By: Wonder Matala

Part Two: Society

Well, society is a general topic but I’m talking about things like the government, politics, human rights, the law, and pretty general things that are well, ABSOLUTELY AWFUL

Let’s start off with the government. Ah, yes, our favorite.  We can always rely on big daddy government to help us sort our world and fight our wars and sure, they take our money once and awhile but it must be for a good reason, right? Sometimes but most of the time, no.

The government most of the time is either 1. Lying or 2. Lying even more. Especially the one person we decided to be in power. The President. The president is what we think to be the highest in power which is not really true. There are different things put in place to keep one person from getting too much power.

The government is also the one who enforces the laws they create. They’re basically gods with a limit. There’s the FBI, the military, and the police who they all have under control like a puppet on a string. The point is, the government has a lot of power and money and they fund wars which just cause more violence instead of helping the homeless and on the street. I know the government needs the money for everything important and all.

I think the government is a bunch of powerful people controlling their county, laughing while doing it. I think about all the homeless people and then the government and I think the government should just say they don’t care about them at this point since they don’t bother to help them, why bother to lie? It’s obvious you don’t care. Let’s go back to the president. OH MY GOD.

People I’m begging you. STOP electing senile old men to run our country. Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and literally most other presidents already have wrinkles on their face when we elect them. Isn’t the age for election 35? Donald Trump and Joe Biden are 77 and 81 years old respectively.

Why are the two most recent presidents so old? For all we know they could just clock out anytime while they’re elected. I’m tired of all these oldies running the country.  And specifically Biden and Trump. I’ll say this right now.

The ONLY reason Biden is elected right now is because how bad Trump messed up last he was elected. That is literally the only reason. I absolutely do not think Biden is the next step to make America great again. And on the topic of presidents, why aren’t there any female presidents yet? I would expect and few but none at all? Wouldn’t there be a ton of women trying to take the title of the first female president? They would go down in history. And Kamala Harris being vice president is a step but the staircase has 2.5 million steps. And we’re on step 100.

Politics. They’re all liars and power hunger monsters. I don’t know much about politics but most people say they suck. One thing I’ll just squeeze in here is war. Did you know that some places kidnap kids to fight in wars for them? The inhumanity in these people is crazy.

And there are a lot of wars which are about land and properties. It’s like your neighbor either telling you to get off their lawn, or saying your lawn is theirs. A very well known one is Ukraine and Russia. Yeah you know Russia? A pretty big guy at the top of the map. Well, he claims that Ukraine is his child but Ukraine is claiming that he’s adopted and wants to mature and have a new family. Russia didn’t like that and is trying to resort to discipline to teach Ukraine a lesson. I know I made that sound like a joke but it’s not. It’s pretty serious and Russia is just mad. Ukraine is trying to be independent and Russia is mad they’re losing their “land”. Poor Ukraine.

Moving on, there was this petty war (I think) that happened. Imagine this. You’re America, Yay! You have a bunch of land. Again, yay! But what’s this? You look up ahead and see this big, juicy, absolutely majestic piece of land. You must have it. But the land you’re looking at is Canada. They’re not gonna let you have it. Awww. 

But you must decide on a border. After a few arguments and backs and forths, you decide on a straight line. Now you have more land! As it should be because it’s your god given right. But there’s a problem.

There are islands that have no rule about who owns it. And of course, Canada wants it and so do you. After a few settling, animal threatening, pig shooting, and more, people went at it. Do you see my point? Just for a small piece of land, you were about to start a full on war.

 That’s really petty.  There are a lot of other wars like the punic war, the wars with Napoleon, and the wars in Japan but that would take 9 or so paragraphs to write. Also, side mention, the police aren’t as reliable as you think. They went to this old woman’s house where she and her caretaker were. And she said she was in danger because he threatened to kill her.

All they did was joke and complimented him about his gun collection. Then they left even though she begged them not to. She got murdered a few hours later. Truly sad. Tis is why law may be a nay.

Next is human rights. A lot of countries have different human rights or none at all. (Hi North Korea) All humans should have human rights. That’s a fact. But some countries don’t know what human rights are apparently since they act like some people don’t have them.

 I feel bad for those people who live in one of those countries who just do the stupidest things. And that leads me up to laws. Most laws are reasonable like murder, stealing, arson, and terrorist attacks are absolutely illegal and will get you in prison. I’m confused about the sentences though. I see sometimes that murder lands you a few years like about 10 but others get about 20.

 I know this has something to do with how you plead and how you act in court and the details of the crime but what do I know? I’m not a judge. Overall, the way we built this world is a bit weird and unstable. It’s not perfect but it’s keeping us alive.

By: Wonder Matala

Equality is an amazing thing that we all need to have. Racial equality, sexual equality, gender equality . . . basically everything is important. But I feel like there should be a line. A line that shouldn’t be crossed. And I feel like we already crossed it.

I’m talking about how people support equality too much now. It’s about how equality strikes fear into people. It shouldn’t do that. Don’t understand? Let me explain.

Everyone is scared of being accused of being racist, homophobic, transphobic, colorist, all that, because who wouldn’t be? This could ruin their career after all. So people are as nice and careful as possible near that community. I know I’m starting to sound like one of those bad things I mentioned a few sentences ago but I swear I’m not. All respect to the communities who face inequality.

My point is we give a lot of respect which is good and almost all our months are dedicated to them. But then fear starts to thrive and grow each time. Getting canceled is basically a death sentence to most people. Especially celebrities and content creators. You’re showing yourself to the public a lot and you say one wrong thing, it’s over, and you’re getting hate faster than the speed of sound. Not really, but you get my point.

And the thing is, some people in those communities take advantage of that fear. They use it to get what they want because like I said, you say one wrong thing or do one wrong thing and you’re getting called the most absurd things. In fact, RIGHT NOW as I am writing this, I am in danger of these allegations. Also, some people of these communities think this too. There was this one black woman in a protest against racism and I quote, she said “You talk about black lives matter! Black lives matter! I know I matter. You all already made it clear enough.” and she said something about how if a white person kills a white person or a black person kills a white person, people don’t care but as soon as it’s a white killing a black, people go crazy.  

This proves how even the communities we’re trying to protect are getting tired of this. And the amount of times I was called racist or homophobic or any other bad thing at this school is too much for the first semester. Like 6 times each day. And I doubt it’s just me.

On another note, this is even affecting all the shows and games we all love. They try to keep up with equality. For example, Star Trek included a transgender character which is fine but the thing is that nobody asked for that. Some people were calling this cringe and that shows trying to be inclusive are bound to fall off. Don’t do it unless you know how to do it right.

Another example is Borderlands. They had a DLC that was about 2 gay characters’ weddings. Everyone didn’t like it. The reviews say it wasn’t good for the price. I loved all these things and they tried to be inclusive, but they were clumsy in how they did it. Show creators and game developers, don’t get scared into being inclusive just because it’s that time of the year. 

And now let’s get to the people who end up going all Karen on people just for misgendering them or saying one bad thing.There’s these people on the internet who post clips of them going to a restaurant and the waiter misgenders them and they end up calling the manager. Same thing with fast food workers, stop making their job harder for them. Politely correct them and move on. Everyone throws these terms around like jokes but they’re not jokes. You’re gonna end up ruining someone’s life at some point.

In closing, all respect to these people. But, I’m already paranoid enough and thinking about how I could lose my future dream job just because I accidentally made a bad statement on race or sexuality. Be who you are and don’t try to hide it because of other people since their opinion doesn’t mean anything to you. But, don’t take advantage of the kindness people show to you because of it. Remember what I said: treat everyone equally no matter of race, gender, or sexuality.

By: Wonder Matala

PART ONE: THE WORLD

Yes, I know, it’s a big topic to talk about. But this is all I could think of. We all know how the world is. It’s uh, not the best but it’s not completely an endless wasteland that we’re forced to live in. There’s a lot of flaws in this world. And we ALL know it. I’m just here to look into it and try to make sense of it. And also almost every problem in this world is caused by us, humans.

I think the world is actually not that bad. The world we live on, as we all know, is this mostly blue ball called EARTH.
It is one of the planets that rotate the sun. Remember when people thought the sun rotated us? Yeah, no.

I’ll say this right now. DO NOT TRUST SOME OF THESE RECYCLING COMPANIES. They advertise that recycling does a lot to save the earth but most of the time, it ends up in a massive pile of other trash and doesn’t help the earth at all. There are many garbage yards or trash mountains and more. And that’s talking about the ground part of the earth.

Water that makes up about 71% of the earth has a lot of trash in it too. These things are literally killing sea animals. There is plastic, metal, and more in the sea that we just allow to be in there. It’s absolutely disgusting to know that some people swim in it. Oh yeah, oil. There is a lot of oil in the sea from oil barges or oil ships which I believe are the same thing. There is a lot of trash covering this planet that is most likely over a billion.

I’m just like what? Can’t we take better care of the place we live in. I know some people try to help but it’s you and maybe a massive crowd helping (I’m talking about you Mr. Beast) but there are billions of people just doing nothing. And no, I’m not saying that you should help or donate to these causes but I’m saying that I take a muffin from the tray and somebody puts another one on it, it represents how if I take trash out from the sea, someone else puts trash in the sea. It goes from 100% to 99% back to 100% is what I’m saying. It doesn’t matter what anyone does cause sometimes it’s out of your control. I’m not saying you shouldn’t try, I’m saying most of the time it’s meaningless. We’re never gonna fix this problem and it’s sad to know that animals die because of it. And also you know all those ships and boats that sank? Do you think there’s anything valuable in them anymore? Probably not.

Overall, the world is filled with trash and garbage and is a disgusting sphere. Not all of it though.

By: Avery Hanlon

On October 31st, kids of all ages dress up and disobey everything their parents ever taught them: Don’t go out at night don’t accept candy from strangers. Or do they? A lot of people may ask: How old is too old to collect possibly poisoned candy from people they don’t know? I’m not exactly sure, so I’m going to ask some people.

“High school, because you are ruining it for younger kids. Trick or treating is for small children, You would be stealing all the fun and candy from the kids.” – Isobel Gaedtke, 7th Grade

“I stopped after 6th grade. But I think it is up to the person how long they want to, but maybe by high school they should find something else to do.” – Mr. Carpenter, sixth grade writing teacher

“Probably start of high school to middle of high school.” – Evie Langer seventh grade

So what do you think? Should teenagers not be on the streets at Halloween? Either way, have an amazing halloween and make sure to eat lots of candy.

By: Grace Keener and Olivia Harbaugh

Ms. Cook: “I am excited to meet all the families for parent-teacher conferences and connect with them. Also, I get to talk about lots of positive stuff and not just make phone calls when students are struggling.”

Ms. Berry: “I feel excited and like I’m ready for them.”

Mr. Schultz: “Excited, the reason why is we get to talk about the great things we did. I love talking about what my students are doing”

Mr. Hunt: “I think conferences are a good chance to connect with families and let them know what’s been happening at school. I’m excited to get to meet some of the parents and family members of students that I haven’t been able to meet yet.”

Ms. Krak: “I feel like they are a good way to connect with parents and purposefully connect. It is also a good chance to reflect for the students and teachers to reflect upon the quarter.”

Ms. E: “They are a good opportunity for parents and teachers to see the room for improvement and work out a way to improve.”

Ms. Wood: “I’m so excited and love meeting the families.”

Mr. Hlinka: “I love them! The one thing I don’t like is when the students don’t show up because we are talking about their grades and what they are doing.”

Mr. Landry: “It’s a good way to keep the parents informed and to update them on their colds progress and is nice to do it face to face.”

Ms. Lopez: “I think it is a super important time to help connect with the parents to make the student more successful at Jefferson.”

Ms. Heltsley: “I enjoy conferences because it allows me to connect with my student’s families and give them extra tools to support their musicians and I generally get to brag about my students.”

What we’ve gathered is that teachers all around the school love parent-teacher conferences and feel they are a good way to connect with families. Another reason is that they can share helpful tools and give advice on what the students need to be successful at Jefferson.

By: Sam Miller

Hello there! I will be reviewing The Sleepover (if you couldn’t tell by the title). It is a horror graphic novel that is scary and sad like all horror stories but it also can be funny.

Summary: when Matthew and his family come back from vacation, they find that their nanny Ruby has died. To cheer up Matthew, his friend holds a sleepover at his house but their new nanny isn’t all she seems . . . as you can see, this will make for an interesting read!

Okay, time to discuss the cons about this book. One issue about it is that it isn’t the scariest book ever; while it may terrify some that is a small majority, and horror lovers will not be even remotely terrified. Another issue is that it is not very long; the seasoned reader will chew through it like candy. Now we finally get to our last issue: it’s a graphic novel, and while that is good, some readers seem to despise graphic novels (but that is a small group and most people do not share that hatred for graphic novels).

Who do I recommend this to? Horror fans and graphic novel lovers. To wrap it up this is a great book to read around Halloween and I rate it (drumroll please) 4 stars out of five!

By: Lois Flynn-Amundson

“Did you hear about the fight in the gym line?” are words that will travel through the hallway after a punch is thrown. Not so fun fact: there is a fine line between kids getting into fights and bullying, For instance, one kid is getting hurt and the other kid is just aggressive and mean.

But, kids fighting in the school hallway is completely different. Why? Both kids are equally agitated and both kids get hurt. By the way, I feel it’s important that everyone knows that both kids are not “bad kids” they are human beings who do bad things. A kid can be a goody-two-shoes, a straight-A student, an amazing student and friend and still get into fights.

Let’s think: what on earth could kids be fighting about, now what you probably want here or what you have been told is “they just want attention” or the classic “they just want to be cool”. Both accusations are somewhat true. But, the main reason is mental health. By mental health, I mean anxiety, peer pressure, or family issues.

I interviewed someone whom I will not be naming but will instead go by Oma:

Oma: I feel like fights are being dealt with but, well . . .

Lois: Have you ever gone into a school fight? 

OMA: No.

Lois: Have you ever witnessed a fight, and if so, how many?

Oma: I have watched two fights.

Lois: What would you do to improve and decrease the amount of fights?

Oma: I would help students with mental health and make sure everyone gets the help they need/want.

Lois: Why do you think kids get into fights?

Oma: Because of drama or rumors spread by other kids.

Well, maybe I’ve convinced you, informed you, or taught you. If no, you are in luck! Next month, I have a fighter with us who agreed to be interviewed.

Research has shown that kids (and most adults) who have started fights have mental health/anger issues. The main way to solve this is to not only make sure everyone gets the therapy they need but also make a safer environment for everyone. How we will do this is simple: all we have to do is to make sure that there is more than just one school physiatrist, that the teachers are not only calm but in control of the classroom, and that they know how to cool down after a fight.

By: Sarah Thomas

Over the last couple of years, people have had to wear masks due to the pandemic. But now, as guidelines are starting to relax, people are not wearing masks either. Some people still do, but is it really about getting sick? Or is it something else? 

According to The New York Times, a lot of people are getting social anxiety due to masks. This can be seen in a lot of schools. Kids and teens are afraid to take off their masks because they don’t want people to see how they look like. Teens have been wearing masks for a long time, and now, they are very self-conscious about how they look like. Teens prefer to keep their masks on to hide themselves from other kids. It’s more about “I’m scared to show people how I look like” and less, “I don’t want to get sick.”

Masks acts as a psychological barrier, Spectrum News  reports. Teens literally hide behind their masks in an attempt to prevent bullying. So while masks can make kids and teens feel safe, in reality, hiding behind a mask is not good for your mental health. As time goes on, they will get more and more afraid, and you social anxiety will just keep getting bigger. 

As you can see, masks can make kids or teens afraid of showing their faces. Masks can cause social anxiety in many young lives as well. How can we undo the anxiety, fear, and even self-consciousness created by masks? 

Maybe the best way it to “understand anxiety”, as Healthline.com puts it. This means to contemplate what you are actually afraid of. By knowing what causes your anxiety, you can have more control in the pressure masks put on you. 

This website also explains how you should remove your mask slowly, one step at a time. If you just take off you mask and go to school one random day, you might end up feeling more afraid than before. You might worry that something it wrong, and everything will get worse. So instead of ripping off your mask, you can gently, gradually, and slowly begin to take it off. Take it off sometimes, and then put it back on. Or don’t wear it in situations where you feel comfortable. 

People don’t just use masks to protect themselves from disease. They try to hide behind they masks because they are scared of showing people how they look like. If you are afraid to take off your mask, remember that you look amazing!

By: Gracie Hanlon

Many schools have uniforms. They could feature the school’s colors and have a certain logo or maybe skirts for girls and pants for boys. Jefferson is not one of these schools, however, some people believe that uniforms would improve the learning environment and I am writing about how that is false. 

Firstly, money. Money used on uniforms could be better spent on books, resources of students and teachers, gym equipment, art supplies, lunch systems, and resources to teach music. Even basic things you might forget about like, heating and cooling systems, electricity or lights, and even wi-fi. 

However, some schools are putting all this money and attention towards uniforms. Something that will never impact a student’s learning or better their educational experience. According to Britannica.com, “Focusing on uniforms takes attention away from finding genuine solutions to problems in education.”

Some uniform systems require families to pay for the clothes and it can be pricey. What if a family is not currently able to afford expensive clothes and what if they already have clothes and now have to spend unnecessary extra money on more. Even if the school has a plan for students with less money, it is just so much work and time spent on making sure each person has uniforms for the year.

If they can wear what they want, there’s no worry. 

Some people might argue that uniforms give students something to wear everyday, and no time is spent picking something out. While that’s true, it doesn’t improve anything. In reality, most kids do not spend time picking their outfit. Also, it limits self expression and individuality. 

Uniforms are an attempt to make everyone “uniform” or “the same” to create a perfect school, but no matter how cohesive matching skirts and school crests might look, it will never make a school perfect. 

In my opinion the way a student looks has no effect on learning. According to Britannica.com, “David L. Brunsma, PhD, Professor of Sociology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), co-authored a study that analyzed a national sample of 10th graders and found “no effects of uniforms on absenteeism, behavioral problems.”

Some also say certain clothes can be “distracting” but, if students are distracted by other students’ clothing that is a problem with that student. They shouldn’t have to limit their clothes with uniforms or a super specific and strict dress code because of another student’s problem.  And yes, while some rules regarding clothing are necessary, we shouldn’t be fixated on student’s clothing, spending time and money on uniforms or pulling students out of class (specifically girls) to change or be in trouble because of their “inappropriate clothing” 

That is the real problem, affecting a student’s learning. Because really, how is wearing red and gray going to instantly improve a student’s knowledge in a tricky math topic? Or how is never painting your nails but putting on dress shoes going to instantly help you remember specific dates in history? No. Mastering these things comes from hard work and studying, it has nothing to do with what you wear. Hopefully in the future, Jefferson does not become one of these schools.