Category: Student Life

By Morgan Fletcher –

‘Cause you’re amazing, just the way you are.

Although it is simply a line from a mainstream pop song, it packs a lot of meaning.

It’s no secret that we live in a highly superficial world.  From a young age, girls are driven to believe that they should look a certain way in order to be successful in the world.

“The media portrays impossible standards,” Penn Manor senior Veronica Willig said.

Even though young girls are well aware that the glossy photos they see on the pages of magazines are extremely airbrushed and unrealistic, they still have mixed feelings about what their physical appearance should be.

As a result, many girls resort to forms of beauty enhancements, some very extreme.

Recently, 20-year-old Claudia Adusei from London died after complications from a cosmetic surgery procedure.  Adusei  traveled to Philadelphia to get her buttocks enhanced and was injected with illegal silicone.

“I believe that people should do what makes them happy,” Penn Manor senior Hannah Willet said.

Still, she knows that public opinion plays a major role in how people view themselves.

“I feel like society is what makes people do what they do,” she said.

Plastic surgery is an ever-growing trend among men and women of various ages.

According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, over 13 million cosmetic procedures were performed in 2010.  Nearly 210,000 cosmetic plastic surgery procedures were performed on people age 13 to 19 in 2009.

Despite the high numbers, girls in Penn Manor don’t seem to be in favor of procedures that alter one’s physical appearance for superficial purposes.

“I feel as though plastic surgery is only appropriate for people who have been in horrific accidents and have serious tissue damage,” Willig said.

“It’s a waste of money.  It’s inhumane,” Olivia Hertzler said.

“It’s so unnecessary,” Katie Maisel added.

Still others believe that if it’s going to boost your self-confidence, you should go through with getting a cosmetic procedure.

“[It] depends on what it is,” said Ella Perry.

She counts something like a nose job as being acceptable if it is going to make a girl feel prettier, but getting breast implants as shallow.

A major beauty enhancer that many girls and women are in favor of is artificial tanning.

“Tanning hides your blemishes and makes you feel good about yourself,” Emily Hutchinson said.

Others feel that it is appropriate for certain occasions.

“I’m for tanning for special occasions like prom but not all year round,” said Jackie Schmalhofer.

“[I support tanning] from time to time.  Like if you have tan lines from sports and you want to look good for prom,” said Hertzler.

Some girls feel obligated to tan and ignore the harmful effects that tanning poses.

“I do it.  I need to because of my pale complexion,” said Perry.

“I think it’s great.  You’re going to die either way so why not look good?” a source who wishes to remain anonymous said.

Not all young girls here favor tanning however.

“Tanning is an excellent example of women harming themselves to fulfill a superficial image,” Willig said.

Penn Manor psychology teacher Maria Vita understands how much a person’s culture influences their perspectives on beauty.  She teaches her psychology classes about different cultures and what they perceive as beautiful.

“Every culture values a different kind of beauty,” Vita said.  “I don’t get too fanatical about opinions.”

Vita however is not too into forms of beauty enhancements herself and doesn’t wear makeup.

“Personally, I don’t want to modify the body.  I would never tan.  I just don’t make time for stuff like that.”

Regardless of what stands people take on beauty, it’s clear that there are always pressures to look a certain way.

By Jake Shiner –

As we advance as a society, so do our sports.  But one new fad around Penn Manor High School went back to basics -simply a seat, two pedals, and one wheel.

This technological wizardry is known as the unicycle and it’s the new craze for a small group of Penn Manor students.

“It’s about two or three years ’til it goes mainstream,” proclaimed senior Cody Goldberg, a member of the new unicycling club.

What began about two-and-a-half months ago, spawned from an idea by student Jerome Lynch.

“He’s (Lynch) has been unicycling since he was 3 or 4, and then recently Ryan Krause, Mike Stokes, Alex Murr and the rest (joined),” noted Goldberg.

The club members cycle around the school’s parking lot and Millersville and even claimed to have found some “pretty sweet” tricking spots in the area.

The specific spots weren’t mentioned because they said that they were top secret, members only.

Goldberg and fellow unicyclist Ben Crisman consider themselves average at their new-found sport.

“I can do basic tricks, but not any advanced stuff,” said Crisman, “It’s more of a hobby than a pursuit.”

There is some good-natured competition over who is the most proficient unicyclist of the group.

Goldberg said that while Lynch started the craze, has been doing it the longest and has the best overall control, he can’t  pull off some of the more difficult tricks.

Crisman believes that it’s a toss up between Krause and Murr, but Goldberg believes that Murr is the best in the group.

While reflecting on their unicycling accomplishments, they also mentioned some of their goals and why they even got into the sport.

“It’s a silly sport and it’s really fun to do… and how many people in the world can unicycle?” asked Goldberg.

Ben Crisman added with a smile, “My ultimate goal is to play unicycle polo competitively in the Olympics.”

Recently a battery operated electric unicycle was released.

Might this be the future for unicycle enthusiasts?

“Oh yeah, that Japanese piece of garbage,” said Goldberg, “Yeah right.”

Guess not.

By Chassidy Sowersby

Sexting – sexy pictures sent via text message or email.  It starts out with a picture sent to a boyfriend or girlfriend, however, many times these pictures get passed around until everyone has seen the goods.

Penn Manor senior Elena Hart said she witnessed a bad sexting experience.

“I was with one of my friends when she took an inappropriate picture and sent it.  It was nasty,” said Hart.

What teens think, at times, is careless fun, experts in the field of psychology warn that the effects can be lasting.

“On the one hand it can be kind of fun to get an erotic message over your email or on the phone,” said certified sex therapist Joyce Joseph, who writes a column online.  “But on the other hand none of that is really safe nor private.”

“It’s possible that teens are doing this because (they think) it boosts their self esteem,” Joseph said.

The so-called ‘privacy’ may be what makes sexting appealing to teens, but what many fail to realize is that the pictures are far from private.

Senior Eric Gerlach said he thinks it happens more than people think.

“All the time,” Gerlach said.  “My friends are always showing me pictures that girls have sent to them and there are always so many rumors about people sexting.  It is definitely far from private!”

The practice of sexting can cause serious problems for many teens.

In Alabama, four middle school students were arrested for exchanging nude photos. In New York, a 16-year old boy is facing a possible seven-year sentence in prison for forwarding a nude photo of his 15-year old girlfriend to a buddy.

And in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, eight teens were charged with child pornography after recording sex acts on their cell phones and sending them to friends.

Sexting has even caused tragedies such as the suicide of Jess Logan. Logan was an 18- year-old high school student from Cincinnati, Ohio. She took nude photos of herself and sent them to her boyfriend at the time.  Once they broke up

he sent them around to other girls in school. The girls reportedly harassed her and called her nasty names.

Logan went on a local TV show to tell others about her story and make sure no one else would have to go through the torture she did. Two months later, she hanged herself in her bedroom.

It’s likely that most teens are not aware of the seriousness of sexting. But there are serious consequences.

If you are caught sending explicit pictures, you can be charged with manufacturing,disseminating and/or possessing child pornography. And if you are caught receiving these pictures, you can be charged with possession of child pornography, according to law enforcement officials.

“It is a federal crime, I think it happens a lot more than it is known,” said Penn Manor school resource officer Jason Hottenstein.”But as more and more kids get cell phones, it keeps becoming more popular.”

By Lyta Ringo and Kayla Pagan –

High school can be a very stressful time for teenagers. Between handling school work, holding jobs and just having a life, stress can become a teenager’s best friend. There are many forms of stress, and not all of them have negative affects. According to About.com there are four main types of stress.

Eustress: A type of stress that is fun and exciting.

Acute Stress: Day-to-day short term stresses.

Episodic Acute Stress: Acute stress runs rampant creating a life of chaos.

Chronic Stress: Stress that seems never-ending.

After interviewing a couple high school students, it was found how teenagers deal with their day-to-day stress.

“I either exercise or listen to music,” said Caitlyn Whirt, “I like running, it relieves a lot of stress.”

Taylor Hager  admitted to being stressed constantly, over many things.

“I listen to meditation, bite my nails, and listen to music,” said Hager.

As stated by holisticonline.com, Many experts suggest that it is the rhythm of the music or the beat that has a calming effect on us, although we may not be very conscious about it.

Shayna Sanchez said, “Music is my remedy.”

When dealing with stress not all teenagers take a positive way out. It is very common in young adults that things such as drugs, alcohol, or even self harm take a place in “stress relief”.

“I smoke marijuana,” said one student, “drugs are an easy way out of stress.”

However this isn’t the case, based upon abovetheinfluence.com, some people think that drug use will result in a decreased amount of stress. They think it helps them cope with stress, but in reality they don’t resolve stress issues, they create more.

And on top of that some students just avoid stress at all costs.

“I don’t really deal with stress, I don’t have a lot of it,” said Kyle Black, “I kick people out that cause me stress.”

Black explained how when people around him cause him stress he removes them from his surroundings.

Stress is an everyday thing, it happens to all of us. The way you cope with stress is your own decision. For some people a more positive solution may be needed. For more easy tips on stress relief check out: http://www.pamf.org/teen/life/stress/7stresstips.html.