My name is Jessie Chandler, and this week I have been chosen among my classmates to be the editor of Sophomores Speak Out. I’ve enjoyed reading the thoughts and concerns of my fellow classmates and have found them very revealing. With a large class, it can be hard to connect with every person, but having the opportunity to read their writing has provided me with a stronger connection to every one of them.  While reading, I realized that as a class we are very concerned about not only what’s happening around us on the Island, but with the big issues occurring around the world. We are noticing that there are many tragic stories happening across our country and in the world — tragic and unnecessary stories. One student writes about an adolescent online group that began as a joke and got so out of control that an innocent child was beaten. What has our society turned into when people become so caught up in hunting for shopping bargains that someone is trampled to death? As a class, we have decided to take a stand and make a difference. We are planning a bake sale to raise money to ship unused textbooks to a school in Alabama that lacks textbooks. We wish to do more in the future to make a difference even if it’s just a small contribution to help others in need. Enjoy the season and be grateful for all you have.

— Jessie Chandler, Editor

Little to be Thankful For

By RAFAEL MACIEL

Following our discussions about the children in Pakistan who did not have a school after we read Three Cups of Tea, I read an article on CNN about kids who live in the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. While we are in school these children, who are only about eight or 10 years old, are crossing the border between two of the world’s most dangerous countries trying to smuggle food. Pakistan has a ban on exporting food items to Afghanistan, so the children are paid to smuggle food. The pay is only about 20 cents per trip, sometimes even less. The children risk their lives every day trying to make money for their family. Most of them will never go to school. The children are beaten and abused. This article made me realize how lucky I am to live a country where I can go to school, and where violence is rarely an issue. The saddest part of the article was what Sabar, one of the many children to smuggle food across the border said. She said: “I will grow up doing this job. I would like to go to school. I am helpless. I have to do this work.”

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Trying to Help

By COURTNEY MUSSELL

Our U.S. history class is trying to raise money to ship textbooks to Murphy High School in Mobile, Ala. The regional high school has many old textbooks that are not being used, so we found a high school in Alabama that was looking for textbooks because they could not afford to buy them. Generously, the high school made the final decision to donate the books.  In order to raise money for shipping the books, our class is going to bake goods and sell them outside the cafeteria. If anybody would like to help out, donations are welcome. Thanks to all who help in any way that they can. We understand that times are hard right now and that is one of the reason s we decided to help this school. Sometimes we forget that other schools aren’t as fortunate as we are, and this is a really great way to help out.  

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Is Black Friday Worth It?

By SHELBY FERRY

How has America become so violent and vicious over low-priced goods? Black Friday may be a day to get good deals, but is it really worth all the trouble to get up extra early, wait in traffic for a long time, stand in long lines for hours, just to get one or two things? Also, do people really need these low-priced things, or are they just getting them because they are on sale? I personally think Americans have become out of their minds. There are still good deals everywhere until Christmas and beyond. Why does it have to be Black Friday?

And people have gotten hurt over trying to buy stuff early. Last year a greeter at a Wal-Mart store was trampled to death by shoppers. People have just become crazy. When I get older I will never shop on Black Friday because there is so much stress and pain that comes out of the experience for almost everyone. But people don’t seem to care because in the end they get their “good deals.” Is that really all Americans care about now? A good deal? I hope not.

Can Facebook Be Harmful?

By KEVIN WALSH

A red-headed boy was beaten up by a group of seventh and eighth graders at A. E. Wright Middle School in California in two separate incidents on a recent Friday. Police believe the beatings were related to a Facebook group called “Kick a Ginger Day.” I have heard of this group myself, but if someone would take this kind of nonsense seriously and hurt someone they shouldn’t even have a Facebook page in the first place. I don’t think Facebook will have any reaction to the incident, but a parent reading the CNN article may take notice and pay more attention to what their 11-year-olds are doing online.

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Police Who Speed

By MADISON HUGHES

Police have released a videotape of a June police cruiser crash that killed two Connecticut teens. The officer was driving 94 mph and was not on an emergency call. He’s been charged with manslaughter. After reading the article about these two young people getting killed, I started to think about the police in general. Since police officers know they won’t get pulled over, they can speed. Yet they are the only ones who pull over citizens who are speeding and give them tickets and a fine. I understand if the police are in an emergency and they are speeding, but I think some police officers think they can speed whenever they want, knowing there will be no consequence. It’s unfair to us, but hopefully this accident has made some of the police officers understand.

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Soccer Team Scores Against Stigma

By JESSIE CHANDLER

The Positive Ladies Soccer Club is a group of HIV positive women in the Epworth Medicins sans Frontieres’ clinic in Zimbabwe. Epworth is one of the poorest towns in the country, and the group of women formed a soccer team to inspire other HIV positive women in Epworth, women who do not play soccer. These women inspired me to try to make a difference in the world. They formed the team to inspire others, and in order to do this the women were shunned by their own families, kicked out of their homes and publicly humiliated. This inspiring story shows that despite poverty and the stigma of HIV, everyone can make a difference.

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Tremendous Courage

By PHILIP JORDAN

Charla Nash, the Connecticut woman mauled by a 200-pound chimpanzee in February, appeared on Oprah to reveal her face and share details of her life since the attack. Ms. Nash told Oprah that she feels no pain, but that she tries not to touch her face to avoid knowing the full extent of her injuries.  She had told the Huffington Post: “I don’t ask a whole lot about my injuries. I know that I have my forehead.” She now drinks her meals with a straw through a small hole where her mouth used to be.

Nash lost both her hands in the attack, as well as her nose, an eyelid and her lips. Doctors removed her eyes due to an infection and only recently she learned that she would no longer be able to see.

I am not sure if I would have made the choice to appear on Oprah, but I do empathize with the tremendous amount of courage it must have taken to become public with such extensive injuries. I am not sure that any of us really imagined the extent of the attack on this woman until we saw it with our own eyes. I think it was an important interview.

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Reflections on Football

By DENVER MACIEL

I am writing about the Island, the football season and me. The Vineyard season is now over and I can say for a fact that it has been an interesting one. The varsity squad had a rough year, and had to adjust to not playing Nantucket and being in a new league. That said, I think they had a very good season. Going 7-3 is a good record for the Vineyard. The junior varsity squad also had a good season. The season before the team was mostly made up of freshmen, so expectations weren’t high, but we always worked hard and never gave up. We played a couple of very good teams and won. We finished with a 4-5 record. I know one thing for sure, I will never forget this team.