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TikTok banned, but not for long
The impending doom of the TikTok ban was ultimately short-lived, going back up within hours of its shutting down
Flexingisgoodforstudents
Students get the ability to move around school for a better learning experience
The noisy setting of a classroom can be detrimental to a high school student’s ability to learn efficiently The combination of peer conversations and friends wanting to start conversations instead of accomplishing assignments can be a huge distractionforthemajorityofstudents
One of the key contributors to students lacking the ability to avoid these distractions, is the fact that a large majority ofthesestudentshavemissingworkandare failingclasses
From when they are born to their first day of education, they have always had a guardian guiding them on the right track These issues combined have created a large issueinstudenteducation
However,theadministrationatMcHenry Community High School have found a potential solution to this problem with the implementationofflexing
In 2021, following the spread of COVID19 across the globe, MCHS administrators came up with an idea that would help students avoid catching the virus This idea was “Blended” learning This style of learning showed not only positive results from a health perspective, but also results that showed to be positive from a learning perspectiveaswell
Asof2025,Blendedlearningandflexingis still in place and students, along with teachers, seem to love this style of learning formanyreasons
Oneofthereasonswhyflexinghasbeen
so beneficial to students is the fact that they now have more of an opportunity to learn at their own pace, using any potential strategies they may use at home that benefit their ability to process, understand and analyze information
An issue that has surrounded in-class learning has been the stress that is added on to students when they are stuck in a classroom They feel as if they cannot learn in the ways that make them the most successful because they have limitations in the classroom
Sophomore Filippo Fiore had some positive words to say about this style of learning
“I love it,” Fiore states “I just like that I have a way to get out of a distracting classroom ”
A classroom can feel suffocating for students if the teacher does not keep the students involved Long lectures and uninteresting topics can cause students to dread coming to school on a day-today basis
However, with the implementation of flexing into MCHS curriculums, students do not have to worry about the things they used to dread in a classroom MCHS students now have the freedom to get out of the classroom and find settings around the school that will help them learn effectively
Health and Physical Education teacher
Theodora Davis explains the benefits she sees in students being allowed to leave the classroom and learn on their own
Sydney Boswell Staff Writer
Popular short-form video app TikTok was banned to millions of users in the United States on Jan 18 before being brought back not even 24 hours later on the 19
TikTok was planned to be banned in the U S under its China-based parent company The Supreme Court ruled that the U S government can shut down TikTok constitutionally The court case covered the conflict between the right of free speech and threats posed to the U S national security by TikTok U S President, Donald Trump, has shared that he was trying to keep TikTok available
At night on Saturday Jan 18 users opened TikTok to see a message informing them that TikTok was banned and planning to be brought back shortly Less than 24 hours later on Jan 19, users found that TikTok was back “as a result of President Trump's efforts ” MCHS students share their opinions on the TikTok ban
“I’ve had TikTok for around five years,” says Viola Fabisch, a sophomore at MCHS and content creator “If TikTok gets banned I think I’ll become really bored in my free time I started growing my platform by making videos with my friends for fun, and unexpectedly, they did really well ”
Other students who don’t use TikTok often still share their opinions on what could happen in our school with a potential ban
“I download TikTok and then I regularly delete it once I start to feel addicted,” says Brody BeLow, a junior at MCHS “I believe if it gets banned it’ll be hard for the students and make it harder for people to communicate with their friends ”
Other students share how this ban can affect our school, and how the app is helpful to them as students
“I would say I am addicted to it,” says Hillary Duran, a junior at MCHS “I feel like maybe kids will start paying attention in class if I don’t understand a concept in math, I just do a quick little search and find videos of examples ”
“There has been a huge increase in the amount of work getting turned in,” Davis explains “And the grades are better because it’s a huge incentive for kids because they really want to do it It’s tremendous, actually ” A point that gets brought up frequently when talking about the true benefits of flexing is how students who lack a sense of focus would have trouble learning without a teacher nudging them along This is a great point However, to become “Flex Certified,” students have to fill out an application form Students who feel they would work better in the classroom can simply choose to not fill out the form This gives students the opportunity to make personal choices that can have positive impacts on their individual ability to learn
Students can choose how they want to learn and teachers are given the opportunity to plan ahead for future lessons during class periods It’s truly a “win-win ” Now, imagine that same noisy classroom that makes it impossible for you to learn That same setting that makes you dread going to school every day can now be avoided
Flexing has given students endless possibilities to learn class material in the way that best suits them, whether it’s learning at a pace that best suits them or escaping distracting classroom behaviors
The results shown through flexing, such as an increase in student performance, have shown MCHS administration that they have made the right decision It’s only a matter of time before schools across McHenry County begin to adopt this style of learning
Mason Sites Staff Writer
Analysis | Animmation’s creative downfall
In recent years the separation between art and politics, especially in animation, has become
Bath Brackmann
A&E Editor
Disney CEO, Bob Iger recently made a statement where he says “Disney’s job is not to advance any kind of agenda We have to entertain first It’s not about messages ” It is a very strong statement and truly shows where Disney as a company is now, they are a money hungry studio focused more on the money than giving people characters and stories that mean something
There has been a very clear pattern that Disney has been following for the last eight years A trend that started right around the time President Trump went into his first term back in 2016 And Disney isn’t the only one who has changed their practices based on the incoming administration
Animation as a whole is statically a very liberal field When President Biden went into office there was a real push and want to have more diverse characters both in race and sexuality which has been seen as a positive step in entertainment Disney though is historically a very conservative company, one that has been known to cut out or scrap scenes and storylines that involve more “progressive” ideas
But in the last eight years Disney has been in a tough spot, a spot that they didn’t necessarily create During Trump's first term as president there was a spike of social media use due to the pandemic On social media there was a push from younger generations against more conservative ideals to more liberal ones Disney’s main audience is meant to be young people, but Disney being a
less distinct
company, they didn’t want to lose countries like Russia and China or their conservative audience so they entered this limbo state The state of soulless remakes and sequels
On the Disney Animation StudiosFeature Films page there is a list of all of the animated movies that have been released by the company, excluding Pixar projects, and in the last eight years though there have been four original movies in that time all either have very low ratings or have just been forgotten “Wish,” “Strange World,” “Encanto” and “Raya and the Last Dragon” are the movies that make up that list, with the only notable one being Encanto The rest have cheap storylines that are just forgettable
Back to Iger's statement where he says “It’s not about the messages,” but it’s all about the messages If there’s no message then there is no movie In what is known as the “Disney Renaissance,” which happened in the ‘90s, when film after film for the company were smash hits Most of the memorable animated movies came out of ‘90s Disney This was a time where the studio allowed its creators to write and produce movies how they wanted too without the studio breathing down their neck A time where the main focus of a movie was on the story not just how the characters identify
movies aren't being made to help underrepresented communities, they're being made so that Disney can say, look, we're inclusive
where the characters' race wasn't used as a ploy to seem more inclusive but had real stories and development behind them
There is one thing that sticks out in these movies though, and that’s that most of the protagonists are people of color Now that is a beautiful thing, something that they should continue as a company It brings representation to groups that otherwise wouldn’t have it, but they’re doing it wrong These
Now if these movies have strong stories behind them and a high marketing budget this would be a very different conversation but that’s not what they’re doing They have made it very clear that these movies are just to save themselves from being called out about their past It’s not like Disney hasn’t made any great films where the protagonists were people of color Movies like “The Emperor's New Groove,” “Lilo and Stitch” and “Princess and the Frog” are all great examples
TheMcHenryMessengerisMcHenryCommunityHigh School’sstudent-writtenand-editednewspaper Launchedin2019,TheMcHenryMessengeristhe student-runandstudent-editedschoolnewspaperat McHenryHighSchoolinMcHenry,Illinois
Studentjournalistshavetherighttoexercisefreedomof speechandthepressinhighschoolmedia The McHenryMessengerbenefitsfromtheserights Wehope tousethisplatformtoinformandengagethestudents andstaffofMcHenryHighSchoolaswellasitsbroader community
Asastudent-drivenpublication itisimportanttous thatwerepresenteverygroupwithinbothcampusesas wellasthebroaderMcHenrycommunity providinga platformforthemtotelltheirstories Weintendto provideaccesstoobjective,relevantinformationthat theyneedtoknow
That’s really what this all comes down to is the studio Disney now is so quick to pull or change stories because they’re “too political” or lean one way or the other They have lost sight of what made them Disney Ideas are always changing and there’s no good way to please both sides, other than producing the forgettable slop that they have now Politics are a part of everyday life and entertainment should focus more on the enjoyment of stories rather than sides
Beth Brackmann A&E Editor
Bob Iger attends the 95th Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon at the Beverly Hilton on Feb 13, 2023, in Beverly Hills, California | Photo by: Jay L Clendenin / Los Angeles Times / TNS
Dominic Burnett Puzzlemaster