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The Student Voice is a column supported by the
Lewis County Youth Advisory Board. The column also appears
in the Journal and Republican. |
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The Student Voice appears on this
website as a community service and exclusively represents the views and
opinions of student authors. Information presented by students neither implies endorsement or rejection by Lewis County Opportunities, Inc., of
any agency, business, product, service, or viewpoint. |
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Are
you a Lewis County student with a view to express?
Click here for more info! |
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"Coping With Stress"
by
Stephanie Czajka,
South Lewis Central School
May 25, 2011 |
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In today’s fast paced society, high school students are under
more stress than ever. They are expected to attend school, get good grades,
do their homework, play sports, and often even have a weekend job besides.
This requires teens to learn time management at a much earlier age than was
expected before. Teens also have to learn what their priorities must be in
order to become successful.
Dealing with stress may make other struggles a high school
student is dealing with seem easier. It will teach the student to be a hard
worker, have self discipline, self respect, and respect for others.
However, in the chaos of all of this, teens will need to find free time to
spend with family and friends. These are the people who will get them
through the most stressful days and make them realize that the hard work
will pay off in the end; therefore, these people should be more involved in
a teen’s education. As years progress, students are expected to be
responsible and not have to be asked the age old question by their mom or
dad “is all your homework done?” The importance of strong family support is
not always recognized as teens gain responsibility. To reduce a teen’s
stress throughout high school, during their most crucial years of learning,
a stronger family and school connection should be established.
This may be a reachable goal through creating more
possibilities for parents to actively participate in events or having
rewards given for a teen’s parent’s participation. Making all teachers
address grades during progress reports, even if they are good, may be one
way of including parents more in their child’s education. Another
possibility is rewarding a student if his parent signs and makes comments on
the progress report about his child’s achievements in school. The parental
involvement in a student’s academics could reduce the student’s stress level
greatly. It would allow the student to be better understood and receive
help from his parent if needed. It also would give the student the feeling
that their parents are there to talk to for support and will make the
student’s a stronger, more determined person by doing so. |
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"The Technology Addiction"
by
Rachel Griffin,
Copenhagen Central School
May 18, 2011 |
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In the book Fahrenheit 451, Ray
Bradbury predicted the addiction to technology that has consumed our
generation. Nowadays, the use of technology is unavoidable. Between cell
phones, computers, and iPods, it seems like everywhere you go, there are
people glued to technology.
Facebook is a fun pastime but it is
becoming a serious problem in the life of teens. In daily conversations I
often find myself and my peers saying “I joined that group on Facebook” or
“I already knew that, I saw it online”. Therefore, most drama originates
from Facebook. If people see a “wall post” that they don’t agree with or
that they think is directed towards them, they tend to write something mean
or spiteful on their wall about the other person. With technology,
everything is permanent and unfortunately people act on impulse and say
things that they may later regret. You can press the delete button but it
never really erases what you wrote because even if it is only up for one
second, people are always online and someone could have already seen what
was written. Erasing something online does not erase a person’s memory.
The Facebook drama is what attracts
teens to stay getting online for hours on end. They want to know everyone’s
business and Facebook makes knowing about people’s lives extremely easy. You
know who’s “in a relationship ”, what they are doing, when they are going
places, and sometimes even their religion; all things that would be
considered personal information and would not have been shared so willingly
20 years ago.
Technology is easy to get addicted to
because it makes it easy to lose track of time. Homework for some teenagers
is becoming a second priority next to Facebook and other technology. If
teenagers even do their homework its most likely not up to standards because
of the distraction of technology. They may not even do their schoolwork
because I know for a fact that I have procrastinated doing homework to be
online, text, watch television, or listen to music. Therefore, I believe
that since technology is unavoidable, teenagers need to realize that
schoolwork is just as important now as it was 20 years ago. If you believe
you may have a technology addiction, you should set time limits for your
usage of technology. Give yourself an hour a night to be online or watch
television and spend the rest doing homework or even spending quality time
with your family. It will pay off in the end and you definitely won’t regret
it.
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"The Value of Home Cooking"
by
Elise Edmonds,
Copenhagen Central School
May 11, 2011 |
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Have you ever pondered the effects
technology has had on our society? I have come to the conclusion that,
because of technological advances, people no longer have time to cook for
their families. I think that technology such as microwaves and pre-cooked
foods have permanently altered the traditional family dinner.
Many families no longer have freshly
cooked food made from scratch for dinner every night. This is because most
foods are now pre-cooked, canned, or frozen; this makes the food faster and
easier to prepare. Although convenient, this is not the best alternative to
a home-cooked meal.
This has become a problem for many
reasons. First of all, the quality of the foods people are now consuming
isn’t necessarily healthy or even suitable for a healthy diet. Microwaveable
meals such as Tyson Honey BBQ Chicken are packed with unnecessary calories,
sodium, and fats. People often eat more than the required amount, as well,
and children are eating these high-calorie products as a snack after school.
This contributes to the rising obesity rate in America.
A vital part of culture is food. We
are currently living in a culture that is illiterate in the kitchen. Without
homemade foods, we basically have no culture whatsoever. As a culture-less
society, we have no identity. Furthermore, many people no longer know how to
cook. People are beginning to believe that cooking involves punching in a
time on the microwave and hitting “START” or heating the oven and setting a
timer for store-bought cookie dough. Our society has forgotten what cooking
truly is.
Cooking is a way to bring the family
together. It is impossible to spend time with your children making cookies
if all you do is place them on a cooking sheet. If one made something with
their kids by reading a cook book and putting the ingredients together, it
makes memories and creates an opportunity to build trust and responsibility.
Not to mention, it also involves simple math and reading which would benefit
any small child learning these things.
Cooking is a way to teach lessons
without writing down rules.
Eating a daily family meal has also
been proven to benefit children in school. By sitting down together, you’re
spending time together. A child is less likely to feel depressed and alone
if a family meal was in their daily schedule because it’s something they can
count on. When a family doesn’t eat together, they don’t converse as much
and trust becomes something hard to come by.
Our society is negatively impacted by
the lack of knowledge of the importance of food. People no longer have time
to cook, so rather than changing their schedule, they’ve decided to become
lazy and resort to these unhealthy food choices. Frozen vegetables don’t
have the same nutritional value as fresh ones. People need to make time to
enjoy their family and cherish it, and cooking together is a simple, easy,
fun way to do it. The benefits are astonishing. Cooking is beneficial to
everyone’s physical and mental health, but only if one has a cookbook. |
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"15 Minutes Before Lunch"
by
Alex LaBarge,
Copenhagen Central School
May 4, 2011 |
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Fifteen minutes before lunch! We all must be starving, right?
But do you know what it really feels like to be hungry? Truly hungry? Most
of us only go a couple hours without a snack or a meal! Can you imagine
having to go a whole day or even a week without food? Most teens don’t know
what it’s truly like to be hungry. However, there are many families in our
community that know the true feeling of hunger. This is why our local food
pantries need our help to support the community and it’s why I am going to
try and convince you to start helping and supporting your local food
pantry. Every little bit counts, no matter how big or small it is. Can you
imagine being a parent and not being able to put a meal on the table for
your family? According to Mrs. Barbara Crane, a local volunteer, this is how
over 33 families in Copenhagen feel. These families rely on our local food
pantry, a non-profit organization run by the St. Mary’s Catholic Church.
This food pantry struggles each
month to help feed the needy and while it is doing all it can to help, it
isn’t always enough. At Copenhagen, 30% of the students receive free lunches
and about 18% receive reduced lunch prices. That means 48% of the families
at Copenhagen are receiving some form of financial help. Indeed, Copenhagen
has the third highest
number of students receiving free and reduced lunch prices in Lewis County.
For some kids, free meals in school are the only meals that they get all
day. They come
to school, get a free breakfast and a free lunch and then they don’t get a
meal again until breakfast at school the next day. What happens on weekends?
Vacations? And snow days? How do these students eat? How would you feel if
you were in their shoes?
Hunger is a national issue that is affecting millions of Americans.
According to Hunger in America 2010, 37 million people are receiving emergency food
assistance. That’s one in eight Americans. Many of those people are in this
very community. According to Lewis County Opportunities, 4,893 people
received food through the Lewis County Food Pantry network in 2009 alone.
Mrs. Crane points to those 33 families currently receiving assistance and
points out that those families
include approximately 45 children, 35 adults and 11 seniors.
Mother Teresa once said, “If you can’t feed 100 people then just feed one,”
because every little bit counts. Therefore, it is important to support your
community food pantries. If everyone contributed just one can, imagine how
much more could be done to feed the hungry. I do and I hope I’ve been able
to convince you. Supporting our local food pantries is something we should
all take to heart. |
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Articles anonymously
authored by Lewis County students |
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"Taking The Next Step"
(Anonymous)
May 11, 2011 |
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How are young adults just coming out of high school expected
to have their whole lives planned? It’s not very likely that a seventeen or
eighteen year old is confident enough to decide his or her entire future.
It seems that perhaps high school is focused too much on
preparing for the next step; however, many graduates find that they are
unsure what that next step should be. Is it best for them to enter the
workforce? Maybe college is the right direction for them. If so, where
should they go and what should they study? Guidance counselors are not to
blame. There is only so much time they can give to one student when they
are responsible for hundreds of kids. Maybe there could be a class offered
that educates students on all the possible career choices and what a person
needs to do in order to pursue each career. Making decisions about future
plans can be a difficult and confusing time; especially when students are
unsure about what options are available. High school is mainly focused on
preparing for college, and college is focused on preparing for the
workforce. It seems that a step may be missing between high school and
college; the groundwork that determines the nature of the next phase of
workforce preparation. Statistics show that about 80% of students change
their majors at least once, while many change an average of three times.
Students need more guidance in determining their plans after graduation.
Life choices after high school are vital to our future.
Graduates must start off on the right foot in order to reach their maximum
potential. Hopefully changes can be made to better prepare young adults for
their next step. |
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"Gossip and Rumors"
(Anonymous)
May 11, 2011 |
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You know when they talk about you; constant whispering,
giggling when you walk by, or just plain and simple name calling. To be
talked about is awful because normally it’s just lies. It’s often traced
back to one person, a person that doesn’t like you. So why not make
something up and spread it; give it right back. It doesn’t hurt, right?
Wrong! It does hurt and it happens all the time.
I know because I used to gossip. I would choose someone I
thought was lesser than me, or someone my friends said talked about me
behind my back. When she walked by I would make a joke about her clothes
and hair, always making it loud enough for her to hear. When she walked by
me, she never looked me in the eyes, which made me smile; gave me a sense of
control. She came up to me once and she was crying and asked me, why? I
just shrugged. When I got home, that question ate away at me. I asked
myself, “why?” I couldn’t find a reasonable answer. There were no
excuses. The next day I apologized to her. When anyone is mean you need to
take the other persons feelings into consideration. Not only have I been
the gossiper, but I have also been the one gossiped about.
The cycle can end. It just takes one person to make a
difference. Will you be that person? Tell people to stop when you hear
people spreading rumors. If it’s your friend who is spreading the gossip,
you might think you’re being lame to correct them, but in the long run
you’re helping someone out. You never know, that person may become your new
friend. People are grateful but don’t make people feel like they owe you
because that defeats the purpose. Life is about making choices. Let’s make
good ones because not only will you be helping yourself, but you will also
be helping others. It’s time for you to be a leader, to take a stand
against negative traits and better yourself. It’s time to be a friend to
all. It’s your time!
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Send us your article! |
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Are you
under the age of 18 and looking to provide your voice to another youth
concern in Lewis County? The Lewis County Youth Advisory Board wants
to hear from you! Please email your article to
smathys@lcopps.org
and be sure to paste your comments or story/article directly into the email,
as we do not accept email attachments. |
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