By Katie Mercogliano ‘14 Recently, President Obama came out and told The New Yorker magazine that he believes, “… [marijuana usage is no] more dangerous than alcohol.” He is getting an absurd amount of backlash for the comments from several different news outlets about how he irresponsibly condoned marijuana use. Obama actually took the route most parents should take in … Read More
By Emma Hierholzer ‘15 In the grocery store just the other day, I saw something that seriously made me consider an important point in my future as a professional woman in the work force. My cashier, a young man, was struggling with the cash register when his supervisor, an older woman walked over to help him. She scolded him for … Read More
By Joy Zhang ‘14 Many took to social media to criticize Seattle Seahawk Richard Sherman’s post-game interview with Fox Sports reporter Erin Andrews. “Fool,” “barbaric,” “thug” and much worse names were used to describe Sherman’s behavior. Some even apologized on behalf of Sherman to Andrews, starting the hashtag “#imsorryrichardshermanscaredyou” on Twitter. This entire backlash is completely unjustified. Sherman may have … Read More
By Julia Gajewski-Nemes ’15 By age 19, 28 percent of all adolescents will experience at least one episode of major depression. With each instance, students will likely experience symptoms such as withdrawal from friends and family, changes in eating and sleeping habits, lack of motivation, and difficulty concentrating, which can hinder the student’s ability to do his or her best … Read More
By Jack Armstrong ’15 It’s flu-shot season, and many teenagers will be receiving their annual flu shot. What many do not realize, however, are the hidden risks that lay underneath each vaccine. How effective really are they? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Overall vaccine effectiveness varies from year to year, depending upon the degree of … Read More
By Michael Crooks ’14 MCPS require students to acquire 75 SSL hours to graduate high school. Seventy-five hours of community service is attainable, especially considering that students have roughly seven years to complete the community service. However, for many high school students, especially athletes, community service becomes more of a burden than a rewarding experience. During their respective sport’s season, … Read More
By Kyle Melnick ‘14 and Whitney-Marie Halaby ‘14 Sports Benefit Students On and Off the Field Amanda Ripley of The Atlantic magazine wants to deemphasize the role of sports in high school so less money and time are spent on them and presumably so fewer students participate in sports. She claims they are a distraction and negatively affect both student-athletes’ and … Read More
In recent years, it has become routine for students to memorize facts and be assessed immediately. Students memorize events for history courses, equations for math courses and vocabulary for English and foreign language courses in order to maintain their grades. Students likely are divided on this approach to learning. While some credit their strong memories for allowing them to memorize … Read More
By Stacey Wells ‘15 When I walk down Sherwood hallways, I see cheating everywhere. Students copying each other’s papers, students looking up answers on their smartphones, students making cheat sheets. I can’t help but think that nearly everyone is cheating. Actually, almost everyone is cheating. In a study performed in February 2011, 43,000 public and private school students were surveyed … Read More
By Kelsey Morison ’14