If you find yourself wearing a hemp necklace, pacifier, mushroom beads, or even a Bob Marley t-shirt you are a pothead. If you find yourself wearing a hemp necklace, pacifier, mushroom beads, or even a Bob Marley t-shirt some people may perceive you as a pothead.
These two sentences are not that different from each other, yet half of the junior class heard the first sentence, from Student Assistance Program Director, Darrin Donmoyer, and the other half heard the second sentence from the exact same information at an assembly held for eleventh grade students on Tuesday, October 6.
Monica Drumm was one of those students who happened to hear the first sentence. “It offended a lot of people,” said Drumm who later reflected that, “anyone hearing those things (referring to Donmoyer’s comment) had a problem.”
The anger of many students could be easily seen from the sudden outburst of Facebook comments, and the planning of a “hemp day” where students planned to protest Donmoyer’s comments.
A clarification: Mr. Donmoyer insists he did not call anyone a pothead. In fact, the topic of Tuesday’s speech, he said, was how some people make perceptions and that it is a fact the people wearing hemp necklaces are sometimes perceived as potheads.
This was all meant as a warning to students, said Donmoyer, about how easy it is to make a perception.
Principal Phil Gale explained that if students had actually listened to the entire message, they would have found that message fine as it was presented.
According to Gale, the problem was “kids stopped listening.”
The following Wednesday, the senior class trudged into the auditorium, with their coffee and their breakfast, and heard that same message. However, there were fewer misconceptions of Donmoyer’s intent than there were at the junior class assembly.
In response to the sudden uproar among students, Mr. Donmoyer said, “no one is accusing anyone of drug use, unfortunately some have assumed that.”
Donmoyer also believed, “I made it very clear. I made it very clear” just exactly the message he wanted juniors to get. “These are assumptions people still make.”
Gale added, “Appearance gives perception and no one wants to be falsely labeled.”
Donmoyer summed up his message by clarifying that the intention of the speech was to warn students of perceptions that people continue to make to this very day. It is something that continues to happen and that those perceptions do affect you as a person, your future, your family, and your integrity.
On the question of a “hemp day,” Gale responded that if that day would occur, and if it did result in a disruption in education, then the administration would, in fact, be forced to take disciplinary measures, and this could possibly include the banning of hemp necklaces.
By: Tyler Barnett
i dont like anything about the meeting that was held because in my opionion its very steriotypical and its not right the comments that were made
This is rediculous.
People should be able to wear what they want & not be judged.
If we buy our own things, we should be able to wear them where ever they want.
yo wat the heck thats really messed up that the school is calling us potheads just cause we are wearing hemp stuff the school should worrie bout them selfs not us an they need to stop juding us for wat we wear.
Personally
i think that that meeting was very wrong
and i did listen
i may have been in the back row but i still heard clearly
“Wearing hemp puts out the image that you are a pothead or use drugs”
im not stupid i know what i heard
that is throwing half of the whole 11th grade into a big pile
we should have personal freedoms
we are who we want to be the school doesnt make us who we are
its your choice to wear what you want
they are jumping to conclusions that “People that wear Bob Marley and Hemp are potheads” they should let us wear whet they want and not get accused as such
Mr. Donmoyer didn’t say anything inappropriate or that he himself feels that students wearing said hemp necklaces and Bob Marley shirts are in fact drug users. He said that students wearing hemp necklaces and Bob Marley shirts are publicly viewed by others as drug users. He’s not trying to accuse anyone of anything. In a sense, he is trying to help everyone out there from being labeled as a pothead…. I get it, you don’t want to be judged by what you wear, but that’s exactly what’s going to happen whether you like it or not. My advice to you is the same as Mr. Donmoyer’s, if you don’t want to be viewed as a pothead, whether you are one or not, get a new wardrobe.
its crazy.
we should be able to wear what we want and not have to worry bout the image were putting out we wear the things we wear to express our selves and we should be able to do that without worrying about how we are being percieved.
i don’t agree with what was said at the assembly. i did listen to the whole thing, and i heard it correctly. but who are you to tell me that my family is going to be judged by the jewelry that i am wearing? it’s art. I’m not coming to school wearing pot leaves on my shirt and neither are anyone else. i would understand a class meeting if that had occurred. but we’re expressing ourselves through hemp jewelry. its not portraying drugs. neither is mushroom necklaces, or Bob Marley shirts, people like his music. don’t judge them for it.
its completely prejudice in my opinion.
i think they could have confronted the situation in a much more appropriate way.
i understand they were just trying to give advice that it might effect our job opportunities, but it’s who we are. it’s just school. We’re not at a job interview.
thanks for the advice, but no thanks. i am, who i am I’m not letting anyone ruin that. i wear hemp, Bob Marley shirts, and i have a hemp necklace with a mushroom bead, big deal.
Also, the day that they addressed this situation i remember it being on tie-dye day…don’t “druggies” love tie-dye? hippies in the 60’s and 70’s all wore tie-dye and that’s what people remember of them, usually from tie-dye. they did drugs. so does everyone who wore tie-dye that day smoke weed? trip on acid? no. but look what they could be portraying.
OK i understand that the school isn’t calling us pot heads but we should be the people that chose to be judged. I’m a victim of stereotyping all the time because of my hair and what clothes i wear inside and outside of school and i except that people put people in to groups if they like it or not. So we should have the freedom to chose if we don’t care about being a victim of stereotypes.
i think that they should pulled all the classes together and gave that same speech at the same time and see all the reactions.i think that they should worded the speech different and not made it look like we all are potheads.
i agree with jon 100%, we have the option to express our selfs and no one can say that we are “doing drugs” just because of the music we like and some jewelery and in some cases a bob marley tee-shirt. We’ve always been told not to judge but here we are being judged.
so what its not like you can do anything about it grow up and dont dress like that if you dont like being labled. Vaughn Stetler
i agree with vaughn
kids who dress up with hemp necklaces mushroom necklaces rasta colors ect oviously know that people are gunna look at them and judge them on being “potheads”
kids quit complaining you only doing it to yourselves
Why doesn’t everyone just stop judging people. Let people wear what they want and do what they want to do let them be and worry about yourself. This whole thing is really stupid.
I was really offended by that speech myself. I actually was listening the whole time. There is nothing wrong with hemp, if people actually took the time to find out about hemp they would know it isn’t a way druggies label themselves. It’s a biodegradable product and is good material for clothing, jewelry, and numerous items beyond that. A lot of people use hemp to make friendship bracelets for each other. Is there something wrong with that? I would hope the generations before us would look past their ignorance. It’s not like it’s a drug you can smoke.
Mr. Donmoyer never said you can’t wear Bob Marley T-shirts or hemp jewelry; he told everyone the image that is portayed by wearing them. Go ahead and wear what you want. Express yourselves. Just be willing to accept the views that other people associate with what you are trying to express.
Well, i think that they are right. But wrong. They always tell us dont judge a book by its cover, and here they are judging us by the neckalces we wear. ITs wrong. Bob Marley is my hero. He had gone through alot of stuff that not alot of people know, and sure he smoke pot, but that does not mean i do. He smoked because that was his religion, to get closer to GOD. So, i disagree with them, what they said in their speech. I will continue to wear my necklace proudly.
I do agree on what he said to a certain extent. When you think of Bob Marley most people think of pot..and vice versa. The person that is wearing these things might not be doing it, but there are alot of people out there that are wearing Marley t-shirts because they want to be portrayed that way. Whether judging is wrong or not..we all do it. I think he was trying to warn us on how others may look at us when wearing these things. I agree with Kendel though hemp is a great enviromental friendly product that has nice appeal, so I will continue to rock my braclets.
Everyone here who is complaining about being judged did the very same thing. They judged the speaker as someone who would condemn pot smokers. If you don’t want to be judged then I suggest you find a nice rock and climb under it. Everyone judges. Even you. A lot of you were obviously there at the assembly and you claim to have listened and yet it is written out for you and you still get things wrong. Did you even read the artile or did you only read the title. They only said that if “Hemp Day” disrupted education would they ban hemp necklaces. And dumbass who said that you are at school and not a job interview, he was saying that to tell you that if you go to a job interview the person interviewing you will “judge” you and if you happen to look like a druggie then they will not hire you.
Learn to listen and read.
I recently bought a hemp hoodie and it was the best 30 bucks I’ve ever spent. Hemp is a great material that was widely used in the us at the turn of the century before IT GOT JUDGED as being associated with marijuana. I quit two years ago and I don’t see anything wrong with wearing a nice warm sweater/hat made of hemp. It’s sturdier and sometimes cheaper than wool. Not to mention it is a hell of a lot more comfortable than my wool or cotton hoodie.