This year, for thefirst time since I began high school, my school attempted to go all out forHomecoming. The Student Council had a wonderful idea to decorate the halls tohelp boost school spirit. Of course, as with anything positive, there wasopposition. "Now, you know if we put those decorations up, some fool issurely going to tear them down," said one Council member. But then, asalways, an optimistic student said, "If you look for something negative,that's exactly what you'll find."

When I walked into school Monday ofHomecoming week, I saw that the Student Council had done an excellent andtasteful job of decorating. There were streamers all over the school, largebanners proudly bearing our theme, "It's Our Time," stars with footballplayers' numbers and names - the works. The school had been transformed into aHomecoming wonderland. I was tremendously pleased and impressed.

Only afew hours into the school day, I began to notice some of the decorations missing.I was shocked. I thought that if students could only understand what the Councilmembers had gone through even to get permission to decorate, and how much timethey'd spent putting them up, they wouldn't destroy them.

The Homecomingtalent show was that evening, and the mistresses of ceremonies requested that nostudent tear down the decorations. When the talent show ended, hundreds ofstudents were dismissed. When I finally got free of the crowd, I had a greatshock: the decorations had been completely destroyed in a matter of minutes.Words could not express my disbelief as I viewed our Homecoming wonderlandtransformed into Homecoming compostland. Instantly the words of the pessimisticStudent Council member came back to me. My fellow students had let me down onceagain.

Sadly, this sort of disrespectful, nonchalant attitude is not onlytaking over my school, but also my community, my state and even my country. It isbecoming typical among all walks of life, all religious backgrounds, allsocio-economic statuses and all races. What is sad is that those who do care, andtry to make a difference, are exponentially outnumbered by those who don't. Evenworse, the adults, teachers, administrators and parents are starting to developthis same type of apathy. Why have the tables turned? Why is it so"cool" to be bad? What sort of society grooms its constituents tobecome malicious?

This attitude begins to be a window into our future, andthe voices of the negative have become so prophetic it is almost frightening. Canyou imagine a world where these disrespectful children become adults and, evenworse, what type of children they will raise?

It is time - some would sayit is past time - for those who do care and are willing to make a difference tostand up for what is right. But where are they? Are they hiding for fear ofembarrassment? Fear is a great inhibitor, and I feel it has hindered many fromdoing right; however, the positive people must begin to do their part before itis too late. Take a stand for what is right, and don't succumb to the negativeforces that try to hinder positive advancement.