By Miranda Heeren Juuling has become the new trend for teens, with many interesting flavors. Although juuling is supposed to be meant for people over the age of 18 and to help with quitting smoking, many teens do it for entertainment
Flavors include:
All of the flavors have nicotine in them and one pod contains the same amount of nicotine as 3 packs of cigarettes. To stop kids from getting addicted to juuling, the JUUL company has banned mango, fruit, creme, and cucumber in stores, although these products can be found online. Juuling can take a great toll on kids getting them addicted. NBC News states that a 15 year old high school student would do anything just to juul. He would sell his clothes because he would pay $150 a week just for juuling. This high schooler went from being a straight A student to having all F’s. He juuled so much that it almost cost him his life by having a seizure. His parents blame the JUUL company for everything. There are many health problems juuling can cause. According to the CDC, juuling causes addiction, development issues, risks for addiction for other drugs, and lung problems. Juuling can also cause fires and explosions which can harm people in result of that. It is not water vapor but it is aerosol that has many harmful chemicals in it that could cause cancer and also includes heavy metals. NBC News included that the CEO of the JUUL company Kevin Burns, has stepped down due to the health problems it’s giving people. Burns also stopped advertising to teens when he had stepped down. It has become a public health crisis, according to CNBC, 801 people have been sick from juuling and at least killed 13 people.
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By Rivor Johnson [email protected] There are many discussions coming up about abortion and birth control and if they are somehow linked together. Some of the ideas are that abortion is going to be banned and birth control is a form of abortion so it should be banned as well. That makes no sense. That is clearly someone's opinion, not a factual statement. Women are most definitely the owners of their own body, and to have the right of whether or not to abort their own children is their option. Abortion is the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy. It is for people who accidentally get pregnant and don’t want a child, or the unfortunate who were a part of a rape situation and got pregnant. It could even be for a mother who wanted a baby, but she simply can’t afford it or the people who have health issues and can’t have a baby. It’s not just for the “mistake” babies, things come up and plans don’t always come together. According to CBS news, there recently was a case of an 11-year-old girl in Ohio who was found to be raped multiple times by a 26-year-old man. She ended up getting pregnant and was refused the choice to get an abortion due to the law, in Ohio, saying that the women can not get an abortion once the fetal heartbeat is detected. This is about five or six weeks into a pregnancy. At this point, many women don't even know they are pregnant because five to six weeks is very early in the pregnancy that the women may not even have any symptoms of being pregnant. So now, because men are making laws about women’s bodies, this 11-year-old girl is going to have to give birth to her rapists baby. Instead of focusing their time and energy on the kids who don’t have homes or food or families, they focus on the ones who will have that life if they are born. By having abortions as an option, we are helping the kids who could easily turn out to be homeless, and not have a family. Along with that, birth control is not abortion. Birth control is the prevention of pregnancy, it isn’t killing any baby, it’s preventing one from growing. By Haley Tackaberry The impressionability of kids is often ignored by big producing companies looking for show and movie ideas that will catch the attention of a wide range of age groups. In one case, the popular streaming platform, Netflix, first premiered 13 Reasons Why in March of 2017, catching the attention of many kids as it told of the “reasons” for suicide and the effects it has on remaining family and friends. 13 Reasons Why follows the story of the main character, Hannah Baker, as she reveals through cassette tapes the thirteen reasons why she chose to end her life. Unfortunately, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) stated that “The Netflix show 13 Reasons Why was associated with a 28.9% increase in suicide rates among U.S. youth ages 10-17 in the month following the show's release.” This spike of suicides surely did not go unnoticed, as Netflix got plenty of criticism for their lack of caution when releasing this show. Netflix responded to this claim by the NIMH with, “This is a critically important topic, and we have worked hard to ensure that we handle this sensitive issue responsibly.” But they weren’t sensitive enough. At the time when the show was getting ready to premiere, Netflix was advised not to release the show, as studies have linked suicide portrayals in the media with an increase in suicide rates. Dan Reidenberg, the executive director of Suicide Awareness Voices of Education was just one person who tried to persuade Netflix away from this decision. “But that wasn’t an option. That was made very clear to me,” said Reidenberg. If Netflix was to handle this “sensitive issue responsibly,” as they said, then the best option would have been not to release the show in the first place. Jessica Scatterson, 12, is just one example of this show having effects on the minds of kids. Just a few weeks after the series premiered, Scatterson was found dead in her bedroom, with a note listing off six reasons for killing herself. Scatterson’s mom said she had been talking about how she was watching 13 Reasons Why and had even been messaging friends about it the days leading up to her death “Its intentions are to raise suicide awareness but I believe it encourages young people to commit suicide. All Jessica’s friends were messaging each other discussing the series. Parents should be warned not to let their children watch it,” her mom told The Mirror. Scatterson was drawn into the dramatic emphasis this show puts on suicide, and ultimately it gave her reasons and ideas on how to end her life. The producers of 13 Reasons Why did make clear what their intentions were. “By shedding a light on these difficult topics,” the lead actress, Katherine Langford, says in a warning video preceding the first episode, “we hope our show can help viewers start a conversation.” The conversations they hoped to be had were most likely those between adults and kids discussing suicide and its effects. Unfortunately, kids also started to have their own conversations within their mind. Conversations such as convincing themselves of the reasons why they could commit suicide, as well as ideas on how to do it. It’s possible that the reasons this show gave for the main character ending her life, also taught children that bullies at school might be why they should consider it too. The fact is that big companies, such as Netflix, just aren't willing to sacrifice their own time and money to fix the things they profusely apologize for. Obviously, their intentions were not to convince children to harm themselves, but the solution to their mistake is obvious, take the show off the streaming platform. But instead, they decided to make another season. Ultimately, the intent behind something isn't what matters. What matters is the actions being done to withhold the intentions. If Netflix wanted the best way to fix their mistake, the show would not have been released in the first place. By Audrey Bunten German and Spanish are the two language classes that CCA has to offer. There are a lot of students that would rather take a different language class or they aren’t taking one at all because the school doesn’t offer a language that they are interested in learning. Studies done by Linguacore show that the top three most common languages to learn in US k-12 public schools are Spanish, French, and German. Spanish has 6,418,331 enrollments, French has 1,254,243 enrollments, and German has 395,019 enrollments. About fifty percent of students at CCA out of ninety-five students said that they’d like for the school to offer a French class. Eighteen percent out of the ninety-five said they want the school to teach Japanese. Most colleges require students to have a certain amount of years of language classes taken before they can graduate. CCA wants students to take their language classes while they are still in high school because it will most likely be easier for them to learn rather than in a college language class. If CCA were to offer more language options for students to choose from, then maybe there would be fewer students who aren’t in a language class at all. This would make it easier for students once they’re in college because they will already have their language classes completed. My Mikayla Tackaberry Is Senioritis a real thing or is it just an excuse to be lazy? Seniors say senioritis is undoubtedly a real thing, while some parents and teachers are unconvinced. Senioritis by definition is a phenomenon college and high school seniors experience that is characterized by apathy, low motivation and shrugging off responsibility. Personally, I believe senioritis is real and experience these symptoms. There seems to be reason to go to school and learn. There is a sense of anxiousness, and impatience for graduating and what comes next. This therefore creates lack of energy and work ethic to get anything done. Usually senioritis happens during second semester of senior year but can be excruciating. The longing for a diploma makes it almost impossible for studying for current tests or opening up a textbook you need to read. Senioritis is not a recognized medical condition or mental health disorder. In fact teachers and parents believe senioritis is just an excuse to be lazy. Maybe some students do use senioritis to exaggerate their hatred for school and laziness, but personally I know most students actually experience the change in their mood and it’s not unexplained. No matter what teachers or parents claim, seniors are just trying to make it through with the vision of the future in their eyes. By Mikayla Tackaberry Earlier this month, prosecutors charged fifty people including celebrities and Hollywood actresses for buying their students way into Elite colleges. Parents including Full House star, Lori Loughlin, paid millions of dollars to access entry to these colleges, but some even photoshopped their phases onto sports players. Some even hired someone to take the ACT or SAT in place of their child. This was all to gain freshman spots in colleges like Yale, Stanford, and Georgetown. Students were appalled when they found out this information. Disappointed with the celebrities, students were also disappointed and confused by the college admissions process in general. Here is what students across the country had to say about it. ¨I am absolutely shocked and angered to learn that this pure corruption can occur in the college admissions process. Those responsible for this ludicrous scandal do not understand the point of college at all. College or university is an opportunity earned through an impartial process.¨ -Isabel Li, Temple City, CA As you see, students are disappointed in the system, and that the admissions can even be bribed in the first place. ¨One of the details that shocked me the most is that one of the parents claimed that their son had a learning disability. This is not only unethical, but this is very disrespectful to those who do have learning disabilities.¨ - Abby G, Inman, SC These parents would fake their students learning disability in order to extend their their time for taking an exam. In summary, these parents stole opportunities from hardworking and deserving students, all for selfish reasons. As sad as it is to say, it is not surprising in this day and age. By Rivor Johnson As high school students, we have all experienced peer pressure. Many students think that they are strong enough to say no, to the bad things, and to take into consideration the good things.
High school is the time to make memories, but how many of those memories include underage drinking, smoking, and lying to parents? Probably more than many students would like to admit. So now is the time to learn how to stay strong and say no. First off, we have to learn the facts. Underage drinking, one, is illegal, and two can do a lot more damage than good. There are definitely a lot more worries than the bad hangover the next morning. Teens who binge drink are more at risk for brain damage which then effects thinking and memory skills according to the National Public Radio. At parties, alcohol is just passed around, and once a student has already drunk enough, they are likely to drink even more. Teens don’t think that all these risks could affect them, they think they are invincible, but as the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention states, there are 4,300 teen deaths each year due to drinking. Do you think any of those teens thought they were going to die from having a beer? Now that we know the facts, it would be time to use it to our advantage. Let's say, you are sitting in class minding your own business and you have an upperclassman come up to you and ask you to go to this raging party this weekend. Your first reaction would be to say no, hopefully, and you already know this reputation of this person, so you know what could be at this party. You say no and he just keeps begging you to come, and he says he’ll drive, so now you are starting to think that it can’t be that bad. So you might as well just go, but that's the part where everyone fails. You have to stand your ground. Now, this is where step one comes in. You start telling him the facts. Why drinking is bad, what could happen if the party got caught, why he shouldn’t drink and drive. This guy may look at you like you are absolutely insane for knowing all those things, or he may go run his mouth about how you’re a nerd, or he might just back off. The important thing is you have to know where you stand and what you believe in. What are your morals? What do you want to get out of high school, out of life? Now, no one ever said don’t go to the high school parties, just stay home and everything will be fine. You want to have the fun high school memories, so back to the story, let's say you decide to end up going to the party to hang out with everyone, you can still say no to the alcohol and drugs while you are there. You can still pull the facts out on them. It takes a lot to say no, but you have to stand your ground and do what you know it right because, in the end, it will only benefit you. Feb.2 Drayden Johnson
The bathrooms are shut down! What!? Recently last week have you raised your hand asking your teacher if you could use the restroom and they say yes so you get up and head for the bathroom. As you approach the bathroom you see a sign and when reaching the door you realize that there is a sign saying “Temporarily closed due to inappropriate behavior? As of last week, our principal's Mr. Potter and Mr. Moody decided to shut down the boy's bathroom due to inappropriate behavior. “The bathroom was closed because of vandalism to school property. The best solution is for other students to step up and report vandalism to teachers/administrators. There's no need for a confrontation; simply let an adult know when you see someone doing something inappropriate or illegal,” said assistant principal Mr. Potter. The reasons behind the bathroom shut down are now set and stone and these are the real issues. We have students in the restrooms are not being considerate of the school’s property and are breaking things. The other issue is that students are doing illegal things in the restrooms. Principal Mr. Moody then stated his point of view. “This was due to vandalism and we have to order replacements parts to prevent further damage. Ideally, we would like to rely on students to monitor one another's behavior to prevent further incidents,” explained Mr. Moody. When we have students doing these illegal acts of vandalism it causes all sorts of problems. When the restroom was shut down last week students had to either walk all the way down to the single restrooms by the science rooms or upstairs to that restroom. This problem causes delays in our school when it is unnecessary. By Olivia Smyka Courtesy Of Entertainment Tonight (ET) Selena Gomez is one of the world’s most popular female artists; she has over 146 million followers on Instagram and is loved by so many people in various parts of the world. And yet, even a celebrity like her can deal with mental and physical health issues. Selena Gomez has been a bit off the radar lately, and some are wondering where she is now.
It all goes back to 2014. After Gomez experienced the negative aspects of the entertaining industry and having her mother experience a miscarriage, she entered a rehab facility for a mental health break. A year later, she told the public that she had become diagnosed with lupus, a disease that causes a person’s immune system to attack their own tissues. Having lupus has caused her to experience frustrating symptoms such as joint pain. Additionally, lupus has led her to cancel many tour dates in the past. The disease also led to her to having depression and anxiety. Due to constant anxiety attacks, Selena Gomez went to therapy, and, according to Clevver News, she would talk to her therapist up to five times a week. Since then, Selena Gomez has been fighting a tough battle with lupus that has negatively affected her both physically and mentally. Despite the lows, there have been some highs, like the successful kidney transplant Selena Gomez went through in 2017. She has also talked about her lupus journey at the Breaking Through Gala, which honors those fighting the disease. Luckily, the former Disney Channel star has been making a recent comeback with collaborated songs like “Taki Taki” (with DJ Snake, Ozuna, and Cardi B), “Anxiety” (with Julia Michaels), and “I Can’t Get Enough” (with benny blanco, Tainy, and J Balvin). I was one of the millions of little girls who was obsessed with her during her Disney Channel era, and though I don’t really listen to her new music, I am still proud of this artist for having the strength to get through her health condition and her ability to create music after all she has been through. |
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