This last week was full of excitement. Well, what others call excitement. There are many who stand crushed. Six of our freshman students were caught red-handed. These were/still are good students. Two of the six are my close friends and the other four my peers.

I totally understand this is a big deal, but I think it went a little far with all the news stations from Kansas City and Lawrence.

I mean the first time something like this happens, we have cameras inside our school during school hours. That’s not a bit distracting at all. Are the news stations that deprived or what? If they wanted some media they could have just stayed in their locations and reported the drugs going around those schools, but to show up at school and making it sound like Tonganoxie is a bunch of druggie students isn’t right.

Yes, the six freshmen messed up and they will deal with the consequences. We are all human. We are bound to mess up.

Lindsey Fatherley,
Tonganoxie High School freshman.

More grief for students

To the editor:

Recently at my school, Tonganoxie Junior High, there was a drug bust.

And I am sure everyone in the Kansas City area knows this. I know that some of my peers and I are upset about the publicity that Tonganoxie is getting for it. Honestly, if I can go to Kansas City and get asked whether I knew the “druggies” who went to my school, something is wrong.

This was not headline news and shouldn’t have made front page.

Seriously, I know that there are people who get busted with drugs down at “our” city park, I thought that was school grounds cause if someone gets in a fight there I know they get suspended. So why don’t those teens get into trouble? Why don’t they make front page news?

My peers who made the bad decision to do what they did know that it was wrong. I don’t think that their mistake needs to be published so that all of the town can read about it.

The news channels need to just shut up: “Some teens are selling cookies, but not in this town. The teens here sell drugs” and “guess who ratted them out.” You’ve got to be kidding me, right! Tonganoxie is not known for selling drugs. The local TV stations had a hay day with this, but if you think about it, go down into downtown Kansas City, there are a lot better stories happening at those schools.

I don’t want to exactly get mad at The Mirror, it is mostly the TV stations. It’s ridiculous how big they made this story. Even radio stations got involved in this. I know that my peers and I care about my friends and having to read the stories that are being published or on the news puts us through more grief.

I just get way frustrated with the media and how it makes the stupidest things into a cover story. I know that The Mirror wasn’t really as bad as the news stations, but still that shouldn’t have made headline news.

Shelby Heskett,

Tonganoxie High School freshman.