Winter Magazine 2024 (Extended)

The Antlerette

Winter Magazine: Voices of the Youth Volume 98 Issue 5

More Break, More Production

Lucan Amituanai, Staff

Everyday, students all over America come to school looking to learn and gain new knowledge. But over the last couple of years, complaints from parents have flooded schools describing their students as being drained from their long days at school, and depression rates from teens have hit an all time high. A solution for this problem would be more break days or holidays, giving students more time to rest and regenerate, coming back to school more rejuvenated.

A Harvard Health Department poll stated that 40% of all parents stated that their child deals with a lot of stress at school. A stressed student isn’t a healthy or fully productive student; these are clear facts. Putting too much stress on the body physically and mentally could take a toll on your health, making one sadder or more burnt out. A clear solution to this would be to make school less stressful by giving more break days, a few more holidays at the least. With these new days to look forward to in the future, students can catch some well needed rest on these holidays and come back better than ever. Parents would come home to their more active children making the whole house more happy.

In conclusion, the school system is a large problem on children’s mental health, and the cause cries for a solution. This new proposed idea of more days off would solve all problems for all parties involved. A big issue can be fixed in American children’s lives, and a small proposition could be the first step to this generation’s success.

Gen Z: The Most Socially Conscious Generation?

Marie Ndulue, Staff

Generation Z is the future of American society. As of right now, Gen Z is the most diverse generation in history. With this diversity comes awareness of both social and political issues that have been passed on to them from older generations or that they are newly facing. With rapidly advancing technology at their disposal, the use of social media allows Gen Z to be active and speak up against things they deem unfair.

Gen Z is known to be passionate about widely-discussed controversial topics such as climate change, racial justice, and LGBTQ+ rights. Gen Z is also known for “cancel culture,” or holding people and businesses accountable for their actions, specifically their impact on society and the environment. In October of 2023, the Israel-Hamas conflict began, with Hamas launching an assault on Israel from the Gaza Strip and Israel retaliating. This conflict spread widely due to social media and news outlets, leading people to form their own opinions on the matter and choosing sides. Gen Z is outspoken in support of Palestine, especially since many people take to social media, like TikTok, to spread their opinions. After finding out that Starbucks was in support of Israel, sent money to Israel, and tried to sue one of their workers unions for being in support of Palestine, many members of Gen Z called for a consumer boycott of Starbucks. The word spread everywhere and within the last few months, Starbucks lost about $11 billion dollars in value.

The solidarity of Gen Z throughout the Israel-Hamas conflict and the Starbucks boycott shows that Gen Z is a socially conscious generation and its members are not afraid to use their voice to advocate for things they deem important.

Autoimmune Diseases in Adolescents

Camila Avila, Staff

Chronic conditions can differ for people though it is extremely debilitating in your daily life. Over 13 million kids under 18 struggle with chronic illnesses. It's difficult enough if you already have things going on in your life, such as school or stress due to homework, which then flares up your symptoms. However, autoimmune diseases are not contagious; they come from your genetics. Chronic illnesses occur when your body attacks itself accidentally, but it is still unclear as to why this happens.

Most chronic diseases are extremely painful, with lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and Crohn's disease as a few examples. Ulcerative colitis is of the most painful out of every chronic illness. Symptoms can include joint pains, tender joints, warm joints, fatigue, mouth sores, shortness of breath, or trouble breathing, rashes, dry eyes, vomiting, and nausea, GI tract problems, etc. Some illnesses are similar and can often be misdiagnosed for another.

Most of these diseases can also be invisible since the damage happens from inside, though certain prescribed medication can reduce pain and symptoms.

The problem for most people in their adolescence years is that with their physical disease, it begins to also become a mental struggle. Depression and anxiety are very common in all people who deal with an autoimmune disease. It takes a big toll on them since they no longer can participate in activities they did before, and they grieve about their past. It also affects their social, emotional, and physical lifestyle; they may begin to withdraw or tend to stay to themselves, though with time it gets better.

Effects of Bullying

Sydney Wesselink, Content Editor

Whether you were scrolling through social media or you were walking through your school campus, have you ever witnessed any form of bullying? Have you ever seen it but didn’t think much of it? Or maybe you thought about it but didn’t think it was as serious as it might've been so you just kept to yourself. I want to convince you to take different actions in those situations.

Bullying is aggressive behavior, verbally or physically, that doesn’t only make someone sad or uncomfortable; it can also be shoving or getting into someone ' s personal space. If you notice someone being harassed, it is always a good idea to interfere in some way. If you feel it is safe for you, then it is smart to take action and help the situation dissolve. If the scene is highly escalating, then it is always a smart decision to get an adult or someone with higher power than you to help de-escalate the situation. Even if you do not have the power to help yourself, it is always better to get the victim help from someone else rather than walking away and let it continue.

In a lot of cases, it can be easier for someone to become a bully online, most of the time allowing them to hide their identity.. It allows them to harass someone with a barrier between them. Cyberbullying can happen on any social media platform; such as, online games or through private text messages. If you see someone commenting or posting hateful words towards a person or group, it can be as easy as reporting the account. You don’t always have to verbally interfere with bullies to help the situation. If you are being cyberbullied, you can also report the account, helping the process of it being deleted.

No matter the technique of bulliyng, it can lead to depression, self harm, and in some cases, it can lead to suicide. From someone who has experienced it, depression is a long-lasting mental illness that is life changing. Even once you ' re not considered “depressed,” it can have lasting effects on how you think of yourself and life itself. It can take years for someone to get through their depression, and once on the other side, it can always come back. Not all victims of bulliyng become depressed and not all depression cases lead to suicide and self harm, but that does not make it any less serious. Depression is a worldwide mental illness issue that can be helped by stopping the spread of bullying.

Child Geniuses That Impected the World

Richard Gao, Staff

In today’s world, rapid technological advancements alongside innovations are being reshaped by the remarkable contributions of teenagers. These young teenagers have left an impact on society with solutions to environmental challenges and medical breakthroughs. Their stories not only captivate audiences of research breakthroughs, but also because of their young age. There will be more and more future teenagers shaping the next generation.

Starting off with the first teenage innovator, Gitanjali Rao from the United States, here’s a short list of teenagers impacting the world. At the age of 15, Rao developed a solution to address environmental pollution. One of her creations is called the “Tethys,” a device that can detect lead contamination in water. The device would change its resistance under the presence of lead. “Tethys” is also very cost effective compared to other types of devices that indicate the same problem. Being cheaper than other devices, it allows Tethys to be a more accessible solution to a pervasive problem.

Another teenager, Jack Andraka from the United States, gained recognition for his work in the medical field. Andraka developed a piece of technology that helps in early cancer detection. His device is a paper sensor that can detect pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancer in its early stages. Andraka’s paper sensor is 160 times faster and 90% more accurate than other types of cancer detectors. Andraka’s paper sensor is also more affordable compared to other types of early cancer detectors, but most of all, it's non-invasive. Andraka’s groundbreaking research in cancer development will save many lives.

These two American teenagers are the pioneers of future technology inventions. As young as these teenagers are, they are pushing boundaries and inspiring many others to step up and help envision a better future. While these teenagers’ devices aren't being used at a mass scale yet, they are working with big corporations and continuously improving their models with time. This also serves as a testament that age isn't a barrier to scientific research and development.

Being a Student Athlete

Andre Murrey, Staff

What is a student athlete? Well, let me explain. A student athlete is someone who is currently attending high school or college and is participating in athletics on their campus. There are even student athletes among us right now. Being a student athlete is an extra commitment, so we are going to find out what it was like for someone who is currently a student athlete: Me.

Being a student is challenging all on its own. It gets even tougher when you throw athletics into the mix. When we get out of school, the first thing I do is get ready for practice. We stretch and then get into the practice. Our practice lasts for about an hour, then we go into the gym to lift weights for half an hour. After this, I have to change my shoes and go do a calisthenics workout.

After all the practice is over, it’s finally time to go home. I have to sit out in the dark, while I wait for my ride to come and pick me up. It takes about 20 minutes to get from the school to my house, so by the time I get home, I’m dead tired and don’t feel like doing any homework, but I still have to.

Before I do my homework though, I have to jump in the shower and eat dinner. So if you are thinking about becoming a student athlete, be warned, it is a commitment and you will need to stay on top of your studies to stay eligible anyway.

Superhero Serial: Rusty’s Newest Adventure

Kaitlyn McNally, Staff

Rusty was a little scared. He was going to meet someone new, and she might take him in, like Uncle did when Mom and Dad went away. But now Uncle had gone away too, so he needed someone new to take care of him. He wished he could stay with the hero lady that saved him, but apparently that wasn’t allowed, and no one would explain why. He hated it when grown-ups acted like they knew something he didn’t, and then wouldn’t tell him, like there was some big secret that everyone got to know but him. The hero never did that to him, she actually told him Uncle was gone, instead of just looking at him with a sad face. She also told him that the lady he was going to meet would be nice, so maybe it would be okay. It would probably be okay, he didn’t think Miss Aja would lie to him.

He was still nervous.

She was nice! She still looked sad like all the other grown-ups, but she reminded him of Miss Aja, so she probably wouldn’t lie to him either. She said her name was Ayodele, or Del for short, and asked if he wanted to stay with her for a few days, to see if he liked it.

Rusty cautiously agreed, and was glad to see that she smiled a little.

Then they went to Del’s house – apartment – and she showed him around. It wasn’t huge, but it was bigger than what he and Uncle had.

Rusty wondered how big his parent’s house had been. He didn’t remember much of them, but Uncle said they were nice, and he feels warm when he thinks of them.

Del made sure to show him where the kitchen and bathrooms were, and then took him to his new room. It was kind of boring, but Del said they could decorate it when they got his stuff from his old room! She also said they could go buy some things if he wanted, but Rusty couldn’t think of anything to buy. It might be fun to go shopping though, he’d never done that before.

Rusty was slowly getting used to his new home. It was… nice, but he missed Uncle. He wasn’t entirely sure why he couldn’t see him anymore, but he’d learned that asking just made the grown-ups look at him all sad again. It was frustrating to not know things.

Del was still very kind to him. She made sure to check on him all the time, and make sure he felt comfortable. She seemed tired and a little sad though, but maybe it was because she didn’t take naps? She always acted like nothing was wrong when she noticed him, but he was pretty sure she was pretending. Uncle did that too, and had said it was so Rusty wouldn’t worry when he finally asked about it. Rusty decided not to ask Del about her sad things, since it had made Uncle sad, and he didn’t want Del to be any more sad.

He might still try to get her to take a nap with him, though.