Category Archives: Opinion

Why high school students should play sports (OPINION)

Posted on by Leave a comment

By Christian Pietrowski,

In my opinion, everyone should play a sport in high school. Students should play a sport because it helps keep them focused.

If a high school student plays a sport it will help their grades improve because you cannot play if you have more than one “F” on your report card. This rule helps students because students will work hard to be able to stay on the team that the students work so hard on.

”After-school opportunities are enriching experiences for students.”, said Ms.Cook, a graphic design teacher at Patterson High School. “They are often the hook for students to stay engaged in school. They also provide hands-on opportunities for team-work and leadership.”

Senior Alvaro Flores added, ” High school sports can help athletes prepare for college and help them be seen and it can help students stay focused in school.”

Even if you are not a star athlete hoping to get a full-ride sports scholarship, getting involved in school sports can still be a fun and rewarding activity that helps you succeed in life.

Open letter to Donald Trump

Posted on by Leave a comment

Dear President Trump:

My name is Tatyana Matthews and I am a 17-year-old junior at Patterson High School in Baltimore, MD.

I am writing to let you know that I am disappointed that you are now the Commander-in-Chief. The way that you degrade women, calling them pigs, ugly, and fat is not acceptable behavior for our leader. You have a mother, a wife, a daughter, and granddaughters. How would you feel if they were targeted in that way?

Your views on Hispanics go to show that you are out of touch with this culture. My mother, uncle, aunt, and cousins are of Hispanic background. They work hard every day, provide food on the table, clothes on our backs, and a roof over our heads. They are not causing any trouble like you said.

Lastly, your comments about helping all African-Americans get off welfare were inappropriate. Not all African-Americans are on welfare. I come from a strong background of hardworking families. I have been nurtured under a grandmother who raised a son and two daughters with no government assistance. My mother is also raising myself and my sister with no assistance from the government.

In closing, you need to choose your words wisely. Also, you need to connect with the people to bridge the gap of hate you created. We are a great nation and we need a great leader.

Sincerely,

Tatyana Matthews

The difference between love and lust

Posted on by Leave a comment

By Justist Rice,

Love and lust are very confusing and similar things. The difference between the two is not that hard or complicated to figure out.

First, let’s start with lust. Lust is a strong physical attraction you have for a person. You experience lust before love because before you get to know someone what draws your attention to that person is physical features. When you lust for someone you see them in a sexual way, you feed off their physical features that you are most attracted to like their smile, or if you think they’re really attractive even their body structure could be one of those things that attracts you to that person.

Love is a totally different thing. Love is when you’re not just physically attracted but emotionally attached to that person as well. Love is a spiritual thing, a feeling that comes from your heart. Love is like a drug; its like an addiction. You start to feel like you need that person, and if you don’t have them then you feel incomplete.

It’s always good to have both of these things in a healthy relationship. If you have love with no lust in a relationship you will soon start to grow bored with your partner. You’re going to feel like that spark you had is slowly dying out. If you have lust with no love your physical attraction to that person will soon be the only thing that matters.

Donald Trump’s beginning

Posted on by Leave a comment

By Joselin Miranda,

In the month of November 2016, the United States elected a new president: Donald Trump. To many Americans, this was a very shocking election but to other Americans, it was the best. One thing that many Americans didn’t like was Donald Trump’s racial slurs. Many things he has said were about Mexicans, Muslims, African Americans/Blacks, disabled people, women and the LGBT community. Donald Trump’s slogan is ‘Make America Great Again’ which is supposedly what he is going to do, but is there a place for everyone in Trump’s America?

For me as a Latina in America, Donald Trump being elected as president is very hard to accept. Many things were said about Mexicans such as “When mexico sends its people they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems with them. They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists…and some, I assume are good people”. For me being a girl in high school I am offended in so many ways. I may not be from Mexico but he’s basically talking about all Latinos. Here in Patterson High School we have a very diverse group of students, including Latinos, Asians, African American, Africans, Indians, and Muslims. In our Latino culture we are usually united together so we all take this as an offensive matter.

To the LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) community he disrespected their identity of who they are and who they’re interested in. Donald Trump said, “I have so many fabulous friends who happen to be gay, but I am traditional”, which means he doesn’t approve of it. This means he didn’t gain the vote of their community because the President Obama had approved of gay marriage.

Donald Trump always talks about women and how they are useless and nothing to him. In many feminists’ opinion, he was not a president women wanted, unless you were a stupid women. He would say how he could do anything to a women if he wanted to.

Donald Trump wants to “make America great again” but he does not respect the majority of the American people. We will need to unite together to survive the next four years.

An anti-Trump poster made by student Angela Rivas-Benitez Photo: Patterson Press)

An anti-Trump poster made by student Angela Rivas-Benitez (Photo: Patterson Press)

 

Building over nature

Posted on by Leave a comment

By Marina Siebor,

For the longest time, we have been polluting the earth by making factories, littering and releasing toxic fumes into the air, which is harmful to humans and the earth.

Even when you think you’re doing the world some good by recycling, you still can’t escape the fact that your everyday uses are polluting the earth and nature around you. In the USA, littering is illegal. If a cop sees you in the act, you can receive a fine up to $500 and receive up to a year in jail.

All in all, we should stop littering because it’s bad for us and it’s bad for the earth.

 

 

 

Baltimore City Schools should have more interactive field days

Posted on by Leave a comment

By: Christian Pietrowski

Baltimore City Public schools aren’t as interactive as people may think. I think every city school should have at least one field day where the students go outside and play games and interact with each other. In other Maryland districts every school from elementary to High school do field days at least once a year.

If City schools would have field day for every school in school violence would decrease by 23% according to Baltimore city public schools. According to BCPS the main reason the city hasn’t pursued this is because parents are afraid of the neighborhoods and scared of what would happen if their kids where outside for 3+ hours. A couple states have made this move and made it mandatory for every school to have at least 1 field day per school year. A state that has done this is Ohio and according to Ohiopublicschools.com in school violence for the worst schools decreased dramatically.

According to Amadou Bah, a student at Patterson High School, “it would be a great thing for schools to have a field day at least once per school year because then students can get out and get exercising and get stretching and active”. Ms. Masati, an English teacher at Patterson High, says “Yes, but students should also have a hour of activity and movement every day.”

I think every school district in the country should pursue this it really would help build bonds between students and teachers.

Freedom of the Press Matters (OPINION)

Posted on by Leave a comment

By Justist Rice,

Freedom of the press is very important because it gives everybody a right to voice their opinions and express how people really feel. There have been more and more victims to police brutality every day. People’s families have been broken because of the deaths of family members at the hands of police abusing their authority. There are so many people who are hurt and angry. They all have stories to tell, and freedom of the press helps them tell their stories.

Government censorship affects journalism in a very bad way, because it blocks out and ignores very important facts,  making it difficult to tell the whole story. Before Freedom of the Press, people weren’t allowed to voice their opinions, and if they did they were either arrested or bullied, and were stopped from writing–period.

There are limits to Freedom of the Press, such as libel, fabrication, and invasion of privacy. All these things are forbidden. People are not allowed to publish false statements to damage someone else’s reputation. It’s also forbidden to invade someone else’s privacy, meaning you can’t take a picture of someone if they are not in a public place. Similarly, you can’t hack into someone’s emails or messages and post them online.

In many states, reporters for school publications do not have the same rights as other news reporters. In many schools, student reporters are not allowed to talk about certain things, such as politics. The Maryland New Voices Act, which went into affect this October, allows student journalists to exercise freedom of speech without prior restraint. It gives student reporters a chance to express their opinions on any topic. Freedom of the Press is essential for people who want their voices to be heard, who are tired of being overlooked, who want to vent to the world.

Forsett and The Ravens part ways

Posted on by Leave a comment

By Anthony McNeill,

After a week 4 loss at home against the underrated Oakland Raiders, not even 72 hours after the game, the Ravens cut veteran running back Justin Forsett. I think that was a bit of a bad decision because their running back group needs a leader to set the example for the young backs the Ravens have.

Justin Forsett is a veteran so I don’t think that was a good move. If the Ravens don’t sign a veteran running back that has experience with playoffs to give them a edge in close games, then the young guys will freeze up in critical moments .

Everyone knows the name and number of Justin Forsett (#29). Getting rid of him wasn’t very beneficial and was a big loss for the Baltimore Ravens . During the 2014-2015 season Forsett’s rush yard total was 1,266. It would have been beneficial for him to stay because when he came to the Ravens it was his first year rushing for over 1,000 yards.

« Older Entries Recent Entries »