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Opinion
Xavier High School
Give a second thought to technology Before I begin, I just want to say that I support the idea of integrating technology into the classroom. This article includes arguments to allow one to think more thoroughly about this idea. This is simply an article laying down the facts. While integrating more technology is a great idea and might be a good decision to make in the future, one must separate the realms of catching up to others and keeping the students’ educational experience more than adequate. One pressing issue in today’s educational system is the idea of a 1:1 ratio of student to laptop/tablet device. Educators around the country are embracing this idea, and with good intention. Technology is evergrowing and allows educators to integrate new teaching methods to allow students to better understand what they are learning. Many schools
across the country are starting this new initiative and it seems to be working very well. Xavier High School has even sent some teachers to these schools and they have brought back amazing stories. But, with every issue, one must look at both sides. As I said before, I support this idea, but I believe that we need to put more thought into the long-term effects of this decision. Obviously, one major argument against this is technology’s effect on grammar and literacy. According to a study conducted on 700 youths between the ages of 12 and 17 by the Pew Internet and American Life Project and the National Commission on Writing, 64% of these teens admitted to using text messaging shortcuts and symbols in their school assignments. These same symbols and shortcuts are also used on social media sites. In the case of technology in the classroom, one has to take into account the effect it will have on grammar in future years. While some educators say that it has increased immediate literacy and grammar
usage, one has to wonder what will happen in future generations. Another argument that is commonly used against this idea is the loss of the role of teacher and student. With a laptop/tablet device, many wonder what will become of the teacher. With these tools, a teacher merely becomes a facilitator in the classroom. The emotional connection between teacher and student could become lost. Even relationships between students themselves could be lost. In most cases, students are more comfortable talking to someone on an online chat room than in actual person-to-person contact. This emotional attachment in both these relationships is what I believe to be the most crucial in a school setting. We all know that the teacher can often affect our “enjoyability” of a class; they have that much power. If there is not this emotional relationship between teacher and student, who is to say that “monotony” will become a synonym with the word “learning.” The preceding arguments that
Keep prom classy, please Even as a socially awkward and self-professed awful dancer, I am irrationally pumped for prom. I’m excited to dress up for the dance, spend time with my friends (and Carter, I guess), and go crazy from lack of sleep and an overload of food at post-prom. However, after sadly watching my mother freak out about post-prom prizes (please go, it would make her so happy) and saying, “Wow, did you hear Jack Collins is wearing a bow tie? He’s gonna look so beautiful,” way too many times for it to be acceptable, it seems like prom has already been going on forever. The mania of it has gotten so crazy that people have become sick of it already…
and the night hasn’t even begun. Prom should be an awesome night for everyone, because let’s be honest, living in the Midwest, we don’t get anything much more exhilarating than this. Prom is something that we should remember when we all go our separate ways, and not for negative reasons. So don’t be stupid. Don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t ignore your date, and don’t do un-Christian things (or wear un-Christian things, for that matter). If the reason that drinking and smoking is illegal isn’t enough for you, then think about how much you’ll be disrespecting your date, yourself, and everyone around you by doing it. It’s dangerous and just plain wrong. And come on, we go to a Catholic school; let’s have a little class, please. Be a good date. Focus on their happiness and not your own, and you’ll probably find that you end
up having an awesome time as well. And if you’re going with a group of friends, just make lasting memories together. This isn’t something that you experience every day, and spending it with your best friends just makes it that much more special. So whether you will be spending ten hours on Saturday night/ early Sunday morning with your boyfriend, girlfriend, guy friend, gal friend, slight acquaintance, or best friend, go into prom with a positive attitude and the drive to make other people happy. Be smart and be classy. Let’s do this right, Saints.
Every day I walk up my driveway, huffing and puffing, but proud of myself for finishing another good workout. I know that I was able to motivate myself to get up and get moving. I run to improve my times for cross country, but most of all I run because I like the way it makes me feel and how much better I seem to function as a person because of it. Exercising improves so many different aspects of your health, psychologically and physically. Big companies know this. They know that some people love the feeling of working out, and will do it every day with enthusiasm, and not think twice about it. However,
they also know that 95% of the rest of the people hate working out, and it’s really hard for these people to motivate themselves to get moving. There are places like Kosama, Farrell’s, etc., where an instructor will tell you exactly how and when to do whatever you need to do to get in shape. However, while these places aren’t bad ideas, there are some drawbacks. For one thing, the cost is pretty steep. The first ten weeks will range from $300 to $500 for three sessions a week, and if you continue past that, the price goes up. You could just as easily go to Target and buy a few workout videos, hand weights, exercise ball, and a jump rope for under $100 and be set for the next ten years. Why spend money on a program when you could just as easily do it in your own home? The company’s answer is motivation.
The instructors do all the tough work for you! Getting yourself up and working hard is the hardest part of exercising, but if you do a program and then stop after 10 weeks, you don’t have anyone telling you what to do anymore. Your key motivator is gone, when the real motivator you should have had was yourself. There are so many ways to work out that don’t cost anything! Go to a park and play ultimate Frisbee with friends, run on a nature trail, or shoot some hoops in your driveway. There are so many options that involve you learning to motivate yourself without having to spend hundreds of dollars, so why pay when you don’t have to?
Megan Lynch Backpage Editor
Make exercise more personal
Cassie Busch Opinion Writer
you have just read have been made to cause you to think; think about the effect of technology; think about its benefits; and also think about its disadvantages. I believe that technology has the power to be very beneficial to education, but I also believe that technology should not become a teacher. School is where we get a majority of our early memories, our friends, and our enemies. Utilizing technology simply to “catch up to others” could potentially change that. All that I am asking through this article is to simply double-check the fine print. This is a decision that cannot be made lightly and without thought.
Bryan Banowetz Opinion Assistant Editor
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