Anna Grace Chaney The internet is is difficult topic for some people to discuss and debate. This is because it is so young. The internet hasn't been around for forever, it's really new to humans and we are all trying to figure out how to use it in a beneficial way. So as with anything that is new and unknown, mistakes were made. One of those mistakes was social media. Social media is an incredible resource when used correctly. It can help connect people that live far away, spread awareness and promote businesses, and even inform and educate people. Although these are great things that come out of the internet, so can come comparison, bullying, and can even spread false information. The younger generation now are called "digital natives" which means we have never lived in a time without social media or the internet. With younger kids/teens on social media they can fall into a place where they look at pictures with filters and editing and think that they aren't good enough because they don't fit the standard of beauty that is impossible to reach. Social media has also become a breeding ground for cyberbullying and hateful speech. It gives people an outlet to be cruel to people with little to no punishment. Although social media is helpful and fun, we have to remember to walk away from the phone sometimes and enjoy life outside the screen. Caley Hamilton The internet consists of many things that are not good. Personally, I feel the worst thing about the internet is the way it can be addicting for some people. I think that some people spend too much time on the internet which is not healthy at all. It can cause a lot of things such as bad vision, seeing too much which can be negative things, or seeing and believing things that are not true. I also think it is mostly younger people spending so much time on the internet so that can cause you to lose focus and get off task easily. For the adults who spend too much on the internet it is probably a huge distraction and waste's a lot of time. Overall I think the internet is an addictive thing for some people and you should limit your time on it.
Jake Hunt In recent years, the internet has become one of the most useful tools in schools and businesses, and its applications are continuously expanded even now. However, there's one key aspect of how the internet is used that is arguably its worst aspect: freedom of anonymity. Freedom of anonymity is simple: when a person uses the internet, they will often use an account that does not publicly display their personal info, rendering them anonymous. If no one knows who that person is, then said person has the freedom to say or do what they want without judgement from those who actually know them. For example, let's say that a friend of yours says something particularly insulting on Twitter on an account that doesn't show any personal info about them. A large portion of Twitter users are, understandably, upset with what that friend said, but they don't know who that person actually is, so their judgements, criticisms, and equally harsh words fall deaf to the original offender. However, you know that it was your friend who threw that insult onto the internet, and depending on how said friend acts in person, you would most likely be shocked. After all, how could he say such a thing online? Simple: he had the guarantee that only a few people knew who he actually was, giving him the elbow room to say what he wanted to say.
rant: Stop the panic shopping
By Yamileth Ledesma If you’ve been on social media lately you may have noticed people joking about no more toilet paper in the stores because of the virus. Ever since the coronavirus came to the U.S. everyone has been in a panic. When you go to the stores you see people buying a lot of water, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies, and food. They are buying a lot to the point where the store is completely out of stock. Don’t you think they’re exaggerating? I understand we should be prepared for anything that could happen but it’s crazy how people are reacting like this. The stores are empty when it comes to the cleaning aisles. People never act like this when it’s flu season? So why are they all of a sudden caring about sanitation like it’s the end of the world or there is an apocalypse about to happen. There are people who can barely get the essentials and nobody is worried about them. Instead of worrying about stockpiling your kitchen, you should think about others who can’t afford to go out and buy things like water and food because everyone is going crazy and buying it all to the point where there are now limits.
rant: So... Y'all still can't swim?
by Reece Maguire Louisiana is full of water. While Shreveport is moderately-placed above most bodies of water, we have our fair share of dangerous thunderstorms, flash flooding, and thousands of swimming pools. Considering the amount of ways that someone in Shreveport could encounter water, you’d think that every citizen would know how to swim, but they don’t. So many people in Louisiana alone do not know how to swim, either from finding it unnecessary or being afraid to learn. The ability to swim is one of the most important skills a person can learn, for it could mean the difference between life and death. From simply falling into a pool or being swept away in a flood, the dangers of drowning are all too real and people need to address them. Parents, guardians, and teenagers alike, make sure you and everyone around you learns how to swim.
Can girls and boys be best friends?
Ian Lyles Why is it even a question of whether or not a boy and girl can be best friends? People are people, regardless of gender. Friendship is a thing that doesn't care about gender or orientation or anything of the sort. The only thing that gets in the way is puberty and it's creation of imbalances in the brain of both men and women, causing both parties to make some poor choices, often resulting in an awkward friendship or all-out ending it. It's entirely possible for a boy and girl to be best friends, but they both have to be conscious of each other. As long as they maintain understanding, like any other friendship, and don't act brazenly without thinking about what could happen if their "perfect plan" fails, then it should go as smoothly as any other friendship. Besides, this is assuming that both the boy and girl are heterosexual, but if one is homosexual, the boy or the girl, then the friendship is even easier to maintain due to the shutting down of the route of the friendship failing due to one-sided adoration that isn't reciprocated.
Micah Mock Anyone can be friends with anyone. Friendship goes passed the spectrum of gender. I don't care if you are a guy, girl, trans, non-binary, questioning, or feel like maybe you are both. If you are cool and share common interests, I would love to be your friend. Having more friends is awesome. I have friends all across the gender spectrum and i love them with all my heart, they are all my best friends and i wouldn't give them up for anything else in the world. If you don't want to be friends with someone because of their gender identity... I think you have more things to worry about in your life then if u make friends with a someone of a certain gender identity. Love your friends, don't judge people based off gender. Judging peoples gender isn't going to get you anywhere in life.
RANT: WHY ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR HOUSE?
By Kaylee Bynog I have one question and one question only: why does it seem like all my customers are elderly people since quarantine has started? Not to be rude but have they not watched the news channels?? Are they aware that they are the most susceptible to being harmed by the virus? It genuinely makes me nervous. How can we expect young people to stay inside, but the people who are most threatened by COVID-19 are out and about? We must come together as a community and stay home. There are people more than ourselves we must worry about. There are people like children, people with compromised immune systems, and people that are already sick that depend on the rest of us to stay home and stay healthy. It’s on all of us, elderly, middle age, young adults, teenagers. Make sure you keep other people in your thoughts and make sure your friends and family are healthy.
rant: Scholarships for college
By Korey January So here’s the thing. I love that in America we’re pushed to pursue educational opportunities past the basic requirement, however, we need to talk about scholarships. Here’s why. For a lot of us who have worked hard during the last four years, this time is joyous, yet confusing. We’re seeing the fruits of our labor. We have applied, gotten accepted, and are beginning to make decisions about what school we want to go to pursue our undergraduate degree. College itself is an investment, to say the least, and colleges that hand us mere scraps really don’t help the situation. Now, don’t get me wrong, in essence, this is an issue of entitlement, but it’s also an issue of self-worth (which can easily feed into entitlement). Colleges base their scholarship amounts on various different factors from heritage, race, sexuality, to academic merit. The thing is when a college boasts about using a holistic review process for acceptance, you then wonder what they use to qualify students for scholarships. Am I crazy, or is it just me?