If I could choose a mascot for my school, it would be a flamingo. At my past schools I’ve been a wildcat, a jaguar and a warhawk, all animals that push violence and war, which isn’t a message an educational building should be sending to children. Yes, when it comes to sports everyone wants their mascot to be the biggest and the baddest, but there are ways to inspire strength in students without putting students in a war state of mind. Flamingos are mostly known for being gangly pink creatures, that sometimes stand on one leg, but what most people don’t know is that flamingos are also excellent fliers and can fly up to 37 miles per hour. They can can fly for approximately 373 miles in a night without rest, whereas a “war” hawk could fly around 230 miles in a night.
Flamingos, like students, are full of such incredible hidden potential and that’s the sort of message a school should be looking to instill. Not false ideas of masculinity and brutality. The students should be fully aware that even if they aren’t quite like the other birds, they can still achieve remarkable things.
