Every year in mid-March, the seniors put on the highly anticipated Senior Show, and every year students can expect to see drama on and off the stage. The show has a reputation for poking fun at underclassmen. In fact, much of the show’s popularity comes from curiosity about which students the seniors will portray. Censorship of Senior Show scripts, therefore, is an annual routine.
This year, there specific types of skits which have been said to be “targeting” particular students were censored or cut out of the show by the class advisors and school administration. Although students campaigned to keep certain skits in the show, no compromises were made.
On the last night of the senior show, many of the boys who participated in the “strip tease” dance broke Mr. Tutwiler’s new rule and chose not to wear the required white tank tops underneath their dress shirts. Instead, they opted to go shirtless for the final show. These students are now facing consequences from the administration.
WSPN sat down with Dean of Students Scott Parseghian last week to hear what he had to say about Senior Show script censorship.
WSPN: Would you say Senior Show censorship has ever caused any conflict between teachers and students?
Scott Parseghian: Well, it has come a long way. There was a time back in the eighties and mid-nineties where it was all about making fun of teachers. That hurt a lot of teachers, and it caused some problems. So, for about ten years it went away. There was no making fun of teachers. That became a rule. Then recently, probably five or six years ago, somebody came to the principal at the time, Mr. Ruopp, and said, listen can we incorporate a teacher, if they sign off on the script? And reluctantly he said yes. Now that’s been putting teachers in a bad spot because some teachers are okay with it. They’re like “Yeah, whatever,” but some are made to be a bad person if they don’t sign off on it. Where are we at with it? I still think if they sign off, then its okay. But it has turned some relationships sour in the last couple years.
WSPN: Have skits about teachers ever been censored even if the teachers sign off on it?
SP: Yes, by us.
WSPN: Why?
SP: Well, the first thing I can think of that happened…I think it was ’08 or ’09. It was in the last couple years. The skit just did not portray the teacher in a good way. Even though they had signed off on it, we still decided to cut it just because we did not like the way they were portrayed in that skit.
WSPN: What gets censored most commonly in the Senior Show?
SP: Teachers, and drugs, sexual references, and then the biggest thing is trying to impersonate another underclassman. We know its going on. That happens every year. We know they try to slide in some kind of joke that’s happened throughout the school year, involving underclassman, or maybe even a senior? That usually tries to get in there too, so we try to keep that out.
WSPN: Can teachers censor any material in the show if they think it is targeting a particular person even if the skit never uses the person’s name?
SP: Yeah. In the past we’ve had students not use the name or anything, but we’ve seen the senior who was portraying the student dress exactly like her. It was pretty obvious. So, we will shut that down.
WSPN: Have there ever been any problems with keeping things censored? Do students ever break the rules and say things they are not allowed to say?
SP: Yeah, we have removed kids from the show. The last show is the worst because then you’re talking about graduation, Class Night, and the Senior Cruise. Stuff like that gets taken away if you disobey a rule. You’ve got to stick to the script.
WSPN: How have students in previous years reacted to censored or cut skits?
SP: They’re pretty upset, so they try to throw something together real quick that will be okay by the administration.
