Viking Chronicles - New Brighton Middle School!

Editorial – Gum At Schoolby Adrian SamsonSome research suggeststhat gum can help keepyour brain active andcan help some peopleconcentrate.One of the most commonlyenforced and commonlybroken school rules is the ruleagainst chewing gum oncampus. This rule comeslargely from fear of kidssticking gum under tables,spitting it on the ground, oreven having it stuck in anindividual’s hair.Though there are manyreasons why educators don’twant students to chew gum atschool, there are also benefitsto chewing gum for somestudents. Some researchsuggests that gum can helpkeep your brain active andcan help some peopleconcentrate. Additionally, ithelps those who are prone tofidgeting sit still and focus.For example, chewing gumhelps me focus and helpskeep me from chewing theinside of my mouth.At other schools I’veattended, a commonexplanation for this rule isthat gum can do bad things toyour teeth, but there arealready things that areallowed at school that are badfor people’s teeth. Also, fourout of five dentistsrecommend Trident.I know that there are a lot ofproblems with poorlydiscarded gum byirresponsible gum chewers,but that problem alreadyexists with the current rule inplace. I believe that thepeople who would like tochew gum at school, butchoose to follow this rule, areresponsible enough to keepfrom dropping, throwing, andspitting their gumeverywhere.There are solutions to thisproblem other than banninggum completely. A good way toprevent gum from finding itsway under people’s shoes is torestrict gum to a “gum-chewingarea.” That would likely be asuccessful way to keep gumchewingcontrolled andsupervised. Perhaps a parentvolunteer or student councilmembers could provide thissupervision and make sure thatthe gum is disposed of properly.While I respect the valid reasonsfor banning gum at school, thereare also positive aspects toallowing gum at school.Additionally, there are solutionsto this problem beyond banninggum completely. Perhaps a trialrun of a week or a month inwhich limited gum-chewingwere allowed at school woulddetermine if students can handlethis responsibility.Rylie’s Advice Columnby Rylie O’BrienQ: My best friend has been avoiding me. How do I talk to her and find out what’s wrong?A: Well, you might want to try going up to her and asking why she has been avoiding you or asking her what’swrong. She might not be avoiding you specifically. It’s possible that she might be upset about something thathas nothing to do with you. So if you go up to her ask if she is okay and she doesn’t want to talk, I would justgive her some space, and let her be alone. If you know why she is angry at you, then I would either leave heralone or try to help. Some people want to be alone when they are upset, but others might not know what to do inthat situation and they might need some support.Q; I’m new to this school. How do I make new friends?A: It’s always hard switching to a new school whether it is in the beginning of a school year or the middle of aschool year. What I would do is just be friendly and go up to some people who seem nice and are in some ofyour classes. Try and meet new people every day and just stay with them and their group of friends and oddsare, they will introduce you to other people. If a person you approach isn’t welcoming, then don’t becomefriends with them. It also may help If you know someone else that goes to school here so that you can talk tothem and find out who they think is nice. Then they can help you make friends. Just remember that most peopleare really friendly here at New Brighton Middle School, so there is no need to be shy or scared.Page 4 of 8