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Wasted Youth
October 28, 2011
My father has been hooked on various drugs throughout my entire life. I can’t remember a day when he was sober and not cranky. The worst part is that he doesn’t even try to hide his addiction from his children. My brother and I are both open to walk in his room at any time, and inside we only find drug paraphernalia and the remains of whatever he just inhaled.
A Student’s View of School Funding Shortages
May 27, 2011
Why are Florida’s children so overlooked? Funding for public education should be one of the highest priorities in the state budget. However, each year our public education system experiences greater cutbacks than the year before.
The Depressing Lack of Good Role Models
August 6, 2010
The news is a potpourri of information, describing in detail anything and everything from community events to international occurrences. However, the most important issue facing the nation in the news is blatantly apparent even to its followers. It is not the recession our country is in, the quality of education, or even global warming. It is the depressing lack of good role models.
The Economic Recession Affects Us All
July 31, 2010
The current economic recession has left millions of Americans unemployed. Companies and businesses are being forced to let people go due to the financial need to keep the corporation running. People with these reduced incomes are being forced to make sacrifices, often drastic ones to survive this economic situation. These people are spending increasingly less money which in turns leaves businesses with a loss of revenue, causing additional people to be laid off and fired.
Hollywood’s Perception of Real Life is Skewed
July 24, 2010
Why is it so difficult for hardworking, honest people to ignore the bundle of lies Hollywood distributes to our magazine racks each month? In one quick glance-over, a person’s self-esteem is destroyed and priorities are shifted.
The Health Care Hassle
April 26, 2010
A young mother, embracing her three-year-old daughter, anxiously waits in the emergency room in the hospital. Clothed in a two-dollar dress from Goodwill, the mother reassuringly combs her fingers through the little girl’s delicate hair. While the girl buries her reddened face in her lap, the mother’s tired eyes cannot help but match her daughter’s, swelling with tears.
It's Getting Personal: Health Care
March 4, 2010
Every person in the United States should have proper health care. For people who live pay check to pay check, and even for those who don’t, losing health care and living without it is frightening. Too many people are having to choose between paying their electric or water bill over seeing a doctor. No one should have to choose water over medicine or food over a doctor. I know these decisions are made and how unsettling they can be because I’ve watched my mother make them.
Most Teenagers Could Care Less About the News
November 25, 2009
Michelle Vasquez, senior, knows what it means to be silenced. Back home in Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez does all he can to make sure her family and friends keep their mouths shut.
The Nation Needs Health Care Reform
August 25, 2009
My mother, who works as a registered nurse in the Pediatric Emergency Department of our local hospital, told me about a woman who came into the emergency room with her ailing daughter. This woman refused to let the nurses admit her daughter until she found out if her insurance would cover the medical expenses; conversely the nurses also refused to tell her if her insurance company would foot the bill until her daughter was admitted. Recognizing the stalemate, the mother left with her daughter choosing a hospital, albeit further away, that she knew would take her insurance.
What’s Wrong With Just Being Me?
February 25, 2009
Today beauty is stereotyped to be rock hard abs and toned arms. The days when a girl the size of Marilyn Monroe was considered beautiful are long gone. In fact, the United States of America is considered one of the most obese countries in the world. The media wants everyone to look the same, and you constantly see commercials and ads for new home gyms and a new diet pill that will drop you four dress sizes in six weeks.
Clean It Up, Scratch It Out: The Censorship Debate
February 25, 2009
Picture this: a normal teenager is walking down the street, wearing baggy shorts and a tattered shirt. On his shoulder is a large boom box stereo that blasts the latest hits off of Billboard Top 100. The songs’ lyrics contain a variety of curse words and other offensive material that annoy fellow pedestrians. When an elderly man asks the teenager to turn it down, he replies, by saying, “Yo! Back off my case, old man! I can listen to whatever I want wherever I feel like it!” Unfortunately, this scenario has become all too commonplace.
Celebrating Black History: Black Firsts
February 13, 2009
The following list describes the wide range of events in African-American history. These breakthroughs, great and small, tell of courageous people who refused to accept old limitations, who refused to surrender to hardship and injustice. Moreover, these firsts combine to reveal a very personal and nontheoretical chart of the progress of equal opportunity and black achievement in America.
Change has come. Let's do our part.
By Adam Pincus , 11th grade
January 20, 2009
“It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states. We are, and always will be, the United States of America.”
Make a Difference and Cast Your Vote
By Samantha Mackson, 11th grade
November 3 , 2008
For many high school seniors, 12th grade is a series of firsts: first time applying to college, first time attending the senior prom and the first time planning to live on their own. One of the biggest “firsts” for many 18-year-old students this year will be voting in a presidential election.
Couch Potatoes: Take Action!
By Samantha Mackson, 11th grade
September 18, 2008
In a hectic world of honors classes, SAT preparation and extracurricular activities, the television or computer often provides a much-needed break for many teenagers. But experts caution that too much time in front of the tube and not enough time at the gym could lead to an array of health issues.
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