The following are examples of posted information that is simply TOO PERSONAL to be displayed publicly on the internet.

Exhibit 1: tumblr

“Tell me mom, how am I supposed to be nice to you when you are not nice to me at all? You treat me like I don’t matter as a person, the way you think this is the army or something, the way you act like I bother you all the time. I know I should just ignore this but I CAN’T.”

As tragic as this situation seems to be, this kind of emotional release is better saved for discussion with a therapist, close friend, or relative.

Exhibit 2: facebook

“I eat gummy bears by tearing them limb from limb and eating their heads last.”

In other words, “Hi, my name is deranged and I’m a future serial killer.” On top of that, who really cares how you eat gummy bears?

Exhibit 3: instagram

(Picture deleted for salacious content)

1. Who told you this was appropriate for everyone to see?

2. Why is her hand strategically placed in that area?

3.  Those probably aren’t even real.

Not only is too much personal information not necessary, it also may be unsafe. Senior Riddhi Patel says, “Personally, I don’t like people knowing EVERYTHING about me so I don’t post or discuss personal matters… accepting everyone on the network and letting people know everything about you is dangerous, so I try to stay away from all of that, as that becomes kind of creepy.”

She brings up a valid point—if everyone you want to see it can see it, then everyone else probably can, too.

Junior Adam Parler agrees. He says, “When people start putting more personal things, like e-mail address, phone number, street address and even their credit card number, that’s when it gets to be too much. Basic information you wouldn’t mind giving to a total stranger is fine, but beyond that basic information, it isn’t a smart move.” The voice of reason says it all.

Ultimately, it is up to you to decide how much you want total strangers to know about you. If you want to post everything about yourself online, then that is your decision. Just remember, there are always consequences and you may be hiding behind the crutch of social networking. Senior Clara Formby articulates this idea: “I think it’s dumb that people choose to live their lives vicariously through social media rather than fostering good, tangible friendships.” If you try talking to someone, instead of just typing or posting about something, you may find the social situation to be far more rewarding than you had ever expected.

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I’m not the only one who finds leggings to be a disgusting substitute for pants. Senior Mack Yates says, “I think it’s kind of [promiscuously suggestive and resembling the ideals of a strumpet] when girls wear just leggings; it’s a little too revealing.” I completely agree. Girls who wear leggings fall into one of two categories: (a) they have the wrong body type (a.k.a. 99% of girls) or (b) they look hot but cause guys to lust after them. Either way, they are searching for attention. If your goal is to seduce a guy, then wear a short skirt or at least something that covers your backside. Some people say, “It’s freedom of expression, I should be able to wear what I want.” This is true—to a certain extent. If someone wanted to walk around in their birthday suit, would they still have freedom of expression? If you really love leggings that much, then just wear something over them. The leggings themselves are fine but you need to cover yourself. “They don’t even resemble pants and they don’t look good on anyone really,” rants senior Carolyna Ramirez. True statement.

Consider this as well. What if guys decided that they liked gallivanting about town in boxers or tight Under Armor? Would girls be completely fine with that? Unlikely. Even though we (most of us) are attracted to males, that doesn’t mean we want to see them without proper pants on. Just the same, guys do not want to see every girl they know wear leggings out in public.

Look at the anatomy of the legging. It’s form-fitting (like a tight), spandex (like a bathing suit), and shows every curve (like a unitard). Would you wear tights, a bathing suit, or a unitard freely around town? Junior Hannah Reese makes a valid point: “If they were meant to be worn as pants, they would have a zipper and pockets.” To be considered pants, bottoms must be either made of jean/khaki (or another material of similar thickness) or loose enough to breathe in.

Girls: The next time you consider wearing leggings out of the house— DON’T.  They are NOT pants. And if you’re on the border about whether the bottoms you’re wearing are actually pants, just consult this easy-to-use diagram: https://s3.amazonaws.com/buzzfeed-media/Images/2011/05/AmIWearingPants_web.jpg. Help put an end to this horrible fashion trend.

The Best and Worst Ways to Wear Leggings

I remember when I was younger, my mother and I would walk around places and if she saw two people that were not of the same race together, she would always say, “Never date outside your race,” with a disgusted look on her face.  That is the reaction most people used to receive outside of school.  However, times are starting to change.  Instead of people receiving dirty looks and such for being in an interracial relationship, you have people giving you the stank eye for the being against it.  Even though racism has been around since the beginning of time, people everywhere have tried to change it.  Yes, even Shakespeare.  There have been theories that Shakespeare was in love with a black woman.  Possibly when he said, “This day’s black fate on more days doth depend: / This begins the woe others must end (Romeo and Juliet, 3.1),” He was talking about racism being the “woe”.  (See I wasn’t crazy by adding Shakespeare in the beginning.)  Sophomore Michael Rice says, “It’s not wrong or right for there to be interracial couples/friends, it’s a part of my family.”

Let’s see why people are racist.  Maybe its because it is simply just the way they were raised.  My parents were taught since they were born to not mix with others out side of their race.  Just as I was taught this.  Maybe it’s because something happened to a particular person by another race.  That would cause the brain to have you assume, everyone in that particular type of race is bad.

What do people here at North Augusta seem to think on inter-racial friends/couples? Sophomore Trevis Griffin says, “Race shouldn’t matter if the two people like/love each other.”  Freshman Jackson Poole agreed, “people are people and the only thing that matters is what is on the inside.”  This seems to be the view of quite a few people here at North Augusta, despite what some parents want.  People at North Augusta seem to be against racism now.  Maybe we are changing the “woe” of today.

Some of you social conservatives, like congressman Lamar Smith (who proposed the bill), are saying things like “I don’t care if you rot in prison! You stole some one’s hard work!”  (note–this is not an actual quote. It’s shockingly difficult to find a public statement that Smith made about the bill that he introduced).   Sure, I see your problem with that, I’m not saying that piracy is a good thing!

My problem with SOPA is the amount of control it would give the government over a thing that should be available for free to all people. Imagine this, I upload nine pirated movies to Facebook. I haven’t done anything illegal, but Facebook has. Next thing you know Rostrum Records and YMCMB are filing suit against Facebook. What will I do without that form of social media? I know, Tweet my pirated music! No more Twitter. What I’m saying is that if this bill passes in it’s current revision there could potentially be a forced black-out of all social media sites.

While this may be a slippery slope argument, it is one that my friends at Wikipedia, Reddit, Facebook, Google, Twitter, and a whole mess of other Internet giants agree on. Those companies see that a forced black-out of social media websites could stem from this bill, so to raise awareness of the dangers of SOPA they have considered the possibility of staging a black out. The thought was this- what if a site that gets a million hits a day takes down their content and instead puts up an informative advertisement against SOPA? You have a million torch-bearing-outraged  people  that can’t access their website.  The only place they have to send their anger?  Towards their congressmen.

Senior Jennifer Grimm and Sophomore Nick Barrs both take a socially liberal (and intelligent) view of SOPA saying logical things such as, “I feel that protecting copyrighted contet is a worthy goal, and knowing how many people illegally download and view content I see why large companies are pushing for this bill. However, the way that SOPA is written actively promotes censorship.” and “Simply put, SOPA infringes on the sole purpose of the internet’s creation–the sharing of information. It blatantly violates the First Amendment, and heavily restricts most forms of self-expression and file-sharing in an exaggerated attempt to ‘stop piracy.’”

Fortunately for the future of the Internet, most of today’s youth is liberal enough to see that this sort of censorship is a bad thing. What can you do help? Simple, follow the appropriate links to sign petitions or contact your congressman directly. Any other time you can simply visit http://www.stopthewall.us and talk to your congressman about censorship.

A necessary virtue teachers must have is the ability to be patient: to withhold internal feelings and endure the rowdy, immature, and sometimes nonsensical students causing disruption.

An anonymous junior here at North Augusta High School reflects back on the couple of times when a specific teacher confronted him, “She talks down to me as if I’m completely unintelligent.” He also mentions that, “She picks favorites.” An example of bullying is the situation in which a teacher has an obvious favorite. Contrary to those less fortunate, she gives that lucky duck a higher grade. A biased teacher isn’t a good one. He mentions that, “One time I let a friend copy my homework. She graded both papers, yet somehow he ended up with a passing grade while mine was failing.” This perhaps accidental mistake raises this boy’s suspicion of a personal underlying hatred that this teachers has for him. “She would always pass over me when going around the classroom checking homework so I got a zero but she always checked the homework of my peers.”

For a few at this school the heat from an increasing temper is too unbearable to fully manage. Sometimes, the inability to keep control causes a ticking time bomb to explode within the professional environment- one with a little bit of etiquette and self- preservation. This could prove to result in a sudden outburst or lashing out on easy targets. Treatment from a mean teacher can bring down the student. Junior Jennifer Price says, “One of my teachers likes to call us out and use us as examples to the class if we ask anything that seems stupid to them. It’s humiliating when you’re pretty much being talked down to in front of the entire class for one little thing.”

Besides personal conflict between the student and teachers, the previously interviewed anon says his teacher would, “randomly rant about her disrespectful students with a sarcastic, wide smile on her face. It creeped me out.” Does this peculiar smile create a spiteful persona for the teacher? Junior Ramsey Whitley says that her teacher would, “talk to a student for a long amount of time and completely forget about the rest of us then randomly in the middle of that persons sentence, she would scream at them to shut up. If they would say ‘but wait… I was just…’ she would sit a chair in the front of the room and make the student sit there for the remainder of class and not be allowed to take the few notes she gave.”

Keep calm and carry on, teachers. There’s no need for the hate-filled melodrama.

A Working Laser Gun :  I know I know.  I thought this was silly to.  But really, for just over two grand, you or one of your loved ones could be the proud owner of a brand-new laser rifle, just like Han Solo.  Though the rifles are intended for “laboratory use” we all know their real purpose.  All you need is a credit card and a desire to shoot hot lasers at anything and everything that moves.  A quote from the page:  “When used with a lens system, the air will actually explode at the focus point.”  You read that correctly.  This laser rifle can destroy the air itself.  Get yours today!

Dangerous Wild Animals:  Yep.  You can legally own Lions, Tigers and Bears (OH MY!) in 9 states.  It is worth noting that South Carolina IS ONE OF THOSE STATES.  That’s right.  You could own a bear just like these people here.  Think of all the benefits.  Who needs an alarm system when you have a bear?  And why stop there?  You can buy 10 piranhas here for a mere $80.  Dig a moat and throw those suckers in.  Your house will never be ransacked again.  Burglars will flee in terror. Unfortunately, these Piranhas are only legal in 26 of the 50 states, South Carolina not included.  But really, who’s going to arrest the guy with a moat full of piranhas and a bear?  No one, that’s who.

Dangerous Modern Weaponry:  Statistically, Call of Duty has sold more copies than the total world population combined.  This means, statistically, you are likely to have some desire to own dangerous weaponry like M4s or grenade launchers.  Well you’re in luck.  With the enough money and the right licenses you can own nearly any weapon you can imagine.  Want a grenade launcher?  Jump through enough hoops (including a thorough background check, product registration, and a $200 tax) and you could own a grenade launcher tomorrow.  Another $200 tax and you can use 40mm buckshot rounds for your brand new grenade launcher.  Those blow things up if you didn’t know.  LEGALLY.

Flamethrowers:  All right, I know what you’re thinking.  Anyone can make a flamethrower.  All you need is a Super Soaker with some lighter fluid and a flame.  We’ve all done it.  But that’s not what I mean.  40 of the 50 states have absolutely no laws whatsoever regulating the use of a device that sprays fire everywhere.  Don’t know how to work your new flamethrower?  Want to build one yourself?  Don’t worry.  Ragnar Benson’s Breath Of The Dragon: Homebuilt Flamethrowers has got you covered.  You’ll probably want to pick that up.  The investment seems paltry when you realize that this book will teach you how to properly control your streaming mass of flames without murdering everyone in sight (unless that is your intention).

OK.  If you know someone that has a laser rifle, a bear, piranhas, a grenade launcher and a flamethrower, don’t bother getting them anything for the holidays.  They are already too much of a danger to society.  Chances are, they may need to be locked up.  Merry Christmas!

*Note: Links and premise inspired by Cracked.com

One common double standard in relationships is when a boy is walking with his girlfriend while looking at other girls. Then the guy gets mad when the girl makes a comment about a good looking celebrity or does the same thing and look at another boy. Why do guys get mad at their girl for doing the same thing they do? It’s again one of the rules in the  unwritten book. When asked would he get mad at his girlfriend, junior Kris Hall says “Yes, I would get mad.”

Another sticky situation that is still being debated is whether or not the male should pay even if the female made the first move. In most conditions where the male makes the move on the female and ask her on the date, he pays. On the other hand in rare cases when the woman asks the man out on a date, the man is still looked at to pay or at lease offer to pay. Jennifer Reese, a sophomore, says “Yes the guy should still pay if the girl ask.” If someone asks ‘why’ it all comes back to that unwritten rule. Most people would respond ‘well that’s what a man should do.’ The emphasis is placed on the words “should do.” That comes down to the gender stereotype on what men and women are expected of in relationships.

The typical feminine stereotype role is to marry and have kids. Therefore, women are looked at to be vulnerable, nurturing and caring. The male stereotype role is to provide for his family and to have the more dominant role over the female.

Double standards in relationships are most known to end with domestic violence. People believe that 95% of domestic violence come from the male abusing the female. With only 5% comes from the woman abusing the male. Since people rarely hear about that woman who abuses her man, when the case does happen, it’s easily blamed on “self-defense.” Even if the woman does get punished for domestic violence would she be punished as badly as a man?  Sophomore Deon Baldwin says “It depends on what started it for it to be self-defense.” Most of the time women are the victims in these situations.

For the people who still believe in good ole  “traditional”  gender roles for males and females are keeping the double standards alive and kickin’.  Having two sets of rules for men and women also come from the home. Since birth, everyone has been raised on gender stereotypes (recall that when kids are born, boys wear blue, girls wear pink).

Parents also have two different standards for their children. If they have an older girl they may treat her with stricter rules than if they have a younger boy. Why is the younger boy not getting as punished as severely as his older sister? It is most likely because he is a boy, and for some reason parents are less strict on boys than girls no matter the age. If a boy brings his older girlfriend home to his parents its looked at as normal for some parents. On the other hand if a girl brings home her older boyfriend, her parents look at her as being rebellious.

There are tons of different double standards other than in relationships. The most common reason for that is insecurities. No one should suffer consequences so just suck it up. You should have a mutual relationship so neither one has to feel better than the other.There is no need for separate standards in any relationship whether it’s work or  in society. Do you think so?