Disrespect Towards Hingham High Drama Reveals Underlying Issues Within School Culture

Last month, cast members of Hingham High School Drama Club's The Shuddersome Tales of Poe performed at two in-school assemblies in preparation for the first round of Festival, a state-wide event hosted by the Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild.

According to an opinion piece on Hingham High's The Harborlight, the first assembly went off without a hitch. However, there were reportedly "obnoxious shouts echoed from students across the auditorium when the house lights were turned off." The comments were described by one student at the assembly as "sexual, derogatory, and "homophobic."

Hingham students Addy Stupin, Matt Dwyer, and Rose Flynn took to The Harborlight to describe the events in more detail, and to express their concerns about what this inappropriate behavior means for the school's culture as a whole. Their article reads, "How does our school move on from this? How can we as a school change our attitudes-our entire culture even? We have to acknowledge that what happened was wrong."

The student journalists go on, "The Harborlight agrees that our school community must address that there is an issue at Hingham High; we can't accept the idea of anyone yelling 'cunt' and 'fag' to other students as just an example of "boys being boys." It is a symptom of a bigger problem. We also must help people understand that, if they find these words offensive in print, they must realize how upsetting it was to have the words hurled at you during a performance, in front of your peers."

Click here to read their full article on The Harborlight.

Photo Credit: Andrew Mariner