The pro-life vs. pro-choice debate on abortion has undoubtedly ruffled many feathers on both sides. However, regardless of religion, sex, or self-righteousness, it is a fact that the effects of limited access to legal and safe abortion services are deadly.
Do you know what happens when women do not have access to legal abortion? Women perform the abortions themselves.
Many women, especially in developing countries with unsanitary conditions, use wire hangers, knitting needles, or other sharp objects in an attempt to pierce the fetus and terminate the pregnancy. This causes major internal injury and infection, sometimes leading to the deaths of the fetus and the mother. I do not know about you, but this does not sound pro-life to me.
Women have also turned to popping pills of all kinds, pouring bleach or gasoline into their vaginas, purposely falling down flights of stairs, drinking far too much alcohol, or drastically overheating or freezing the body.
Now, I know people are thinking, “That is the woman’s fault for throwing herself down a flight of stairs!” However, that is not the point. The point is, if women had access to a legal, safe abortion in the first place, they would never have thrown themselves down a flight of stairs, injuring or killing both them and their fetuses. With a legal, safe abortion, at least one life would have been saved.
Before Roe v. Wade legalized abortion, up to 5,000 women died from DIY abortion methods every year in America. According to a report by the Texas Policy Evaluation Project, somewhere between 100,000 and 240,000 Texas women attempted self-induced abortions in 2015.
If women cannot get abortions, they may have to give their babies up for adoption. Now, many people see absolutely no problem with this. But please, explain that to the seven million children who are currently in institutional care worldwide. If adoption is so “good” and “easy” and “available,” please explain that to the 120,000 orphans currently living in America, the 27,000 of those orphans who will age out of the system with no financial or emotional support each year, and the 25% of those who will have no high school diploma or GED, according to SOS Children’s Villages. There is also plenty of research supporting that neglected foster children are more susceptible to falling into a life of crime. In 2005, the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that 30% to 40% of foster children have been arrested after exiting the system. According to the California State Legislature, over 70% of State Penitentiary inmates were once in foster care. When children are left in a series of homes that are rocky at best, the odds of stability are stacked against them.
If these statistics do not phase you, are you really pro-life? I think the more accurate phase would be “anti-abortion access.” Regardless of political standing, it is completely undeniable that the effects of closing abortion clinics are fatal and damaging for women and their fetuses, the latter of which will become their children.
Category: Opinion
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The Health Effects of Closing Abortion Clinics
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The Abortion Facts
Views of the Presidential Candidates and US Citizens
Abortion definitely appears like a partisan issue, especially during the current presidential election. All Democratic candidates are pro-choice, meaning for abortion, and all Republican candidates are pro-life, meaning against abortion. However, abortion is not so simple a subject.
Within each party, Americans are divided on the subject of abortion. According to the Pew Research Center, the Democratic Party is divided with 60% pro-choice and 35% pro-life. The Republican Party is divided with 39% pro-choice and 57% pro-life. Despite these in-party divides, the Republican Party leans to the pro-life side and the Democratic Party to the pro-choice side.Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt
The Supreme Court heard the controversial abortion case Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt on Wednesday, March 2.
People are claiming that Texas’s abortion laws passed in 2013 are an “undue burden” for women trying to obtain an abortion.
The Texas law requires all abortion clinics to have hospital admitting privileges and to meet the construction standards of surgical centers, measures that appear logical until looked at closely. Hospitals rarely give abortion clinics privileges and abortions are rarely surgical, meaning that dozens of abortion clinics were shut down for no good reason.
With the death of pro-life Justice Antonin Scalia, a 4-4 decision looks very likely, and would allow these states to shut down even more clinics. Thus, it is crucial for pro-choice advocates that Justice Anthony Kennedy votes in their favor.
The Supreme Court’s decision is expected in June 2016. -
The Abortion Debate
The Killing of a Living Being
Either you believe that each and every human being has an equal right to life or you do not. The belief that a fetus is not really a baby until the third trimester is a common misconception. Many women choose abortion because they cannot afford to take care of the child, because of unwanted pregnancy, or because it could endanger their health. Most importantly, women could also have abortions because they were raped and do not want to carry the burden of bearing a stranger’s child.
However, just because a woman does not want a baby, does that justify the killing of an unborn child? Abortion is the intentional killing of an innocent human being. There are 1.2 million abortions in the U.S. each year, which means 1.2 million children do not have a chance to live and make a difference in the world.
Abortion clinics are often required to explain all the other options before women can sign consent to an abortion. However, I believe these options are not strongly considered. If a woman chooses to put the child up for adoption, that child has a chance to live and have a family that loves them. 12% of women between the ages of 15-44 are unable to have children, but are willing to adopt. Nearly 135,000 children are adopted in the U.S. per year. The woman also has the option to keep her baby or give the child up for adoption. Unborn child or full-grown adult, all lives matter.A Right of All Women
We are each given a choice in the decisions we make. I believe the public is not actively educated enough about abortion, leaving people uneducated and unaware of the facts.
The turning point for abortion was the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, decided in 1973, along with the Planned Parenthood v. Casey ruling in 1992 in favor of abortion rights, and these cases remain the law of the land. Additionally, the right to privacy expressed in the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution is broad enough to include a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy without it becoming the business of the entire country.
In general, embryos and fetuses are not fully developed, self-determining beings until very late in the pregnancy, and abortion is the termination of a pregnancy, not a baby. Moreover, the term murder is being misused because the fetus is not yet a conscious being. There is no certain scientific proof that the fetus or embryo feels any type of physical pain when the abortion is being performed.
The debate between pro-life and pro-choice remains a prominent issue in society and causes a lot of conflicts. A majority of Americans believe that in at least some circumstances, abortion should be legal. A baby should not come into the world unwanted. Having a child is an important decision that requires consideration, preparation, and planning. -
Is Donald Trump Racist?
On Tuesday, March 1, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was rather racially insensitive. Although he is ahead in the election, he is not quite ahead in terms of diversity with the public eye, for he has been critical towards certain religious and minority groups. Throughout the years, it is common for the campaigns and elections to have their level of personal experiences with race, economic troubles, and public welfare. Movements such as the Black Lives Matter movement are receiving backlash from Donald Trump.
The Black Lives Matter movement and other activist organizations are strongly defending and supporting for equal rights of immigrants, Muslims, women, and people of color, generally because of police brutality, broken economy, nativism, and sexism. All of these open-minded associations and social activist groups are including and bringing forth many Americans to protest and have their voices heard. Unfortunately, Trump’s pro-fascist nativism is increasing in power and the Republican Party is shocked that his racism and sexism is being brought to the forefront. Many minorities were rudely treated at Donald Trump’s rally in Louisville, Kentucky. Many white males in the crowd shoved and mistreated these minorities at this rally. Ignorance united them in their demonstration of corruptness towards the barbaric actions across lines of race, religion, and gender. With the internet being overridden by Trump’s beliefs, the reporters interviewed his wife Melania Trump, asking her personally what and why people are angry about her husband’s views on certain groups of people. “He is not a racist, he speaks his mind and isn’t afraid to do so,” said Trump. Bill Maher replied with, “If you are a Republican, you are not necessarily a racist, but if you are a racist you are probably a Republican.” I believe that running or being president should give you advantage to be open towards everyone, not just a select few. I understand that the first amendment gives people the right to freedom of speech. However, like the old saying goes: “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Donald Trump is putting a façade that he doesn’t interfere with the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) David Duke. He claims that he was unaware of the existence of David Duke and his endorsement for Trump’s campaign. Trump speaks with such arrogance and deception to the topic and is very apprehensive of including his interest with this particular group. I find it hilarious that a man of Trump’s educational caliber “doesn’t know anything” about the KKK and David Duke.
I suggest that he snaps himself back to reality and understand that race is a personal yet hard issue to speak openly to the public. “I don’t know anything about what you’re even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists,” said Trump. “So I don’t know. I don’t know why he did endorse me, or what’s going on? Because I know nothing about David Duke; I know nothing about white supremacists.” -
Super Tuesday Results Are Rolling In
Super Tuesday went as expected. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump got the most attention as well as the most delegates. Clinton, gaining a lot of support with 1052 delegates (including superdelegates), won Alabama with 77.8%, Arkansas with 66.3%, Georgia with 71.3%, Massachusetts with 50.1%, Tennessee with 66.1%, Texas with 65.2%, and Virginia with 64.3%. With her big support from the South, one can only assume she will get the Democratic nomination and that her opponent Bernie Sanders has only a slim chance of defeating her. However, the younger generation — myself included — feels that Sanders is the right man for the job, but simply does not have as many connections or as much publicity as Clinton. Sanders, who won 427 delegates, is not to be overlooked. Though Senator Sanders was only able to win a few states [Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Vermont (duh)], I have high hopes for him as the campaign progresses.
As for the Republicans, it is still anyone’s game. Trump, of course, remains in the lead with 319 delegates. He won Alabama (43.4%), Arkansas (32.8%), Georgia (38.8%), Massachusetts (49.3%), Tennessee (38.9%), Vermont (32.7%), and Virginia (34.7%). Trump, who is by far the most talked-about candidate overall, has been nearly unstoppable. Popular he is, but likable he is not, which leaves many asking, “Who in America can beat this billionaire?’’ Well, Ted Cruz might be the best bet for defeating Donald Trump. Not that far behind with 226 delegates, Cruz is someone any Republican who is anti-Trump (or anyone for that matter) should definitely keep an eye on. Other candidates, including Marco Rubio, John Kasich, and Ben Carson, really did not show any significant progress.
The two clear winners are already narrowed down to Clinton and Trump; that is really what it seems to always come down to. And it is more than just a question of Democrat or Republican—it is businessman or former First Lady and former Secretary of State, it is man or woman. I do not think someone without experience should be able to have so many followers backing up everything he says, nor do I feel that Clinton is the right woman for the job. Walls are for dividing kitchens and living rooms, not countries.
I would like to see some of the other candidates stepping up to the plate and taking the spots of both the Democratic and Republican front-runners. I think Rubio and Cruz have a chance of overtaking Trump in the near future—a small chance, but one indeed. I feel that a lot of other people will be more open minded about what they have to say as the election moves on. -
Apple’s Privacy Controversy
For years, I’ve been reading about the silent battle that tech giants have been fighting with the government. In a more recent circumstance, Congress has been trying to top itself in its tech illiteracy by coming up with a bill against net neutrality, which would have given Internet Service Providers the ability to charge media companies to access an exclusive “speed lane” at a more expensive fee.
It absolutely baffles me that some politicians have the tendency to disregard political and moral policies when it comes to the digital world. The very act of imposing these seemingly totalitarian ideas on subject these politicians know nothing about is ridiculous.
This time, the controversy is regarding encryption and privacy—specifically, when it is plausible for a tech company to decrypt a user’s personal device under warrants. The FBI recovered an iPhone 5C that belonged to one of the San Bernadino shooters, however the phone is protected by a passcode. The FBI has been trying to access the iPhone, but failed attempts will result in a longer delay each time and the possibility of wiping all the potentially valuable data. A federal judge has ruled that Apple must create a special iOS firmware that will allow unlimited attempts without a timed punishment, and disable the possibility of wiping data. However, doing so undermines everything that Apple stands for in addition to the extensive progress they have made in creating one of the most popular and secure operating systems.
This is not the first instance that Apple has been public about stressing the importance of their customer’s privacy; in 2014, CEO Tim Cook had already released a public letter stating, “We have never worked with any government agency from any country to create a backdoor in any of our products or services. And we never will.” To understand this premise, it must be realized that this “backdoor” does not exist. If a backdoor is created, then there will always be a way for hackers to get in. Creating the backdoor will set forth unknown repercussions in the future, and Tim Cook is trying to prevent just that. The FBI wants an “unprecedented use of the All Writs Act of 1789,” a vaguely and conveniently written law, to justify this demand. If Apple succumbs to the FBI’s demands, then this will be a major issue for future court cases, because this issue may set a legal precedent.
Those opposed to Apple’s decision believe that it is necessary for the safety of the American people to unlock this device. However, many tech CEOs such as Google CEO Sundar Pichai have chimed in, agreeing with Apple’s decision: “Forcing companies to enable hacking could compromise users’s privacy.”
It is imperative that the government and the tech industry work together, but the insight and opinions of one of the largest tech companies in the world should be respected and compromises should not be made if the privacy of their customers is at stake. -
Beyoncé Publicizes Black Lives Matter Movement
Beyoncé aka Queen B created a song called “Formation,” which shows what the true meaning of Black Lives Matter. The main focal point of the music video was the showcase of individuals who were murder by the hands police and oppressors. The video portrayed the African slaves and individuals such as Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, and Emmett Till.
The Black Lives Matter movement and a pro-Beyoncé organization contributed a lot in the video. While there is a pro-Beyoncé movement, others formed an anti-Beyoncé protest against Beyoncé’s video, saying it was “too black.” This group of ignorant people created a parody of the music video and labeled it “The Day Beyoncé Turned Black.”
A lot of the white fan-base of Beyoncé is “hurt and angry” about “Formation.” In their eyes, Beyoncé is not African-American and that she is a disgrace to them.
Why is there so much hatred about Beyoncé’s pro-black statement? One reason is the attire of Beyoncé and her back-up dancers, who dressed in clothes reminiscent of the Black Panther movement. The Black Panthers was a 196o’s black activist self-defense organization, which pushed and encouraged young individuals to take up arms and be more educated about the Constitution. These people took the Constitution’s first and second amendments to heart. Beyoncé wanted to create her attire to symbolize what the panthers stood for. She showed people at during the Super Bowl halftime show and celebrated the fifty-year anniversary of the Black Panthers.
The former Mayor of New York was equally hurt and frustrated with the demonstration of the police being displaced in the music video. He said, “I don’t want the police force being [an] enemy towards the people, what she does is utterly degrading.” With this defense caused an anti-police sentiment. A former Beyoncé fan name April Bedunan was a part of the anti-Beyoncé protest and strongly persecuted and backlashed Beyoncé. She quoted with, “If white people wore KKK outfits, everyone would go crazy.” In my opinion, the KKK costumes were replaced with police uniforms and suits. The people don’t realize it because of the denial and ignorance that cloud their minds. Beyoncé is only showing people around the world that she is black and proud. She wants people to wake up from their denial of reality. A lot of individuals of color have lost their lives for America to be a better nation to live in for generations unborn. Their lives should be left in peace rather than in vain.
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America, Give Iowa a Try
With the presidential election moving ahead, with President Barack Obama finishing his second term, and with others just itching to become the new president of the United States, the Iowa caucuses took place on February 10 for the candidates to compete for the most votes.
In the Republican Party, Ted Cruz won with 27.6% of the vote, beating second-place candidate Donald Trump, who gained 24.3% of the vote. Hillary Clinton took first in the Democratic Party with 49.9%, 0.3% lead over second-place candidate Bernie Sanders, who took 49.6% of the vote.
Unfortunately, there is some debate over whether the primaries for the party nominations should start in such an unrepresentative state. According to a 2014 survey by the US Census Bureau, 92.1% of the state of Iowa is white. African-Americans, Hispanics, Latinos and other racial minorities do not make up a large portion of the Iowa population. The Iowa caucuses have been criticized as “overwhelmingly white.” What makes the 2016 presidential election so interesting is that some candidates are Jewish [Bernie Sanders (D-VT)] or of African-American [Ben Carson (R)] or Cuban [Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Marco Rubio (R-FL)] descent. Some say that Americans are more open to having a Catholic, female, black, Hispanic, or Jewish president.
The Iowa caucuses are problematic for future primaries. Because it is the first state to vote in the presidential primaries, Iowa sets the tone for the future primaries and can even sway voter decisions in other states’ primaries. Iowa contains few major cities and hardly any people of color. New Hampshire is in a similar boat as Iowa, being the second state to hold its primary. Iowa and New Hampshire have large white populations, 92.1% in Iowa and 94.2% in New Hampshire. African-Americans make up only 3.3% and Latinos 5.6% in Iowa; New Hampshire is 1.5% African-American and 5.6% Latino. The United States collectively is 77.7% white, 13.2% black, and 17.1% Latino.
Over fifty years ago, African-Americans campaigned and fought for the right to vote; now we have that vote. However, when presidential elections start with a deeply unrepresentative primary, we need to reassess whether this is truly equal. I believe it would be much better to have the Nevada caucus spearhead the primaries because it has a more diverse population. Nevada’s population is 51.5% white, 9.2% black, and 27.8% Latino, a much more representative racial breakdown than Iowa’s. This would not be a huge change either; Nevada is the third state the hold its primary (Tuesday, February 9 for the Democratic National Party and February 23 for the GOP). All we need to do is move the caucus up three weeks and let a more diverse state set the tone for the presidential election. -
Whites, Camera, Action!
There has been talk recently concerning the diversity, or the lack thereof, in the nominations for the 88th annual Academy Awards. This is the second consecutive year in which the lack of diversity—and African Americans, to be specific—has been a concern of the public. What’s the deal?
Last year, it was more reasonable as to why there were not that many African Americans, to be more specific, nominated. The only big movie with an African-American leading actor or an African cast and director was Selma, a movie depicting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his struggle for civil rights. It is a struggle that we seem to still be going through today. This year, on the other hand, there does not seem to be a valid excuse as to why there are not any minority nominations. There has been an extensive list of exceptional movies with African American lead roles that came out in 2015.
The 2015 dramatic sports film Creed was written and directed by Ryan Coogler, who just happens to be black, and starred Adonis Johnson, another black man. But alas, despite raving reviews from TIME, Rolling Stone, and other publications, the only one to get nominated from this film was a white man.
Director, F. Gray Gray, an African American man, had a booming, charismatic cast of young, new faces, who were all-black in the hit blockbuster Straight Outta Compton. This edgy, heartfelt movie told one of the least known but most intriguing rags-to-riches stories of all time. It truly made you want to laugh, cry, and straight up made you wanna yell “F**k the Police!” It reminded this generation’s group of African-Americans what we can do with the power of music. Ironically, the Academy did not seem to think so because the only ones to get nominated from Compton were the white writers. I mean kudos to them—they helped make an amazing film— but really Academy? Really? You completely overlook the almost all-black cast and black director? This is a movie that not only showed the public the emotional, tortured side of some of the toughest rappers, but also incorporated racial controversies that still exists, and are a problem to this day. No offense to Leonardo DiCaprio and the writers and directors of The Revenant but I am not so sure that a movie about mountain men and DiCaprio trudging through mud is Oscar-worthy.
Both Creed and Straight Outta Compton were just a punch in the face. They gave you a look into crude reality, but they also made you want to hug someone. That is not easy to find. Although there are not many films with a predominately minority cast, they were not hidden from the Academy’s view. Maybe the Academy voters just thought, “We get it; it’s hard being a minority, now stop complaining,” but what they do not understand is that these are the movies that keep us going. They remind minority groups what they/we have been through and that it does not matter if we are Anglo-Saxons. You just got to have dedication and heart. If the Academy, and all of the media industry, chooses to keep Hollywood white, we will just keep making movies that tell us where we come from, and what we have been through. -
Zoe’s Recent Rants
Shootings
On November 27, three people were killed and nine others wounded at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs. On the same day, two were killed and two wounded at a restaurant in Sacramento, CA. On December 2, a married couple killed 14 and wounded 22 at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, CA. On the same day, one person was killed and three wounded in a shooting in Savannah, GA. Half of these were not even given attention in the news, which raises the question, Are we becoming numb to these shootings?
Unless a shooting brings the death of a significant number of people, the media no longer cares, and shockingly, neither do the civilians of the United States. The US cannot become a country that sees shootings on the news as regularly as does a country in the midst of a civil war. But when there have been more mass shootings than calendar days in the year thus far, it is hard not to believe that is the path we are headed down.
When the British Broadcasting Channel (BBC) covered the San Bernardino shooting, reporter James Cook opened the newscast with the line, “Just another day in the United States.” The rest of the world can see it, so why can’t we? The citizens of the United States cannot become used to seeing shootings on the news every night; instead, they need to begin campaigning for gun restrictions to bring an end to this violence.
El Salvador’s Abortion Policy
Prior to 1998, there were three reasons Salvadorian women could legally abort a fetus: her life was endangered, the pregnancy was a product of rape, or a severe congenital disorder was detected in the fetus. However, since the Penal Code was passed in 1998, no woman, under any circumstances, can legally have an abortion.
This has led to serious consequences. Many women are now forced to use dangerous methods including inserting metal rods to penetrate the uterus and using catheters to inject soapy water or battery acid, and often to perform these sketchy operations in their own homes.
These techniques are often fatal or otherwise permanently injure the woman. And in situations when girls as young as ten are raped, they are now left with the decision to either have their child—which, when the mother is so young, frequently leads to death of the mother and/or the child—or attempt aborting her fetus.
Another result of this law is that women who have miscarriages or stillbirths are being arrested for abortion when they did not abort their children. Punishing women for complications in their wanted births is adding salt to the wound, and is absolutely wrong.
Even if you are pro-life, these stringent anti-abortion laws are anything but that. They put the lives of hundreds of women at stake and arrest women for miscarrying their child.
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Once Upon A Hallmark Christmas
Fate is real. The rich are evil. New York City is the only large city in existence. There is no excuse to hate the holidays. It is wrong to want a good career. Living in a small town is the only way to be happy. Research shows that 50% of the time, engaged women are more likely to meet their true soulmates because their fiancés were actually jerks anyway. Christmas is not about presents, it is about showing your love of family and friends. If a woman is fired from her job or does not get the promotion she wanted, then she will most likely be married within six months. In order to be a complex character, a close relative to you must have died. Congratulations! You just made it through every Hallmark Christmas movie plot in existence!
I admit that I do like some of these movies (watch Once Upon a Holiday), but I also have to say that most of them make me want to vomit because of the culmination of bad writing, predictable plotlines, and sickeningly sweet dialogue. While researching for this article, I watched ten Hallmark Channel original movies. I also smashed the television with a baseball bat, or at least I wanted to.
I understand that nobody expects these movies to be nominated for Oscars and that any romantic movie will always have a certain level of cliché in it, but I also know Hallmark can do better. They can create characters that are complex because of their thoughts and interests, not because of the death of a family member or a bad breakup 15 years ago. Also, since none of the movies set in New York have anything to do with the actual city–no ice skating at Rockefeller Center or long walks through Central Park–they could change it up and make a movie set in Cleveland or tell the story of two college kids falling in love at Purdue University. Perhaps Hallmark could make the male lead the one who is desperate to find a partner. The writers can come up with pivotal dramatic scenes that are not caused by a misunderstanding.
Luckily, it seems like the 2015 movies are not as sexist as the older movies. The plotlines of the old movies usually go like this: a thirty year old woman living in NYC is dumped by her jerk boyfriend, is passed up for promotion by a different jerk guy, gets stranded in a small town, falls in love with a kind man from said small town, realizes that she shouldn’t have a career or live in a big city, and then the two leads kiss and the movie ends with no real answer as to where they are going to live. The 2015 movies I watched were basically the same except the couple moved to where the girl was promoted and ended with a wedding montage. Hopefully this means progress, but I sincerely doubt it.
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Is Marching Band A Sport?
- Yes, Marching Band Belongs on the Field
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a sport is “a physical activity (such as hunting, fishing, running, swimming, etc.) that is done for enjoyment.” By that definition, marching band is as much a sport as football.
Many people view marching band as the activity done by musicians who aren’t physically fit enough to play soccer, baseball, or run cross-country. Although that is often true, marching band is in fact a physically trying activity.
Two weeks before the school year even starts, the marching band is at school rehearsing for six hours each day learning drill, memorizing music, and practicing technique.
Marching band is a complex sport that involves breaking down music into pieces and arranging it to constantly changing formations. Coupled with some heavy instruments such as the tenor saxophone, baritone, and sousaphone, marching band is serious physical activity. If you believe marching band isn’t difficult enough to be a sport, you are very wrong.
People will often argue that since marching band is not competitive, it can’t possibly be a sport, but, although this may be surprising, marching band is a competitive sport. The Long Beach Poly Marching Unit participated in four competitions within their league, and placed eighth within its division (4A) of the Southern California Judging Association (SCJA).
Some people contend that marching band is not a sport, but instead is an athletic event, which, when thought about, is a rather circular argument. Sports are events where athletes compete, and an athletic event is an event where athletes compete. So, arguing a difference is illogical.
Marching band requires skill and a certain level of physical fitness in order to succeed, just like any other sport. It has rules and regulations that have to be followed and traditions that are faithfully practiced by members. Although marching band obviously doesn’t have the physical contact aspect like soccer, hockey, and football, it does call for the same dedication and practice.
Marching band in many respects is more labor intensive than some sports that are regularly covered on the sports page of the High Life, such as golf. Members of marching band receive physical education credits like other sports, so there is no good reason marching band shouldn’t be labeled a sport.
No, They Should Stay in the Stands
Marching band is a classic icon at high schools, playing pieces during Friday-night football games and competing in weekend band tournaments. They provide an important vibe to the high school atmosphere. There are many people who voice opinions stating that marching band should be considered a sport. I, however, disagree and think marching band does not constitute a sport.
My criteria for a sport is a competition focused on athletic ability that has impartial scoring to determine a winner. This rules out activities such as math team or competitive fishing.
Marching band’s main focus is playing instruments together, and is an act of showmanship. For sports, the main focus is to compete against others and be the best. Marching band’s focus is to support the football team, provide encouragement for the crowd at games, and represent the school at public events like parades.
There are a number of activities that require physical strength to participate in, but not all these are considered sports.
There are a number of activities that require coordination and hand-eye coordination to excel at such as brain surgery and cutting vegetables, and, incidentally, marching while playing an instrument.
I am not denying the hard work required to be in a marching band. Marching bands practice for more hours than some sports and is very demanding, but it is a performing art, not a sport.
Marching band has competitions and involves scoring and beating other teams. However, this alone does not constitute it as a sport. Spelling bees are scored competitions with winners, but are not a sport.
There is a difference between sports and athletic events. I am not denying that some athletic competitions require more physical strength than sports, such as gymnastics and cheerleading, but they still do not constitute as sports. Marching band has judges who critique technique and musicality, but who do not enforce rules. This is similar to other music competitions where judges base the winner on who they like better, rather than simply who does the best.
Marching band is not a sport. This does not detract from the intense physical components of being in the marching band, but it simply does not count as a sport.