Veritas Volume 6 Issue 2

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VERITAS The Palo Alto STEM magazine

VERITAS April 2026 Volume 6 Issue 2

Mission Statement In Silicon Valley, and specifically in Palo Alto, we are lucky enough to have the opportunity to grow from some of the most progressive minds in assorted STEM fields, with a thriving community of students who are ready to share their discoveries with the rest of Paly.

At the same time, many students might also feel intimidated by, or disinterested in these fields despite its proximity to and importance in our daily lives.

Veritas hopes to bridge the gap by repackaging scientific content to be interesting for all, promoting open-mindness with a flexible approach to scientific education, and embracing new approaches to science and technology without hinderence by tradition.

We believe science and technology are a common thread that impacts everyone’s lives and holds the potential to unify communities just like other forms of entertainment, like music, movies, and sports just to name a few.

Advertising The staff publishes advertisements with signed contracts providing they are not deemed by the staff inappropiate for the magazine’s audience. For more advertising with Veritas, please contact palyjournalismincubator@gmail.com

Publication Policy Veritas, a science and technology magazine published by the students in Palo Alto High School’s Incubator Journalism class, is a designated open forum for student expression and discussion of issues concerning its readers. Veritas is distributed to its readers and the student body at no cost.

Printing and Distribution Veritas is printed two to three times a school year by aPrintis in Pleasonton, California. All Veritas Work is Available at issuu.com/ palyveritas.

For the full list of publication policies, visit palyveritas.com

2 April 2026

Editors-in-Chief Arjun Jindal William Xue

Managing Editor Doreen Hou

Business Manager Richie Zhang

Staff Writers Araina Gupta Alexander Lawson Benji Sandel Caitlin Ko Doreen Hou Jeshurun Wang Joyce Ma Julia Curtis Naomi Espinoza Priya Tamura

Art/Photo Directors

Doreen Hou Alexander Lawson

Adviser

Paul Kandell

Letter to the Editors

The staff welcomes letters to the editors. We reserve the right to edit all submissions for length, grammar, potential libel, invasion of privacy, and obscenity.

Send all letters by mail to 50 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94301, or email veritaspaly@gmail.com

Connect

@paly.magazine issuu.com/palyveritas palyveritas.com

IN THIS ISSUE Letter From The Editors

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Path down the Runway

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Adrenaline Rush

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Behind the Buzz

Dear readers, Welcome to our first edition of 2026! As Palo Alto High School's science and technology magazine, this issue highlights how scientific and technological advances affect students' lives, both on campus and in our local community.

We also explore the science behind extreme sports and the rush of adrenaline that keeps young people coming back for more, even when the risks are real (pp. 6–7).

If you have ever wondered what that third cup of coffee is actually doing to your body during a late-night study session, our caffeine deep dive has you covered (pp. 8–9). We spotlight AP Capstone computer science students and the research projects they are building from the ground up (pp.

12–13). On the opinion side, we put leading AI chatbots head-to-head to find out how they actually stack up beyond the marketing (pp. 18–19), and step back to examine the often-overlooked human cost of technology on youth (pp.

14–15).

As editors, one of our favorite parts of putting this magazine together is watching how many of these stories hit close to home, they are shaping the way we drive, study, eat, and think, right here in our community. Like past editions, this issue offers only a glimpse into those changes.

Enjoy!

— Arjun Jindal and William Xue, Editors-in-Chief

10 News 12 Children and Technology 14 AP Capstone 16 Waymo 18 Clashing Chatbots

On the Cover For this issue’s cover, Veritas chose to feature a student watching a small aircraft taxing into Baylands Airport in Palo Alto, capturing the spirit of our feature on the journey to earning a pilot’s license.

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Text by ALEXANDER LAWSON and RICHARD KLINKNER

Path down th

Palo Alto High School students take on intensive and rigorous training in

F

or most Palo Alto High School According to Brian Liu, price is students, only one license comes another challenge student pilots must face to mind: the driver’s license. It in getting their takes practice, memorization, pilot’s license. and a few trips to the DMV, which can be [ I ’ v e quite tedious, but the concepts of driving are simple.

For a select few Palo Alto High S c h o o l students, h o w e v e r, there’s a license far more difficult to get s t r u g g l e d — the private pilot’s license. According with] mostly to Junior Kento Stutz and Senior Brian just price,” Liu, the journey towards it is mentally, Liu said. “It’s temporally, and financially demanding, pretty expensive every hour; but above all, it’s an application of a if you factor in lifelong passion. the instructor Kento Stutz, a student pilot at Palo and plane, the Alto Airport, has found that his time in the cost is probably air has completely reshaped his view on the close to $400 privileges driving comes with. or $500, sometimes even short of $600 if it’s a really packed day. So it’s … been “Getting my a really expensive driver’s license endeavor.” was pretty easy,” "Getting a pilot’s license Stutz said. “When is one of the coolest Student pilots you’re getting a also have to spend things you could do." pilot’s license, you significant time have to learn all in the air to refine — KENTO STUTZ, their flying skills. these regulations, 11th grade all these different “You have to procedures. Unlike do a lot more hours [driving], you can’t just pull over to the side in the air [than in a car], because they of the road and handle issues. You have to probably trust you less with a millionbe prepared for any situation you can face.”

4 April 2026

dollar piece of equipment,” Liu said.

Reflecting the low margin for error when flying, ‘ground school’ serves as the first step on the path to a pilot’s license, where student pilots spend dozens of

hours preparing for any hazards they may experience in the air.

While many beginner student pilots see ground school as an obstacle to getting into the air, Stutz sees it as an opportunity to master the knowledge required to pass the private pilot’s license exam.

“Ground school really helped me understand why and how things worked in the plane, and also helped me understand why we have these regulations in the first place,” Stutz said.

At its core, ground school promotes safety among prospective pilots, and one of the biggest ways it does so is through intensive instruction and training for different weather conditions.

“In order to become a pilot, you not only have to learn how to fly a plane, but you also have to become sort of a meteorologist and learn how to analyze

Photo by ALEXANDER LAWSON

he runway pursuit of private pilot’s licenses

weather patterns to make sure you’re safe,” Stutz said.

Stutz, like many other student pilots, scrutinizes weather forecasts multiple times before a flight for any problems that may arise.

“Before you fly, even the night before, you check,” Stutz said. “The government has a website where you can see the forecast, so you can check and make sure there’s no new storms or anomalies.”

As a student pilot, Stutz is required to fly under visual flight rules (VFR). Because of this, his vision must remain unobscured since he is not allowed to navigate solely with instruments, leaving him especially vulnerable to atmospheric conditions.

“When you’re flying in the morning, especially here at Palo Alto, there’s fog and clouds pretty low to the runway, so you always have to check before you head to the airport to make sure you can still fly, because as a VFR pilot, I can’t go into clouds,” Stutz said.

Despite the high price tag and time investment, Paly’s student pilots find great joy in flying.

I think the most exciting part about aviation is the freedom it provides,” Stutz said. “I can kind of go anywhere, like, if me and my friends wanted to take a trip to Tahoe, on a random weekend, we could go up and ski for the day and fly back… Getting a pilot’s license is one of the coolest things you could do because of where you’re able to go.

ADRENALINE RUSH

6 April 2026

Text by DOREEN HOU and CAITLIN KO

Art by CAITLIN KO

or high adrenaline activi- injuries, and physical challenges, yet peoThe reason behind thrill-seeking ties, partially because their brains are not ple continue to participate in them. fully developed. According to Odette “I’ve gotten injured multiple times,” the pursuit of extreme yet Hornby et al., there’s an exponential in- Westin said. “But that hasn’t stopped me sports and teenage crease in teen participation in extreme from skiing.” sport due to the expansion in media coverPeople often face withdrawal symprisk taking age in the past decades. toms stepping away from extreme sports.

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acing down mountains, scaling cliffs, and braving ocean currents — high-risk, adrenaline-filled sports have stolen the attention of Paly students as excitement towards these activities continues to rise.

A ScienceDirect article found that extreme sports are continuously attracting the attention and interest of the youth.

In general, the main participants of these sports seem to be drawn to the high risk and adventure.

From a more scientific angle, people are attracted to the rush of adrenaline that comes with these activities.

According to Palo Alto High School sports medicine teacher Stacey Kofman, adrenaline is a hormone that is produced from the adrenal glands, above the two kidneys, that stimulates our body’s fight or flight responses.

“When we're scared of something, we have that heightened sense that heightens the response of some things wrong,” Kofman said. “We increase our breath rate, our blood pressure starts to increase and our heart rate starts to increase.”

The hormone, adrenaline, is produced when the brain senses danger. Conversely, many people pursue activities that will get them the boost of that hormone. According to a study done in 2017 by researcher Kent Berridge at the University of Michigan, people enjoy the feeling of danger not only from adrenaline but also dopamine, as it creates a thrilling mix of fear and excitement when we know we are safe.

“There's a lot of people who like that feeling in their body,” Kofman said.

“Think about it when you go on a roller coaster, slowly going up and you anticipate that, and then all of a sudden the bottom drops out and you get that feeling, that rush. That's controlled. You know what you're in for.”

Teenagers in particular are drawn to

“It’s a lot of nerves and excitement According to a study done by Odette when you’re staring down the mountain,” Hornby, some experience anhedonia (infreshman Nova Westin said. “I’ve been ski- ability to feel pleasure), craving and neging since I was three, and I still get a thrill ative effects when not participating. Thus, every time I go.” there needs to be a balance between chasThe rush and excitement caused by ing excitement and remaining safe and readrenaline also translate to risk-taking. For sponsible. teens, their underdeveloped brains make “It’s a catch, right?” Kofman said. them less afraid and more willing to try “You want to have some autonomy in the different things. activities you’re doing. But let’s find some “I think they go hand in hand,” healthier alternatives.”

Kofman said. “The riskier it is, for some Finding a way to combat negative people, the more they want to risk taking is not aldo it. ... People, once they get ways easy or straight“The riskier it is, over their fear of trying someforward. A study from thing and they realize it wasn’t for some people, the National Library of that bad, and they survived it, found that the more they Medicine are more willing to do it again.” reducing this behavior In some circumstances, want to do it.” comes from increasing this can be beneficial. Accord- — STACY KOFMAN, a person’s self-control, ing to the National Library of P.E. teacher sense of power, and Medicine, risk is not limited to by developing positive unsafe behavior, and taking risks is actually goals. a necessary part of adolescence. These are These solutions are almost entirely referred to as healthy risks, meaning they mindset changes, meaning that an indibenefit a person’s wellbeing, they carry vidual must do most of the work alone in mild potential costs, and they are generally order to help themselves, but there are still socially acceptable. ways to support those you know.

Some types of healthy risks include For example, introducing a struggling enrolling in a challenging course, partic- teen to alternative sources of adrenaline ipating in sports, and public speaking. could help mitigate dangerous behavior.

These activities help adolescents exercise Activities such as riding roller coasters or their independence and promote positive going ziplining can provide a similar rush health outcomes. of adrenaline without the high risk.

Unfortunately, despite the opportuDespite the danger and safer alternanity for growth and experimentation that tives, teenagers will likely continue to seek comes with trying new things, adolescents out high adrenaline sports, and injuries can be negatively affected by adrenaline as are bound to come with them. The most well. important part is to remain aware of the The adrenal glands are triggered in consequences that come with any extreme stressful situations, and the National Li- sport. brary of Medicine found that constant “We have to realize that maybe some stress can lead to an increase in risk taking. of these things we’re doing are risky,” This increase could draw adolescents Kofman said. “And that's why, for some of towards dangerous activities like extreme these sports, waivers are important [...] and sports. you understand what you're getting yourThese sports have high risks, potential self into.”

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Behind the buzz What caffeine does in the brain and why students use it

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n many mornings, the checkout line at CVS is full of students buying energy drinks to start their day. Whether it is a Celsius, a latte from Peet’s Coffee or a boba drink, caffeine is an everyday indulgence for many Palo Alto High School students. What does this chemical do in the brain that makes it so enticing?

Jesus Garcia, a biology professor at Foothill College, explains the neurochemical effect of caffeine. According to Garcia, it increases alertness because of its interaction with signaling chemicals in the brain.

8 April 2026

“It works by blocking adenosine use, the body builds up a resistance receptors,” Garcia said. “It also trig- to caffeine, leading to the “crash” gers the release of other neurotrans- caffeine drinkers may experience mitters like dopamine.” later in the day.

Throughout the day, adenosine “It [caffeine] is a central nerbuilds up in the vous system stimbrain and, eventuulant,” Garcia said. ally, high levels of “It gives you the “[Routine coffee this signaling mol- benefit of feeling drinkers] who stop ecule allow a perdrinking coffee can son to fall asleep. more awake, but start getting jittery By blocking these it is also harming and shaky because receptors, caffeine they go through your body.” effectively blinds withdrawals. They your brain to the get the same ef— Chase Wong, junior buildup of adefects as if they were nosine until the on methamphetcaffeine has been metabolized, at amines for an extended period of which point adenosine floods the time and then went cold turkey.” receptors.

Junior Chase Wong said he has Garcia said that with regular noticed more of his peers drinking

Text and art by NAOMI ESPINOZA How much caffeine is in popular drinks, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest website, cspi.org/caffeine-chart.

30 mg

75 mg

200 80 mg mg

caffeine to ward off feelings of tired- can become a vicious cycle. ness.

“The biggest problem that ener“They [caffeinated beverages] gy drinks cause is sleep deprivation,” are popular with high schoolers be- Madwed said. “Specifically, [being cause they give dopamine to your used as] a substitution for sleep is brain and they give you more en- even worse, as it creates a cycle of ergy,” Wong said. consumption and “Students see it as “Kids are overexreliance without a way to ‘catch up realizing that what tended, and so on sleep’ without they are using to sleeping. It gives they feel like they solve their problem you the benefit of sleep is what is of feeling more need stimulants actually causing it.” awake, but it is to keep going.”

Though he acalso harming your knowledges the — Samuel Howles-Banerji, health risks for stubody.”

Chemistry teacher dents, Paly chemisJunior Wilem Madwed is contry teacher Samuel ducting a research project on energy Howles-Banerji points out how cafdrinks in his AP Seminar class and feine use must be evaluated as one said the issue of student caffeine use component in a complex situation.

“If we’re worried about it [student health], we should look at the cause of the problem and not the symptoms of the problem,” Howles-Banerji said. “I don’t think that our community is at a point where we’re willing to address the root causes.”

According to Howles-Banerji, these root causes are systemic pressure and stressors that students face.

“Students are overcommitted — meaning that they are doing too much all the time — both academically and extracurricularly,” HB said. “Kids are overextended, and so they feel like they need stimulants to keep going. In the range of stimulants that kids could use … caffeine is substantially less problematic [than other drugs].”

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County sustains vaccine standards as measles spik

Text by PRIYA TAMURA

Local officials and students prioritize safety amid federal policy shifts

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E

2000

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0 s national debates over child- that prior vaccine 2010 2015 2020 2025 hood immunizations escalate, recommendation 2005 a recent local measles exposure schedule,” Surasi After years of near-elimination, U.S. measles cases are rising, highlights the tangible risks of said. “The recom- per data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. declining vaccination rates and why Santa mendations have “Public health recommendations, Clara County health officials are doubling not changed in any of the jurisdictions in especially those affecting childhood vacdown on established mandates. the state, including Santa Clara County.” cination, should not be changed without On Feb. 27, Santa Clara Public Health Palo Alto High School senior Evanllestrong scientific evidence and the careful Department recorded the first confirmed lyn Sanchez Vargas, member of Paly’s Pereview and support of medical and public measles case in a resident since May 2025. diatrics Club, said maintaining established health professionals,” Khoury said.

Previously, the county had remained mea- requirements is crucial for the well-being Khoury said she worries about the sles-free from 2019 until last year. of the student body. long-term impact of the new federal guidVicky Khoury, a pediatric infectious “The Covid vaccine is a great example ance on the public’s trust in medicine. diseases physician at the Stanford Medi- of just the influence that a vaccine can have “My other big concern is that shifts cine, told Veritas that declining childhood because it helps prevent a vast majority of in long-standing guidance can create convaccination rates nationally can have im- infections,” Sanchez Vargas said. “It’s just a fusion or inadvertently undermine public mediate and severe public health conse- great modern-day example of why vaccinaconfidence in vaccines that have consisquences. tion is a necessity.” tently been shown to be safe and highly “When fewer children are vaccinated, While local and state guidelines reeffective over many years,” Khoury said. communities lose the protective effect of main unchanged, federal guidelines have Locally, Surasi said high vaccination herd immunity, increasing the risk of out- been significantly revised. The Department rates, driven largely by school entry rebreaks of diseases that had previously been of Health and Human Services updated quirements, have kept massive outbreaks well-controlled,” the U.S. childin check.

Khoury said. “Dehood vaccine “For kids to enter school, there are clining vaccination schedule earlier “The U.S. is now at risk vaccination requirements,” Surasi said. “So rates for measles this year, reduchistorically, we’ve seen very high rates of of losing its measles are contributing ing the numroutine childhood vaccinations.” to rising cases and ber of routinely elimination status.”

Sanchez Vargas said she agrees that deaths in the Unitre c o m m e n d e d Vicky Khoury, Stanford mandates are crucial but acknowledges nued States. The U.S. shots. ances.

Medicine pediatric infecis now at risk of The fed“I feel like being a requirement does losing its measles eral retreat has tious diseases physician help the overall health of the community elimination status.” prompted a wave by reducing any serious illnesses ... but Despite the risof opposition there’s always going to be exceptions to ing case numbers, from state health that,” Sanchez Vargas said. “A lot of people Krishna Surasi, assistant public health departments. According to a Kaiser Family may have religious exceptions.” officer at the County of Santa Clara Pub- Foundation policy report, 30 states have Surasi said that regardless of shifting lic Health Department, said California’s announced they are no longer following national policies, the medical consensus on state-level policies provide a strong buffer. the federal Centers for Disease Control vaccines remains clear.

“We’re very fortunate to be in Cali- and Prevention recommendations as their “Vaccines are one of the most effecfornia because the California Department benchmark for childhood vaccines. tive public health interventions in histoof Public Health has decided that they’re Khoury said the U.S. immunization ry,” Surasi said. “They protect people from going to continue using the previous vac- schedule was built over many years using these diseases so well that most young doccine recommendations, and all California extensive clinical trials and ongoing safety tors have never even seen a case of measles insurers are required to cover vaccines per monitoring, and should not be discarded. or polio.”

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Powered by the Sun Text by MOTOKO IWATA and XANDER YAP

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Photo by XANDER YAP

excited to be doing our solar car state of sustainable engineering is,” LagerShining a light on really projects.” blad said. “I hope they take away a passion Luana Le, a freshman student in the for doing this kind of hands-on work and Solar Car Club

he loud chatter of the room quiets as Solar Car Club president, Elsa Lagerblad, moves to the front of the room. Students listen as Lagerblad explains electric engines while using her own solar car for reference.

Palo Alto High School’s Solar Car Club aims to get more students involved in sustainable engineering biweekly on Mondays in the engineering classroom.

Club president Elsa Lagerblad says that the club provides a new lens to STEM. “We’re living in an unprecedented time of climate change and of more awareness about green technology,” Lagerblad said. “While we have a really big STEM focus here at Paly, I feel like sometimes what we’re missing is a sustainability- and environmental-centric STEM focus. By having this club, not only are we doing a lot of hands-on STEM engineering work, which is good, and people love that, but we’re also kind of bringing it through a new lens that we don’t often get at Paly.”

Co-president Laura Zhang said that the club has also built a community around learning about solar engineering.

“The most rewarding experience for me is really getting to know more about solar cars in general and I feel like I’ve learned more about the community around it,” Zhang said. “There’s not many courses about solar cars and solar engineering in general, so I think it helps to understand more about engineering for people who want to learn more.”

According to Lagerblad, the club will be providing more opportunities for its members to learn about solar cars.

“People can either choose to do this more hands-on project where they build a little mini solar car and race it around Paly or they’re going to be doing a little mini research project,” Lagerblad said. “We’re

club, shared her experience on the project.

“We just started our solar car projects where we each got assigned individual roles to help build a car with our team,” Le said.

“My role is designer. I help design the car and make it look good.”

Lagerblad said she hopes that students will take away more than knowledge about solar cars, but of broader skills.

“I hope that they [club members] take away a lot more knowledge about how the

working in a team because that’s a big part of it as well as just being in a team and being collaborative within your engineering.”

Below: Elsa Lagerblad, president of Palo Alto High School’s Solar Car Club, presents a miniature solar car.

Lagerblad is looking forward to more students joining Solar Car Club, which promotes opportunities for students to learn about sustainable engineering.

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Beyond the Text by ALEXANDER LAWSON and RICHARD KLINKNER

Capstone CS provides students with project-based learning

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he silence of the room is broken said. “Students will come up with two or Buyukkokten to realize their ambitious only by the clattering of key- three ideas, and then we’ll sit down and projects. Buyukkokten saw this as an opboards. Students line the desks, talk about [what they will look like] over portunity to carve a path into the AI assistheir faces illuminated by the the course of a year, what’s going to be the tant sphere he hadn’t seen anyone else do white lines of code on their screens. This thing that’s going to inspire you the most? before. is Computer Science Capstone, where stu- Because that’s the thing you’re going to pay “I chose to try to make AI interact dents bring their focus to real-world appli- more attention to and that you’re going to with software, especially after I looked it cation of their projects. do during those times up and realized no CS Capstone is a year-long dual-en- when you don’t want “I mean, that [pasone else was doing it rollment course that prepares students to to do something else.” sion], that’s the numthe same way I wantapply their computer science skills in a reThe first month ed to,” Byukkokkten ber one thing in all al-world setting, bridging classroom learn- is spent picking and said. ing with career-oriented application. It fol- planning projects, different fields. So Byukkokkten’s vilows a structure different from the majority which is when stu- there isn’t one field sion is to create a projof classes Paly has to offer, using a year- dents brainstorm ideas ect that goes beyond or topic that is better; the scope of the classlong, project-based curriculum as opposed to help decide their to multiple different lessons and units. As projects for the rest of students’ interest [is room and raises the a result, students must demonstrate inde- the year. what] makes [projects] quality of life for peopendence, strong academic discipline, and “We spend the ple in the real world. useful.” overcome difficult decisions, challenges, good first month of “If it gets to a lev- CHRISTOPHER BELL, CS el where I’m satisfied, and everything in between. school breaking projCapstone teacher it’ll be open source, According to junior Deniz Buyukkok- ects into manageable ten, the amount of investment required in chunks,” Bell said. free to everyone,” CS Capstone is strongly dependent on the “We come up with Byukkokkten said. “It type of project a student decides to pursue. ideas that people are interested in and would be very nice to have an AI assistant “It [time investthen we guide them where … You can just tell it [what to do], ment] depends on “[It would be] realthrough the process whether that’s by speech or by typing.” your project and how of actually building it Byukkokkten is also considering acmuch you challenge ly good for anyone over time.” cessibility, ensuring his AI can be equally yourself,” Buyukkok- who’s disabled, beThroughout the beneficial to all people. ten said. “Like I said, cause the way I’m derest of the year, stu“[It would be] really good for anyone the rigor is very dedents continue work- who’s disabled, because the way I’m dependent on what you signing it … if you’re ing on projects while signing it. … if you’re blind, you should choose to do. When it blind, you should be also giving presenta- be able to use it just fine. … if you literally comes to assessments, able to use it just tions on other com- don’t have hands, you should be able to use the biggest thing puter science-related it just fine. Even if you can’t speak, you can you’re graded on is fine.” topics. [use it],” Buyukkokten said.

- DENIZ BUYUKKOKTEN, how much you learn.”

“You get some Working on his project is a comCS Capstone student project time during plex task and is not without its struggles.

When it comes to choosing the right class, too, and then Buyukkokten often faces bugs and growproject, CS Capstone teacher Christopher there’s a presentation,” Bell said. “So it’s a ing academic pressure, impacting his abiliBell says that the best projects are the ones mix of working on your project and work- ty to work on his project. that inspire their respective students the ing on the giant presentation where you do “A [part] of coding is [that] your code most. like a demo for the entire class and try to will inevitably error at some point, and “I just kind of guide them into pick- teach them something.” you’ll have to fix it,” Byukkokkten said. It’s ing what they’re most interested in,” Bell CS Capstone enables students like junior year, so there’s a ton of other classes

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Classroom

Art by DOREEN HOU

that keep having all these different tests coming up, and that really makes [working on my project] more difficult.

Sometimes students hit roadblocks when working on their projects, but, according to Bell, it can teach them important lessons about the realities of computer science.

“We’ve had technical issues where we can actually no longer continue with this project the way that it is. So now we have to pivot and rework, which is valuable, but it can also be frustrating.”

A c cording to Bell, all of the best projects he sees all have one thing in common — passion.

“I mean, that [passion], that’s the number one thing in all different fields,” Bell said. So there isn’t one field or topic that is better; students’ interest [is what] makes [projects] useful.”

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Text by JESHURUN WANG and JOYCE (LEYI) MA

SHOULD TECH RAISE our kids?

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AI and screens are negatively impacting children in this era

e were the children who grew up with social media, and we were the children who spent the nights away with our faces illuminated by our handheld corner of paradise.

The cell phone — conduit for the Internet — is still the provider of it all: streams of entertainment on endless platforms, an illusion of constant connectivity, and a never-ending bombardment of the next new thing feeding into our brains.

How could we resist when we had the entire world itself in the palm of our hand?

This carefully crafted paradise is no accident. Social media platforms — perfected over the years by companies to systematically consume our attention and time in the name of advertisement revenue — are the gateway drug of choice for the younger generation. Our minds were the product on sale, and they were lucrative.

The cascading mental health impacts of social media technology have long been documented.

According to a 2025 study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, teens with higher non-schoolwork screen use were more likely to experience depression and anxiety symptoms, as well as have low social and emotional support.

The overuse of social media has also been linked to a larger pandemic of isolation in young adults across the U.S. Now, with the rise of AI chatbots like character.ai, ChatGPT, Gemini, Deepseek and an endless diaspora of others, the stakes have grown higher.

As more and more young people seek out chatbots for emotional connection, AI

14 April 2026

hallucinations and spirals have led to real consequences. For instance, according to a 2024 report by The New York Times, a 14-year-old boy died by suicide after conversations with a chatbot on the platform.

There have also been documented cases of “AI psychosis,” where chatbots encourage delusions with their users and create a false reality. In fact, in the same year, Futurism reported that a man was hospitalized for psychosis after interacting with

ChatGPT. According to a 2025 Pew Research Center article, 64% of teens say they use chatbots, and three in 10 say they use them regularly. As this tech is adopted more widely by our current generation of teenagers, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine how more and more youth, especially as young children under the age of 13, grow up in an environment where AI is the norm.

Similarly,

according to a 2026 article by The Week, by the age of 13, sexual or romantic roleplay is the dominant topic that is discussed between the kids and the chatbots.

The Week also mentioned a similar report by Aura, which states that by the age of 11, 44% of conversations with chatbots contained violence.

As is often the case with laws, the guardrails against unregulated technologies are slow to arrive.

AI is becoming more entwined in our daily lives, and more and more people will also be exposed to the associated risks in the coming years if precautions and limitations are not set in place.

The problem with AI use among children has already seeped into the younger generations through their education at an early age, and through the commercialization of smart phones and smart watches.

Palo Verde Elementary School 5thgrade teacher Carrie May says she noticed that her students are acclimated to technology now, that they are more focused, for instance, w h e n she uses short video snippets t o bolster concepts in lessons, which is often more effective in getting students to listen and pay attention.

“They do tend to be more engaged when you incorporate media into your lessons,” May said. “It’s such a normal part of their life now.”

According to May, younger elementary students have more trouble paying attention with

Art by JOYCE (LEYI) MA

class activities. sleep, leading to anxiety and stress.

“It’s a bit harder for them to focus on “I think the increase of internet conthings when there’s no technology present, nectivity with young children has definitebecause technology can be so engaging for ly kind of changed the role of innocence students, especially for younger students.” in childhood, because they’re more conIn light of recent controversies nected with things that are like brain rot,” over limiting cell phone use on school Kyukendall said. campuses within the Palo Alto Unified But what can we do? Limiting screen School District, May said she has seen time overall sounds effective at first glance, a rise in the use of smart devices among but according to a 2021 peer-reviewed her 5th-grade students, as well as among study published in Clinical Psychology Reyounger students. view, screen time in itself is not the main Because of recent trends, she has im- issue — instead, mental health is far more plemented a no-smartwatch policy to keep dependent on the screen content and acstudents on task. tivity.

“So many kids have smart watches, Furthermore, both children and adolike Apple watches and similar, and abso- lescents use technology (and, by extension, lutely have phones,” May said. “It became the wider internet) for practical and social very apparent to me how distracting it was purposes — including schoolwork and for students to have those devices.” connecting with friends — which means Similarly, Palo Alto High School ju- going cold turkey is not feasible. nior Katya Kuykendall said that childhood While there isn’t a clear-cut solution, experiences and interthe American Acadactions have changed “I think the increase of emy of Pediatrics from her generation. recommends parents “[I would] internet connectivity and caregivers have go to a playground with young children open conversations with some friends, has definitely kind of with their children and I would see some regarding screen use … little kids on their changed the role of inas a family — specifiPads, like in a circle nocence in childhood.” ically, using the 5Cs of friends, just like —Katya Kuykendall, Paly framework to create on their iPads playa Family Media Plan. ing, and I think that’s junior This framework really different than structures these imwhat my childhood portant conversions was like,” Kyukendall said. and helps family members understand the According to Darlene De- child’s personal motivation for using sonis-Friske, a registered psychotherapist cial media, what Content is drawing their with the College of Ontario, this constant attention, how to develop healthy coping flow of “connection” can be overwhelming strategies to calm down instead of turnand exhausting for children exposed to it ing to technology, and what social media 24-7, changing the inherent meaning of is crowding out in their lives — all cruhaving a meaningful childhood in the tra- cial aspects that need to be communicated ditional sense of connecting with people clearly and transparently. physically rather than through an online One thing is clear: Parents need to chat. have these conversations with their chilWe recognize the increased radius dren sooner rather than later to set healthy of connectivity that comes with chatting boundaries with digital media use before online, and a constant online presence is children are exposed to its harmful effects. harmful for the child and detrimental to Instead of letting technology run both patheir growth. rental guidance and our children’s lives, it’s A report by John Hopkins Medicine time for us all to take control and set our found that social media use is linked to own norms. higher rates of depression, as these plat forms increase social isolation and decrease

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WAYMO Text by JULIA CURTIS and DOREEN HOU

Student cocerned and apprecative of Autonmous Vechiles

16 April 2026

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saw a Waymo trying to take an traffic. Paly junior Vedika Argawal ing temperature and “cabin theme.” unprotected left turn, and it experienced this effect of automatHowever, many riders believe held up traffic for so long that ed driving recently while walking the replacement of rideshare drivthe line of cars behind it was in downtown Palo ers is unethical. Uber I feel safer bethrough the intersection behind Alto. currently employs over cause a waymo them,” Palo Alto High School junior “I saw a Waymo nine million drivers Vedika Argawal said as Waymo, an trying to take an unworldwide, while Lyft can’t get disautonomous driving service adver- protected left turn, employs over two miltracted like a tising sustainable and safe rides, ex- and it held up traffic lion, according to their human driver panded its operation to Palo Alto and for so long that the websites. can surrounding cities over the last year. line of cars behind Paly senior Reyes “Waymo is committed to holding it was through the Aronson refuses to ride ­—Siena Siljak safety to a higher standard,” Waymo’s intersection behind Waymo for this reason. website said. “We [the Waymo team] them,” Agarwal said. “In the Bay “It’s taking the Uber and Lyft aim to offer freedom of movement Area, especially with smaller streets drivers’ jobs,” Aronson said. “And I’ve for all, create a sustainable, efficient like University Avenue, if there’s a never seen an Uber malfunction.” transportation ecosystem, and make gap for you to take the turn, you have Waymo has also recently been the planet better than we found it.” to, but Waymos aren’t programmed more expensive than human rideBut is Waymo’s standard really to take the risk … They just hold up share services. Obi, an app that comhigher than compettraffic until somebody pares various live rideshare service Waymos aren’t itor rideshare services stops for them.” prices, simulated more than 94,000 like Uber and Lyft?

Siljak said Waymo ride requests in the San Francisco Bay programmed to According to offers a place for peo- Area between Nov. 27 and Jan. 1 and take the risk.

Kristofer D. Kusano, ple to relax, pushing found that Waymo costs an average They just hold an autonomous drivoff the social pressure of $19.69 for a ride, while Uber was up traffic uning engineer at Wayriders face when a hu- slightly cheaper at $17.47 and Lyft fil somebody mo, its automated man driver is present. averaged at $15.47. stops for them. driving system across “I prefer Waymo But for Siljak, the price is worth 7.14 million miles ­—Vedika Argawal over Uber,” Siljak said. the safety. finds that ADS (au“I’ve never been in an “I really don’t mind paying a littomated driving systems like Waymo) Uber alone, mostly because I don’t tle extra to feel safe,” Siljak said. “The had 80% fewer injuries-related crash- really feel comfortable being alone in rider’s comfort should be the top pries and 55% lower police-reported an Uber with some random person.” ority.” crashes compared to human drivers.

Waymo offers many other services Many riders like Palo Alto High that make the rides more comfortSchool junior Siena Siljak feel saf- able. For example, the car connects to er taking Waymo because it strict- both Spotify and Youtube Music, ally obeys the law and usually doesn’t lowing you to stream your own make impulsive decisions. music during the ride, as “I feel safer because a Waymo well as adjustcan’t get distracted as a driver can,” Siljak said. “Also, the process is pretty easy. You just select the location you want to go, and it matches you with a ride, so there’s no confusion.”

Since Waymo is programmed to follow strict rules with no exceptions, the expansion of Waymo into cities leads to problems like holding up vehicles and blocking

CLASHING CHATBOTS

Text and photos by ARAINA GUPTA and BENJI SANDEL

18 April 2026

Art by JOYCE MA

How should students choose among different AI models

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ou’re working to finish a literary analysis late into the night, but it seems like every single AI model you ask gives a completely different response. One suggests a complete rewrite of your essay, another signs it off as it is, and a third floods you with detailed feedback. Nowadays, the question isn’t just what the answer is, but what chatbot you should be using.

Artificial intelligence, or AI, has rapidly become essential to high school life.

Whether it’s solving problems, researching, or outlining essays, the usage of AI tools has become the norm.

David Wu, Palo Alto High School senior and AI Club president, said in an email that in his experience, most Paly students use AI to help clarify concepts and work through problems.

“Students are primarily using ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini,” Wu said.

With so many options, how do you decide what AI tool to use? According to Koushik Sen, a professor of computer science at UC Berkeley, his students decide between AI models based on two factors.

“One [factor] is which chatbot is good for the particular task that they are trying to solve, and the second is the cost,” Sen said.

OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic are companies leading the generative AI revolution. Currently, the latest AI models by each are ChatGPT 5.2, Gemini 3 Pro, and Claude Opus 4.5, respectively.

These tools are all powered by large language models (LLM), which is AI that has been trained on enormous sets of data to generate human-like responses according to an article published in IBM’s think.

Currently, Gemini 3 Pro is $19.99 monthly, ChatGPT 5.2 Plus is $20.00 monthly, and Claude Opus 4.5 is $20.00 monthly.

Sen measures a model’s quality by how well it can perform complicated logical tasks such as proving mathematical theorems and giving medical diagnoses.

“The best LLMs like ChatGPT 5.2, Opus 4.5 from Anthropic, and Gemini are pretty good at these,” Sen said.

While there are differences between these AI models, Sen says there isn’t a huge difference between leading models for general usage. “They try to be good at everything: coding, math, literature, science, and everything,” Sen said.

Sen personally uses Gemini the most due to its conciseness in responses, while using ChatGPT and Claude for more specific tasks.

“For general use, I use Gemini 3 Pro, mostly for research and asking questions,” Sen said. “Sometimes I do use GPT for deep research, and I use Anthropic extensively for coding and software development.”

For students to figure out what AI models suit their needs the best, websites such as LMArena.ai, which uses crowdsourcing, and SWE-bench.com, a standardized benchmark providing useful comparison metrics.

LMArena.ai is an online arena-style game that pits models against each other.

The website gives two responses to prompts given by users — one from each model.

After users read the responses, they can pick the response they liked the best, at which point, the identity of the model that wrote each response is revealed.

Data is compiled for which AI model is the most preferable by users. As of now, Gemini 3 Pro tops the leaderboard.

Another metric comes from SWEbench (Software Engineering Benchmark), which is a benchmark used for evaluating LLMs through testing their capabilities in solving software problems.

On the SWE-bench leaderboard, Claude 4.5 Opus is first with 74.40% of problems solved. Gemini 3 Pro and ChatGPT 5.2 follow with 74.20% and 71.80% respectively.

Wu said that students should try many different models due to each having different styles and strengths.

“I would recommend not exclusively using one model alone, but instead using multiple different models,” Wu stated.

“It increases the likelihood that one of the model’s responses or explanations will ‘click’ with you.”

Verbatim: What AI models do you use and for what task?

“I use Gemini for a lot of school work because I find it very easy to screenshot a problem...and just ask it to solve it. And I also use Claude for debate because I think their responses on a lot of political issues or things that require longer responses are very good.”

— BEINAN REN 10th grade

“ChatGPT— It's really good at comparing things. Like, I’ll use it for research and I’ll ask which article is reputable or more accurate in instances.”

— AMI YANAGUCHI 12th grade

“I like using Perplexity because it cites its sources. The research that it has is … accurate, and it's also been recommended to me by multiple people, and I think it has high quality responses, especially compared to ChatGPT.” — MARCELLO ATTARDI 12th grade 21 19