About the editor:

AIDAN is a senior this year, and is excited to be participating in Corner Canyon's Productions Company and Chamber Choir. 

How does school affect studentS' mental health?

BY ABI FICHIALOS
​STAFF WRITER
     Are students being pushed too hard? Have we passed the healthy limit of pushing students to become better? As a student it has been really hard to find the answer to these questions. I've always felt like no matter what the answer was, my feelings would be invalidated or discounted by the response, “Is it really too hard or are you just not trying hard enough?" 
    I understand that other students are capable of keeping up with the present work and still get perfect grades however, we aren't the same. Nobody is. We all learn easier in our own ways, our brains don't function the same and we have very different lives. We don't need to be compared to other students as if they are a standard, or the “goal.” We are all going to do things differently including school, this just needs to be understood and accepted. 
    One out of every five teenagers in America suffer from at least one mental health disorder. You'd think that would draw more attention to the subject seeing as 16% of the world's population is teenagers. Contrary to that, nothing to do with school is helping students with mental illnesses succeed. I know that school isn't meant to adjust to the needs of specific students but I think they would realize that accommodating these needs of students would benefit more than they know. 
     Why do we need to take into account mental illness during school? Mental illness has many effects on the way we act and participate in everything at school. It affects the motivation of students to turn in and complete assignments, it has a very negative effect on attendance, it makes students feel exhausted or overly energetic which makes it very hard for them to focus and learn and overall it makes it difficult for students to see the purpose of going to school.  In a sense, it's nearly impossible to fully cure any mental illness but we can fix how we go about motivating the students to continue their school even during the difficult times. 
Is it really too hard or are you just not trying hard enough?
     Some examples of things I've learned can help these students by giving them more time to complete homework in class. It makes the work seem "simpler” to complete and not as much of a chore. Another thing is if teachers are able they should attempt to help students learn easier in any way possible whether its a visual example or making it an example out of real life, anything that helps the student understand what they're learning. 
    All in all school and mental health have so many similarities and  can both benefit or be parasitic when tied together. So more often we need to think about mental health and think about what those students need to be successful in school and have time to take care of themselves.
​PUBLISHED 9/21/22

    DO YOU THINK SCHOOL affects mental health?

WhAT DO CORNER CANYON STUDENTS CARE ABOUT?

BY AIDAN HUGHES
​EDITORIALS EDITOR
     Pew Research Center conducted a survey to determine which issues the American public thought were the most pressing. The survey asked Americans whether they considered the issues to be very big, big, small, or non-existent. This survey concluded that the top 5 biggest issues facing the nation, in the opinion of the public, were (1) healthcare with 66% of people saying it was a very big issue, (2) drug addiction with 64%, (3) education with 55%, (4) national debt with 53%, and (5) climate change with 48%.
​     While these results reflect the concerns of the American public as a whole, they do not necessarily reflect the concerns of America’s high school students. Because of this, the Corner Canyon Chronicle conducted their own survey with the goal of determining what America’s high schoolers actually do care about. 
​     25 students were asked to rank popular issues in order of importance. The number one spot went to education with 80% of students saying that it was extremely important to them. The second spot went to climate change with 58% of students saying it was extremely important. Civil liberties and healthcare were tied at third, both with 50%, and fifth place was a tie between wealth disparity and immigration with 20.8%.
     Of the 5 issues most important to Americans, only 3 were even mentioned by CCHS students and opinions on how important the issues were also varied extremely. 
​          One student, when asked what issue was most important to them said, “It has to be civil rights. It’s weird to explain because everyone just should have equal rights, but in America we don’t. It seems like we shouldn’t have to fight for those rights, but we do. It’s sad.” 
     The views of the American public simply do not reflect the views of America’s youth. America’s youth are largely unheard and underrepresented, but it certainly doesn’t have to be that way. Take this information not as a disappointment, but as a challenge. Make your voice heard. Make them listen.

​PUBLISHED 9/21/22
The views of the American public simply do not reflect the views of America’s youth. America’s youth are largely unheard and underrepresented.
To learn more about student activism and what you can do, check out the ACLU's "take action" page.

CRUSHING COLLEGE LOAN DEBTS SPARK DEBATE

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President Biden announcing his 2022 federal student debt relief plan.

OPPOSING VIEW CLASH ON WHETHER OR NOT PRESIDENT BIDEN SHOULD PUSH FOR STUDENT FEDERAL DEBT RELIEF OR ALLOCATE FUNDS ELSEWHERE

BY AIDAN HUGHES
EDITORIALS EDITOR
     The main debate has more or less boiled down to one question: does the HEROES Act actually allow for the mass cancellation of debt?
     Last week, President Biden announced his plan to forgive up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt for individuals making under $125,000 a year.      His plan also provides up to $25,000 in debt relief for Pell Grant recipients.
     NPR News states, "Under Biden's plan, 43 million people stand to have their loan payments reduced, while 20 million would have their debt forgiven altogether."     
     While millions of Americans are thrilled by this development, millions more claim that Biden is overstepping his Presidential powers.
     Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in July 2021 that "people think that the President of the United States has the power of debt forgiveness. He does not. He can postpone, he can delay, but he does not have that power. That has to be an act of Congress."
​     Pelosi has now been called on by GOP lawmakers such as Jody Hice to stand by her statement and stop Biden’s debt relief program.
​     It appears, however, that Pelosi has no plans to back up her previous statement- not that she actually has any power to override the President anyway. 
​     Those that defend the President’s plan are supported by memos from the Education and Justice departments citing the 2003 HEROES Act.
​     While the act was used by President Trump to suspend student debt, Trump’s administration claimed that, “Congress never intended the Heroes Act as authority for mass cancellation, compromise, discharge or forgiveness of student loan principal balances.” 
"People think that the President of the United States has the power of debt forgiveness. He does not. -Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi
     With competing opinions about the legality of this plan it wouldn’t be surprising to see it brought before the Supreme Court, and at the end of the day, theirs is the only opinion that matters. 

PUBLISHED 9/9/22