Crystals cause false hope; Flawed treatments taking money

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.”

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.” or even people who move off to college but continue to use their family’s Netflix login.

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.

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.

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.

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

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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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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Events Coordinator: Bella Arist 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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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.