"Hey, White Girl, Hey!" You can hear this and other racially descriptive and derogatory language every day, but no one seems to care if "hey, white [or Asian, or fill in the blanks] girl..." is called out. Yet these terms are no less than the use of other terms that draw automatic teacher/adult and student attention. In the Paint Branch halls, you can hear these phrases some of the time, in addition to other terms like the "N" word or other racial slurs. Most of these terms come from the younger ages, cussing because they think it makes them cool. It’s not cool; it’s pathetic and a violent use of language. It doesn’t show respect to your teachers or to any other staff members in this building. It’s unnecessary to run down the halls screaming racial comments. Just use people’s names and if you don’t know them, find out.

At Paint Branch High School, you don’t hear foul language now as much as at the beginning of the year, but I still stand by my opinion that you hear racial comments too much. The question, though, is why? It seems as though people do it just for the fun of it sometimes. They use such language around their friends or they use it to hurt people and just don’t care if it causes them or anyone else trouble. I understand that some kids use it to be cool; they hear it at home, or they think they can get away with it here. I’ve noticed that not all teachers at Paint Branch call people out on foul language. I would say that it’s not even just at Paint Branch; it’s all high-schoolers, and it’s even in middle schools. You hear little kids using it because their older siblings use language like this or they hear it from someone outside the family or on TV. It’s really not okay to use derogatory language. It can be hurtful to anyone who hears it or to someone in that person’s life.

I think it would be helpful if students at Paint Branch lowered their use of foul language. Teachers wouldn’t have to say, "can you watch your mouth/language?" There wouldn’t be as much trouble over it if it just wasn’t used as much. It would make Paint Branch a better society, with fewer people getting their feelings hurt and having less trouble.