Our School’s Cyberattack is One of Many we Have Overlooked Until Now

When disaster strikes far away, we are often more disassociated from the obligation to prepare for a similar event, and it is only once it comes to us that we really take it seriously. The recent cyberattack here at Crown Point High School as well as the many others across Indiana shows we are all a little blind to the entities we trust with our information. While this situation is just now hitting close to home, we have all likely experienced some data breach from the various sites and apps we use on a daily basis. We count on these sites just as we count on our school to protect similar data, yet often we overlook what data is being collected, how it is being used and who else is entrusted with it, leaving more opportunity for an attack just as serious to happen again.

Whenever we go online, we always give off some information whether it be from liking or subscribing to an account, cookies tracking a site’s usage, or creating an account. However, some sites can take this further. Think of how many times we have entered our address or clicked the remember payment option. Even a photo can have a location linked to it automatically without any manual input. We undoubtedly share a lot with these different entities, whether for personalization or convenience. Knowing this, we should be taking steps to ensure both we and these sites maintain security over what is important to us.

As the users of these sites, we are our first line of defense to what access and information we give on the internet. Saying no to or limiting what we share with these sites is an effective approach many of us ignore not because we do not care but because of how tedious the process can be. Privacy policies are notorious for this feeling, but this also extends to allowed privacy options that can be buried in a settings menu or require navigating a third party’s site. While those dedicated enough may be able to jump through these hoops, companies will keep these difficult unless we establish online privacy as a right.

California’s California Consumer Privacy Act is a major step forward in this regard as it ensures people have a right to access and control the information businesses collect on the individual. Whether or not we are concerned for our online privacy, mere access to our collected information should be a given with our reliance on the internet to shop, find jobs, meet people and much more. We must not only call upon ourselves, but also onto the companies and lawmakers to enforce a better and more accessible standard of privacy across the internet to further protect personal information and to carefully guard the details we provide.

Information on California Consumer Privacy Policy Act comes from the State of California Department of Justice’s website

SPEAK UP What is your favorite social media?

“I use Snapchat and TikTok the most, Snapchat is easy to contact everyone. TikTok I feel it’s just easy to pass time.”

“Probably Pinterest, because that’s where I get most of my ideas to do anything.“

“I have Discord and Reddit and I mainly use them to either talk to some of my friends or I’ll look up pictures ideas for drawing.”

“My favorite social media right now is TikTok, because of all the different types of videos, there’s so many different videos, and every video is different.”

When entering high school, it’s like entering another realm. The high school parties and dances that everyone talks about can unexptedly be full of decisions.

According to the Drug Abuse Statistics website, the U.S. has a blatant substance use problem. Over 70,000 drug overdose deaths occur annually. Is it the substance that they are actually chasing or is it the feelings they crave?

In some drugs and alcohol, the feel-good chemical is dopamine. This chemical alters your brain’s chemistry, and it ends up being able to take control of both your behaviors and thoughts: it makes you feel happy even in a state of depression.

This is an idea that is very overlooked. Perhaps it’s not all about feeling cool or accepted, rather the escape of depressed feelings. Students can feel overwhelmed from school, work, and other stressors in life that seem so impossible to solve. Perhaps either doing drugs or drinking alcohol serve as a false remedy because problems seem to fade in the moment. This tempting respite of drugs and alcohol serves to only magnify the unsolved problems.

The feeling of relaxation and euphoria, according to the Help Guide website, can be achieved through a good laugh as it “triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.”

What does this mean? It means that our friendships and our connections are at the base of whether or not we feel good. In fact, according to the Help Guide website, laughing with our friends and family may even help us live longer and lighten our anger load.

So to all of you who struggle with hardships, find the joy in reading a book, walking with a friend, having an uncomfortable conversation, or simply releasing a deep laugh, know that those are the true dopamine risers. Chasing life connections is where we find joy. Let’s normalize that.