Opinions Package: A (re)view from the Middle School

History has a habit of repeating itself. For example, in the Torah, the Hebrew Bible, there was a story of an antisemite that wanted to eliminate all the Jews: Haman. Another occurrence of this history repeating itself was during 1933-1945, when Adolf Hitler wanted to exterminate all the Jews. I believe that schools should teach complete, valid information about the Holocaust to students. If this...

Don’t get me wrong, I do like fairy tales — but they give children, especially girls, the wrong idea of how they should act and what life is like. Some of these are Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Rapunzel, but some books that we read as we get older, like Harry Potter, have girls who can get things done — like Hermione Granger, who is so smart and resilient. Books we read as a kid tend to be...

Despite progress towards gender equality, deeply ingrained gender stereotypes continue to shape societal expectations and limit opportunities for individuals based on their gender. Gender stereotyping is a view made by society, or a social construct, of how men and women should act, dress, etc. It isn’t just people part of the LGBTQ+ community that face gender discrimination. Many other people find...

Everyone loves to attend football games and cheer on the Mavs, but they rarely ever come to cheer on other sports. You might be thinking, which sports don’t get a lot of love? Well, there is one sport in particular that needs more support from students: swimming. Both Middle and Upper School swimming teams were at the top of the podium for the 2021 Private School Winter Showcase, hosted by Westfield...

A girl who hangs out with a monkey, goes on crazy adventures with her singing backpack and map, cannot find her Abuela’s house on her own and asks pointless questions all the time seems like a generic, annoying cartoon character, right? But she is not. Dora is one of the most revolutionary cartoon characters that has changed the way kids view the world. According to zippia.com, Dora was the very...

The uphill struggle to battle cancer debilitates millions of people around the world. In 2020, author Roosa Tikkanen, a former research associate at The Common Health Fund, found that 8.6% of cancer patients were unable to pay the insurance to cover medical treatments and combat the disease. Almost a tenth of the American population fails to meet the financial costs of treatments, restricting them...

You probably know of famous baseball and basketball players like Mike Trout and Nikola Jokić, but you never hear about top fencers like Mohamed Hamza and Alexander Massialas. This is a result of generic American selection, which is when someone chooses a generic sport because their friends participate in it, or the sport is simply chosen by their parents. When the most common options of baseball,...

If you’re a basketball fan like me, you’ve heard the question ‘Who’s the GOAT?’ a million times. I personally think it’s Stephen Curry. While some say it’s MJ or King James, it really depends on how you see it. To accurately determine who truly is the GOAT, you could look at the stats of the players and compare their prime years to see who’s “better.” You could also read about...

Parents want their kids to like reading, but they are going about it the wrong way. I have never been an avid reader, but I am getting better. I always thought reading was a punishment or a job I had to get done. My parents used to tell me that I could watch TV for the same amount of time I read each day. They didn’t force me to read, but I knew there was going to be gold at the end of the rainbow,...

Tonight, I will do the same thing I do every night: skincare. When I first used skincare and makeup, I thought it was entertaining and that the products I used would not hurt anyone. So when I uncovered the truth, I was devastated. In the US, over 100 million animals are burned, crippled and poisoned; over 500 million animals are abused each year worldwide. I have loved animals my whole life, so...

Are softball and baseball really that similar? I don’t think so. I am not talking about the size of the ball or the field, but the gender equality while playing these presumably similar sports. Because they definitely are not as alike as we think – and people have begun to notice. “The players will do whatever you put in front of them. They’re not going to complain,” said Patty Gasso,...

Right now there is a city planning crisis. According to the CDC in their article “Teen Drivers and Passengers, Get The Facts” about 2,800 teens in the United States ages 13–19 were killed, and about 227,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes in 2020. That means that every day, about eight teens died due to motor vehicle crashes, and hundreds more were injured. We need to make the streets safer....

I get super excited when someone gets me something from my all time favorite brand, or when my mom or dad says they’ll buy me one thing from a luxury store. I can tell you right now many people probably feel the same way, but why do we get so excited over something so heavily overpriced? The answer all comes down to how business-savvy the owner or CEO of the brand is. The biggest debate holding fashion,...

Over one hundred years of NHL hockey, most of the same qualities of players come to my mind. Most fans would agree that good players are tall, strong and skilled, but the truth is hockey players are overly aggressive, foul mouthed, missing teeth, have huge beards and, most importantly, are white. Throughout its history, hockey has evolved from line brawls and sucker punches at random times to faster,...

Tired of your same old workout routine? Frustrated when you can’t find enough people to shoot hoops or form a baseball team? Game. Set. Match. Tennis is the missing sport in your life. Tennis is a very important sport that I love to play. Tennis is an important sport to me because I’ve been playing tennis since I was three years old. The excitement and joy of hitting the fuzzy yellow tennis...

All sixth graders at St. John’s deal with one concrete truth: seven hours of work, five days a week, 45 minutes of break. We used to be able to have time in the morning to talk before classes started. The seventh and eighth graders still get that chance — but we got morning privileges taken away without warning for being too loud. Losing morning privileges causes us to become more stressed,...

If you own a cat, you might be taking it for granted. The tiger is considered a very bold animal in the wonderful species of cats. These large, beautiful creatures are currently sulking around the savannahs of India, feasting on a wide range of prey from antelopes to elephants. Being one of the apex predators always comes with its perks. But tigers, like everything else, have their own weakness....

For many Americans, college sports are a big part of their lives. Whether it's a Saturday afternoon football game or some late night basketball, Americans love college sports. A big reason for this love is because of the diversity of competitions, and the love that each player puts into their respective sport. Only two basketball teams since 1974 have won back-to-back championships, and these were...

I constantly hear snarky comments that concern the Asian community. “Stop doing that, you’re Asian,” “Why can’t you do this?” or “Say something in Chinese for me,” even though I'm not Chinese. Have you heard of this before? Well, I have. Last year, I was walking through a neighborhood when I passed a group of people. Suddenly, I heard someone say to another about not being able to...

Across the world, male athletes tend to be treated more fairly than women athletes. Well, this should stop. This injustice affects millions of people around the world. Women feel worse about themselves and in turn, men develop a feeling of superiority. It also affects kids around the world, making girls feel like they are not as good as boys. I play tennis and basketball. In tennis, women and...

The American people can’t afford health insurance because our government isn’t helping them. American children are discouraged from playing their favorite sports out of fear of getting injured and not being able to afford medical help. If children get sick, they often go to school and suck it up because their parents might be unable to take them to the doctor. No running around, no climbing trees,...

In previous years, sixth graders at St. John’s were allowed to play on a school team sport. But two years ago, the school removed the option. All throughout Lower School, students learned to play all kinds of team sports. For example, I’ve played softball, basketball, soccer, volleyball, dance, and swimming. Despite this training and experience, St. John’s decided to prevent us from playing...

Clink, clink, clink. That’s the noise of the cash register taking more money from my pocket for women's products. Women’s and men’s razors are practically the same product, yet there is one critical difference between the two — the cost. Whenever I’m walking through the store, I always scan the aisles for equality, but all I find is inequality. Pink Tax — the tendency for products marketed...

Posting a TikTok, sending a snap, putting a photo of yourself on Instagram — all these seemingly innocent things can be done on a cell phone; however, these actions can result in consequences you’ve never imagined, such as cyberbullying and procrastination. This leaves parents begging the question: What is the perfect age for a cell phone? Cell phones can be found almost everywhere. And yes,...

Imagine being trapped, stuck in a dark, rattling cage, unable to speak and feeling petrified. That is what many dogs are put through every day. In the movie Legally Blonde 2, Elle Woods, the main character, sees the mother of her beloved dog being used for testing. Elle understands the cruel actions of animal testing and fights to pass Bruiser's Bill, a law preventing animal testing. Watching the scenes...

163. That’s how many school shootings have happened in 2023 alone. Since the Carry of Firearms For Self-Defense law passed, we have seen 1,072 school shootings over just two years. This number of school shootings equals the same as 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 combined. In past years, the law stated that people could not have a firearm in their possession without a license. Both the U.K. and...

Your dinner makes a difference. Or rather, what you eat in general makes a difference. Meals and diets have long been a topic of controversy in the eyes of newspapers, scientists, and the public. It seems like every two weeks, there is a new diet fad, and that the latest advice changes with the tides. This is because food is versatile. It is used to satisfy hunger, preserve and share a culture,...

I came into sixth grade excited to learn my favorite language. I already knew what language I wanted to learn —I have for years. But no, I would have to take a trimester of two other languages. By the time that I “graduate” from sixth grade I will have already forgotten almost everything about my first and second trimester language. It was at that moment, the start of my Spanish trimester, that...

Would you believe me if I told you that 73% of all violence traces back to video games? Well you shouldn't, because that is completely untrue. Researchers have found no evidence proving violent video games cause violence. Just because I play a game like Call Of Duty or Fortnite doesn’t mean I want to go outside and shoot people in real life. In fact, me, and many other people, use video games to...

Recently I found a new type of book that I enjoy reading: diverse books. Diverse books are books about people from other countries, other cultures, with different traditions and different abilities. I was lucky that my teachers assigned us some great diverse books. Reading books about places like India, Pakistan and Rome gave me a new perspective of the world and helped me understand its diversity....

I went to The Holocaust Museum in DC. From the moment I stepped on the elevator to walking into a real dormitory used during that time, I was blue — but once I laid my eyes on a gas chamber that was used in one of the camps in Auschwitz, I could not hold back my tears. Today, when I see Kanye’s and other antisemitic posts, I can’t help but think of the beginning of the exhibit, which displayed...

We thought we were doomed when a giant, bronze Greek warrior stood between us and victory. The giant warrior was standing over Chesko, our cleric, who was unconscious. Our fighter, Zach, was unable to take part in the fight. The sorcerer's fire was mostly ineffective against the giant. I felt all hope was lost. Not yet. I remembered the magic mirror in the pond, so I cast Mage Hand to snatch it. “Roll...

For 26% of disabled Houstonians, even a walk presents danger. These Houstonians are struggling without accessible streets, unable to enjoy the things they love, including hanging out with their friends and family. Recently, I was on a walk to Walgreens with my aunt, who is in a wheelchair due to a spinal cord injury. The sidewalk had a huge pothole in the middle, and since she could not get around...