The Oracle formally retracts the story “The Girl in my TA Class” that appeared in the December 2019 edition, and apologizes to the student assumed by many to be the subject of the article, her family, and the entire East high community. As the faculty sponsor of the Oracle I am ultimately responsible for all stories that appear. I add my personal apology for publishing a story that caused harm to a member of our student body and her family.
Certain specifics included in the article, including the title, the description of the student’s backpack, and headphones are well known to be unique to a particular East high student and led many to conclude the story was about one specific East high student. The story included both these identifiable specifics as well as other fictional elements that neither have a basis in reality, nor do they have anything to do with the specific student. There was no intent to imply that the student in question has ever been abused by anyone or has engaged in any form of self-harm. The piece was never intended to be anything other than a fictional story about imagined students. The fictitious elements of the story were not the product of any journalistic work (interviews, conversations, background checks, etc.) that the author of the story may have done as part of her work on the Oracle staff.
This is a learning moment for the entire Oracle staff to understand the impact careless writing and journalism can have on a community. Moving forward we will be guided by the lesson that there are very serious consequences for making journalistic mistakes. A work of fiction clearly needs to include and live by the following: “This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.”
Though the piece was believed by the Oracle staff to have been a work of fiction, by inappropriately mixing specifics clearly associated with a particular student with fictional elements, we did not fulfill our obligation to our readers of providing vetted writing that avoids causing undue harm to anyone. This was a clear mistake that should have been caught before publication. Any future publications of fiction will include a message protecting students along with the lesson that as aspiring journalists we must simply get it right the first time.
Again, we offer our heartfelt apologies for the distress this has caused.

Sincerely,

Oracle Staff
Jeremy Fischer, Oracle Adviser
Lincoln East High School