“Why do we make B students sit through the same classes as their brainy peers? That’s like trying to train your cat to do your taxes—a waste of time and money. Wouldn’t it make sense to teach them something useful instead?” these are the words of cartoon creator Dilbert Scott Adams.

  After students graduate from high school, their next step is up to them. They can choose from a variety of things to do. Some things include a four-year college, taking a gap year, prep school, or just going to work. The question is, does South Kingstown High School teach it’s students the right material to prepare them for the next step.

  SKHS does teach many classes that are appropriate for students to take quality information from. For example, Mr. Rollins has started teach a Life Skills/Independent Living class. The class was added to the list of electives for this year and the veteran SKHS teacher highly recommends students to explore and take that class.

  I am currently in this class, and I have learned many things that will help me when I leave the school and pursue my post high school education. Such things include, pursing a career job that I would want. For example, the class learned techniques and strategies to give you the best chance to get that dream job.

  Science classes and social studies classes are very important as well. Science is going to be key in the long run of the world, because of needs to create and invent new technology to help the world.

  Social studies is important so we can learn about what we have done in the past and how we can avoid things we did wrong to do them right in the future. Public Issues is a very good elective as well. In this class students discuss about events going on in today’s world and both positives and negatives that are taking place are discussed, and it helps to discover what the world is coming too. Daily discussions about current events take place and students’ need to understand such things.

  A lot of classes at the high school, however, are not needed for students for post high school. I currently take classes at the school in which I know for a fact I will not need to know later on in life. These classes simply don’t prepare me well for my life.

  There are classes in my opinion that are necessary for the future minded kids of the world. These classes would be science classes, math classes, some social studies, and computer classes. Also, I believe that an economics class should be mandatory for the student body because it will educate students on how the economy is structured and works. I feel like a lot of students in the school simply don’t know nearly enough about economics.

  With the addition of the Life Skills class, hopefully students will continue to be offered more classes that are needed in real life.  SKHS needs more classes like these to help prepare students for the real world instead of classes where you just get lectured about useless things and watch documentaries.

  “Kickin’ in the front seat. Sittin’ in the back seat. Gotta make my mind up. Which seat can I take?”

  The dilemma that Rebecca Black faces is similar to the one that many Americans face each and every day. The only difference between her and the average American is that Black is estimated to be pulling in just under $25,000 per week.

  If that doesn’t make you sick I don’t know what does.

  Black’s almost painfully awful song “Friday” has instantly become a viral video sensation. So why exactly has Black become such a huge star?

  Just turn on MTV and tune into an episode of Jersey Shore and you’ll find out. America is fascinated with train wrecks and the escapism that comes from watching other people live their lives so we don’t have to live ours.

  Think about the meltdown by Charlie Sheen? Or Lindsay Lohan? Remember when Britney Spears shaved her head? Chances are, mostly everyone reading this article is at least somewhat familiar with these situations. But one question beckons:

 “Why should I care?”

  How does it affect me in any way? Why do the celebrity watched shows like TMZ or Extra have any following at all? It’s simply because people are fascinated by screw ups. We just can’t get enough.

  Black is one such train wreck and her song is so brutally awful. People love to watch it and laugh. Well guess what America, despite what many think of Black, or her singing abilities, the public has turned this untalented teen into a star.

  The girl who really can’t sing, and doesn’t deserve to be a on the charts is famous. And America put her there.

  So why is a train wreck so popular? I suppose that people just enjoy laughing at others, and I’d be lying if I said I’d never rolled on the floor laughing  as Black described the sequence of the days of the week. Yet, I watched it once and then moved on.

  So next time there’s nothing to do, or you’re sitting around the house bored, instead of watching the latest viral video of a girl just trying to be famous, or a video of a celebrity melting down due to the fame and scrutiny that made them so famous, just step back and realize it’s not worth your time and go do something productive.

  Instead of laughing at Black’s music, try making some of your own.  Or if music isn’t your thing, see if you can act like Charlie Sheen (without the drug problem of course).

  If, instead of wasting your time with celebrities and train wrecks, try to hone your skills at your craft. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll all be able to laugh at you when you become famous.

  As students, we are constantly hearing about the policy on electronics.  It is used most often as threat, but it is a rule nonetheless.  But it seems the age-old threat is really losing its luster, as it is almost comedic how many students use their cell phones during the school day. There are so many uses for iPods, iPads and smartphones that the rules prohibiting there use inhibit students as learners. Therefore, I propose we edit the state law so that it embraces the technological advances of today’s life. 

  The law is stated clearly on page 16 of all student planners:

  “Rhode Island General Law 16-21.2-11 prohibits carrying, possessing, or using any paging device including cell phones, in a public school in Rhode Island. In addition, MP3 players, CD players, headphones, laser pointers, and electronic gaming devices, are not allowed during the school day (7:37 to 2:09).”

  In its current state, it is simply unrealistic.  Few if any students leave devices at home or off as instructed.  Rather than acknowledge and utilize the many potential uses of some electronic devices, we are expected to go through school as the previous generations have. 

  Our school has recently made the situation more trivial by installing Wi-Fi throughout the school.  The real question is what they expect us to use the Wi-Fi for without any devices.

  Further confusing the whole situation is the school’s mission statement, 11 pages earlier on page five.  Along the top of the page, it states:

  “South Kingstown High School, in partnership with our diverse and dynamic community, will provide an environment in which each student acquires the knowledge and develops the skills necessary to become a respectful, healthy, productive, and responsible in an ever-changing global society.”

  Nothing stands out in particular until last five words, an ever-changing society.  It is as if the mission statement completely contradicts the rules within the school.  If we were to accept the “ever-changing” portion of society, technology use would not be frowned upon. 

  The single thing that concerns me most is that in my four years here, there has been no attempt to integrate or even acknowledge the existence of technology in the curriculum outside of the portfolio.  I would even venture to say that besides some “research” in the library, Microsoft Word, and the occasional PowerPoint the computers in the school are not used by students for anything else. 

  That reason alone may be what is stopping any change.  We are not entrusted with much responsibility in school because we are expected to take advantage of it.  In the real world, we are expected to take responsibility for our actions but it is impossible to do so without being given any. 

  In a perfect world, students would at least try to appear more responsible and in turn be given more freedom.  Our “wait it out” strategy is not doing much for us now, so all we can do is continue to plead our case for technology use to those in charge.

Creativity can be commonly associated with the people who change the world. To be deemed creative is a compliment. The teachers and parents want their children to have inventiveness. But where has the amount of creativity gone at the high school level? What opportunities do we have to develop our ideas in the school day?

  Moving up in grades can be associated with a gain in “book smarts” where the student gains knowledge about mathematics, history and sciences alike. With the improvement of this newly acquired knowledge, the creativity levels seemingly decrease. In elementary school, we’re asked to let our minds wonder and create new things. Children are asked to build, make patterns and draw. The imagination of an elementary school child is seemingly immaculate.

  Personally, I feel that in the earlier levels of schooling, we are given more time to think freely and learn how to respond to certain factors which influence us daily. The mindset of an elementary level child and a high school teenager, however, are no where near the same. The child’s brain is still growing and attaining knowledge whereas the high school student is more in tune to the social, academic and extracurricular aspect of the day. Where high school students spend time worrying about tests, quizzes and other types of grading, the elementary student is free to have an imagination of infinite possibilities.

  The thought process of an elementary school aged child who doesn’t have to worry about the strictly academic portion of schooling has more time to let his mind come up with new ideas and have a more creative outlook. As high school students don’t seem to get time to get outside and think of new ideas; instead they are more focused and structured into the way of looking at problems and solutions of certain things. Children, at an elementary school level focus on creating new things and new ways of looking at ideas.

  To watch a child build, or simply play with building blocks, can inspire new ideas to anyone watching. To have the creative mind a child has would help create new ideas throughout the world. A child can generate ideas which have never been previously thought of, plausible or not.
  Some ideas as a kid can be thought of as simple or even forgotten, but the fact of the matter is that the ideas and creativity actually existed. The ideas had time to develop and time to be considered. High school kids don’t necessarily have time in their day to reflect on either work they’ve done or create new work.

  The simple truth about creativity is that it takes time and imagination. In the usual high school setting, the imagination is replaced with the need to study or fill that void with more knowledge.

According to http://www.campuscalm.com/, 85% of teens report feeling stressed on a daily basis, with 77% of those students blaming the stress on school work.

Here at South Kingstown High School, some of that percentage accounts for hardworking students enrolled in daunting courses and extracurricular activities afterschool, like Amnesty International, basketball, or SMILE.

These busy students often times feel stressed because they simply do not have enough time in one day to keep up with six hours of school, numerous afterschool activities, and homework. Problems with family and relationships further complicate the issue.

As a way to cope with all of the stress, some students may skip a day of school to make up for lost time on homework and projects, or they may simply drop out of school altogether.

 In fact, an online article discussing the topic of high school dropouts titled, “The Silent Epidemic,” states that 3 out of 10 high school dropouts felt that they could not keep up with their schoolwork when they were enrolled in school.

If students at South Kingstown High School feel extremely stressed and harbor the possibility of dropping out of school, or worse, would it not make sense for the school to provide them with some sort of academic aid?

At one point in time, before 2006, South Kingstown High School did in fact have a way of helping its students ease the burden of homework and projects, some of the things that contribute to major stress among high school students. What relief the school provided to its students came in the form of study hall periods.

However, the study hall periods, which had been scheduled as a regular staple in the school week, eventually came to a close at the hands of Robert McCarthy, the principal, and the administration at South Kingstown High School.

Robert McCarthy claims it was because the state of R.I. required a certain amount of time to be spent actually learning in class, and that during study hall, no time was spent learning. With over 40 minutes of a school day being spent in a non-learning environment, study hall had to be cut.

Most would assume McCarthy issued the cut because some irresponsible students were not using their time properly during study hall, but while that remains a fact, it was not the core reason.

Students who had study hall prior to the cut used it to its fullest, and though some wasted their time, the students who were really dedicated and had good reason for attending, accomplished things.

Those students who actually used study hall are probably in college by now, but even today, students like them exist in our school environment.

It is these students who are overtired, stressed, and in a constant state of anxiousness. These students would find a study hall beneficial, but unfortunately, one does not exist. If study halls were to be reinstituted at South Kingstown High School, they would be well received by students.

Of course, because study halls would still be considered non-learning periods, the school day would have to be extended so that the state’s requirements for a certain number of time to be spent learning were met.

The extension of a school day may not sound ideal to students who stand eagerly by the door at the end of each day waiting for the final bell, but a study hall would be the ultimate prize in the end.

It would be possible, theoretically, to extend the school day from 2:02 to 2:42 for study hall, but study hall would not have to take place each day of the school week. This would help ease the burden of having a long school day every day. There would not have to be a study hall on Friday because of the extra time included on the weekend for working, or Wednesday, because it is typically a shorter day.

For three days a week, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, study hall could be held from 2:02 to 2:42. That would be 40 minutes of time to finish a math assignment, study for the next day’s big test, or get started on a lab report.

In total, 120 minutes per week could be dedicated to study hall.

It would be a good system, but in order to implement such a large change at South Kingstown High School, people would need to support the idea wholly, and urge principal McCarthy to come to that decision.

A relief for stressed students could be a part of South Kingstown High School, but only if others were fully willing to take a step towards a change. Students largely underestimate themselves, as do people in general, but all have the power to voice their opinions and work towards a common, realistic goal, like bringing back a once great tool for students to use once again.

  How difficult is it actually to drop a class?  Why is the process so involved just to remove a student not performing adequately to expectations? 

  Currently, SKHS has a few ways of dropping classes.  Before the semester starts, students can switch out of a class without penalty.

  Within three weeks into the course, the teacher, student, department chair and a host of other people, must sign a “request to switch” form.  That’s a long process, and equally annoying. 

  If a student, for example, decides to enroll in AP U.S History, and fail every test, every quiz, and need to leave the class to lessen the impact on their grade.  It takes weeks to get them out, which does not help.  By the time they begin a lower-level course, they have missed half of the material, not to mention they’ll probably be lost.

  Even more difficult, what about a student who wants to leave at mid-year?  That process is even more a hassle!  Unfortunately,    I happen to be one of the students who desperately wants to escape a course.

  Apparently, according to my teacher, it takes more than a meeting with just teachers, guidance, my parents, and me.  It’s actually such an extensive process that I doubt I will leave before third quarter, if at all.  Seriously, if students like myself cannot handle material in such a difficult class and want to leave, shouldn’t that be their decision?  My decision?  However, I still cannot, even though every effort to help has been exhausted.

  As I stated, when a student drops a class teachers make every effort to aid the student.  However, what about those cases where students are beyond the point of help, and staying in the course just unremittingly hurts their grade until it’s too late to do anything about it?  Every time they bring up the desire to switch, it’s shot down.  Even if they do leave, their new course grade is averaged with the old one (provided they switch out at midyear, and they passed their midyear exam).  For example, what if a student was enrolled in Pre-Calculus, and got a F.  They change to Algebra Topics, and get a B. The overall grade is already a C-!

  It should be the student’s decision whether they continue the class or not; the teacher, guidance and department chair should only just have input.  Even if those aforementioned people agree to let a student switch out, most of the time, it’s too late.

  There should be a better way of letting students switch a course.  If they cannot handle the material, and constantly bomb every test or quiz, and have a strong desire to leave, they must be able to.  It should not be a long and draw out process, and I happen to be a perfect example of that.  Just let me leave!