On April 5th, McCaskey hosted its first talent show of the new year. With amazing talent, the participants brought a show stopping performance. Although the talent show itself was a sight to see, the audience made the experience all the more memorable. 

There were two shows this year, the first hosted for 9th and 12th graders and the second for grades 10th and 11th. After staying for the first talent show and witnessing an audience that was nothing short of disrespectfulI decided to attend the second viewing to see  if the 10th and 11th graders acted similarly.

This is a high school, and while there’s obviously going to be some level of immaturity when a big event comes around, I quickly realized that the crowd was being more rude than I thought possible. 

The problems began in the first showing as laughter erupted from the audience. Rife with comments like “This is a **** show,” and “Why would she even go up there?” the audience made it hard to even hear the performers showing us their talents.

The second viewing of the show had an amazing performance by Benedicte and Doris, but the event soon turned sour as audience members began to make grotesque comments and immature jokes. I observed a group of younger male students taking close up pictures of the performers’ butts, laughing and making crude sexual comments. 

This wasn’t the only instance in which audience members caused a scene. They also threw water bottles off the balcony, daring each other to throw them further and further each time, disrupting the crowd below.

With each performance, I began to notice a pattern in the crowd. Male performers tended to be met with far more respect and positivity than their female peers. Every female performer was followed by a cacophony of jokes.  

This trend of disrespect toward female students has occurred for far too long. If the administration were to crack down and remind students that one of our school’s core values is respect, the talent show would have been more of a positive experience for the viewers and performers alike.