6

Opinion

March 5, 2014

Turn off your

phone; try out
the real world
That would be the lost art
of verbal face-to-face communication, my friends.
I agree that in some reWhat
w o u l d spects phones make us more
you do social because they connect
if
you us to each other and the world
couldnt around us, making meeting up
use your with friends or family easier
phone for than ever before. But to people
a week? who use this as an excuse for
For many of you this question using their phones at all times,
may induce visions of lying in I respond by asking, is it really
bed and weeping softly into social interaction if the only
your pillow or sitting on your time you see your friends faces
kitchen floor, surrounded by at that party you planned is
piles of empty Ben and Jerrys when you open the Snapchats
cartons. And thats exactly the they send you from across the
table? Are you really spendproblem.
As teenagers growing up ing valuable time with family
in a digital age dominated by when youre too busy trying
glowing screens, our lives have to beat your high score on
slowly come to revolve around Flappy Bird to look up from
your phone? Whats the point
our phones.
In the United States, 78 of having your best friend over
for dinner if all
percent
of
teens have a So put the phone away. either of you are
phone, and 47 Even better, turn it off and going to do is
percent own forget about it for an hour text under the
table?
smar tphones or two.
There is a
According to
time and place
a 2010 Kaiser
Family Foundation study of for technology, but events spe8-18 year olds, American teen- cifically planned for spending
agers average around seven valuable time with the people
and a half hours of media con- you care about are neither the
sumption per day via technol- right time nor place for attempting to break the Guinogy.
Most of us have owned ness World Record for most
phones since middle or even texts sent by a single person in
elementary school, and as they 60 minutes.
So put the phone away.
take over more and more aspects of our lives, we start to Even better, turn it off and forforget what it really means to get about it for an hour or two.
Spend the time you norbe social.
Did you know that theres mally would checking your
something even cooler than phone meeting a new friend,
an app, and it lets you commu- getting to know an old one
nicate with friends and fam- again or making real memoily just like theyre there in the ries.
I promise it wont kill you,
room with you? Its so high def
that its real. What strange and and it might even give you
magical invention do I speak some perspective on what really matters.
of ?
By CARMEN VESCIA
Feature Editor

Cartoon by Morayma Quezadas

Staff Editorial

Dont cower from reality:

Intruder drill needs improvement

We have grown up learning to

stop, drop and roll; hide under
tables or doorframes; get out of
the building as fast as possible. In
light of recent school shootings
we now have to prepare for another kind of emergency: a campus intruder.
While its hard to imagine this
kind of trauma at Sequoia, we
have to face reality: there is no
way to be certain that Sequoia
wont join the growing list of
schools affected by gun violence.
School shootings are still rare,
but their frequency has blunted
our initial response. They no
longer have that jaw-dropping,
heart melting impact of Columbine or Virginia Tech.
According to a New York
Times editorial, more people
have been killed in school buildings than in terrorist attacks in
the United States since Sept.
11. This is the world we live
inrather than hide from the
scary truth, we have to prepare
for it. Were not saying students
should feel paranoid every time
they go to the bathroom, but
they should be prepared to make
smart decisions that wont compromise their safety.
Unlike other drills, there are
no metrics for an intruder drill,
making it difficult to quantify

success. Although its a qualitative measure, the general sentiment was that Sequoias Feb. 8
drill did not leave students feeling prepared or confident.
The drill was the first time
many students made barricades
out of desks and chairs. However, they had no instructions
on how to make the barricades
effectively while under pressure.
An assembly or even a video to
teach students how to build barricades would help us feel more
prepared and confident for the
next drill.
Because the drill took place
during third period, students
only know how to protect themselves in one of their six or seven
classrooms. Many students take
classes in computer labs, the ceramics studio or the woodshop,
where unconventional desks
and furniture require different
lockdown procedures. Teachers,
aided by administrators, should
present each period with their
classrooms most effective protocol. That way, students can feel
prepared in any of their classes
even if they dont get to perform
a lockdown drill in all of them.
There are many situations
that students do not know how
to react to during a lockdown.
We have not been told what to

do if a lockdown occurs during

lunch, a time when many students are outside of the building.
Similarly, many dont know what
to do if they arent in a classroom
at the time of a lockdown. Teachers and administrators know the
protocol for these scenarios, and
they need to communicate that
information to students. Having these difficult but important
conversations would help students make smart decisions if
their life is threatened.
The first fire and earthquake
drills, like our first intruder
drill, were probably imperfect.
Over time, the drills evolved
into effective procedures. In due
course, the same will go for intruder drills; in a few years, every
child will know how to make
barricades in silence with the
lights off just as they know how
to stop, drop and roll.
Sequoia has already taken a
major step in preparing for an
intruder. However, we need to
follow up with another drill
that doesnt leave students wondering about what could have
gone wrong. The administration
opened the door to getting Sequoia prepared for an intruder,
but its time to walk through that
door and be ready for a frighteningly possible event.

Sequoia High School

Raven Report
2013-2014

Editor-in-Chief Simon Greenhill

Managing Editors Laurel Dearborn Lily Hartzell
News Editor Dalia Jude Feature Editors Araceli Efigenio Carmen Vescia
Opinion Editor Matvari Maharaj Sports Editor Jarrett Crowell Photo Editor Claire Bugos
Online Editor Caroline Lempert Layout Editor Anna Dagum

The Raven Report is supported by a generous grant from

the Sequoia High School Education Foundation.

Staff Reporters
Xavi Bolua Julio Cortez Emily Ducker Lily Friebel Carlos Garcia Claire Harkola
Evan Isenstein-Brand Emma Peyton Cam Rebosio Sabrina Villanueva Avalos Abigail Wang
Adviser Kim Vinh