Columbine HS 1999 yearbook mentions bullying

I think someone menioned this at the old forums, but so far IIRC nobody mentioned it here.

So here it is, page 99 of the yearbook (click for larger version):
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Well, seems it was so normal that freshmen are being picked on, that everyone felt it ok to have this mentioned in the yearbook. No authorities censored it either. Figures.

Sabratha wrote:

I think someone menioned this at the old forums, but so far IIRC nobody mentioned it here.

So here it is, page 99 of the yearbook (click for larger version):
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Well, seems it was so normal that freshmen are being picked on, that everyone felt it ok to have this mentioned in the yearbook. No authorities censored it either. Figures.

Nice find Sabratha.

Picking on underclassmen is so common here I just don't think it would raise any concern even if someone saw it pre print. CHS seemed to have over the top hazing, but fairly close to the norm.

Very different culture. We don't even have a word for "upperclassmen" and "lowerclassmen".
Here in my day it was just "1 klasa liceum, 2 klasa liceum..." - 1st grade of HS, 2nd grade of HS etc.

I can't read this at all (is it my phone or my eyes, idk), what does it say?

Sabratha wrote:

I think someone menioned this at the old forums, but so far IIRC nobody mentioned it here.

So here it is, page 99 of the yearbook (click for larger version):
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Well, seems it was so normal that freshmen are being picked on, that everyone felt it ok to have this mentioned in the yearbook. No authorities censored it either. Figures.

It might have been tongue-in-cheek...

But, then again, that makes it even worse, doesn't it?

ellie z wrote:

I can't read this at all (is it my phone or my eyes, idk), what does it say?

You need to click on the image, it will give you the whole picture. I can't upload the whole thing to the forum , its too big.
It says: "Your freshman year of constantly being picked on is over, your sophomore year of being classified as a nothing is over and the year you have been waiting to end since the day it began, junior year, is over!"

Thanks Sabratha. I had to switch from mobile to classic version to click on it but I can see it now.

This seems like the typical kind of "cute" little thing to say in a yearbook. It's not really cute but I can't think of a better word. I wouldn't say my school had an especially bad bullying problem but I don't think I would have found it odd if this page was in our yearbook.

At my HS we actually had grades 10-12, so in 10th grade you were the "littlest fish." We had a senior write an article in the school paper about sophomores not staying in their proper place and respecting the seniors' rank because some of us were sitting near the senior lockers during lunch. The seniors were pretty much all off campus for lunch and there wasn't anywhere near the sophomore lockers to sit to eat. But some seniors felt we were infringing on their "top dog" rights or something just by being in the general vicinity.

So yeah some people take the class "rank" thing kind of seriously here.

"Freshman-bashing" is a "thing" in U.S. pop culture:

Dazed and Confused (1993)
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Family Guy
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What can I say ... we Yanks are assholes.

LPorter101 wrote:

What can I say ... we Yanks are assholes.

what about you rebs? (no pun intended). I thought you are a southron btw.

"Rebels" and "Yankees" are "internal" American terms. Stemming from the Civil War.

To outsiders, the entire U.S. population is referred to as Yankees/Yanks. The "rebels" are "yanks" and the "yanks" are "yanks".  From what I know at this time (and I am exceedingly overtired right now, so excuse any incoherence/poor grammar), it is most commonly used primarily in the U.K. and all/most of its present and former territories. Other countries use the term as well, obviously.

Many from other parts of the world are aware of the Civil War and the fact that these terms and divisions still somewhat exist in our country, but we are ALL Yankee doodles to them.

I have extended family members from the deep south, and while I haven't seen them in a very long time, I distinctly remember that they ALWAYS used the term "Yankee" when referring to any of us from the North (East---Northeast....), and they were VERY proud to be Southern "Rebels". Even with all of that pride, they still married "Yankee" women all the same.

tfsa47090 wrote:

"Rebels" and "Yankees" are "internal" American terms. Stemming from the Civil War.

To outsiders, the entire U.S. population is referred to as Yankees/Yanks. The "rebels" are "yanks" and the "yanks" are "yanks".  From what I know at this time (and I am exceedingly overtired right now, so excuse any incoherence/poor grammar), it is most commonly used primarily in the U.K. and all/most of its present and former territories. Other countries use the term as well, obviously.

Many from other parts of the world are aware of the Civil War and the fact that these terms and divisions still somewhat exist in our country, but we are ALL Yankee doodles to them.

I have extended family members from the deep south, and while I haven't seen them in a very long time, I distinctly remember that they ALWAYS used the term "Yankee" when referring to any of us from the North (East---Northeast....), and they were VERY proud to be Southern "Rebels". Even with all of that pride, they still married "Yankee" women all the same.

You Yank! I just took a quiz on Facebook about this very topic. 'Are you a Yank or are you a Rebel?'

tfsa47090 wrote:

Many from other parts of the world are aware of the Civil War and the fact that these terms and divisions still somewhat exist in our country, but we are ALL Yankee doodles to them.

< - - - Is European, never even visited the USA, btu still distinguishes between Rebs (aka Dixie) and Yanks.

Then again might be the influence of my dad, who is a survivalist, proponent of small government and a former mountain guide. These kind of vibes usually give people a keen sense of what yankeedom and rebdom is (and was) about.

Here in US torturing freshman is the norm. I avoided most of it because my sister was a senior when I was a freshman, so I knew all of them and they didn't mess with me too much.... At least the crowd she ran with. Now the jocks were assholes.. .I had many fights with them, but it wasn't isolated to just freshman year, it was all through high school. I think jocks all have the same "I'm better than you" attitude.

Sabratha wrote:

LPorter101 wrote:

What can I say ... we Yanks are assholes.

what about you rebs? (no pun intended). I thought you are a southron btw.

I'm from the Miami area ... Miami is not culturally Southern.

(I'm an "Anglo" - a white Protestant* non-Hispanic. My great-grandfather moved here nearly a hundred years ago.)

I don't say "ya'll" ... I don't eat pecan pie ... I don't know any women who say "Bless her heart" before talking shit about others.

The farther north in Florida you go, the more Southern things get.

*I'm not religiously observant, but I'm not Jewish and I'm not Catholic, and I'm not an atheist. My grandmother went full fundie after my grandfather died and dragged me to church, so I can somewhat understand the Columbine fundies' thought processes. I've heard a lot of the same sermons they have.

Jenn wrote:

tfsa47090 wrote:

"Rebels" and "Yankees" are "internal" American terms. Stemming from the Civil War.

To outsiders, the entire U.S. population is referred to as Yankees/Yanks. The "rebels" are "yanks" and the "yanks" are "yanks".  From what I know at this time (and I am exceedingly overtired right now, so excuse any incoherence/poor grammar), it is most commonly used primarily in the U.K. and all/most of its present and former territories. Other countries use the term as well, obviously.

Many from other parts of the world are aware of the Civil War and the fact that these terms and divisions still somewhat exist in our country, but we are ALL Yankee doodles to them.

I have extended family members from the deep south, and while I haven't seen them in a very long time, I distinctly remember that they ALWAYS used the term "Yankee" when referring to any of us from the North (East---Northeast....), and they were VERY proud to be Southern "Rebels". Even with all of that pride, they still married "Yankee" women all the same.

You Yank! I just took a quiz on Facebook about this very topic. 'Are you a Yank or are you a Rebel?'

What was your result?

LPorter101 wrote:

I'm from the Miami area ... Miami is not culturally Southern.

(I'm an "Anglo" - a white Protestant* non-Hispanic. My great-grandfather moved here nearly a hundred years ago.)

I don't say "ya'll" ... I don't eat pecan pie ... I don't know any women who say "Bless her heart" before talking shit about others.

The farther north in Florida you go, the more Southern things get.

Some of my family members live in Jacksonville.

My cousin-in-law was born, raised, and lived the majority of his life in Louisiana, where he met my cousin because she moved there with my aunt when she was about 15.

They moved to Tennessee. Then they moved to Jacksonville when my second cousin (their child) was probably 5. (They're both substantially older than me, and my second cousin is 3 years older than me).

They are 100% Southern "Rebels". They named all of their dogs some variant of "Rebel". It's interesting and amusing, and luckily, they all have a refreshing sense of humor about it, too.

tfsa47090 wrote:

Jenn wrote:

tfsa47090 wrote:

"Rebels" and "Yankees" are "internal" American terms. Stemming from the Civil War.

To outsiders, the entire U.S. population is referred to as Yankees/Yanks. The "rebels" are "yanks" and the "yanks" are "yanks".  From what I know at this time (and I am exceedingly overtired right now, so excuse any incoherence/poor grammar), it is most commonly used primarily in the U.K. and all/most of its present and former territories. Other countries use the term as well, obviously.

Many from other parts of the world are aware of the Civil War and the fact that these terms and divisions still somewhat exist in our country, but we are ALL Yankee doodles to them.

I have extended family members from the deep south, and while I haven't seen them in a very long time, I distinctly remember that they ALWAYS used the term "Yankee" when referring to any of us from the North (East---Northeast....), and they were VERY proud to be Southern "Rebels". Even with all of that pride, they still married "Yankee" women all the same.

You Yank! I just took a quiz on Facebook about this very topic. 'Are you a Yank or are you a Rebel?'

What was your result?

100% Yankee of course. I've never lived down south a day in my life. I did go to Florida a few times but I don't think Florida is really considered part of 'the south'. Even though they are down south they don't really act or talk like most southern places. Most of the people I've spoken to there had accents like my own.

I got 50%, half and half. Makes sense I guess since I come from the UK.

eli27 wrote:

I got 50%, half and half. Makes sense I guess since I come from the UK.

On the Facebook quiz? "Are you a Yankee or a Rebel"?

Not to shit on any community, but the impression that I have is that bullying was a serious problem at CHS. At least, judging from Larkins and Sue Klebolds point of view. And that bullying tends to be a problem when you have social hierarchies, as certain schools in the US(and possibly also elswwhere in the world). Ive thought of bullying as an insane product of societies norms. I realize that there are many severe cases of bullying, even where I come from. Plus,Im not trying to say that this is representative of all schools accross the US, and I dont think any country doesnt have a significant problem with bullying. But, the cliques you would find at Columbine, with the jocks( not to be confused with athletes),at the top and the social rank/ hierarchies, just seems Extreme in my view. Why would a certain jock, for instance, be allowed to terrorize so many people at that school?