Official Student Newspaper of Henry M. Gunn High School

The Oracle

Official Student Newspaper of Henry M. Gunn High School

The Oracle

Official Student Newspaper of Henry M. Gunn High School

The Oracle

YOLO is not an excuse for bad decisions

Written by: Erica Lee

Everyday I hear “OMG, I just failed that test, YOLO.” or “I have so much homework to do. Oh well, YOLO!”  Whenever I hear YOLO, I have to stifle a scream of annoyance because in my opinion, the word YOLO is “carpe diem” for uneducated people. Before Drake’s song “The Motto” came out, the saying “you only live once” wasn’t considered a way of life. Then, Drake hashtagged #YOLO on twitter, making it look like something cool. Here’s a tip: not everything a celebrity does is a new, cool thing.

Most times, it just succeeds in making someone look uneducated and irresponsible. Even if a person is the smartest person in the world, using the word YOLO gives that person an entirely new image, which might not leave the best impression. YOLO grew like a parasite and infected almost everyone, and just like parasites, YOLO should be destroyed.

In high school, factors such as peer pressure and mob mentality pushes people to make bad life decisions such as drinking or doing drugs. Often times, the phrase YOLO can be used to justify their actions. However, YOLO should not be used as an excuse to ease one’s guilt.  If doing something makes one uneasy then they should walk away from it. YOLO can not clear one’s conscience.

The original meaning is quite beautiful, but the way people use it just muddles its meaning. Originally, it meant that people should enjoy their life and not stress about the past or the future because the past has already happened, and the future will happen later, not now. People should enjoy the present because that will determine if their future will be a bright one or a dark one.

Unfortunately, nowadays, teenagers are using YOLO as an excuse to do a lot of irrational things, which murders the deep meaning behind it.

People use YOLO to hide from their responsibilities and let themselves feel at ease for forgetting to do something or to make something bad that happened better.  Instead of facing their problems, students are just using YOLO to lengthen the time before they are forced to confront their problems and try to overcome them.

Although high school is filled with a lot of stress, people should not use YOLO to justify decisions that can affect the rest of their lives.

Instead of using acronyms such as YOLO to justify otherwise stupid choices, why not just try to live life to the fullest?  Because in the long run, a simple acronym is not an adequate philosophy of life.



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  • H

    HelenJun 22, 2021 at 8:16 am

    Almost 9 years from the date of your column you are still inspiring
    people to love you. This is so true and so funny. I am too old to be working a crossword puzzle from a New York newspaper, and had to look for the reason YOLO (unknown to me) was the answer to “carpe diem” acronym.
    Best Wishes from across the pond.

    Reply