Seniors Being Exempt From Finals

 

A much debated topic on whether senior students should be exempt from taking finals happens every year as seniors finish off their last week as high school students. Senior year of high school is the most exciting but stressful year of all.  During the first semester seniors start to send out applications for colleges and figuring out what they want to do for the rest of their life. Towards the end of the school year when things start to slow down and many seniors get a bad case of “senioritis” which is a disease that includes laziness and repeated absences. Finals count as 10% towards the overall grade for that class. Most seniors have been accepted to one or more colleges or universities. It should be a reward for seniors that have achieved a sufficient grade in their class.

When second semester starts to roll around all the students have already checked out and are ready for the warm weather. Finals count as a huge grade of the average grade for class, which can affect their grades immensely. Luckily for seniors their second semester isn’t being looked at by colleges. Erin Kennedy states “Considering the fact that your work of second semester doesn’t go towards your GPA, you shouldn’t have to be tested on it with a final.”  There shouldn’t be a finally if it’s not going to count towards something for the real world. A student from Norton High School Ryan Iannotti says” Yes, cause what’s the point for them to them at all? They’re already accepted into whatever college they’re going to, so who cares” Not saying that all seniors should be exempt. If some students are not meeting the state requirements in order to graduate high school then they should have the option to take the final or not.  

At most high school seniors are exempt from finals when they have reached a satisfactory grade in their class. Students should require to get an 80 average or above to be exempt. Also students should get an option to take the final if they want to improve their overall average, but it shouldn’t be mandatory.  A junior at Norton High School, Nicole Kiley, says “Yes (seniors should be exempt), they worked hard all year and shouldn’t have to spend their last few days in school taking finals!” Seniors work their butts off all year trying to get their GPA up and getting good grades in general. Summer is coming which means that they are almost done with school. They shouldn’t have such a stressful test on their shoulders. Some students are preparing for college life, pre graduation parties, and all the festivities of just being a senior.

However seniors at Norton High School are already being exempt from finals exams so it’s not a big deal in Norton. The only catch is that if seniors have an average of an A- or above. I believe that it should be lowered to a B- or above. Some underclassmen say that it’s not fair for seniors to be exempt and that they are required to take it no matter what their grades were. Underclassmen don’t have a say in anything that seniors do because they haven’t been there as long as the seniors have. Underclassmen’s opinions don’t count because they are underclassmen and haven’t been through the stress of applying to colleges, taking SATs and trying to maintain a high GPA for colleges to look at. It’s safe to say that after four years of high school it should be a senior privilege. 

Associated Press

I strongly believe that the government acted properly in the case of the AP obtaining two months of phone records of their reporters and editors. The government has the right to seize journalist’s records in the matters involving terrorism because it looking out for the safety of its people. We don’t want something like 9-11 or Boston bombings to happen again and people are saying that now but when something happens they’re going to blame the government.

One Tree Hill Review

A well known teen drama series, One Tree Hill, had a successful nine seasons over the past nine years. One Tree Hill follows four teenagers through their life in high school. There is a lot of partying, nudity, sex, parenthood, divorce, and romantic dramas. On the flip side it has positive messages and role models. Its’ just the whole package. Tree Hill is located in North Carolina. Its a small quiet town, but not quite like the people in it. Two half brothers that grew up separately because their father, Dan Scott, only acknowledge one child existence while the other lived a total opposite life with his mother. Basketball ties in the series all together. Lucas Scott(Chad Michael Murray) who is an outsider that is very shy but has an amazing  street hoop player. Fate compels him to play with his brother, Nathan Scott(James Lafferty), who is a jock and part of the high school basketball team as one of the best players that has ever played. Love triangles formed fast throughout the first season. Lucas falls for Peyton Sawyer(Nathan’s girlfriend). Brooke Davis(Peyton’s best friend) falls for Lucas, while Nathan falls for Haley James(Lucas’s best friend). The show shows ideal teenage situations like drinking and sex. These topics are taboo but they do happen. A character, Haley James, didn't believe in sex before marriage but the other did. Brooke Davis, captain of the cheerleading squad who is boy obsessed is all for sex and loves the attention which she doesn't get at home. Brooke is a lonely girl whose parents are always vacationing and never had any adult figure to watch over her. Nathan was the typical “jock”.  He partied and never really cared about his girlfriend and hooks up with random girls. Later on in the season Nathan tried to get back at Lucas for being on the team by getting closer to Haley to make him jealous. Who knew after a while that he began to fall in love with her? The show is not all about drama. Life lessons always play a major part of the script in each episode. One Tree Hill gives teens somebody to relate to and makes them to think a different way than they normally would. And shows kids are not alone in their situation.