Cry of the Hawk
Page 2/ OP/ED
March 21, 2023
‘iPad Kid’ generation becomes problem Crystals cause false hope;
KIMBERLY ALLEN Reporter Every generation thinks the generation after them is the worst of the worst. The iPad kid generation, or Gen Alpha, is frightening, to say the least. A lot of these kids have little to no manners. I’m talking about throwing tantrums in stores and just being flat out rude. Some parents today don’t even watch their kids. I’ve seen parents at events with a glass full of alcohol while their little Tasmanian dev-
il runs around. “Oh, kids will be kids,” says some parent of a snotty-nosed kid screaming about not getting their way. In life, we can’t simply get what we want, but how will they learn if there’s no discipline? How can children learn social etiquette and common manners if they don’t spend time in social situations? I don’t mean to sound anything like, “Back in my day, I had to walk in the cold, over mountains, and fight a bear all just to get to school.” I’m just saying that kids don’t go outside as much as they used to. I remember playing fairies and pirates with my friends or neighbors. Being a kid meant being creative and coming up with your own world. Now, kids are fed these ideas of bright colors and plotless stories. Where is their room to think? They are constantly told how to think and who to be. From day one, kids today are
born with the world at their fingertips. If you have younger brothers or sisters, you can probably see that they are glued to a greasy iPad. According to the CDC, kids from eight to ten years old have an average of six hours of screen time a day, when it's recommended to be at less than two hours a day. It’s a problem. Many of my peers, older adults, and even myself, use the internet for hours upon hours to escape from school or work. What are kids escaping from? The tough world of the playgrounds? In a serious key, though, the internet is very harmful to everyone, especially kids. I would even argue that kids are being forced to grow up faster because of the internet. We are so advanced in technology today that there is no turning back, but imagine what it would be like if kids could just be kids again.
New terrible Netflix change put in place;
Cracking down on password sharing EDITORIAL Netflix is planning on cracking down on password sharing. Their profits are falling, and it’s no wonder–they keep making awful changes. The most recent offender–as said above–is their attempt to stop password sharing. As of the end of 2022, Netflix had 230.7 million subscribers, over 100 million of which share passwords. However, this is by Netflix’s definition of sharing. “A Netflix account is meant to be shared in one household (people who live in the same location with the account owner),” Netflix says. This is an awful definition. It fails to account for the millions of people who share passwords within the family but have divorced parents and two houses,
or even people who move off to college but continue to use their family’s Netflix login. Sure, there is actual password sharing, but that has never been a problem. Netflix even tweeted in 2017, “Love is sharing a password.” Now all of a sudden, since Netflix’s profits are down just a little bit, they decide to swoop in and claim money from the (alleged) 100 million people stealing subscriptions! In reality, they are punishing millions of people with families that don’t live together or travel often. Netflix originally explained the change by stating, “we are going to offer the ability for borrowers to transfer their Netflix profile into their own account, and for sharers to manage their devices more easily and to create sub-ac-
counts (“extra member”), if they want to pay for family or friends.” After the absolutely genius business decision was announced, Netflix (obviously) received an astronomical amount of backlash. This led to them reversing their decision in a statement that said these rules were never intended for the United States. Even though these changes have only been present in Latin American countries, it’s only a matter of time before it leaks into other areas. What does this mean for Netflix? They probably think it means they are going to get 100 million more subscribers real soon. However, what it really means is that people finally have the last push to boycott and unsubscribe from the service.
Flawed treatments taking money
KIMBERLY EDGAR Entertainment Editor Manifestation has become a tool of self-help in order to make someone’s wish come true. This concept has become popular across social media, typically being associated with “healing crystals.” It does no harm to have faith in something, nor does it do any harm to believe that “manifesting” something is actually accurate. But really, when it comes down to it, it is all in your head. In reality, rewriting a certain phrase or wish that you want to come true on a page will not make it happen. That is foolish to believe, it is simply in place as a motivator. There are no scientific findings that simply thinking positively leads to positive things happening for you. Manifestation is different for every person because it is something made up in order to trick your mind into being motivated. It doesn’t manipulate fate and it doesn’t materialize your true destiny. In addition, some may believe that crystals have extreme healing capabilities. The company Goop believes that crystals are, “critical in the pursuit of health, wellness, and deep spirituality.” It’s a rock. The only power that it holds is the power that people give it. According to highsnobiety.com, scientific evidence proves that crystals have
absolutely no power besides a placebo effect. A placebo effect is “when a person's physical or mental health appears to improve after taking a placebo or 'dummy' treatment,” says the Better Health Channel. “Placebo is Latin for 'I will please' and refers to a treatment that appears real, but is designed to have no therapeutic benefit.” The same idea can be applied to “smart” stickers that are meant to heal or aid in sleep. There are people that are dead set on believing a sticker is a form of medication. Himalayan salt lamps are another form of mindfulness, and they do absolutely nothing. They are said to improve your mood and air quality while provoking sleep. In reality “the way that salt crystals are chemically constructed means that the only way to get the crystals to produce these ions would be to heat them to 816 [degrees celcius],” says highsnobiety.com. “Given that level of heat would most likely burn down your house, you are unlikely to experience health benefits from generating ions that way.” It is sickening how easily social media can drive foolish ideas. All it takes is an influencer to support it or a celebrity starring in the advertisements for it. Stupidity becomes genius through the millions of social media posts in the matter of minutes. All of these “wellness treatments'' do absolutely nothing. From writing a phrase a million times on paper to slapping a sticker on your wrist, it doesn’t matter. It is all a joke and nobody is laughing. Open your eyes and face reality instead of blindly listening to people you don’t even know.
Boys need to stop sticking their noses into other people's business VIEWPOINT When someone hears the word “drama,” they most likely automatically think of teen girls as if drama only revolves around them, correct? Apparently, girls involve themselves more than boys in other people’s business when they don’t need to be involved at all. Now, is that so? Because, quite frankly, that’s arguable. There are many boys just in this school that don’t know how to mind their own business. Boys that ask questions about sex in relationships
as if it’s their business. And, when they don’t get an answer to their question about sex, they make it a point to bother that singular person about it even when they are told to stop. They don’t respect it, because it’s all they care about for some dumb reason. And it’s not even drama all the time; it’s also just the disgusting things that they say. Like how do they even think to themselves, “Hmm, this is good to say, let me just say it real quick in hopes I get a laugh”? And then they do get a laugh from their friends, who are no
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better than them. Boys that love to pry in girls’ friendships and then step back from it and let the girls do their thing. Boys that can’t keep their mouths shut when someone tells them something. That is what starts drama. That is problematic. That is involving themselves in things that they don’t need to be involved in at all. Yes, girls are involved with drama, and they make it publicly known, but somehow when guys are involved, they can just fly under the radar and it goes unknown that they
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started that drama, or just nobody even knows that the drama is a thing. According to stuff.co.nz, a U.S. study has found that gender plays no role in whether or not a person has a need for drama in their life. Some people just crave drama, and it’s not always girls. The word drama needs to untie itself from girls. Not all boys are like this, though. There are many in this school who are respectful to people, and some who just keep to themselves and don’t try to get involved with everyone else’s
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business but their own. We need more boys like that. Ones who don’t crave the attention from girls. We need more boys who don’t base their personality off of drama. We need more boys who are understanding of others and who don’t push other people’s boundaries. We need more boys who don’t go to their friends and immediately tell them everything and keep others personal information to themselves. This school would be a better environment without all the unnecessary drama.
The Cry of the Hawk newspaper is published 10 times a year by North Harford’s Journalism II/III class. All editorials and viewpoints express the feelings of those on the staff and not necessarily those of fellow students, administrators, or teachers. Please do not hesitate to submit letters to Advisor Jen Chandler in room D207. Letters should be no longer than 300 words, must be signed, and may not contain vulgarity.