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Southeast Alamance High School Online Newspaper
ADDIE'S VIEW
ADDIE'S VIEW
Addison Bennett is a staff writer for The Daily Trot, and this is her opinion column known as "Addie's View." Her column covers topics of the day, a focus on writers and artists and a personal spin on current events.
Year after year, technology advances to the point where social interaction becomes a rarity. Photo by camilo jimenez on Unsplash
Does Technology Make Us Lonely?
Does Technology Make Us Lonely?
by Addison Bennett
With the rise of a variety of new technological inventions, more and more people use these inventions more than ever before. Many of them spending more and more time with these machines rather than with loved ones or friends.
Is this the age of technological intimacy? Maybe not. This is the start of the age of technological loneliness.
Have you ever had a point in your day where you just wanted to talk to someone but you didn’t have anyone around? Well, many people do feel this sometimes, though, in the past many people would chose to ignore these feeling and often entertain themself in their own unique way. Now, in the modern age, people are starting to turn their thoughts to technology.
This issue might not look like a problem at first, but, once you realize you are telling a thing made out of metal your whole life story, it gets to becomes a problem.
People growing dependent on their phone or computers (or simply any form of technology) are investing their time into developing a somewhat relationship with these objects.
First, though, this loneliness has nothing to do with being by yourself all the time or simply not going from time to time; this loneliness involves the idea of losing relationships with others. Falling into a loneliness caused by this technology becomes a driving force in relationship building.
Individuals may be drawn to these online activities because they offer connections, companionship and a feeling of freedom in the digital world. This dependency is extremely unhealthy for you and the people you normally hang around like your family, friends and even people you might work with. The use of technology can become an addiction where you cannot express true empathy and intimacy with real, breathing people.
Isolated people who use the internet to escape from social interaction reduce the time they spend outside of the online world and participating in social interactions. This was extremely relevant when the world was under lockdown during Covid-19. Many people locked themselves away in their homes, mothers, fathers, but more importantly children were letting their minds turn to technology to know what was happening around them.
The reason I turn my focus to the children is because children are much more easily influence with potentially dangerous topics, especially on the internet.
Studies have shown that after the lockdown and when school opened back up for the public, students had the most trouble communicating and talking with other peers, and this was due to technology and online communication.
Overall, I find it that we should not spend a extended amount of time online to the point where we are displaying our personal lives on it. The online world can be a escape from life, and I understand that, I too spend time on the internet to get rid of worry. Yet, I do not spend hours and hours on social media.
The point stands that you should never prioritized your online self more than your true self. Spend some time with your family, friends and your offline self.
Author Spotlight: Albert Camus
Albert Camus may not be the household name such as Hemingway or Fitzgerald, but his legacy of art and writing changed literature forever. Photo courtesy of Africa American Registry.
by Addison Bennett
“In the midst of Winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.” - Albert Camus, from “Return to Tipasa”
Whether you have heard about him or not, Albert Camus drove forward the development of literature as we know it.
Albert Camus, born November 7, 1913, in Mondovi, French-Algerian (now known as Drean, Algeria) was a renowned French writer known for the novels, The Stranger and The Myth of Sisyphus, along with his journals and essays.
Albert Camus came from humble beginnings. He grew up in a place of poverty after his father died in World War I in 1914. He lived with his mother, Lucien Auguste Camus, and Catherine Helene Sintes, a cleaner of the household who helped raise Camus with his mother after his father passed.
Throughout his school years his teachers, mainly his primary school teacher, Louis Germain, noticed his amazing writing ability. Being able to create immense stories that the reader could relate to in ways never thought could possible, Camus shined early on.
His teachers formed a dedication to his ability, helping him throughout school so much so he was able to attend the University of Algerian, where he studied philosophy. Though his education path was constantly being interrupted when he was diagnosed with tuberculosis at the age of 17.
His disease, though, did not stop him from wanting to learn. A mentor by the name of Jean Grenier helped Camus develop his intellectual ideas about philosophy and literature. He also found inspiration from writers such as Franz Kafka, which he wrote about at the end of The Myth of Sisyphus, along with well-known philosophers like Nietzsche and Plotinus.
In 1936, Camus finished his graduate diploma, writing a thesis on the relationships between Greek and Christian thoughts through the use of the philosophy of Plotinus and Saint Augustine. After he graduated, he pursued journalism, theatre arts and politics in Algeria before he moved to France. There, he worked for the newspapers like Alger-Rebublican, and he soon joined the French Resistance during World War II by working as editor of Combat during German occupation.
In the late 1930s, Camus founded Theatre du Travail, in Algiers to produce and act in plays, pursuing his love for the hobby and for his love of drama. Along with marrying his first wife, Simon Hie in 1934, but latter divorcing in 1936. He would then marry again to artist and mathematician Francine Faure. Their marriage was complex, often because of rumors of affairs, most notable with actress Maria Casares. Though Fraure is recognized as he long-term spouse and mother of his twin children.
He would later write his debut book, The Stranger as well as his most popular essay The Myth of Sisyphus.
On January 4, 1960, while driving back to his family with his friend Michal Gallimard, a tire blew out leading them to a high-speed crash. They crashed in a tree in Villeblevin, France where Camus died instantly. Later that day Camus contemplated riding the train rather than taking a car. At the crash sight his unused train ticket was found in his pocket.
There is a sense of absurd irony found in his death. Camus often discussed the absurdity of life, and in a haunting twist, Camus stated that the most tragic way to die was to be in a car crash.
Camus books hold an incredible meaning. They gather the deep concepts surrounding life. Albert Camus wrote about the absurd, conflicted and the true feeling of indifference. He wrote books of compelling fiction and influenced modern existential thought, morality and literature.
His life was cut short, but he made the most of it through his art.
To Ban or Not to Ban: That Should Not be the Question
To Ban or Not to Ban: That Should Not be the Question
by Addison Bennett
Books being banned in libraries, both among the general public and in many schools, is not a new issue. Since 213 BCE in China and ancient Rome, books were being banned left and right. In 1637, the United States started its own banning practice.
Why did they do it? Why do some people want books to be banned? Should these books be banned? All good questions, which will hopefully be answered in this article.
Books have been banned since 213 BCE. The historical burning of books in China, occurring under Emperor Qin Shi Huang, was an act of banning books that went against his ideas. In ancient Rome, not only were books being banned, but the people writing them were too. Roman poet Ovid was banished from his town in Rome because of his writings that went against the acceptable ideas of the time.
As time went by, the United States soon started its own bans, starting in 1637, the first banned book being New English Canaan by Thomas Morton. Banned by the Puritan government in Massachusetts because of its harsh critique of their customs, power structure, and treatment of Indigenous populations.
Books like The Color Purple by Alice Walker, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov are just a few banned books. Why are these books banned in the first place?
Just by reading that list of banned books, you can understand why some people want these books banned. Lord of the Flies which focuses on a group of boys stranded on an island because of a plane crash and resorting to cannibalism for survival. Lolita contains the story of a man having romantic fanatics about an underage girl. To Kill a Mockingbird is a book about the violence of racism and how the justice system as racially biases towards African-Americans in the deep South.
All of these books have a dark and unsettling story behind them. Parents often create local groups discussing these books, and they make up their minds if a petition to ban these books should begin.
But is this really a good thing to do? Should we ban these books? Should we ban these books for telling the truth about our world?
Once you understand why some of these books are being banned, you can gain an idea that these books might be seen as "bad". In reality, these books hold important meanings by facing themes of our world head-on through the art of words. Even with the banning of a book, it will just gain more recognition for the reason it was banned in the first place.
Overall, these banned books hold a fine truth behind them. The Great Gatsby explores the American dream, the rich, and how, in reality, they live as just as pathetic a life as the lower class. His book talks about the truth of the class system in our world. a book about overcoming trauma I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings speaks the truth about racism in America.
Overall, these books should not be banned just because they hold a “touchy subject”; they should be remembered for their courage in talking about the truth.
Books should hold an important grasp on us and our everyday lives. They hold the words of what might come in the future and what already happened in the past.
AI is often seen as a useful tool; however, it can lead to a lack of creativity and unique thought. Photo by Immo Wegmann on Unsplash
Editorial: I hate "AI SLOP"; You Should Too
Editorial: I hate "AI SLOP"; You Should Too
by Addison Jayne Bennett
One of the words for the 2025 “word of the year” was “AI Slop”. Many people use this word to describe the use of generated images and other artistic works. People say AI is awful, it’s bad for the environment, bad for your health and just plain bad for you. Period.
And I agree.
Taking this on a personal matter, I am a person of creative insight. along with creating and listening to music, I love to write and I love to paint and draw. With the growing use of AI, especially in 2025, original and human-made creative ideas in the artistic area have fallen. Art being generated by people simply putting in an AI prompt is soulless, heartless and overall idiotic.
Think….Just take a moment to think. Think of all the real artists, writers and musicians that put their heart and soul into their creations, and then comes along a “slopper” which is what we call a person we using AI to generate images. They just place in some words into a type bar and call it a day.
Let the AI work it out. Let AI do the thinking. Let AI do thing us humans created and find passion in.
Not only is this form of “art” hurtful to the real people who love creating, but it is also harmful in so many areas of art.. Inappropriate images can be generated with this technology which can lead to severe mental health problems.
In the past years, AI has been used by sick people to create nudifed picture of women and men. Images also made of both adults and children.
Adults, teens and children posting or being posted on the internet have no idea if they will be safe. These sick people can use your picture to create images and videos of sexual context, abuse and other inappropriate content. This is already a growing problem, and there are already cases unraveling around this form of blackmail.
Some may say that at least AI isn’t harming the environment, and they would be wrong.
AI infrastructures use water for cooling data centers. These infrastructures use a single 100 megawatt of data per day, 2 million liters of water are used in these sites per day. In the year 2027 scientist have predicted that over 4.2 to possibly 6.6 billion liters of water will be used up due to AI. This amount used up can and will be the leading cause of environmental decay all over the world.
Overall, my point is clear. AI is not a thing to be celebrated or looked at favorably. Think twice before you pick up your phone and use ChatGPT for that English essay.
For once, think for yourself, be creative and let your imagination run for a moment. Write something down, draw a little doodle, it doesn’t have to be good, and hey, remember that instrument or that song you really wanted to learn? You should pick that instrument up and sing your unique song.
Put the phone down and live in the moment.
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