Children should not be judged for having academic interests
The older I get, the more I realize how unfairly children and young adults with traditional academic interests are treated by both adults and their own peers. This criticism is a reflection of how intelligence is only valued in the classroom. This sentiment particularly affects children whose academic interests extend beyond the classroom. Furthermore, school has become less about actually learning new things and more about filling the requirements of academic proficiency that signifies success in education. Children are not being praised for being voracious readers because classes often treat reading as a checkpoint rather than a way to understand new material. Students whose interests aren’t being supported by their peers or teachers can feel as though their efforts and genuine interests don’t really matter. I know that was the case for me.
Corporations and the CDC see disabled COVID-19 deaths as collateral damage
Content warning: this article discusses ableism and mass death.
The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the lives of every human being for over two years. People are tired of restrictions, tired of fear and tired of putting their lives on hold for a virus that keeps spreading and mutating, especially as stubborn holdouts refuse to get vaccinated. This sentiment is entirely justified; I am annoyed and frustrated by how much my college experience and my early 20s have been negatively impacted by the virus. What is not justified, however, is the idea that we should normalize living with the virus and return to business as usual because it seems that people are now more likely to get it than not. Though this idea has recently taken hold in much of the United States, its roots lie in corporate greed. While the average vaccinated and boostered individual will likely avoid hospitalization and death if they contract the virus, as shown in a Jan. 7 study from the CDC, those who are immunocompromised and disabled may not. The fact that their concerns are being pushed to the side for the sake of returning to the status quo is horrifying to me, yet unfortunately, unsurprising.
Elizabeth Holmes exploited the feminist movement: a response to Ellen Pao
Comfort objects shouldn’t be a source of shame
Can Kathy Hochul bring welcome change to the NY state government?
On Aug. 24, 2021, Democrat Kathy Hochul was sworn in as the Governor of New York, the first woman to hold the position. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s resignation after a string of sexual assault allegations should have been shocking — he was so adored in 2020 that his fans were dubbed “Cuomosexuals.” To many, though, this was just another name in a long list; men in power taking advantage of their young, often female, subordinates is a tale as old as time.
Romanticizing killers is dangerous and can motivate further acts of violence
I grew up in a very small Vermont town; at the time my high school had less than 700 students. I was a junior in February 2018, when Nikolas Cruz killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Even in Vermont, I was scared to go to school some days, and that fear didn’t dissipate until I graduated over a year later.
Facebook Oversight Board Shows Promise for Content Moderation
Unbiased content moderation has been in the limelight since former U.S. President Donald Trump was permanently banned from Twitter and Facebook in early January. This action came directly from executives Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg of Twitter and Facebook, respectively. While they were well within their rights to ban Trump, their actions raised the concern that private companies could ban any individual they did not agree with. However, Dorsey and Zuckerberg have no desire to be in control of their platforms in that way.