Editorial

4 — Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021 — North Pointe EDITORIAL

The more our society becomes one of intricacy and intelligence, the more the accomplishments leading us to that place have become unrecognized. Inequality is not necessarily negative when it comes to academic distinction and competition, however, that socalled “inequality” has been ruled as unfair. Instead, we are all placed onto one level, all receiving a gold medal. In other words, we are living in a feelgood society.

A feel-good society is one that obsesses over finding happiness and equality in terms of recognition. It is an attempt to eliminate competition, pressure and a feeling of worthlessness. In some aspects, it further connects the human race by removing any clear distinction of better or worse. Instead of actions being qualified as “good or bad,” those efforts are just said to be done, essentially handing out a participation award to each and every member of society. “Congratulations, you made an effort!” While it is important to congratulate everyone for their attempts, it is not negative to make a distinction of who soared higher than the expectations, above and beyond.

Our own district has not been hesitant to adopt this form of equality. In terms of academic distinction, GPPSS is one of the many school districts in the country that has stopped ranking students based on their gradepoint averages, eliminating the position of a valedictorian entirely. The district may claim that the distinction of being number one may make other students feel pressured, belittled or unimportant, however, when there is no

recognition for accomplishment, the same feelings may come upon those who are not being recognized, yet have committed their lives to academics. Why should everyone receive a participation award when there are clear levels of dedication and intelligence? In order to applaud the achievements of the highest percent, it is not necessary to bring down those below. Celebration of the whole is possible while still highlighting the exemplary performance of the few. Competition at the high school level takes place in more than just the classroom. Our very own school is often put against and compared to the other high school in the district, Grosse BELLA YOAKAM Pointe South. Although that competition may seem negative to many outsiders and staff, students of both schools have adopted the rivalry in a friendly and amusing manner. This competition is seen in the form of posters and social media posts, mainly based around sporting events. At a North versus South game, North students can be seen with posters reading “level the Devil,” or Instagram and Snapchat stories mocking the rival school. However, in many instances, those forms of competition have been shut down by school staff members, claiming they are “inappropriate” or “disrespectful.” By taking away signs or demanding that social media be cleared of anything that may be harmful to the other school, it is implied that we should be identical in every aspect. That we are not allowed to have distinctions in athletic skill or school pride. In our eyes, it isn’t disrespectful to jokingly make fun of the other, especially when that joke is reciprocated. It isn’t something that makes the other feel worthless, but is simply an entertaining and friendly form of rivalry. If there is not a physical or verbal award for those in the highest bracket of success, then there will be no reason to reach that mark. In order to eliminate the feeling of worthlessness, it is not necessary to eliminate all recognition for those who surpassed the standard.

By Bella Yoakam SECTION EDITOR

My hair has been the bane of my existence for as long as I can remember. It wasn’t until recently that I came to terms with my reality and accepted my true curls. Growing up surrounded by people naive to the difficulties of having textured hair, my experiences have been onerous. The desire I had to just be “normal” created an unhealthy relationship with myself that I have had to learn to outgrow. My curls have been with me my whole life and the BELLA YOAKAM ignorance of others has caused some problematic situations. When I was only eight years old, I went to a summer camp where the camp counselor told me that I did not need any product in my hair. They said that I wasn’t allowed to use it, justifying herself by saying I should “wear it natural.” I went home after the four days at camp and my mother was mortified. My hair became natty, fuzzy and overall neglected. It took hours of untangling and over ten products to get my hair somewhat back to normal. Maintaining my hair with products is expensive; especially when the minimum amount of products I need is around eight. I can not go a day without all these products. Meanwhile, a person with straight hair could go with no product at all and be just fine. Jealousy bubbled up in me from a young age, wanting to have straight hair so my hair care could be as easy as the people around me. Having people tell me to “just brush it”or “you don’t need all that product” has created a toxic mindset for me since I was a little girl. I remember wearing my hair in a bun or brushing it back so that people couldn’t tell that my hair was curly. I wanted -more than anything else to blend in and be like the majority, and it took multiple years of educating myself and self care to truly be happy with how my hair looks. I have now grown from my toxic mentality, and am able to deeply educate myself, as well as help other people with curly hair embrace their curls and themselves. I no longer strive to straighten my hair all the time and only do so for special occasions. My hair is still healing after the abuse I caused it in my younger years, but with more time and care, my goal is to bring it back to complete health and strength. YOUR TURN: In what ways do you think social media poses a threat in schools?By Julia Liagre

INTERN

SENIOR LOTUS LLOYD: “I think social media can promote some harmful ideas about not only body image, but about things that are safe for young people to be doing. I think we see people trying to act like adults and also committing crimes for no reason- just a lot of dangerous stuff that can be glamourized on the internet.” FRESHMAN SAGE SWANSON: “It definitely increases student social anxiety and it intensifies people’s insecurities. Sometimes it can even lead to bad mental health in the future.” SENIOR LUKE KOHLER: “A lot of bullying goes on due to it. There are more rumors spread or false information about someone.” STAFF MEMBER LAUREN KLEIN: “I think because it’s designed to be addictive, it’s becoming a barrier for students to not be able to focus on what they need to do when they’re here. In addition, students say a lot more things that they wouldn’t say face to face that are really harmful.”

Corrections: In our previous story “Home sweet Homecoming,” published on Oct. 6, an interview with Shannon Kane was fabricated. Any quotes featured in the story said to be hers are not real, and we would like to communicate this to our readers to be transparent which is something that our publication values. Mandolyn Grattan was misquoted in “Welcome Home New Teachers”. Her quote was supposed to read, “I am really enjoying getting to know the students and their personalities. I’m just really enjoying the sense of pride that everybody has for their school and that feeling of family.”