There are many who say private schools are far more beneficial to the children of our generation than public schools, and vice versa. Although there is not a lot of animosity between the two sides, the conversation still lingers as many question the other’s ethics, morals, and values.

Many argue that private schools provide more individual help from teachers, while public school all have a massive number of kids, and not enough staff members to provide the help needed for those kids in the classroom.

On the contrary, people in support of public schools argue that kids need to take the initiative for teacher help, that there are enough teachers, and that it is the kids’ responsibility to own up to their concerns and issues and ask for help themselves.

There is a strong view that people should not have to pay for education at the high school level, and that embracing public schools is the solution to the divide. Separating our community is an argument that really has not been addressed in a head-on manner by private school enthusiasts. Taking pride of togetherness, and communal ways of developing as a country, starting with our kids’ education, is yet another argument from the supporters of public schools.

Parents of private school students often argue that yes, they want to be a part of the solution, but they often take their own child’s education over the solution. They do not necessarily believe in the solution, and a substantial number believe that their future success depends on where they go to school, and if it is private or public. Overwhelmingly, private school supporters agree that the divide communally is not a large enough problem to where everyone needs to go to public school. On top of that, they believe that the discipline issues are too much to handle, and again, they take the value of their child’s education over starting to develop and help the solution of integrating private into public.

For more information, please visit: http://www.ngopulse.org/article/2017/01/19/pros-and-cons-public-vs-private-schools

Should schools invest on getting security schools during the day?

Especially in high schools, there are a lot of students, and when things go crazy, one teacher can’t really control all of them. There are some schools that don’t have any guards at all.
Guards are usually there after school to check if any misbehavior is happening, or if anything suspicious happens. On this topic, we went around to ask for student opinions if they believe that schools should get security guards during the day.

The questions we asked them were:

1. Do you think schools should get security guards during the day? Why?

2. What do you think guards should do for the school?

3. If schools did get security guards, what do you think would be different?

Loren Sanchez: Yes, because it is far too easy for anyone to get into school property. I think guards should just pretty much check people who aren’t students or staffs. Well, the main difference would be our liberty, for example, students usually work in the hallways and with a cop around, it might make students feel uncomfortable. There might be security checks so students might feel like they don’t have any privacy.

Calista Vang: Yea, I think schools should get at least 2 security guards or more depending on the population of the school. I feel like instead of the vice principal controlling the cameras, the guards should be in charge of that. And also, there should be a camera at every door that leads into the school. I think something that would be different is that every kid might be searched through backpacks for things that shouldn’t be at school.

Sahra Ahmed: No, because then I won’t be able to get out of school. I think guards should just chill and protect us, but like still be serious about their jobs. There are many kids that come together to do things that really aren’t school appropriate, so guards should be more observant. I feel like at first it would cause a lot of problems with the students because a lot of people would get caught ditching class, but I feel like overall it would be beneficial because if something suspicious happens, the guards would be there.

We also interviewed officer Hull, who is an SRO, and asked him the same questions. He has been working here at Highland for 7 years now. This is what he has to say about the topic.

Officer Hull: I don’t know what to say about security guards, but if you ask me if our job was important here, I would say it is absolutely important. I think our kids are really good, they’re doing a lot of great things. There’s nothing much I want to change about the kids. But something about my job I would like to change is that, I want people to understand my job and my actions. I am not here to arrest people, I am here to build strong relationships with people and keep everyone safe.

In the end, people seem pretty divided about this topic. Some see advantages to having more security in school during the day, and some don’t think that it is necessary.

It all starts with the kids.

After the United States failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, many turned to the Division I system, in college, and the player development clubs and academies, to find something/one to blame.

The indisputable fact is that soccer is the most popular sport in every country, in Central and South America. Even with nowhere near the population that the U.S. has, Trinidad and Tobago ousted the U.S., with a score of 2-1, in the United States’ final qualifying game.

The reason these countries can win against such a big country like the U.S., is because every kid is playing every day since the ages of 4-5 and it is every kids’ number one sport.

In the U.S., kids have the opportunity to play basketball, football, baseball, tennis, and many other sports. While a good number of kids still play soccer, it does not become their sole focus, usually, until about the age of 10 or 11. When kids choose a sport to focus on, it is usually basketball or football, but soccer is becoming increasingly popular in U.S.

I believe the U.S. will never make the semis of the World Cup unless soccer becomes the most popular sport in the country.

The fact that in almost every other country in the world, soccer is the most popular sport, outweighs the number of people those nations have. Because these foreign countries have been playing soccer (football) for such a long time, they have greatly improved their academies and national teams; often attracting the top young players from the U.S., to play abroad to play against better competition.

Trinidad and Tobago is a prime example of a smaller country having more skilled and polished players, even with 322 million fewer people in their country. Fundamentals are the most important skills of any sport, including soccer. Maintaining a solid base in soccer is key for the most important skills in the game: first touch, passing, and vision.

Outstanding dribbling is a given for countries out of South America, but first touch is also, at times, overlooked. Since focusing on one sport, from a young age, is so important for becoming a master of the skills involved, this is why countries such as Trinidad and Tobago, with a population of 1.6 million, has realistic chances against the U.S. Because of this, some have started to blame our college system after the devastating loss on October 10, 2017.

Since Division I programs only want to win their conference, and make it to the NCAA Tournament, they are not focusing on developing the skills of their players, but rather playing the tactics that the coaching staff wants. Yes, this is a problem, but all of the problems, that can be pulled out of our academies and college programs, are the way they are because of the shortage of players we have committed to the game of soccer in the first place.

The simple fact of the matter is: we need more youngsters getting into the game that most other countries cherish with massive amounts of love and attention.

During the basketball season, everyone is getting ready to either play hard or cheer hard, at Highland Park Senior High. Highland is primarily known for its school spirit, and athletes that show their athletic ability while playing and working hard; not just individually, but especially working as a team. Girls and boys basketball games are often very entertaining to watch. Each and every player, on both teams, has a skill that when put together, makes the team special. One thing that brings down the girls team is the lack of support at the girl’s games because, others would rather watch the boy’s game than women’s for various reasons.

Between the months of November and March, basketball season is in session in SPPS schools. The teams work on skills, team building, cardio and other activities to make the team excel. One thing that the girl’s team has noticed, is the lack of support that they get during regular games, or even bigger games. Sometimes it’s because the boys and girls are scheduled on the same day, but other times it’s because it’s perceived that girl’s basketball is “boring, weak, or because the boys are more entertaining” according to a teammate. There are many false things said about the girl’s basketball team and the sexism level is somewhat high.

We asked some of the players to hear their opinions on what they think about the sexism between the boy’s and girl’s game. One player said: “I think that the boy’s basketball team does a good job of supporting the girl’s teams…it’s just that the people of the school have such a negative outlook on us sometimes, but I guess they’ll come when they can. I don’t know.” The concern is not with the boy’s team supporting us, it’s mainly about the community not wanting to give support.

Overall, the season was great. They worked really hard to make this season successful, and had a long lesson about confidence which showed in the majority of the games. One thing that the Highland Park Girl’s basketball team has is teamwork, and that’s what leads the team to pursue success no matter how hard the season. They overcome any obstacle they face, as long as they have each other.

On February 13th, radio show host Patrick Connor made highly questionable comments about Chloe Kim while discussing the Olympics on his radio sports show.

He said, “Her 18th birthday is April 23, and the countdown is on, baby, cause I got my Wooderson going. That’s what I like about them high school girls.” The “Wooderson” part was referencing a character from the movie Dazed and Confused, who pursued high school girls even though he himself was far removed form high school. He continued to say “She’s fine as hell! If she was 18, you wouldn’t be ashamed to say that she’s a little hot piece of a**. And she is. She is adorable. I’m a huge Chloe Kim fan.”

Connor had made these comments during the radio show Dialed-In with Dallas Braden. In the audio clip, you can hear his co-stars laughing and doing nothing to correct his brazenly disgusting comments.

KNBR, a studio he also worked for, fired him on Wednesday February 14th. However, he is still working at the station, Barstool Sports, where he made his comments.

The apology he issued was a shallow attempt to save face, even though Braden had issued a warning to Connor, stating that this is something to take very seriously, is a very severe situation, and that he’d get fired if he did something like this again.

I believe a warning is not enough. I understand the idea of second chances and providing someone the chance to change, but in these cases of sexualization of minors, there should be no doubt about immediate repercussions. Connor should have been fired from not only KNBR, but also from Barstool Sports show.

This kind of situation is in direct correlation with the over sexualization of Asian women, especially young women, and the rampant sexism in sports. This, however, is not the first time Barstool Sports has come under fire for sexist comments. In January, the company’s CEO Erika Nardini had stated that, “This is a company that intentionally is not PC,” and “At our core, our guys just want to do things that are funny and that’s what I’m focused on and that’s what I believe in.”

However, the issue with an intentionally not “PC” company, and allowing people to say what they think is funny, is that it leads to situations like the Chloe Kim one. When one removes the barrier of “PC,” one removes the protection of minors, and marginalized groups, from inappropriate comments such as the ones made about Chloe Kim. One is then intentionally othering and alienating potential audiences.

Music has existed, and been created, way back when, and is now one of the greatest thing in life. The satisfaction of listening to instruments, melodies, voices, rhythm, etc. Music allows one to “be themselves,” meaning if you favor music, it can soothe peoples feelings, it can make one excited, happy, sad, or it just doesn’t phase you.

Either way, there are people out there that use music to help them in life, or to cope with certain, “extremities.” People could/would listen to sad music whenever they feel sad! Or they listen to exciting music when they’re happy!

All these music genres were created because of how people have different opinions in music, from plain old Jazz music, to Electronic Dance Music.

The way music affects people’s lives are vast. Music can cause many different types of people to be inspired to create music! It can allow people to gift themselves with the talent of singing, dancing, or playing instruments.

People may only listen to music because it has a catchy rythm, or the vocals are understandable and lyrics were interesting, or they like the artist. No matter what the reason, people have listened to music for a long time and it affects peoples lives; especially if people understand the songs of the artists.

Some artist or singers create songs to express their feelings and try to tell a story. The songs themselves are a way to communicate with the listeners. These songs tell a story to people that they could relate to, or understand what the story meant. Many artist are like this, and use different types of music genres to express it.

I surveyed a number of Highland Park Senior High students, who are around my age, and asked them:

• “Why they listen to music?”
• “How does it ‘affect; them?”
• “When do you listen to music?”
• “Do you listen to music when you’re emotional?”

I asked a total of 10 people, and these were the most common answers.

When I asked why they listened to music, the most common answer was, that music helps calm them down, focus on certain activities/hobbies or makes them feel better.

When I asked how music affected them in life, the top answer given was, how it affects how they think, what they do and how they do things, from hobbies to work.

I then asked them when do they listen to music, and 90% said, whenever they have the time to listen to music. One person said, “Whenever it’s too quiet, I listen to music.”

I then asked, if they listen to music when they’re feeling emotional, and all of the people I surveyed said yes, because of what they were emotional about and how they could relate or be relieved of their emotion at certain times while listening to music, whether it be when they’re sad or happy. One person, out of the ten, said, “I listen to music to relief myself of stress or anything. Let it all out!”

After surveying all of these people, I’ve learned about them more, what type of music people listen to, and how it affects them. One person that took my survey said they listened to Christian music, which really shocked me, because I never thought about music and religion being related, and how it can affect certain peoples lives.

I learned that in general, music helps people cope with their own “extremities” and express what they go through.

Exciting, unexpected, saddening, life changing all are words used to sum up 2017 in a nutshell. 2017 has been a year of such unexpected events, both good and bad, from world crisis’s to Prince Harry’s engagement announcement. Each year brings new possibilities to unfold throughout the months and the year; the events can take interesting cuts and turns.

So here is a Top 10 of good things to happen in 2017 – just to clear up some of the negativity that has surrounded 2017.

Number 1:

In February, Rhiannon Giddens (a leading actress in Nashville)  partnered with Carnegie Hall Musical Connections program to run a music-education workshop for inmates at Sing Sing Prison. At a performance after the workshop, Ms. Giddens performed with a workshop student who had written a song about domestic abuse.

Number 2:

He broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball and was a hero in the 1950s. For years, the Jackie Robinson Foundation, founded by Robinson’s family in 1972, has been working toward the goal of opening a museum in lower Manhattan, and in April, they started the process of bringing their collection of memorabilia to the public.

Number 3:

Starbucks picked up on an eye-pleasing trend in April with its Unicorn Frappuccino, and it seemed like everyone followed suit—from Instagram foodies to bagel shops, rainbow-hued food has arched over 2017 like a cheerful milky way.

Number 4:

Doctors have long been searching for ways to combat the influenza virus. And a frog that was recently discovered in Southern India may just be the key to a whole new way to do that. Scientists tested a gooey fluid from the frogs’ backs (NO ANIMAL HARM) and found an amino acid that literally makes viruses explode.

Number 5:

The Women’s March in Washington D.C. had three times as many participants show up compared to a certain individual’s inauguration. Between 300 million and four million Americans protested in the streets at more than 650 marches nationwide.

Number 6:

On January 24, 2017, a hippo, prematurely born 6 six weeks early, named Fiona, was born at the Cincinnati Zoo with health complications. Over time, she has grown stronger, as well as overcoming her health conditions, and she has made an impact on everyone everywhere by touching their hearts and proving you can really do things if you preserver.

Number 7:

On August 21, people across the United States got to witness the first visible solar eclipse since 1979. For a few minutes, we got to look up and bask in communal awe at the wonders of the universe. If you missed 2017’s eclipse, there will be another one in 2024, which will slant Northeast from Mexico through New England.

Number 8:

In September, America’s sweetheart Cardi B unseated Taylor Swift on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in late September. One month later, she broke the record for most weeks at the top of the charts by a solo female rapper, after Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing)” topped the charts for two weeks in 1998. The best rap verse of the year also belongs to Cardi B (in my honest opinion).

Number 9:

Prince Harry of Wales announced his engagement to Meghan Markle, making the next upcoming year’s preparations news. Maybe this will calm the Prince’s partying attitude down a bit?

Number 10:

People who love their pups and kitties know that pets can lift your spirits and calm your nerves. But recent studies now offer scientific proof that interactions with dogs, cats, horses, fish, and even crickets can improve mental health over time.