An apology to our readers

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Dear Aragon community, 

The Aragon Outlook published several offensive graphics in its satirical centerspread. After receiving comments and taking the time to reflect, we realized we should not have run them. We are sorry that the damaging content reached any audience.


One graphic attempted to satirize students who believe procrastination and poor time management is comparable to a learning disability. Instead, it missed its mark, and the poster compared students with IEP and 504 plans to lazy students, which is not true. We apologize for the harm this graphic has caused. We do not mean to minimize any barriers that students face to maintaining good grades or participating in classes, especially with the added challenges of remote schooling and the COVID-19 pandemic.


The Socratic seminar rotation graphic, which displayed a modified version of Da Vinci's Last Supper painting, was also insensitive. Replacing the faces of Jesus and his Apostles with pop culture icons was inappropriate. Additionally, the publication of the "Today's Teens" meme, which depicted young people choosing a rapper over Jesus Christ, was in poor taste. We assure you that this edition was produced with no malicious intent, and we regret that in trying to be humorous we were dismissive of some students’ religious beliefs.


We publish a satirical issue once a year, and this year’s reached most mailboxes on April 26. This centerspread also appeared on a separate Aragon Outlook satire website but was removed on April 29. 


We understand that an apology alone is insufficient and tangible changes must be made to our process. For future satirical editions we plan to take at least a day to fully review all material we intend to publish, making sure every person on our team sees each page before they go to print. 


Producing a student newspaper means accurately and fairly representing those in our community, which we failed to do. We are dedicated to covering a more diverse array of the issues Aragon students face, and we aim to take this opportunity to grow and widen the scope of our coverage, staff, leadership and editorial process.


We encourage you to submit a letter to the editor at this link. Letters to the editor are a way to publish and express your concerns or opinions to us and our audience. We hope that with these letters, the Aragon community can gain a better understanding of the issues presented.


Any further information or concerns can be sent to aragonoutlook@gmail.com


Sincerely, 

Kayla Shiao and Josette Thornhill

Co-editors-in-chief of The Aragon Outlook  


Mr. Scott Silton

Adviser


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