Making the case for MTV

EDITOR'S NOTE -- McCook High School graduate Tyler Bieck, now a University of Nebraska-Lincoln student, submitted the following letter to the McCook Public Schools board of education on Monday. The board did not discuss the issue after a motion to do so failed on a 3-3 tie:

The cable television channel MTV has been in contact with me about a senior class prank that I was involved in May 2003.

The network has ex-pressed interest in broadcasting a segment about the prank for the second season of the show High School Stories. The premise of High School Stories is to show reenactments of prominent pranks and controversies from high schools across the nation, and details the location, characters, and plot of a high school controversy or prank, including the consequences, good and bad, that result from the students' actions.

This is a great opportunity for exposure for the community of McCook and the McCook Public School System. However, when producers from MTV asked a school official for permission to film the reenactment at the high school the request was denied. I am not aware of the reason for the decision, but I respectfully disagree with the refusal given to MTV. And so, I politely ask the McCook School Board of Education to reconsider the stance currently taken by McCook High School on the permission for MTV to film the reenactment in the high school.

An example of an average story from High School Stories comes from North Penn High School in Lansdale, Pa., and aired in the original season of the show last year. The story featured a group of 50 students from North Penn High School in Lansdale, Pa., that elaborately decorated the school lawn with 33,000 plastic forks.

Toward the end of the late-night operation, a police officer discovered and dispersed the group and took 10 students into custody. The students were released when the officer learned they did not harm the school with their prank. The segment also featured on-air interviews with the police officer and the school's principal, who ordered the group to clean up the forks the next morning or face punishment.

A focus of the show is to also to tell the reactions and consequences, both good and bad, of the prank. While the types and kinds of stories aired vary, the same format to tell the story is used for every show that is produced and this gives semblance that MTV is not plotting a high school smear campaign across our nation through High School Stories.

At MTV's official Web site, www.mtv.com, MTV places moral and ethical constraints to the stories it airs on national television:

"MTV's High School Stories will not accept any entries that detail scandals, pranks, or controversies that have harmed participants or could be viewed as potentially damaging or dangerous.

"MTV and High School Stories do not produce or promote material pertaining to harmful actions and pranks."

I understand that select parents and others may possess a fundamental disagreement with the culture that MTV draws and some programming choices the station has made since its inception in 1981. While there are people who disagree with MTV (just like there are people who are disgusted with television in general), it must be recognized that in recent years MTV has stepped up promotions of positive actions among its viewer ship and America's youth.

A clear example of this is MTV's successful and respected "Choose or Lose‚" campaign. Through initiating "Choose or Lose‚" MTV has proved itself to be dedicated to shedding election apathy through education of election issues in order to increase the voter turnout in the 18-30 year old age range.

Also, MTV has been an avid promoter of understanding and acceptance in many racial and social issues. Please, take some time to watch MTV and you will notice that shows and advertising are used daily to promote healthy decisions, thoughts, and actions to the viewers. You may find shows you think are boring, immature, or too loud, but it is clear that MTV takes its responsibility very seriously and strives to educate today's youth in the verse of acceptance and understanding.

This is why MTV is active in aiding and supporting organizations such as Partners Against Hate, through which MTV has banded together with other organizations, including the National Association of Secondary School Principals, National Education Association, National Middle School Association, and National PTA, to combat youth hatred and violence.

Besides media conglomerate AOL/Time Warner, MTV is the only television network granting its support to Partners Against Hate (http://partnersagainsthate.org).

Let there be no question, MTV is a television network that is tuned into by its millions of viewers for entertainment. MTV is no different than the television networks ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and ESPN, among many others, that have fallen under scrutiny from organizations due to entertainment programming. From ABC's reality-show Wife Swap to Fox's My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé, the majority of stations carry baggage from "poor" programming that it has aired.

However, MTV is often attacked individually be-cause it targets an age group that has always served up controversy, before and after MTV's conception. Because of its successful trailblazing, MTV is the number one cable channel for 18-34 year olds.

There also may be a fear that MHS will not be well represented by being featured nationally on MTV. McCook's residents should have confidence that the McCook Schools and the community will be accurately portrayed for being the welcoming and supportive Great Plains community that we all know McCook is.

MHS and the McCook region deserve the national exposure that is so rarely given to the region.

The story will feature MHS alumni Nolan Brown, Paul Clark, Ryan Farrell, Dylan Woods, and I, Tyler Bieck, along with side roles for other recent MHS alumni.

A few current School Board of Education members are familiar with my character, as I had the opportunity to serve as the student representative to the McCook School Board of Education for the 2002-2003 school year.

The Board is being asked to have faith that Mr. Brown, Mr. Clark, Mr. Farrell, Mr. Woods, and I, Tyler Bieck, will represent MHS in a promising and positive light to a national audience on a television station that draws as many as 3.4 million viewers (Expanded Nielsen Ratings, Jan. 31 - Feb. 6, 2005) and can be found in over 85 million homes.

The story of this prank has already been locally and regionally told through articles published in the McCook Daily Gazette (Front Page, Wed. May 14, 2003) and the MHS Alumni Newsletter (Fall 2003) along with being posted on numerous Internet blogs. MTV researchers discovered the prank due to the publishing of the articles on the World Wide Web and the stories have served as primary research materials for them as they have planned the filming.

The stories describe the prank in excellent charm and the Daily Gazette quotes MHS principal Mr. Smith identifying the prank as "fairly harmless" and the group as "extremely ingenious."

I hold great pride from growing up in McCook and graduating from MHS, and now I would love to return the favor by boasting about McCook on national television.

I sincerely ask that you grant MTV and the producers of High School Stories the permission to operate and film on the premises of MHS so the rest of the nation has the opportunity to experience and witness both the town I call home and the school system that went to great lengths and circumstance to teach and prepare me for my future.

Gratefully,

Tyler Bieck

Lincoln

University of

Nebraska-Lincoln

MHS Class of 2003