agree with it,” said senior Ronald Brown. “I think they should be kicked out if they were asked not to to do it but still did it. It’s a fun thing to do. As long as they don’t mess up my clothes and scarf, I’m happy.”
According to Saxe, “It’s kind of going overboard saying you can’t do anything for the rest of the year.”
“It’s homecoming, it’s only once a year,” stressed Moore.
Yet Patton thinks such harsh punishments are necessary.
“Punishments are supposed to be harsh,” she answered. “If punishment isn’t harsh then people are gonna take the risk and do the wrong thing.”
In the end, the administration stressed that their overall goal was to protect the students, not take away from the spirit of the day.
“We don’t mind if kids are having fun, but kids were tackling each other and spreading paint on each other,” said Principal Frank Calarco. “They weren’t trying to hurt each other, but some might get hurt.”
Photographs by: Nick Moroder, Molly Fritsch, Caylin Rosene, Kou Vang and Ty Stoltenburg
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