Opinions 5
THE MIHS ISLANDER OCT. 2022
Do Students Have an Ethical Duty to Do Well in School? Ashwin Krishnaswamy and Kyle Gerstel
Opinions Team and A&E Team
Kyle: Many students argue that school is an obstacle they must overcome in order to achieve whatever they perceive as success. On the other hand, many parents believe that school is an opportunity for growth, which is why they argue that students should soak up as much as they can. However, both of these perspectives imply that the effects of education are personal rather than communal. The public school system is only sustainable if students try their hardest, but that is only possible if there is a major cultural shift regarding college admissions. Public education is not a gift, it is an investment: precious tax dollars are spent on funding public schools, which is a good use of government money if everyone involved in education, students and educators, are fully engaged. Unfortunately, this is far from our current reality. Many teachers get frustrated when students focus on grades, but this has become necessary with the competitive college admissions process. While the competitive college application process provides an incentive for students to improve their grades, it centers education around performance instead of improvement. Student engagement certainly relies on great teachers, but the only way to address it systemically is eliminating the hierarchical status of universities in the job market. As students, we have the ethical responsibility to do our best in school, but that is only worthwhile in an environment that allows students to focus on improving understanding instead of performance.
Kyle
Ashwin: As high school students, we should try to learn about what interests us. However, we don’t have an ethical duty to do so. Yes, our high school is funded by taxpayer dollars, and that means that we should give back to society in some way. That being said, we give back to society by working, not by doing well in high school. The point of school is, yes, to learn, but also to prepare young people to work in the future. As an example, take Steve Jobs, who famously got low grades at a public high school. Is it correct to say that the tax money that went towards educating Steve Jobs was a waste, because he didn’t do well in school? No, of course not. By founding Apple, Steve Jobs’ contribution to society more than compensated for the public money spent on him. So yes, we should take advantage of the opportunities that we get in high school, because learning can be fascinating and worthwhile. But, we shouldn’t feel a moral obligation to try to learn as much as possible, especially because a lot of the information forced upon us in school is neither interesting nor useful. I agree with Kyle that the school system should allow students to focus more on learning than getting perfect grades for college. However, even if school had the perfect environment, we still wouldn’t have an ethical duty to do our best, because we will eventually repay society’s investment by working.
Ashwin
Vocab Challenge: “This Makes Me Want to Kill Myself” Hannah Howison and Kyle Gerstel
Senior Staff Writer and A&E Team
Welcome to Vocab Challenge, a new column dedicated to exploring the things often left unnoticed or merely unsaid about how MIHS students communicate. Despite the recent advancement of conversations regarding mental health and appropriate language when discussing it, careless use of the expression “This makes me want to kill myself” can be heard in MIHS hallways on a daily basis. Casually using such phrases hypocritically invalidates our generation’s positive work towards the destigmatization of mental illness, subsequently cultivating a more toxic academic environment. An unrealistically large portion of Islanders expect themselves to be a part of the intellectual elite. Many students fill their days with challenging classes they are not interested in and evenings with extracurriculars they would drop out of in a heartbeat if these pursuits were not relevant for college admissions. Likewise, students afraid that they will not get an A in a class frequently transfer to a course at the Privett Academy. “I have observed that many students try to oneup each other over whose life is the most miserable
because of homework, extracurriculars, etcetera,” English teacher Chris Twombley said. “It is like a contest, and the winner is the student who can most emphatically prove that the depth of their suffering far exceeds that of their peers. I would argue that it is almost a badge of honor at this school to be miserable.” This behavior may correlate to the fact that Islanders tend to be more well-off than those who live in other communities. MIHS students may be inclined to dramatically express their misery as a means of subconsciously wrestling with their guilt. Improvements are being made: mental health is now discussed alongside physical health, stigma around therapy is decreasing and in July, the phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline transitioned from 10 digits to three (988), making it more accessible. Additionally, many teenagers are taking action by spreading resources on social media about language to use when discussing mental health. However, many of these teenagers are the same people who casually use expressions involving suicide. This hypocritical behavior may be seen as a sign of performative activism, but we believe it is because
students do not connect their use of harmful language and efforts to destigmatize mental illness. The use of this wording can overshadow cries for help from suicidal people, and paint them in a way that makes them seem like attention seekers when they genuinely need support. These sayings can also be used by those suffering from suicidal ideation to cope as opposed to actually seeking help, and the continued casual use of them can demotivate people from getting the help that they need. For those who are aware of the effects of normalizing such phrases but continue to use them casually, why have you not stopped? If it feels like the only appropriate expression of your struggle, refer to the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (988), the resources on the back of all 2022-23 MIHS ASB cards and/or the mental health resources in the infographic. The next time you or someone you know says that something makes them want to kill themselves (or something along those lines), confront it. Changing our vocabulary is not an overnight endeavor, but challenging it is the only way to make sure the language we use aligns with the ideas we value.
MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES: The Trevor Project thetrevorproject.org
The Trevor Project is a non-profit, confidential, and completely free resource for LGBTQ+ youth crisis counseling. With The Trevor Project, you can come into contact with trained counselors, find information and get tools to help your peers.
Pacific Northwest Suicide Prevention Resource Center hiprc.org/outreach/suicide/ One of the state’s leading providers of information on how to prevent suicide.
King County Mental Health Crisis Line
1-866-427-4747 Local source of services that maximize the benefits of mental health treatment. Focused on providing publicly-funded mental health resources to low-income individuals.