Opinion

Articles in this section were written for Ms. Hendrix's 10th grade English classes and edited by the DC Eye editorial staff.

Bloody Halls, Bulletproof Backpacks, and Bumbling Politicians: An American Story

Written by Hanna Furber, Class of 2025, edited by Alexander Harris, Class of 2023, and Melanie Delfosse, Class of 2024

During that bittersweet period of summer known as back to school time, parents deck children out with lunch boxes covered in beloved characters, colorful water bottles labeled with last names, and in some parts of the United States, bulletproof vests. According to Education Week, so far in 2022, 109 people have been killed or injured in school shootings, and 27 of the people killed were students and children. So what solutions have lawmakers created to minimize the need for child-sized bulletproof vests? Adding more guns into the classroom environment does not seem to be the most obvious solution, but many lawmakers promote it. For example, as stated in an article by the National Education Association (NEA), in 2018, after a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Florida left 17 dead, Florida lawmakers refused to implement a ban on assault rifles and instead allotted sixty-seven million dollars to a program dedicated to arming teachers and placing more guns in Florida's schools.

Arming teachers is not an effective solution to gun violence in schools; stricter gun control is the only effective solution to gun violence. Some say that if teachers have weapons, they will be able to defend themselves and their students against active shooters. However, teachers do not have the training required to safely wield weapons and gun-related accidents could result in more deaths than the school shootings themselves. Based on information from the NEA, negligent discharges and misplaced weapons are more likely to occur than the use of a gun by a teacher to actually neutralize a threat. Having concealed weapons in schools only adds to the constant environment of anxiety and fear that students and teachers already experience daily.

The argument for giving teachers guns is based on the idea that more guns means less shootings. This is an idea commonly adopted by politicians who are against stricter gun laws. It is completely ludicrous and false. As stated in an article by the New York Times, the U.S. owns the most guns out of any other country in the world and we experience the most mass shootings. Some might say the U.S. experiences so much gun violence because we have a natural proclivity for crime, but that is untrue. The U.S. does not experience more crime than any other developed country; crime in the U.S. is simply more deadly. For example, according to an article from the New York Times, between 2010 and 2012, American mass shootings were 12 times more deadly than Chinese attacks that occurred throughout the same window. Franklin E. Zimring, a professor of law and director of the Earl Warren Legal Institute at the University of California at Berkeley, and Gordon Hawkins, a senior fellow at the Earl Warren Legal Institute, conducted a survey in 1999. They found that American crime is more deadly simply because Americans own more guns than people in any other country. More guns means more gun violence. Therefore, giving teachers weapons will not prevent gun violence in schools, but it will increase the likelihood of it occurring.

The people of the United States deserve change. After mass shootings in other countries, lawmakers implemented stricter gun control laws. These laws prevented and decreased the number of future shootings. According to an article by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), in 1989, a shooting in Canada prompted gun reforms that led to a minimum twenty-eight day waiting period for purchases, mandatory safety courses, thorough background checks, and greater restrictions on military-style weapons and ammunition. Again and again, America experiences mass shooting events, but lawmakers have not enacted any concrete legislation to control gun violence. As reported by the CFR: “As of mid-2022, there were no federal laws banning semi automatic assault weapons, military-style .50 caliber rifles, handguns, or large-capacity magazines. There was also no federal requirement for those purchasing a gun to have any firearm safety training.” What makes America so resistant to change is the culture around guns. America was founded on the belief that owning guns is the right of every American citizen. That belief makes it difficult to effectuate successful gun control laws, as Americans view their right to bear arms as something distinctly patriotic, and therefore, extremely valuable. But this has put the lives of America’s children, students, and teachers before her firearms.

Arming teachers does not prevent school-based gun violence. Some say that with guns, teachers will be able to protect themselves and their students against active shooters. But guns pose too great a risk to school safety, and the risks greatly outweigh the benefits. Instead, we must urge politicians and lawmakers to create and implement stricter gun laws. According to an article by Science, states within the U.S. that limited children’s access to guns, restricted concealed-carry permits and stand-your-ground policies could expect to see an 11% reduction in annual gun deaths. In the end, the only feasible solution to gun violence is stricter gun laws. You must advocate for reform. Bulletproof vests should not be a product on any child’s back to school shopping list.

Fisher, Max, and Keller, Josh. “Why Does the U.S. Have So Many Mass Shootings? Research Is Clear: Guns.” The New York Times, 7 Nov. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/world/americas/mass-shootings-us-international.html.

Masters, Jonathan. “U.S. Gun Policy: Global Comparisons” Council on Foreign Relations, www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-gun-policy-global-comparisons.

Price, Michael. “Three types of laws could reduce gun deaths by more than 10%” Science, 15 June 2020,

www.science.org/content/article/three-types-laws-could-reduce-gun-deaths-more-10?cookieSet=1.

“School Shootings This Year: How Many and Where.” Education Week, 5 Jan. 2022,

www.edweek.org/leadership/school-shootings-this-year-how-many-and-where/2022/01.

Walker, Tim. “Arming Teachers is Not the Answer.” National Education Association, 5 Mar. 2018, www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from- nea/arming-teachers-not-answer#:~:text=Most%20law%20enforcement%20experts%20agree,receive%20on%20a%20regular%20basis.

The Ways of Religion: There Should Be No Consideration of Religion Inside Our Government

Written by Florencia Silva, Class of 2025, edited by Alexander Harris, Class of 2023 and Melanie Delfosse, Class of 2024

On June 24th, 2022 I carried out my daily routine of waking up and checking my phone, but what I found on my device that day was incredibly horrifying. Roe v. Wade had been overturned and the Supreme Court had chosen religion over the safety and liberty of women. The separation of church and state had never been so blurred. Why is it that our Constitution clearly states we must not mix religion with the government, but our government proceeds to work around the Constitution?

The influence of religion on the government has polarizing opinions. In my opinion, there should be no religious influence on political and legal decision-making. Yet in our Supreme Court, seven out of the nine justices are Catholics. Not all of these justices let religion impact their decision-making, but there are several overtly practicing Catholics who have expressed how their religious views influence their lives. That elucidates why states are able to make laws against LGBTQ rights and abortion rights. BBC has listed 10 states that have recently passed laws with religious intent. Florida passed a law that discriminates against same-sex marriage; the governor of Georgia, Mr. Deal, vetoed a law that would ensure organizations weren’t able to refuse work towards people who didn’t fit the organization's religious beliefs. Similarly to Florida, businesses in Mississippi can now deny their services to gay couples. This law came about because of religious beliefs. Laws like these are being passed with prejudice across the US and have all been created with religious reasoning.

A study conducted by the Pew Research Center showed that over the decades, the percentage of Americans identifying as Christian has decreased. It showed that 50 years ago, 90% of U.S. citizens were Christian, and in those 50 years it has diminished to 64%. The researchers project that by 2060, this number will drop below 50%. Some Christians believe that to save their religion from demise, they need to create a holier world, which means intruding into politics. But to what extent will they go to recreate the society God describes in the Bible? The answer to this question has recently been brought into the bright light we call the media; they would sacrifice the women that bear children because of their religious beliefs. At that point, it is no longer a matter of separation of church and state, but an obligatory action our Supreme Court should be taking to protect the people they are required to serve.

It all ties back to this ideology that followers of God are meant to embed the morals they adopted from the Bible into society to create a holier world. However, this has only drawn a line that divides the American people into followers of Christ and atheists, with no room in between. We saw this during the cruel months we waited for the decision on Roe v. Wade, and most of all when the bill was overturned. News outlets such as CNN and Fox News either reported that abortions are murder and should be outlawed, or that abortion is decision that women deserve to have. These two perspectives were the only ones covered by mainstream media, forcing viewers to choose between those two perspectives, all because of religion.

It is baffling that states, congressmen and women, and Supreme Court justices are able to dodge the laws they expect the rest of the American people to follow, when they don’t themselves. The first amendment in our Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” In basic terms, this means that the government is not allowed to create laws that support or favor a certain religion, or beliefs in that religion. The law is clearly stated in our constitution. Why can’t our nation seem to follow it?

As a 15-year-old female growing older and older, it is incredibly horrifying going into a society that dismisses our constitution and the laws that brought this country alive. It is fair to agree that religion should be respected, but there should be no place in our government for religious motives, especially when it comes to law-making. To the Catholics in the government: John 15:12-13. “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.” You have not loved everyone the way the bible says you must. Don’t let your religious beliefs blind you from the oaths you took.

“Americans Have Positive Views about Religion's Role in Society, but Want It out of Politics.” Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project, Pew

Research Center, 30 May 2020, www.pewresearch.org/religion/2019/11/15/americans-have-positive-views-about-religions-role-in-society-but-want-it- out-of-politics/.

“Constitution of the United States,” art. 1, amend. 1 https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-1/.

Stewart, Katherine. “How the Christian Right Took over the Judiciary and Changed America.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 25 June 2022,

www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/25/roe-v-wade-abortion-christian-right-america.

“2. Projecting U.S. Religious Groups' Population Shares by 2070.” Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project, Pew Research Center, 13 Sept.

2022, www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/09/13/projecting-u-s-religious-groups-population-shares-by- 2070/#:~:text=Christians%20would%20decline%20as%20a,but%20no%20longer%20a%20majority.

“Which US States Have Passed Religious Laws?” BBC News, BBC, 7 Apr. 2016, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35990353.

Can I take a nap?

Written by Natalie Tubilla-Chevez, Class of 2025, edited by Alexander Harris, Class of 2023

BEEP BEEP BEEP!! 6 hours of sleep and it’s already time to go to school. An hour to get ready and I can barely get out of bed. I drag myself into the bathroom just to find dark circles coating my under eyes. The same dark circles that I see under my classmates’ eyes every day as they yawn and complain about their exhaustion. Ugh…I need a nap

I believe that high schoolers should get a scheduled nap time. This is because high school students get less sleep at night. According to the Sleep foundation, “For teens, the recommended amount of sleep is 8-10 hours per day.” I for certain do not fulfill that recommendation. I usually fall asleep around midnight and wake up at 6. I even have rowing practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when I have to wake up at 4. Even though I try to go to sleep early, I either can’t fall asleep or I go in and out of sleep. The CDC states, “The prevalance of short sleep duration among high school students in the national YRBS was 72.7%,” proving that high schoolers do not get enough sleep. Sleep is a key component, and not having enough of it can affect anyone, especially teens. High schoolers are teens that are still going through the stages of brain development. At this point in our lives, the amount of sleep that we get is crucial.

Another supporting reason for scheduled nap times is that students can become more alert and engaged in class. According to an article on Sleepopolis by Annie Walton Doyle, “Taking what’s known as a ‘NASA nap’ of 26 minutes has been proven to enhance alertness by 54%.” Students need to be alert in class in order to be able to properly absorb information and be able to apply it to future classes. Similarly, another section of this article states, “Napping for as little as an hour can reset your short term memory, allowing you to better retain information after you wake up.” This memory reset is one of the many benefits of a nap. High school is the foundation for college. In high school, students have to worry about their GPA, extracurriculars, SAT/ACT, college applications, and much more. It's a lot of work and a lot of stress. Having a scheduled time during the day at school to be able to take a break that isn’t lunch (which is necessary because students should be eating at least three times a day) would give students something to look forward to.

Furthermore, the performance of students can be affected by sleep deprivation. The Sleep Foundation states, “It is widely accepted by sleep experts that a lack of sleep reduces cognitive abilities and can harm school performance in children and teens.” Many experts have researched this topic and have concluded that lack of sleep affects the performance of students. Additionally, the sleep foundation states, “Short sleep may reduce sharpness, slow reaction time, and hinder the ability to quickly take in and analyze information.” Throughout class, students have to take tests and answer questions. When students don’t get enough sleep, it becomes more difficult to get through those tests and questions. Getting that extra energy and concentration from a nap could really help.

Although naps have many benefits, there are some controversies surrounding the idea of taking a nap. For example, insomnia is a common struggle for many people. One article on Sleep resolutions quotes the director of a sleep center, Ralph Downey lll, who says, “Even just a little bit of a power nap reduces your nighttime sleep drive.” For insomniacs this poses an issue because they already struggle to sleep at night. If they were to take naps in the afternoon, they wouldn't feel as tired as they need to be in order to fall asleep later that day. However, napping does not necessarily cause insomnia, and insomniacs could resolve that challenge by taking naps earlier in the day.

Teenagers deserve to have a time where they can reset and destress. Nap times could also contribute to higher test scores. If preschoolers can get nap times, so can we. If we have to get up early for school, we should at least have a break sometime during the school day.

“Can School Performance Be Improved With Good Sleep?” Sleep Foundation, 29 Apr. 2022, www.sleepfoundation.org/children-and-sleep/sleep-and-school- performance.

“14 Benefits Of Napping for College Students.” Sleepopolis, 11 May 2022, sleepopolis.com/education/14-benefits-napping-college-students/#:~:text=Naps can improve concentration and,helping out with your partying.Jackie Compton, RST.

“Pros and Cons of Naps.” Snoring, Sleep Apnea, Sleep Studies, CPAP, BiPAP, www.sleepresolutions.com/blog/pros-and-cons-of-naps.

“Short Sleep Duration Among Middle School and High School Students - United States, 2015.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25 Jan. 2018, www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/mm6703a1.htm.

Video Games: The Underappreciated Art

Written by Julian Irlandez, Class of 2025, edited by Alexander Harris, Class of 2023

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), the gaming industry in the past few decades has overtaken the music and film industry combined in revenue, but in the public eye, it is still seen as a hobby for a fringe subculture made up of antisocial teens. This stereotype undermines the medium as a whole, highlighting the industry’s marketing problems. Video games should be seen as an artistic medium but the players, industry, and society aren’t giving it proper support and recognition.

For example, video games are sold more as a product rather than a piece of art. To an outside observer, video games might appear to be just violence, blood, and guns, but that is a very skewed perspective. The news only reports on controversial games, which tend to be games with guns (which in itself is a whole other can of worms). What they don’t do is put a spotlight on all the other creative games and creators. Books, music, and film all receive acknowledgement in the form of reviews, advertisements, interviews, and placement on network TV, but it is rare for video games to garner similar attention. In order for this issue to be resolved, the perception of games and players must be changed.

Gaming is no longer a small subculture of just young adolescents. In fact, according to the Entertainment Software Association, most people who are avid players of video games are over 18 and are most commonly 35 years old, with productive lives and families. Since the medium is so stigmatized, many people don’t want to identify as gamers. Gamers usually defend themselves by saying things like “I don’t play all the time” or “I have a life too,” but this notion perpetuates the perception of gaming as something shameful and therefore, not to be celebrated. Another problem with the medium is the amount of options you have to sift through to find out what gets you hooked. With books, music, and film, you can look for a genre you enjoy like romance, jazz, or anime. With games, there are some of those same genres, and on top of that, the gameplay. Despite all being the same medium, games can play very differently from one another: some are reflex-based like shooters, platformers, or just dancing, whereas some require more thinking like puzzle, turn-based, or visual novel games, and there are genres that can be combined to make new styles of games. These options make it hard to find what type of game you’d enjoy.

The industry is also falling short on showcasing the creativity and work that goes into making a game. As a viewer of the Game Awards, which is arguably the biggest game awards ceremony, it’s hard to connect to the creators of games when there is little transparency on how games are made. Instead, celebrities who have no relation to the games are the focus. It's important to celebrate the game artists because it’s hard to fully appreciate something if you don’t understand the process. For example, you might pick a movie because there is a director you like or listen to a song because you know the musician, but people don’t usually make that same connection for video games.

A video game’s production includes musicians, artists, cinematographers, actors, programmers, and jobs that are unique to games like game designers. Despite relying on artistic talent, critics against calling video games art say two things: true art isn’t interactive and video games haven’t yet compared to any other “classic” works in other mediums. Critics point out that depending on how players interact with it, they can change the artist's original vision. This makes no sense to me; all art is interactive. When looking at a painting, the viewer’s own perspective shapes their beliefs and interpretations. The second argument that games have not made as much of an impact on culture is based on opinion. I have played games that have affected me more emotionally than Shakespeare and were more thought-provoking than the Mona Lisa. Most of these critics have not interacted with the medium, and it makes you wonder why it's so important for them to argue video games are not art.

If video games were more accepted by the public, they could eventually be viewed as art, and the same is true the other way around: if video games are viewed as art, then they would be more accepted by the public. Video games are art, but are also a way to keep in touch with friends, stress relievers after a long day of work, a form of self expression, and a way to showcase creativity. This article has barely scratched the surface of video games as an art form, but I implore you to look into the topic on your own as well.

Stojanovic, Milica. “Gamer Demographics from 2022: No Longer a Men's Only Club.” PlayToday.co, 20 Sept. 2022, playtoday.co/blog/stats/gamer-

demographics/.

Witkowski, Wallace. “Videogames are a bigger industry than movies and North American sports combined, thanks to the pandemic.” MarketWatch, 22 Dec.

2020, www.marketwatch.com/story/videogames-are-a-bigger-industry-than-sports-and-movies-combined-thanks-to-the-pandemic-11608654990.

K-Pop & The Industry's Love-Hate Relationship With It

Written by Delaney MacGregor, Class of 2025, edited by Alexander Harris, Class of 2023

At some point, you have heard Korean pop music on TikTok or an award show, or maybe you have seen groups like BTS performing on Good Morning America, or SEVENTEEN performing on The Tonight Show. These groups you've heard of, whether that’s GMA loudly singing “some random gibberish” or TikTok dancing to a trending sound, have been fighting the western industries' constant tactics to keep them from getting where they are today. Korean media is now a widely accepted and loved style, but music executives are not happy about it.

In 2012, Gangnam Style by PSY was released, and people had no clue what he was saying and labeled the Korean lyrics as complete gibberish, myself included at age 6. It was one of the biggest songs to come from a Korean act and peaked on the “Billboard Hot 100” at #2, but it was not nominated for a single award, even in categories such as the top streaming song or the best dance song. Korean artists sit back and watch their music get critically acclaimed for the whole year, but they don't receive any recognition at internationally-known shows like the Grammys. According to The Washington Post, award shows have a known history of using a “Separate but Equal” Philosophy, where they excuse their segregation and exclude foreign acts from being recognized in general categories. Instead, they create categories like “Best Urban” or “Best Latin.” The Europe VMAs just released this year's nominees, where the K-Pop group SEVENTEEN has only been nominated under best k-pop, even though they had one of the most significant responses to their “MTV: Push Performance” video since the start of the series, with 1.5 million views on their performance.

Radio Stations and Award Academies say, “people don't know K-pop here,” but that is a lie. Groups such as BTS and Blackpink have sold out stadiums and arenas on several tours. New K-Pop groups that have been around for less than two years have already completed sold-out arena tours. For example, ‘Monster Rookie Group’ ENHPYEN debuted just over a year ago and just wrapped up their first USA sold-out arena tour. BTS’ album Map Of The Soul: 7 was the 3rd best-selling album of the year on the Billboard Charts and one of the year's top-streamed albums. K-pop groups and their fans helped bring back the selling of physical albums with incentives like photocards, stickers, posters, and more. The list of achievements is long, but somehow, radio DJs believe K-Pop isn't well-known.

The stigma against East Asians is still prevalent and is a significant factor in K-Pop's role in the music industry. The former president of the U.S. called Covid-19 ‘The China Virus,” and the Secretary of State called the disease the “Wuhan Virus.” The media today has played a significant role in exposing Asian hate crimes. K-Pop trainee Wu Beomhan has been the victim of two hate crimes in New York City this year alone. He went live a few days after the assault and recounted the crime, explaining that he was called racist and homophobic slurs and was physically assaulted. Hate crimes similar to what happened to Wu are being televised more due to the growth of awareness and education on the topic.

America claims to be a ‘welcoming’ country, but it fails to acknowledge the discrimination and xenophobia that Asian people face within its own systems, especially in the entertainment industry. As the general public begins to enjoy the genre, the fear of listening to something in an unfamiliar language will go away and the American music industry will begin appreciating music regardless of any barriers. As Parasite director Bong Joon-ho explains, “Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.”

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Liu, Marian. “The ‘separate but equal’ rules of American music awards." The Washington Post,

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