Opinions

As homeschool has been a rising agenda for students playing sports, how would you feel about it? Homeschooling didn't become approved for sports until 1992, and the students that had to be homes-schooled had no way to play school sports in Ohio until 2013 when Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) approved it as long as they met certain requirements like passing a test. While homeschooling is something that not everyone agrees with, it can come with benefits.

Senior at Travis Trucker says, “they are able to interact with the school and get to better interact with students like themselves.” Some homeschoolers have no choice but to be homeschooled, and they shouldn't be faulted by not being able to play their sport if they're meeting all the requirements that make them eligible to play . Some people just question on why a homes-schooler should be allowed to play on a high school level team while they don’t attend the high school that they are playing.

Senior at West High Diana Lopez adds, “it's only fair to let them play if they make it and meet the requirements and let them play the sport that they love.” Even if they don't attend such and still have to pay the same taxes as everyone else that goes to the school they are playing for. There are some reasons why home-schoolers should not be on public school teams, or that people do not prefer homeschoolers participating on a public school team. Junior Allandikim adds that, “That others might feel that it's not fair and they’re getting special treatment because they are physically or not in the school.” Tucker acknowledges that this may be a problem because they might not be learning as much, so they won’t do well in college. Personally, I would have no problem with a home-schooler playing on my team.

This past season I had a home-schooler on my team, and it felt no different than just a regular student. He still had to do work just like us and maintain his grades at the same level we did. Also for some home-schoolers, playing with kids from public schools can add a good interaction and they can hang around people like themselves because in most cases they attend college and can get them ready for it . 74% of homeschooled students attend college where only 47% of public schools attend college (“Public School vs Home School Statistics: A Comprehensive Analysis” by Dr. Elka Jacob-Pinson).

According to the Healthy Minds Study, which collects data from 373 campuses nationwide, during the 2020-2021 school year, more than 60% of college students met the criteria for at least one mental health problem. Prachi Patel, a freshman, states, “I feel uncomfortable talking about my feelings, so I just keep everything to myself.” Not speaking about your problems and feelings can contribute to worsening your mental health. Bottling up your emotions can lead to stress, anxiety, and even depression due to feelings of isolation and a lack of coping mechanisms.

When someone doesn’t express their emotions, they might not have healthy strategies to manage stress or difficult situations, which could lead to the buildup of negative emotions. Jaia Bankhead, a ninth-grade student, states, “Strategies I enjoy using to help me manage my stress are doing something such as taking walks, listening to music as I do my homework, or finding fidgets to use to keep myself grounded during times when I'm busy with schoolwork.” Schools tend to give out a lot of work, which could overwhelm a student and stress them out. According to Cross River Therapy, 45% of stu stressed almost every day in school. “The feeling of being overwhelmed by schoolwork and deadlines is like a rock sitting in my chest,” Bankhead states. With students trying to manage their personal lives, all the buildup work can be extremely stressful. She also states, “Especially with AP and AA classes that have daily work, projects, and homework.

It becomes stressful and extremely draining.” According to Ohio’s Department of Education and Workforce, between 2007 and 2018, suicide rates among youth ages 10-24 in the United States increased by 57%, becoming the second leading cause of death for independence in that age range. freshman, Marianna Bishop, states, “It’s important to seek out support sometimes; even if you feel like you have support, you still need to talk to someone.

You should never limit your resources, especially if they’re helping you.” Students often feel like they do not have the resources they need, which can lead to bad grades, dropping out of school, and unemployment. Academic pressure, social pressure, bullying, overscheduling, and difficult peer relationships are some of the school-related issues that can cause students to struggle with their mental health.

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Nearly 30% of high school students are employed in a job at least a portion of their school year, according to Walden University. Getting a part-time job can provide students with both training and experience. It can help students have a point of view when looking for a full time job. Getting a part time job in high school can help show that you are a well-rounded student who can balance multiple priorities. It helps students build their time management skills, a skill that many people do not have but need. Time management skills can help students with better work-life balance.

Working part time can show students the value of money, they also wouldn’t have to rely on other people for money. It can show students how to budget their money. Budgeting is an extraordinary skill to have which many adults lack also.

Summer jobs have shown to decrease incidents of violence by disadvantaged youth by 43%, according to Walden University. Western Hills French teacher, Mrs. Karen Adams, said, “part time jobs help students learn to be polite to the public and be humble.” Students learn many valuable skills when working at a young age that can help them later in the future when they turn an adult. It can teach them money and time management, responsibility, being reliable, and showing up on time.

It shows students the definition of working hard and students may realize how school is important because they don’t want to work a hard and low paid job their whole life. “It teaches students to be respectful to workers,” said Adams. Being respectful is important for a healthy relationship, whether it is personal or professional. Jobs can show students how to be respectful and how to maintain a relationship with coworkers and bosses even py dents in high school admit to being if they don’t get along. Too many teens make messes and don't clean up, imagining it is not their job, but restaurant work teaches you how hard it is to clean up after other people everyday, and this can teach students to clean up after themselves and not make work for other people and be kind. I think that jobs provide many amazing opportunities and teach you valuable life lessons while you also get paid! Having a summer job can also help pay for college and help your family get extra money.

Although many might have difficulty managing their time with school and work, they still get to see how to fix that and start to manage their time well so that they have a good work-life balance. Knowing how to manage time at a young age is a great skill that can help them at in the future when they start the full time job.

Imagine going through depression and no one even knows it because as a society we are told to just keep it to ourselves, and because of that people end up thinking the only thing they can do is end their life? Is there a way to actually help people with depression ? Mx. Kline, English English teacher at Western Hills, said, “Communication can be a major factor in keeping depression from deepening.” What he said just makes so much sense because communication is always right in every situation. But why is depression never taken seriously in this society? Everyday they’re always new deaths being called as a suicide and some still don’t care .

Yes they make suicide interventions, but I don’t think people even use them .

Some people hide depression with fake smiles and act like they are okay , that’s another reason why people don’t spot a depressed person,” said______. Another teacher that I interviewed was my American history teacher Mr. Joseph Lehnert, and this is what he had to say about depression “It is easy to feel hopeless or that you are not in control . One again, those are normal parts of human experiences, but without proper support, care, and treatment, depression can easily lead to bigger things.” I agree with him because sometimes people may be depressed and may not even know depression comes in many forms.

It can be a small thing that’s bothering you and that small problem will be bothering you in your mind, so now your in your thoughts and sometimes your thoughts can be overwhelming. Speaking from experience, sometimes I’m always in my head and thoughts about something that may have bugged me the wrong way or someone may have made a comment on me, and it just leaves me thinking about it. Those thoughts turn into weeks, and it is very draining because it bothers me like why can’t I stop thinking about it and why do I care so much it can get very depressing . For example someone made a comment about my looks and all i could think about for the next weeks and it turned into months is how can i change that about me .

And sometimes people may not know they’re comments affect people but it do and that’s why i learned to keep my not so nice comments to myself because I know how it feels to be insecure about something and someone points it out. But, is depression curable? TO BE CONTINUED IN THE MAY ISSUE...