“There’s no such thing as perfect.” My first grade art teacher would constantly berate us with this statement, hoping to instill the idea that art is about embracing the imperfections.
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Derogatory language is common in teens' lives, and though its use has decreased, especially in liberal areas such as the Bay Area, high schoolers still face slurs and offensive language in their communities. Students at Woodside are aware of the negative effects of demeaning language and have a plan to stop it.
Growing up, I always wondered what is was like for other families, considering I was part of a Hispanic family. My parents are immigrants who came from Mexico and I’ve always admired hearing people’s stories about how they came to the United States.
Anxiety rates among middle and high school students have increased by two percent since 2012. As of 2011, one in 20 teens in the United States suffers from mental health issues. There are many high school students that go through their day to day lives with anxiety and depression that goes unnoticed. A Palo Alto High School (PALY) freshman, who prefers to remain unnamed and, starting at young age, has struggled with her mental health, shares her story.
It's estimated that around 78 million dogs are owned as pets in the United States alone, not to mention service dogs, guard dogs, and unclaimed pets. With that being said, there was recently a ban on walking dogs in the capital of Ira, which could have many potential effects if it were to reach the United States, including the significant impact our furry friends have on us and our mental health.
I was on Instagram scrolling through my feed as I admired the many beautiful models. I was shocked to find out that many of the models that I was looking at weren’t the race they appeared to be. They were white individuals posing as black, which got me thinking: when does appreciation cross the line into culture appropriation and exploitation? What does it mean when white social media influencers are changing their appearance so drastically that they begin to look like they belong to a completely different ethnic background? What are we calling individuals who are applying darker skin tone makeup, wearing their hair in traditionally African American hairstyles, and allegedly enhancing their figure in order to achieve that of a black woman’s? Blackfish is the term they’ve been labeled has. Today, we will be discussing effects that blackfishing has and how others feel about it.
Silicon Valley, often considered the tech capital of the world, is the birthplace of Facebook, electric cars, and iPhones. With all the technology constantly in such easy access, sometimes it can be hard for Silicon Valley citizens to look up from their screens and really see the world around them. This is why volunteering is so important; it teaches people to engage with the happenings around them and look outside of social media. But how do Bay Area teens respond to volunteering, and where do their values lie: their community or their technology?
Many high schoolers feel an obligation to take mentally demanding and challenging classes, such as Advanced Placement (AP) or college prep classes, even if they have no desire to pursue the subject of classes they are taking. Also, some high schoolers will take advanced classes even if they are ill-prepared for the course.
