Senior year should be the most memorable time for a student. However, school events can pose an obstacle for students to enjoy these moments. It is the classic movie cliché: the popular crowd nominates the wallflower for homecoming queen as a joke. Before the credits roll, the girl gets a head to toe make-over proving the popular crowd wrong and wears the crown proudly with a new glowing confidence. In reality, the nomination is no joke, but actually a form of bullying. These open nominations happen in schools across the country and rather than building confidence it breaks down an innocent student. Nominations should be self approved to prevent bullying.
According to Yahoo News, Whitney Kropp, a Michigan teen, “thought about killing herself after some classmates told her she was nominated to homecoming court as a joke.” Kropp had debated not attending the homecoming football game where she would be crowned queen. However, with the support of her town, she was provided luxuries, such as hair styling and a new dress. Just as in the movies, she was able to turn her look around and prove the bullies wrong. No student should have to feel that he/she doesn’t deserve to live because cruel peers diminish their confidence.
Some nominees are not so lucky to have such a support system as Kropp did from her hometown. Students without support become traumatized and, as Kropp, may feel a reluctance to attend school. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, “Bullies often develop a habitual tendency to abuse power.” By giving the students the power to pick the nominees, the school is supporting the bullying system. To prevent this bullying, the school system should support self nomination.
In modern day, cyber bullying has also played a role in these nomination scandals. With hash tags and statuses at the ready, a bully can have an entire nomination planned without the nominee ever seeing. On the other hand, this can also make the humiliation more public. The victims have no way to guard themselves from the power the bully has on the internet. Tweets and statuses used to plan pranks ruin memories for innocent students.
Across the country students are using nominations for school functions as a way to bully peers. This bullying breaks down the self esteem of the nominees. Not every student, boy or girl, is lucky enough to have the support Whitney Kropp was given. To prevent this nomination abomination, school administrators should only allow self nomination for school courts. This form of selection would then allow only those who truly feel confident enough to run for the homecoming court.