lpahomov

Silencing Opinions At School

March 28, 2022 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Students are censoring opinions due to fear of backlash and consequences.

They say school is supposed to be a safe place but is it really safe if students fear what might happen to them if they speak their minds?

Giving power to your voice is important and one of the many things you have the right to do no matter where you are. Students not feeling safe or secure enough in school to voice their opinion in fear should be taken seriously.

In the article How Comfortably Can You Speak Your Mind at School? A college student named [first name] Daniels describes her experience exploring hot-button issues on campus., “Each week, I seek out the office hours of a philosophy department professor willing to discuss with me complex ethical questions raised by her course on gender and sexuality. We keep our voices low as if someone might overhear us.”

This story alarmed me because I believe that students shouldn’t have to hush their voices in response to what might be thrown at them in the aftermath. And yet, I see students behaving in the same way at this school.

There was a situation a few weeks back where my friends and I were discussing the injustices that we saw in SLA, more to how students from Ben Franklin are treated compared to SLA students. We talked about how students receive different treatment depending on what school they go to and their racial background.

We were discussing the different levels of treatment we saw towards people of color and white students and how it impacted us. My friends and I started to connect situations we experienced and how both students and teachers at SLA are judgemental. One of my friends had seen a teacher walk by and said “Hush lower y’all voices. Y’all are too loud. We don’t want them to hear us.”

Personally, I didn’t care about whether teachers heard what I had to say either way my point was going to get across. I am not the type to fear speaking my mind. I questioned why my friends were hesitant to continue the conversation afterward or shut down when a teacher or staff walked by. They said they weren’t afraid of the teacher, but now I know that they are afraid of what might happen if we were overheard.

In thinking about our exchange now, I actually don’t think there would have been a negative consequence if the teacher had overheard us. So why did my friends lower their voices? There has always been negativity in the air when discussing things that impact students.

The majority of the time my friends seem to shut their voices due to the wrong ear hearing or things being misinterpreted by others who are around us. In response, they’ll change the topic when they see an outsider or when they think that they were being delusional about what they are experiencing. SLA has freedom of speech and I think that it’s important for students who are learning at SLA to be able to speak their truth and figure out how to move forward.

Students should never be put into a situation where they fear that voicing their feelings or opinions could lead them to get in trouble. Young people’s opinions matter more than ever: Gen zer’s are starting to vote and have their opinions taken into real consideration.

Judgment and criticism are common but can be very harmful in societies- especially in school. The importance of words should never have to live on the tongue because of fear of the wrong ear hearing.

Mess In The Commons

March 28, 2022 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Cameron Booker

Staff Writer

The amount of trash in the commons is absurd. People really should begin to clean up after themselves because this is our school and we should definitely keep it clean because our school is a reflection of who we are.

As the first quarter comes to an end people are realizing the mess that is left in the commons and they really don’t like it.

I’ve talked to a few students who don’t like the fact that during their independent study period they have to clean up after the other students. Some wonder why the students are “irresponsible to clean up the mess they made during their lunch”

infact me and a couple of friends stopped sitting in the commons during lunch periods because of the amount of chaos and trash all over.

On top of that, the students that have to clean up others feel unsafe and think that there is a possibility that they will get sick and don’t think that it is safe at all. So I have thought about writing an article on it so we can make a change and create a way for students to dispose of their trash and not have to leave.

Over the two, one hour long lunch periods we have plenty of students who eat school lunch, bring their own lunches and buy things from the school store.

People sit in their friend groups and can talk until the end of their lunch band and the crazy thing is is that when the invisible bell rings all students run to their next class leaving the trash of candy wrappers, sandwich bags, noodle cups, etc. lying around and the janitors are left to clean up after them this is not ok and we need to put a stop to this before it gets any worse.

I wouldn’t say that it is the kids fault. I think that the fact students only have two trash cans in the commons is the reason there’s so much trash because there’s nowhere to put it.

The amount of waste begins to stink up the commons and we are left with food particles everywhere on the floor in my now 4th year at SLA. I wonder how we get like this and before it was never like this and what can we do to change it.

Having only 2 trash cans in the commons is a problem and there is an easy solution. I think that we should get some designated trash cans that stay in one area so that people can find them easily. I think that there should be a recycle bin, and another trash bin for just plain trash like forks, bags etc.

If we were to put three of these connected trash cans in the commons in three different locations I think that we would be able to keep our school clean and this will keep us in the position we need to be this will always make it an easier job on the janitors, the trash would be disposed of correctly and it would help the world in a way because things (trash) would be going to the right location.

Column: What’s going on in Ukraine?

March 25, 2022 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Biran Mahmoud

Staff writer

On the 24th of February 2022, Russia began the invasion of Ukraine. The first invasion started on the 20th of February 2014 when Russia invaded Crimea and took it from Ukraine in 14 days.

Since the war has started 7000 confirmed Russian soldiers have died according to The New York Post, 1300 confirmed Ukrainian soldiers have died according to The Guardian, this is from March 13 2022 so the number could be higher.

According to Aljazeera “More than 700 civilians – including 52 children – have been killed in Ukraine since Russia invaded but the “actual number is likely much higher”, UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo told the Security Council.”

Russia has committed some brutal attacks for example “airstrike that devastated a maternity hospital in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol last week was three people dead and 17 injured” according to NPR. In a CNBC article, it says that 43 health facilities have been struck by Russian attacks.

As a response to this War countries around the globe have started imposing sanctions on Russia to slow down its economy. The sanctions have caused the 1 Russia Ruble to drop from 0.013 USD cents on the 21st of January 2022 to 0.00097 USD cents. These sanctions didn’t just hurt the Russian Economy it has affected the European and American Economies too.

The sanctions caused oil prices to jump from 91 dollars on the 2nd of February 2022 to 123 dollars on the 3rd of March 2022 but now have gone down to 95 dollars, according to Market Insider. The average gas price across the country is around $4.33 compared to $3.40 on the 22nd of January 2022.

In SLA the war in Ukraine is hardly talked about. It’s really important for students to understand what are the key events that are happening around the world because the stuff that happens outside doesn’t mean it will stay outside it sometimes affects us too. The increase in gas prices is a sign of how things that happen outside of our borders can end up affecting us too.

What is going on is really horrible millions of people having to flee their country, civilians being killed, etc, This is not something that any human should go through. I was born in Syria and had to leave when I was 6 because of the civil war that erupted on March 15, 2011, the horrible stuff that is happening in Ukraine reminded me of things that happened in Syria so I felt that I had to shed light on the situation.

Column: Is Pursuing Your Dream Job Worthy?

March 25, 2022 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Leticia Desouza

Staff Writer

While growing up, we would often have an idea of what we want to be when we grow up, ideas such as being a doctor, firefighter, a vet, a dentist, an astronaut and the list goes on.

For some they serve as motivation to do well in school. As for others, it is a goal they must reach to support those who they care for.

When we’re kids, these jobs seem so tangible, and easy to get. But as we get older and begin understanding how the world outside works, the so tangible dream begins to fade into the distance as we try to figure out what is the best way to survive in the real world.

I myself have a dream job. From when I was little, I would dream of working as a doctor and treating those who need it. I had a little doctor’s kit with the necessary tools for a check up. I would take the little kit, and go around and treat my family members as well as some of my friends. I remember it giving me joy to see my patients smile at my services.

I held on to the idea of becoming a doctor, and of working in the medical field. But the more I grew, I began to realize how my dream job wouldn’t be achievable if I didn’t work hard on my studies. With the soon realization that my dream could be a very hard task to reach, also came more ideas, and opinions of the idea of “dream jobs” in general.

And so now, at 16 years old, I can honestly say that I have no idea of what my future will be like. I want to be successful with my studies to get a fair job that will pay me enough to support myself, and my family. But I also don’t want to stay in one place for my whole life. I want to explore new areas and new skills. To see what I can do with the things I learned from the previous places I’ve been to. With this mindset, I try to keep my mind open to different possibilities of where my life can head towards. I try to keep tabs on what interests me currently so that I can find jobs that will be supported by those interests and I will enjoy doing that job a lot more.

My more recent experiences have led me to the realization that our society is overly focused on work. From a very young age, we are often asked the big question of “What will you be when you grow up?”. But what most adults don’t realize is that many of those young individuals haven’t lived enough to make up their mind of what they will be doing for the rest of their lives. It was very nice of my mother to buy me a toy doctor’s kit when I was little, but would she have bought me another kit if I wanted to follow through with a less respected job? Society is so focused and obsessed with work that many forget that the “dream job” isn’t the biggest goal. One’s job doesn’t need to be the ultimate goal, it just needs to be what the person is enjoying at the current moment.

Our thoughts and our goals are continually changing throughout our lives. Nothing is permanent. This is the same thing for jobs. Our ideas about what we want to do with our lives can change momentarily or never change at all. This depends on how each individual is and what they want to pursue.

Overall, I feel like the idea of “dream job” should not be as normalized. The topic itself can cause a damaging mindset to the individual thinking about it. Instead a more healthy approach should be introduced for people to choose what they want to do with their lives. The approach would be to follow what you currently enjoy the most. This way, individuals would be satisfied with the things they are doing without going with the ultimate goal of a “dream job”.

SLA School Accounts, Good or Bad?

March 24, 2022 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Sean Hogan

Staff Writer

With Schools having In-Person Learning again, Community accounts are emerging. Like sla_sleeps on Instagram. Which takes submissions of people sleeping in school. Some of the photos are clearly staged but some others are pretty funny. Like one of a student sleeping during a fire drill in the commons. Another of Mr. Symmonds sleeping on a bean bag. It’s a creative way of building community. But some people don’t want a photo of them sleeping in school on the internet. I reached out to the account to ask if they take down photos upon request. But I received no response

Personally, for me, I don’t ever want to be on this account. If I wanna take a nap or close my eyes for a bit I should be able to do that without a picture of me sleeping. I see no problem with an account like this but I think people should ask permission before they post or send.

Another one that recently started is slafoodreviews. Which reviews the food served in the cafeteria. With funny but also honest reviews about the food we are served. Like a burrito with fries and a pear, they said the fries are a 2 out of 10 because of them being cold. The Burrito 4/10 for being whole wheat, and the pear 9/10 for being healthy with the entire meal getting a 5/10. I think this is a funny way of telling people how the food being served is. Compared to sla_sleeps this account has more personality as someone is writing these reviews and making jokes about the food. There is a lot more effort, and it shows.

The Food served here isn’t as great of a quality as you would expect to come out of that huge kitchen. But some of the food tastes and looks really good. Such as the fresh slices of pizza. Also in defense of the food, Pennsylvania required that school lunches must comprise of whole or enriched grain, fruit, vegetable, meat/meat alternate, and fluid milk. And the state allows any means to prepare the food. In Elementary and Middle School, we were served frozen pre-packaged meals shipped to the school and heated up in the oven. Some of the food wasn’t bad. But some of them were what you would expect if you got frozen veggies, soggy and bland. And before the School District made school lunch free, you had to pay 5-10 Dollars for basically a TV Dinner.
Our School has the luxury to have a kitchen preparing meals mostly from scratch, for free. I really think the account brings a lot of these issues to light in a way that people can joke about and is not attacking the staff that prepares the food. Only giving criticism in a light-hearted way.

There is also the classic sla_philly_memes. Which started in 2019 after news broke about the asbestos in what then was the new building. Making light of that scary situation. Making jokes about the School Districts’ incompetence with the whole situation. Which for me was a real help in making me feel less stressed about the whole situation. As one of the memes was two people with hazmat suits on with the caption “new sla uniforms!!”. The memes continued up until August of 2021. Now the account is inactive.

So in the end, when are the community accounts acceptable? I would say that It depends. If they are light-hearted and not attacking anyone or featuring anyone without permission then yes it’s ok. Sla_philly_memes doesn’t really count because they were criticizing Dr. Hite, the School District, and Virtual SLA. These accounts can further strengthen the SLA community. With Community accounts being run by the community.