The official student newspaper of Walter Johnson High School

The Pitch

The official student newspaper of Walter Johnson High School

The Pitch

The official student newspaper of Walter Johnson High School

The Pitch

Point-Counterpoint: Either Take It…

Beach Week to be Merely an Innocent, Seven-Day Bonding Session for Seniors

On Saturday, June 6 masses of newly graduated seniors from WJ and other local high schools will flock to the nearby beaches of Bethany, Rehoboth and Ocean City. They will be celebrating the recent obtainment of their diplomas, as well as their new-found freedom from school and parents. Yet the true purpose of the week-long escape commonly known as “Beach Week” is to pay tribute to friendship.


We seniors will graduate, part with WJ, and go off into the world. But while many people are enthralled by the idea of leaving school, their parents and their homes, one aspect of graduating pretty much terrifies everyone: leaving their friends. Beach Week is a time to solidify our bonds with the people who have been there with us over the past 12 years of our lives. Those who perpetuate the negative stereotype of Beach Week, labeling it a seven-day sex, drug and alcohol binge, are really missing the point. It is not about promiscuity and rebellion; it’s about coming together and saying goodbye to friends.

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Beach Week is a chance for friends to spend 168 straight hours of uninterrupted stress-free fun together. They’re able to enjoy each other’s company, unmarred by schoolwork, college acceptances, extracurricular activities, sports, graduation and other responsibilities that so many seniors have to worry about during the course of the year.

The tossing of those ridiculous looking square-shaped graduation caps is a signal that the demanding and draining four-year period known as high school is over, and all those who endure and make it through this the social and academic battlefield deserve to take a break, relax and reflect on all their accomplishments. We go through the freshman hazing, all-night papers, big tests, crash and burn break ups, SAT’s, AP exams and college admissions process as a group; it only makes sense that we should commemorate high school’s end as a group as well.

The main complaint against Beach Week, especially when it comes to concerned parents, is in regard to sexual activity, drug use and drinking. As Beach Week houses are generally unsupervised or are very loosely chaperoned, many parents worry that their children will engage in risky behavior.

While this is an understandable concern, the truth of the matter is that the vast majority of graduated seniors are college bound, meaning that they will be living on their own in a matter of months. At this point, it is really time for parents to begin treating their children like adults. They should trust their kids to take care of themselves and make their own decisions. Most parents accept this idea that their college students are responsible for their own behavior and actions. The same outlook should be applied to Beach Week.

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