School Spirit [Discussion] - Page 2

GeekyPenguin · #16 11-05-2003, 03:38 PM

Here's a totally random theory....I'm sure this can't be accurate, but anyway:

A lot of the US settlers left Britain due to religious persecution, dreams of a better life, etc. Maybe some of these people were rowdier than those who stayed behind in the UK, and thus the US is less civlized. This could also be because the early settlers here had to "rough it" compared to the people back in the UK, so we just grew up being rowdier and thus loving sports more.

decadence · #17 11-05-2003, 03:42 PM

This thread perhaps ties in with some earlier points of view a little too.

docetboy · #18 11-05-2003, 03:42 PM

Britain just isn't as good as the USA

[let the flames begin...]

decadence · #19 11-05-2003, 03:44 PM

I hope the flames don't begin. It would ruin an interesting discussion.

Rudey · #20 11-05-2003, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by decadence
I hope the flames don't begin. It would ruin an interesting discussion.

Why don't you stand in front of a mirror and just talk to yourself? You know that's what you want.

-Rudey
--And those on Greekchat would also be happy.

AlphaSigOU · #21 11-05-2003, 08:57 PM

Back in my day when most o' youse guys were barely knee-high to a toadstool or a gleam in Mommy and Daddy's eye, school spirit in high school was a totally different animal than what it is today. It's amazing what 20 years can do to school spirit and traditions with changing demographics and the like.

Twenty years ago the school population was mostly white and predominantly Jewish, reflecting the demographics of the community back then. Next in size were the Hispanics (mostly Cuban) and the blacks (African-American did not enter the language back then), which also included Haitians, though they never saw each other eye to eye.

Standardized student achievement and basic skills testing (other than the SAT/ACT) for high school graduation was just beginning to rise over the horizon, and teachers had freer rein to teach somewhat unusual subjects within their specialty - at my high school, one of the more popular senior English classes included a quarter devoted to 'death and dying' and how different cultures approached death. Another class, which was a requirement by Florida law was a quarter comparing 'democracy versus communism' in all senior social studies/government classes.

During football season, it was not unusual to have a pep rally (a big school spirit assembly) every Friday. Every May was the senior awards assembly and the annual senior trip to Walt Disney World for Gram - ahem - Grad Nite, all culminating in the graduation ceremonies in June.

Fast forward twenty years later... the demographics have all changed. The school population nowadays is mostly Haitian and African American, with a very small number of Anglos (whites) and Hispanics, reflecting the change of the community. When the school was about to celebrate their 50th anniversary, the principal cancelled all school spirit activities because of low standardized testing scores. Teachers are essentially restricted to preparing students to take the standardized tests for most of the year, leaving very little time for innovative studies like 20 years ago.

And school spirit is quite a bit different now than it was then; most students are bused in from long distances to attend the International Baccalaureate Magnet School on the same campus, and then take the long bus ride back home at the end of the school day. Most students have no built in love for their Alma Mater nowadays like their fellow alumni in the past.

Yeah, my school may have gone to hell in the span of twenty years, but I still bleed my school colors of Green and Gray even today.

RACooper · #22 11-05-2003, 11:41 PM

This is a very interesting subject.... one that has been argued ad naseum up here.

The Canadian school spirit and life falls somewhere in between the UK and US systems. Schools are organized more closely on the UK system and borrows the idea of the student clubs run by students, but attempts are made to procure alumni support as in the US system (dosen't work all that well).

Support for school teams are dismal compared to the US system...

I'd like to know why fundamentally the support for school spirit is higher in the US.

AchtungBaby80 · #23 11-06-2003, 04:10 PM

It's not just the universities in the UK who don't have the "spirit" that we do...it's that way in Germany and France, too. I had friends who lived there and went to French and German universities, and they thought I was nuts when I talked about what our football and basketball games were like, my sorority, etc. They just didn't understand. I had the opportunity to visit a university in Saarbruck and another in France, and I remember them being soooooooo ugly...the buildings were just concrete squares, there was no landscaping or anything, and the dorm rooms were like tiny closets with no carpet (but they did have private bathrooms). I think it would be a heck of a stretch to get excited about a school that looked like that.

TigerLilly · #24 11-06-2003, 06:58 PM

Speaking on my observations at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, where I'm studying abroad right now...
Part of this lack of school spirit may have something to do with campus...US universities have centralized campuses (campi??? wth is the plural of campus...I'm dumb...), and everything university-related happens on this campus: group meetings, sporting events, etc. It gives students a concrete image of their school, which is necessary for school spirit.
In Heidelberg and many other German universities, however, campus is spread out over the entire city. Different departments are scattered in seperate buildings across the city. It can take 1/2 hour to get from one class to another. I identify much more with the city as a whole than with the University, since while walking between classes I see historical churches, the Heidelberg castle, buildings where famous people like Goethe lived, etc.
As a side note, it's considered dorky to wear a Heidelberg University shirt here, whereas in the US it's normal school spirit.
And AchtungBaby80...your description of the dorm rooms could easily fit my dorm room last year in Patterson Hall at UK, minus the private bathroom.

sigma3 · #25 11-07-2003, 01:47 AM

AlphaSigOU,
I'd have to disagree with you, at least in regards to my high school and the high schools in my area. I went to an all girl's high school where school spirit ran rampant. We held pep rally's and spirit week. And two of the all boys schools at home partake in biggest high school rivalry in the nation. And their spirit hasn't gone down if anything, it's gone up since the time my dad went there. I will give you this, I am speaking for my hometown schools alone, and granted I did not cover the public schools, but I only wanted to talk of what I know.
Besides, how can you say school spirit is declining from the old days, when you can still go to a college or high school football game and see guys without shirts on painted in their school colors in 40 degree weather. I'd say that's a lot of spirit.

Courtney

SoCalGirl · #26 11-07-2003, 03:43 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by GeekyPenguin
Here's a totally random theory....I'm sure this can't be accurate, but anyway:

A lot of the US settlers left Britain due to religious persecution, dreams of a better life, etc. Maybe some of these people were rowdier than those who stayed behind in the UK, and thus the US is less civlized. This could also be because the early settlers here had to "rough it" compared to the people back in the UK, so we just grew up being rowdier and thus loving sports more.

Based on this theory it would definitely explain why UGA and other Georgia students are so diehard. Also it supports why Australians are known for being a rowdier group.

Love those prison colonies!