Last year, the Calabasas High School class of 2019 was the first class in CHS history to be prohibited from writing senior quotes underneath their yearbook photos. Senior quotes had been taken away due to the fact that inappropriate words and phrases were published in previous yearbooks. In order to eliminate any possibility of inappropriate quotes from being published again, the CHS administration decided to take away senior quotes altogether. Senior quotes should return to the yearbook, as they demonstrate a student’s personality and show off creativity and individuality.

Throughout a child’s academic career, they count on writing and publishing their senior quote in the yearbook. Senior quotes can be comical, sentimental, inspirational or witty, and are personal statements that represent the individual. The students at Calabasas High School should be allowed to leave their mark.

Graduating classes at CHS are usually very large. By allowing senior quotes in the yearbook, the quotes create diversity and let students stand out if they choose. Every senior is forced to wear the same outfit in their pictures, so senior quotes give every student the opportunity to showcase their personality.

What also makes a student unique is their own life experiences beyond the classroom. The senior quote is a tribute to not only the student’s personality but also to what has shaped them throughout high school. The senior quote is a reminder to their future selves of what their personal high school experience was like.

Some may argue that in recent years students have developed their own colloquialisms that are unsuitable and inappropriate, as well as undetectable by teachers and staff that have no place in the school yearbook. These terms and phrases are shared amongst teens on social media platforms like Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram. New slang terms are difficult to monitor and process because adults simply do not know what to look out for. Yet if the following graduating class is prohibited from leaving their mark, they do not have anything to show that represents them. Senior quotes are meant to capture the current moment and time, so should senior quotes should not be prohibited from showcasing the individuality of students’ character during this phase of their lives.

Overall, students should be allowed to express themselves through their senior quote. The senior quote is a personal statement that showcases each student’s uniqueness. The senior quote is the student body’s last chance to share a piece of themselves with the rest of the school before they leave. The senior quote can be looked back upon as a symbol of who each student was, and where they were at during the end of their teenage life.