Kitchen of Controversy!

No

By: Bina Rizal, 7th Grade

Imagine walking into a store and your favorite soda costs as much as a small car! Why was the math book so sad during the sugar tax debate? Because it had too many weight problems! Har har har!

Sugary drinks are basically liquid candy, and experts say they are a huge reason why more people are becoming overweight. By adding a tax, the price goes up, and suddenly that fizzy drink looks a lot less refreshing to your wallet. Studies from cities like Philadelphia show that when prices rise, sales of these sugary drinks drop by about 35 percent.

This isn't just about taking your lunch money; that tax cash can do some cool stuff. Cities can use the money to build better parks or improve school lunch programs for students like us. It’s like turning a "sweet tooth" into a "sweet swing" for everyone to enjoy.

Wait a minute! Is it really fair to make everyone pay more just because some people can't say no to a scrumptious-looking cookie? Loads of critics argue that this tax would hit families with less money the hardest, which is a sour deal if you ask me. Plus, if soda is too expensive, people might just switch to other junk food that isn't taxed yet. It would take a long while to tax all that rubbish.

Solving obesity is harder than beating a level-99 boss in your favorite video game-if you play any. Taxes might help, but people also need better gyms, more sleep, and fewer snacks that have mysterious ingredients. There's more we can do than just place a tax on the mountains of trashy foods. Did you hear about the skeleton who refused to pay the sugar tax? He just didn't have the guts for it!

In the end, taxing sugar is an enormous experiment that many countries are trying in order to save lives. Whether you're Team Tax or Team Treat, it's clear we need a plan to keep our bodies healthy. So, next time you reach for a soda, remember that your health is worth more than any price tag at the grocery store!

Yes

By: Bina Rizal, 7th Grade

Think about the last time you were bored for more than five seconds without reaching for your phone like it was a life raft in a sea of snacks. Why was the mobile phone wearing glasses? Because it lost all its contacts!

Your phone is like a tiny, glowing genius in your pocket, but it might be doing too much of the heavy lifting for your brain. Research shows that just having your phone on your desk-even if it's turned off can lower your ability to focus and solve tough problems. Scientists call this "brain drain"-Hehe!-because part of your mind is constantly working just to ignore the device. It’s basically a high-stakes game of "Don't Look at the Screen," and your brain is losing!-Knee slapper!

When we use our phones to Google every single question, we become "cognitive misers" who are too lazy to think for ourselves. Instead of building strong mental muscles by remembering facts, we rely on our "extended mind" to hold all our information. This can lead to "Digital Dementia," where we start getting forgetful because we’ve outsourced our memory to an app. Why did the computer show up late to school? It had a hard drive!

Smartphones are also the kings of distraction, especially when you're trying to finish that mountain of homework. Every notification is a tiny "ding" that resets your focus, making tasks take way longer than they should. Studies found that middle school students who use social media more often actually see their grades go down. It’s like trying to run a marathon while someone keeps stopping you to show you a video of their cat playing the piano. #mozartcat!

Even our sleep and social skills are taking a hit from too much screen time. Staring at that blue light before bed tricks your brain into thinking it's daytime, leaving you feeling like a zombie in the first period. Plus, if we're always looking down at a screen, we might forget how to talk to real people in person. What do you call a sleepy computer? A naptop!

So, are we doomed to be outsmarted by our own gadgets? Not necessarily, but we definitely need to learn when to put the "smart" phone away and use our own "smart"-hopefully-brains. Whether it's leaving your phone in another room while you study or just taking a break from TikTok-ugh, you’re the boss of your technology. Remember, a smartphone is just a tool-don't let it be the one using you!

No

By Abigail Pallaci, 8th Grade

Were you ever afraid of the dark as a child, or even now? It’s likely this fear stems from the belief that ghosts or other paranormal beings exist. Ghosts are paranormal creatures of the dead, and are widely believed to exist, and have been for a long time! While the controversy will forever exist, it is believed to be true that ghosts are not real.

Scientifically, there is no proof that ghosts exist. In fact, ghosts are scientifically impossible! According to all things science, there is no “soul”, and therefore no supernatural beings. Ghosts are known to be lifeless souls which usually hold deep feelings of regret, vengeance, and “unfinished business”. While the intricate story may seem convincing, there is also no scientific evidence of ghosts. People have reported seeing ghostly figures in photographs, but those figures were likely shadows or other people who weren’t properly captured due to poor camera quality. All “proof” of ghosts or paranormal entities have a scientific reasoning explaining what truly was occurring. 

Apart from realistic AI videos and images, the next best thing people have as proof of ghosts is their own minds. A survey in 2023 reported that at the time, 41% of Americans believed in ghosts, and 20% believe that they’ve encountered a ghost before. When people supposedly encounter paranormal entities, they usually aren’t lying about what they saw. The mind, especially when under stress, is known to heighten senses or make people see/hear things that aren’t really there. This is more common when a person is under the influence of alcohol or other substances, but can also occur in cases of severe sleep insomnia, severe stress, or from psychological illnesses. Events where people have mild sensory hallucinations can even happen to a completely healthy person who was simply binging creepy TikToks or watching a horror movie late at night. The people who say they’ve encountered ghosts may provide intricate details, vivid descriptions, or they may give little to no information at all. It entirely depends on the time and place people were experiencing these realistic sensory hallucinations. One other common misinterpretation of one’s events is mistaking a real-life event for a dream. When a nightmare seems very vivid, and especially when it happens in childhood, the dream can be mistaken for a terrifying ghost-story.

Yes

By Molly Zhang, 7th Grade

For eons, people have wondered if our world is real. Ancient Greek philosopher Plato wrote in Allegory of the Cave of people locked inside a cavern so that they could only ever see the shadows of objects passing by outside. He argued that the prisoners would have no desire to escape, since they didn’t know they were trapped and had no idea of a world beyond the cave.

Nowadays, people are much too busy with work, social life, and technology to worry about such questions as this one. But it’s a deep and thought-provoking question, and the conclusion is that we are indeed living in a simulated world, though perhaps it’s not in the way you imagine.

The average adult sleeps for about 7 hours a day, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. During this period, the brain goes through different stages and dreams often occur. In these dreams, wild and fantastical things happen while the brain takes a break. For around 7 hours a day, humans escape into an invented reality that doesn’t actually exist. No one knows exactly why humans dream, though, so what if they’re actually entering a simulation in their sleep?

In addition, we also escape into an alternate world during the day. According to Time Magazine, people daydream for around 49% of our waking hours. Combined with the amount of time we dream during sleep, people find themselves in a simulated world for about 15 hours each day, more than half of the entire day. 

This doesn’t even account for the amount of time people spend on cellphones, on social media, where — one can argue — they pass into a trance-like state after hours of scrolling through the internet and enter a simulated, digital world. The average person spends around 4.5 hours on their cellphone, according to ConsumerAffairs. 

We spend almost our entire day in a different world, in ways we often don’t notice. One can argue, surely, we are living in a simulated world, either in our minds or online. 

Yes

By Miranda Parr, 8th Grade

Access to tap water is a fundamental human right. Everyone needs water to survive, and it’s impossible to survive without it. In our world, it’s also impossible to survive without money. Shelter, food, technology. All of these basic rights are locked behind a paywall, including water. And it shouldn’t be. 

Think about families. One person typically pays somewhere between $40 and $70 per month for water. A family of three? Four? Or five? These can well exceed $100. While this is sustainable for many families, those are not the people we should be focusing on. The people free water effects are the people who can’t afford it any other way. 

Water is used for more than just hydration; also. Your water bill is driven up by dishes, washing machines, showers, and cooking. You can’t function without these basic necessities. You can’t stay clean, hydrated, or use any technology we frequently take for granted. 

Even think about it outside of home water. Free tap water would also include any water that you use in establishments. Have you ever seen a restaurant or shop that reserves bathrooms for paying customers only? This is yet another example of this paywall. Homeless people can’t afford a place to live; why do you think they can afford to buy something just to wash their hands or use the bathroom? Exactly. They can’t. 

Everything in our country is behind some sort of fee or paywall. Even the resources we need to survive. Water should be free; tap water is a fundamental right.