OIDJ staff says tearful goodbye to students' blogs.
Over the past week at OIDJ, many relationships have formed between students, leaders, and teachers. Now, as the camp draws to a close, many of these relationships are in danger of disappearing. And no one is more devastated than the grown adults running the summer camp.
"We are losing a great crop of students this year, but what's even more depressing is that we're also losing their blogs," said OIDJ director Dorian Billops. "I used to wake up in the morning and read CNN, the New York Times, the Oklahoman. But now that I've experienced the hastily written insights of Mid-Western High School students, I'm not sure I can go back to the way I was before."
Billops is not alone in his concern; the student blogs have been enjoyed widely by over 4 people. While some are capable of letting these examples of literary perfection go, others worry for the impact the loss will have going forward.
"I used to watch shows like The Sopranos and Game of Thrones," said OIDJ coach and Pulitzer-haver, Seth Prince. "But now that I've read these kids' blogs, I don't know if I can enjoy-what I realize now-is such subpar programming."
Teacher, coach and OU employee, Heather Howard stands to lose the most from this transition into an OIDJ-student-blog-less life.
"For the past week, I've been reading these blogs to my son, Sam," said Howard. "Now, he can't go to sleep without them. I've tried to ween him back onto Magic Tree House and the Berenstain Bears, but he insists on hearing the blogs!"
When Howard attempted to read her child anything other than the blog posts of OIDJ attendees, vehement protest ensued.
"No, momma! I don't want Corduroy bear! Tell me how the campers' tour of channel 9 impacted their overall experience! I must know before beddy bye."
Though the OIDJ websites currently contains enough content to satisfy Sam for another few tuck-ins, Howard is aware that-should the students stop blogging after the camp-this well of bedtime stories may dry up.
"I just wish that entertainment companies understood what it is people really want in their programming: to know how high school kids are feeling about stuff," said experienced journalist and OIDJ coach, Tony Balandran. "I can read about epic battles and daring sword fights anywhere, but where else other than http://www.oidj.org/oidj-photos/student-blogs/ can I read about the feelings of aspiring teenage journalists?"
Baladran has now given up his successful journalism career to pursue OIDJ student blog reading full-time.
