I agree with Sarah in that YOLO has become an excuse for teens stupidity. Now no matter how dumb an act someone commits, it can be voided/accepted if that person claims "You only live once" as if that were an excuse for almost dying. It seems like the fact that you only live once would be more of a reason to act responsibly and less of a reason to almost die.
This seems like a great idea for a Hawk Talk. I think "YOLO" is a pervasive comment in response to making risky choices, but I haven't seen it used on this scale within the Tam community. I think people seem to say it more ironically or jokingly, and in the context of doing something minorly embarrassing at a rally or in class, not when they've almost died. It would be interesting to touch on that idea of when it's appropriate and also whether or not it's genuine when people say it.
Realistically, does anyone actually use "YOLO" as a legitimate excuse? It's not like you're going to walk into the hospital and they're going to ask you what happened and you answer "YOLO!!!". I mean, of course, this girl tweeted it, but I tend to take most tweets with a grain of salt because oftentimes they're meant in kind of a joking way - I doubt that she had YOLO on her mind when she was about to die. Most people know that YOLO is a dumb excuse, so I really don't think anyone would be on the supporting side of this argument. As far as a Hawk Talk goes, I think you could get some pretty funny responses, though.
The term YOLO can be interpreted in multiple different ways; it means something different to everyone. Do some use it as an excuse to stupid things? Yes. At the same time others use it as a mindset to enjoy life. YOLO can't be blamed for teenage stupidity, the individual is the problem. What does this show about our culture? People want to do stupid things that somehow come to our head, they're just looking for some logic to convince the part of the brain that has doubts. You can convince yourself of anything with spotty logic, ANYTHING. It really comes down to being true to yourself, calling it how it really is. This returns to the core concept of integrity.
Is the motto YOLO being taken too serious?
What does this say about our own generation?
Do kids at Tam give YOLO as an excuse for doing stupid things?