If you’ve ever attended a Blaine High School pepfest, you’ll notice something strange about the festivity. After every grade chants their class cheer, the upperclassmen yell “boo” at the freshmen and give them the “thumbs down”. To most BHS students, it’s normal to see this type of behavior at pepfests, but apparently, it’s only a Blaine thing. No other high schools boo their freshmen. That raises the question: Why? Why do we boo our freshmen?

I talked to Shawn Cronin, a sophomore, and asked him that question. He replied,”It’s tradition, Blaine has been doing it for years. We boo the freshmen when they don’t chant their class cheer properly. If they could get the cheer right, I’m sure we wouldn’t boo them.”

So now that we understand a bit as to why freshmen get booed at pepfests, the next question is: What can freshmen do to avoid getting booed? There are a few answers, some better than others. First: get the cheer right. It’s the reason for the booing. Get the cheer right and you, hopefully, won’t get booed. Second: Sit in the sophomore section. If people don’t think you’re a freshman, then they won’t boo you. (Though, I recommend that freshmen sit with freshmen). Third: Don’t attend pepfests. If you aren’t there to get booed, then they can’t boo you. (I also don’t recommend this one, because school spirit is important!).

I hope this explanation was helpful, do with it what you will. Good luck freshmen and go Bengals!