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Thurston
Continued from Page 1A
al headlines. Once “self-pity ori
ented,” he now writes often for
others and from an optimistic
viewpoint.
“I wrote a poem before the
shootings called ‘Rejection Leg
end’ that was about how every
thing seemed to be going the
wrong way for me,” he says.
“Right after the shootings, I wrote
a poem called ‘Memory Scrap
book’ for my mom, describing all
the things she remembers me do
ing.”
Despite a considerable age dif
ference, I feel a need to defer to
Chalan and Jenny during our dis
cussion. After all, what are ap
propriate questions to ask a cou
ple of kids who endured such a
traumatic event?
“I can understand the confu
sion, because adults want to
know why [school shootings] are
happening and where they’re
coming from,” Jenny says. “It is
n’t something that you wake up
one day and it happens. It’s
something that happens after
years and years of building up in
a person.”
At one point, I make it clear
that if a question seems insensi
tive, it can go unanswered. Then,
“Do either one of you know
Kip?” escapes my lips.
“Nope,” Chalan states, even
more succinctly than his one
word response looks.
Jenny gives a muffled, mum
bled “Uh-uh.”
I feel stupid at my weak at
tempt to perhaps solve the puz
zle of “Who is Kip?” and why he
is accused of committing such a
r
heinous act. Chalan eventually
elaborates on the subject in more
general terms.
“Everyone is pointing out
that it’s R-rated movies, or
guns, or video games, and it’s
just ridiculous,” he asserts.
“The question that people need
to answer to help solve school
shootings is, ‘What makes stu
dents or kids unable to depict
what’s real and what’s not?’ It’s
obviously something that hap
pened to them in their lives that
led them on a very emotional,
unstable relationship with
themselves.”
Lines from Chalan’s poem
“Aging Youth” offer further im
ager}' to his concise opinion: “In
nocence untouched soil of evil /
Anger and danger the unknown
devil / to their pure thought of
recreation.”
Both students admit that they
unload a ton of frustration
through their writing.
“For me, poetry usually comes
when I’m in a bad mood, because
I can come up with so many
more creative words,” Jenny
laughs. “I can just turn to this pa
per and write what I’m feeling.
But my anger is not necessarily
directed at anyone.”
As The Paragon’s editor,
though, Jenny sees a lot of mater
ial that one year ago would not
have seemed questionable in its
purpose. Now, she seeks advice
from her adviser, Saylor Smith,
whenever doubts arise.
“Normally, I would have just
shrugged it off as someone being
in a bad mood, but now, I think
twice,” Jenny admits. “You see
more kids in high school talking
about ‘Can it happen here?’ or ‘Is
there anyone here we need to be
worried about?’”
Overall, interactions between
students at Thurston have im
proved, Chalan says. Maybe it’s a
“we’re all in this together” atti
tude. Maybe it’s an “us against
the world” stance. One aspect
that definitely needs change, he
figures, is the school’s curricu
lum and preparation for society’s
ills.
“The only thing they’re wor
ried about is filling us up with
knowledge that isn’t going to be
required in later life,” he says,
voicing an awareness beyond his
years. “I wish they would teach
us some kind of morality class,
and it should probably start in
middle school.”
As I leave Thurston’s campus,
notes in hand, a story to write, re
ality hits. No matter how far one
goes professionally as a journal
ist, never will he or she be able to
capture in words the feelings and
emotions of kids scarred by such
tragic events as the one that took
place on May 21,1998.
Yes, we reporters are like vul
tures, picking at remains, think
ing that our intentions are pure.
In truth, we should just stop and
listen to the Jenny Hucks and
Chalan Moons of society, the
teenagers.
“Mind games end the mad-'
ness,” Jenny writes in “Twisted,”
a poem she composed in Febru
ary. “Washed away by the red /
craziness dwells on sanity / and
all the voices in my head.”
Now the interview is over.
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