Opinion
The Lightning Strike • November-December 2010
Page 5
HEALTH
Students’ stress leads to the cycle of disease
In My Opinion
Leigh Markowitz
staff writer
No sickness fits into anyone’s high school schedule. I speak from experience because, as I write, there is a painful pounding in my head and soreness in my throat, but I can’t think of anything besides the lesson I will miss if I stay home from school. I am not the only one with such an experience. Students are so pressured by teachers and parents to either take the hardest classes or sign up for too many extra curricular activities that they are defeated by stress and left sick. These students then come to school and infect others. It is a vicious cycle. Once sick, all students, no
matter what classes they are taking, fall behind if they miss a day in order to heal. So imagine how far behind they will fall if they take a full week off, which, according to pediatrician Dr. Leonard Cremer, is the amount of time one needs to stay home in order to be sure that they will not contaminate anyone else. Teachers o f t e n argue that students can miss school for illness as long as they get their absence excused and make up the work. However, there is a bit of deception intertwined with the concept of “make up work.” (1) Make up tests are often more difficult than the initial test;
thus, students feel punished for getting sick. (2) Students have a certain amount of time when they get back to school to bring in make up work, but during that time additional work
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continues to be assigned. (3) Although given an opportunity for “make-up work,” students do not always receive make up time (the class time when teachers lecture and the study time lost
when sick right before a test). It is almost inevitable that students will continue to feel pressure to go to school on those sick days when they need to be home, but in order for them to retain their sanity, here are some helpful hints: 1. Let teachers know about multiple tests in one day. You may be surprised by how understanding some teachers can be. 2. When choosing classes for next year, be realisitic. Don’t load up on too many difficult classes if you are not sure you can handle them. 3. Only focus on a few clubs or other extra curriculars. That way, you can put forth maximum effort into each instead of spreading yourself too thin. 4. Sleep. Your body cannot function as efficiently without it, and you will be less likely to retain information.
POLITICS
Obama deserves more credit than he gets In My Opinion Taylor
Silver staff writer
President Obama, currently wobbling beneath the heavy burden he has inherited from the Bush administration, has yet to be given his due credit. While I admit I was critical of Obama, I believe he should be recognized for all the good he has done in the last two years. While campaigning for the presidency, Obama filled his speeches with stirring words like “hope” and “change,” with the true intention of reshaping America to restore its former
glory. Since then, Obama’s popularity has decreased considerably, as evidenced by the Republican majority in the mid-term elections. The opening sketch of a Saturday Night Live episode depicted Obama addressing the nation, saying “When you look at my record, it’s very clear what I’ve done so far and that is nothing. Nada. Almost one year and nothing to show for it.” As the live studio audience laughed throughout it, I decided to do some research regarding just what Obama has done in the last two years. He has created tax cuts for up to 3.5 million small businesses to help pay for employee health care coverage. He added
$4.6 billion to the Veteran’s Administration budget to recruit and retain more mental health professionals. I still wasn’t sold. But, as I went down the list and saw just how many projects he has completed, how many reforms he has passed, how much money he has allocated to worthy causes, I began to disagree with the criticisms directed towards his administration. People are quick to assume that Obama has done nothing in the last two years. It’s not like he’s sitting in his oval office twiddling his thumbs or Facebook-chatting Joe Biden. Many early Obama fans saw him as this sort of magician who could easily eliminate the
deficit and get our troops out of the Middle East with just the snap of his fingers - an unrealistic expectation. He’s simply America’s dartboard: constantly being pinned with his back against the wall. Major proposals he has made to Congress have been denied, and because of this lack of significant “change,” Americans feel Obama isn’t getting anything done. If we can all agree that there’s no “delete key” in politics, why do some people assume that the problems we face as Americans can dissipate in just one half-term? I’ve never held strong political views, but I know to give credit where credit is due. And so should other Americans.
PARENTING
Parent involvement is necessary for student success In My Opinion Ariana
Rogers feature editor
With issues like budget cuts in education and struggles to meet Class Size Amendment, students are the ones suffering. Now more than ever, students need their parents to step up and help make a difference. However, parent involvement in school affairs is currently at its minimum. The Michigan Department of Education reports that 86 percent of the general public believes parent support is the most important way to improve schools. Yet the U.S. Department of Education states that parent involvement drops 55 percent by the time children reach 14 and
continues to drop throughout high school. Despite the fact that being a parent is a 24/7 job, it seems that from 7:10am to 2:30 in the afternoon, parent responsibility is relinquished when it comes to their child’s education. This leaves the school to raise their children approximately five days a week for eight hours. A combination of reasons contributes to why parents allow this disconnection between school and home to take place. For instance, some parents are intimidated by the higher level curriculum their child is learning and would rather “leave it to the experts.” But this transfers responsibility to teachers who might not be able to cater to each student personally, so parents often have tutors help fill in the gap. What the child really needs are standards. According to a study done by
Harvard, students with parents who have high expectations perform better in school and are successful in the classroom. Some parents become involved only when a personal problem arises at the school such as skipping class. However, they risk sending a subliminal message that only when the child performs poorly in school will they take notice. This is a problem because students develop the mindset that if they just do enough to get by, parents won’t realize that their best isn’t being put forth in school. Parents may also be under the impression that after a certain age students no longer need help in school matters. Yet studies from the Harvard Family Research Project have shown that parents still have a strong influence on their teenagers and make a greater difference than presumed.
Granted, some students are self-motivated enough to strive for success regardless of the extent of parent support but the majority of students still do significantly better in school when parents are involved. Schools have plenty of soccer parents, overbearing parents, lenient parents and the strict parents, but what students really need is an involved parent. The best way to do this is to create an effective means of communication between the child, teacher and parent so that they are always aware of what’s going on in their child’s school life. This way, the next time parents hear about community service and weighted and unweighted GPA’s during parent night senior year, they won’t have to turn to their child and ask, “Did you do that?” Hopefully, they will already know.
SGA OPINION
In My Opinion
Pablo
Storch business editor
SGA President advises incoming 2014 officers
Dear Incoming Class of 2014 Officers, After a week long campaign, it is over. The class officers of the freshman class have been chosen. Winning an election is no minuscule task. It not only involves making plenty of campaign posters and flyers, but also spreading your ideas to your peers, many of whom you rarely know. I imagine that you must be filled with a mixture of exhaustion and joy. However, know that an election is not an end but a beginning. The importance does not lie in your class of 2014 title, but rather what you do with that title. So take the weekend off and recharge your batteries because the success of your class relies on you. Here are a couple of suggestions: 1. Do it for the love, not the resume. If you became an officer for title, you are in the wrong place. Colleges want to know what you did as an officer. The College Board advises students to “not worry about being president of the club, or captain of the team. The key is doing something significant - center stage or behind the scenes.” In order to “do something significant,” you must have a passion for Student Government and the improvement of student life because it is this passion that will make your time as an officer fun and productive. So take this as a hobby not a task. 2. Work with your sponsors, don’t have them work for you. The class has been blessed with Michelle Russell as its main sponsor, who is the activities director and has sponsored multiple classes including Classes of 2010 and 2009. The sponsors are there to advise you, not to do your job. If you leave all the work for the sponsor, he or she might quit (as it happened with the Class of 2011) or the class activities will not be as genuine because they are organized by an adult. 3. Communication is the key. Not just among the officers, but to every member of your class. In a good class, the officers are aware of what is happening in their class organization and they then spread the word to the rest of the class members. Nothing looks worse than being an officer and not knowing what is happening in your organization. I recommend creating a Facebook group for the officers allowing them to discuss issues that affect the class and a separate group that allows officers to communicate to the students and hear their concerns. A class website that has pictures, links documents, and other information can also be helpful. Look at the Class of 2012 website for help and advice.