Winter Edition, 2022

The People's Bulletin

The stigma with not going to college

by Christine Ahmad

Going to college after high school is what many expect from students. Students are told time and time again they must succeed so that they can get into college. But what if someone does not want to go to college? Everyone has a different path they take after high school. With so much freedom and different practices you can do after high school, there are many different ways to go about it. Some people take gap years to figure out what they want to do or to travel while they are young. A gap year is taking a year in between graduating high school and attending college where most students either spend the time working or traveling. Others take a different route and go to trade schools to get right into the workforce. In my opinion, there is no right or wrong answer on what to do after high school. Expecting an 18 year old to know exactly what they want to do for the rest of their life is absurd.

Many individuals think that not going to college right after high school makes it difficult to find a career in the future; however, that time off can be beneficial. According to a recent survey conducted by the higher education market research firm Art and Science Group, “Students use the time they take off to volunteer, work or take on an internship to figure out what they are passionate about and what they want to get out of their careers.” Not many students have figured out what they want to do by the time they graduate high school and that is okay. Stereotyping someone for not going to college directly after high school is very common, but should not be accepted. Students should not be afraid to take the time they need to plan their future.

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor:

The issue of dress codes in high schools is an important one and it needs to be addressed. Newton High School’s current dress code policy seems to be on the strict side. Young adults should have the right to express themselves through the clothing they choose to wear.

As teenagers, we are evolving out of childhood and into adulthood. Many of us use our wardrobe choices as a means of expression. My clothing reflects who I am.

In addition, current dress codes reflect a sexist stereotype that I would consider outdated. With gender issues being at the forefront of young society, the cultural norms being applied to the youth in high schools seems oppressive, aggressive and should be revisited with input from the high schoolers themselves.

Thank you for your time,

Bryce Lombardo

Dear Editor,

Seniors being able to park in a lot is a great privilege, and is loved by many students. I totally agree that students should have to wait until senior year.

I am a freshman and a sibling of two juniors. I think there should be some arrangement for juniors with cars to be able to park at the school. There can be rules set, like only if your grades are good, or such things like that. Juniors run the risk of being late to class because they have to park all the way back and up the hill behind the tennis courts. I hope the NHS administration can take this into consideration. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Mary-Kate Greenhalgh

Dear Editor,

I'm writing this letter to the members of The Brave Bulletin to compliment everyone on their hard work. You guys work in school and out of school all the time to make a great newspaper for everyone to read and to inform teachers and students of NHS on what is going on throughout the school. Without the reporters some important information many people may not ever know. So I applaud you for everyone's effort to share and inform people.

Sincerely,

Tommy Phillips

Alli's Angle

The Dress Code: Helpful or Hurtful?

by Allison Iliff

The first time I was hit by the dress code was in fifth grade. The principal came into our classroom on a warm day and asked all the girls in the room to stand up with their arms down. If the tips of your fingers were past the line of your shorts, then you were asked to leave the room and had to change your clothes. This was a dehumanizing experience that happened again and again throughout my middle school years. From a young age, girls are taught to cover up so that they do not distract fellow classmates. The real question is, were the classmates being distracted in the first place? Has there ever truly been a time where someone could not get their work done because the girl next to them had her shoulders exposed? Why are the rules not the same for men? I have seen many men throughout the years wear clothes that I would’ve been sent home for. The rules are unclear and unfair.

I first found the rules unfair when I realized that different sized girls could get away with wearing things that others could not. People who were shorter could wear shorts that came up past their mid thigh because that's what fingertip length was for them. If you were tall, however, then you likely wore something that came well below the middle of your thigh. The dress code can cause people to be taken out of classrooms, be stopped in hallways, and be ridiculed for what they were wearing. It is an alienating experience that has caused anxiety in teenagers for many years.

So what can we do to fix this? I conducted an experiment at the beginning of the year where I sent out a Google form regarding the dress code to the senior class. My hypothesis was that more females would respond than males because the dress code pertains more to the female population. 70% of the respondents were female and 30% of the respondents were male. At the end of the survey, I asked the students if they found the dress code effective. Only one student said that they believed it was. Many people said that the dress code is targeted towards girls, it is biased, and find that the action of dress coding is more distraction than the clothes themselves. Senior Hannah O’Brian said, “I don’t find the school dress code effective because I don’t get why what a woman is wearing is offending or disrupting the class. If it isn’t hateful or offensive language etc, then there’s no need to dress code. I don’t believe teachers should be sexualizing the kids in the school. If a girl wants to wear a crop top, then she should be able to. I mean, some women wear certain outfits because it makes them feel confident and good about themselves. Shoulders aren’t a distraction. The school should be worrying about more major issues than worrying about what top a student is wearing.”

The dress code in itself is a distraction--not the clothes that students are wearing. If we were to loosen up the rules, and make it fair for the whole student population, then the school atmosphere would be much better. I propose that any article of clothing that promotes vulgar language can be dress coded. Students should be allowed to wear crop tops, so long as they are an appropriate length. Spaghetti straps should be allowed, as it is a comfortable shirt for the spring and summer, and unless the shorts are obscenely short, then there should not be a problem. The fingertip rule has never been fair, and there never will be a way to make it fair. If we made these changes, then there would no longer be anxiety in students; wondering if what they are wearing could be considered a distraction to people, class time would no longer be taken away from students, and the overall confidence of students would rise. The dress code has been a serious problem regarding the mental health of teenagers for years, and it is time we put a stop to it.

Concerns on hallway passes

by Kaylee Mangual

One problem that has never changed in Newton High School is the trouble with the hallway passes. Hallway passes have been an issue for a long time. Teachers may get frustrated with passes being gone for a long period of time. Students are out for a long time, which holds students from going to the bathroom or going to any place they need to go to. Some students go out due to the fact they have to leave to use the restroom, meet with other teachers and some go out for the wrong reasons. Some go out and get out of class. Not only do teachers get upset because of the wait, but students do too.

"Mr. Caffrey stated in a recent interview, “I have heard about the usage of the hallway pass, and people taking the pass for too long for the bathroom or wherever else.” Mr. Caffrey goes on even more to say that that was one of the main issues in Newton High School when he started here last spring. Mr. Caffrey continued, “There are other options we are looking into, but no alternative has been established yet. Many people may have to use the restroom, but when people go out with the hall pass for too long it gets frustrating to other students and even teachers."

Some suggestions are being made within the school about new ideas that would help the usage of the hallway passes. A couple of things have been out there yet on what is going to happen, but nothing was permanently established within the school and the district itself. In the future there is most likely going to be a solution that the administration makes if the hallway passes becomes more of an issue. The solution to the hallway passes is the students being mindful of how being out can affect the teachers, the students, themselves and their grades. I think hallway passes need to be monitored, but also need to be understood by teachers that some students may need to genuinely use the bathroom and do not always have bad intentions. If a student is known for being out all the time in which the school puts them on hallway restrictions then I understand the rage teachers might have, but the students that do not have a bad reputation should not be yelled at for staying out long because you do not know what they are going through.

All Letters to the Editor can be sent to lcaruso@newtonnj.org