Music is a driving force in may individual’s lives. Thus, it is only probable that when faced with a scenario in which a free concert is at stake, people would do whatever it takes to win. Competitiveness is a universal behavior, but in no way does it excuse blatant disrespect towards others.

            Earlier in September, Brooklyn Tech participated in the Last School Standing contest hosted by 92.3 NOW. The grand prize featured a free concert in which former X-Factor contestant, Cher Lloyd, would perform. Throughout the competition, in a showdown of school pride, contestants responded to the events and to each other with unethical behavior and inappropriate retorts. These actions must not be tolerated, and all those concerned should be aware that their comments were unacceptable.

            Students from various districts across the nation were able to vote for their school once per computer, every hour. Brooklyn Tech made it to the top five in the finalist round, yet ended up coming in second to Freehold High School of Monmouth County in New Jersey. It seems that most of the hype concerning the contest was spread throughout social networking sites, like Facebook. Students, friends, and family, all contributed to spreading the news. The more people that were aware of the contest, the more votes a school could acquire.

            “I love her music, her sound, and just her in general. I really wanted a concert,” said Jacky Shao ’16.  

On the contrary, Afsara Tasnim ’16 said, “I’ve never actually heard any of her songs. I just voted in order for Tech to receive a free concert.”

            Marisa Cazanave, a music teacher, believes that music “most definitely” has the power to influence one’s actions. She says, “Throughout history, music has been used to rally people together and send out messages. These causes however, may be both positive and negative.” She also feels that “just like any reward system,” the promise of a free concert would vastly influence the way the public would behave. This seems to be apparent, as comments have been more negative according to how far behind, or ahead, the participating schools were.

            Throughout the entire challenge, there were a fair number of comments left in which people were trash talking each other. Upon looking through the comments section, one may notice that there are accusations of cheating, insults towards one another, and a vast use of profanity.

Many believe participants took the competition too far. Shao says that towards the final days, “people were so mean. A lot were targeting Freehold, calling them cheaters, and accusing them of using voting bots.” Voting bots are software programs used in order to perform automatic voting.

            Without a doubt, not many people are fans of losing. Therefore, when Tech placed as runner up, reactions varied. Some were upset, some shocked, and others just glad it was all over. It seems throughout the competition, school pride became the reason for voting, and not the music itself. The competition was no longer about music. It became a battle over which school was better.

“Half the people in our school don’t even know who Cher Lloyd is. Plus, freshmen who aren’t fourteen yet wouldn’t even be able to attend. If we won, people would go to the concert to be with friends, not for the music,” says Tasnim.

            A performer, no matter how popular, is not worth the conduct shown by some individuals. Students need to realize that no matter what the circumstances are, misconduct isn’t appropriate. A better solution would be to eliminate the popularity of such comments in the first place.

Freedom of speech is a right that should be practiced, but not to the point where insults are being thrown around. The few people who did succumb to such unethical behaviors give a distorted image of the participating schools.