Recently, our lord and savior Darin Johnson dug old issues of The Web out of the grave and placed them in his class. It’s no secret that The Web back then was radically different from what it is today. However, as I flipped through an issue from 2000, I was stunned to see a full page spread about ecstasy (the drug) followed by a page discussing the pros and cons of a abortion drug. These articles were coupled with actual opinions from students on the issue. Articles of this sort would never be tolerated today. But who’s to blame, us or you the readers?

Ames High today is in a word: whiney.  Somehow we are all social justice warriors and everyone is always hurt about something. The most controversial article we have had in the last 5 years was Joel’s article in 2015 about the Promposal Instagram Contest. This outrage was coupled with Shelby’s dress code article that also caused a bigger uproar from Ames High feminists. Thats a huge jump, from those articles written in 2000. When did Ames High become so petty. Many complain about how we don’t write about “real news”, that clearly is not the point of a school newspaper that only comes out monthly. The Web is suppose to contain articles about issues that concern teens and their opinions. However, with our opinions not respected as opinions and no one wanting to face the backlash from social media, many of our reporters resort to writing about coffee or kahoot.

Just imagine a pro life/pro choice article featured in Ames High WEB today. This would not stand in Ames High. Along with that, no one in Ames High school would even dare to give their real opinion on a real issue. Society today is so uptight and it’s hard to be correct all the time. Issues back then were filled with educated opinion articles, balanced with wacky stories students made up. The issue from 2000 included a full page article about two boys going to fake jail, but when shelb and tif went on a fake juice cleanse, it signified the fall of The Web? Everyone is aware of the real issues facing Ames High (Ex: constant fighting in the hallways and teen drug use) but no one ever writes about them. That was definitely not the case in 2000s.

Until you the readers learn to voice your opinions as your own opinions and learn to accept the web writers’ opinions as their opinions, Ames high journalism is at a stalemate. We respect your opinions as long as you respect ours. By using your fancy Apple MacBooks given to you by AHS, you can go to  www.ameshighweb.com, click on the article that is causing you a problem and comment as appropriate. We would love to hear what you have to say !