By Maeonne Phillips

Many apps are blocked on the school wifi, but some can seem useless to be banned at all.

Apps like Instagram, Tumblr and sometimes Snapchat can pose a threat to some students. Cyberbullying can take place with pictures being posted, or students can come across inappropriate content.

These apps are labelled as “adult” leaving an understandable reason for the banning. Most students will complain it is still unfair and that most use it responsibly, but the reasoning behind banning them is somewhat obvious.

Even though these apps are blocked , it does not stop students from using them. Most will just turn on their data to use them briefly.

However, there is one app blocked on school wifi that does not seem to pose a threat at all which is Spotify.

Spotify is a music app in which students download as much music as they want and listen to it on shuffle with occasional ads. The only social media aspect of the app is the opportunity to share music through it by direct messaging or create playlists for others to view.

Most students are not able to listen to their music on the app unless they turn their data on, but the blocking of the app is not reliable for other reasons as well.

Spotify gives buyers the opportunity to upgrade to a premium account. When purchased, the user can listen to any given song at any given time, without the interruption of ads, for a month. In addition, they can listen on or offline.

Students who pay for the monthly subscription can easily listen to the app as much as they want without using up their data by simply turning off their wifi.

With the Spotify app being so popular, it is unfair that some students can get around it while others can not.

Not everyone has the money to pay for a monthly subscription, preventing students to listen to their music unless they pay for the app like other students do.

Completely blocking an app from a student is simply impossible. The attempt helps and definitely reduces the use, but the blocking of apps used for things such as music is not beneficial as Spotify use does not cause harm to students.

If the reason for the ban is to reduce risk of students losing focus, the ban is not successful either. Most students will find other apps, listen to what they have purchased on iTunes or even use YouTube to listen to music.

The ban of Spotify by the school is not reliable and unfair to most students.

Weekends are days where students can sleep in and relax, but homework can get in the way of those relaxing days.

Homework, whether during the week or on the weekend, is something most students are not looking forward to doing. Getting home from a 7-hour school day to look at 2-3 hours of homework a night can be a drag. While most students dread homework over the weekend, it is also okay to bring school somewhat into students’ life outside of the classroom.

“[Homework on the weekends] is sort of debatable. Some students do not even think about school on the weekends while there are some students who are in honors classes who get homework over the weekend.” freshmen Jason Liu said.

Unfinished projects or papers sometimes need that extended time the weekend offers. Some students work after school or are involved in extracurricular activities, so they are not able to get what they need to get done during the week. It is true some students have events that take the entire weekend and homework over those days are added stress, but that is not very often. On top of that, most teachers are lenient on giving extensions for unplanned circumstances.

While it can not be helped, homework should not happen all the time over the weekend, only when it is necessary. Most students do not mind doing a little bit of homework here and there, but when it starts to get in the way of their family life and such, it starts to become a problem for them. Students would much rather go and hang out with their friends than do homework, but there are times where students have to sit down and get work done.

“[Teachers should not give students homework over the weekend] because that is the student’s only free time during the week. It is [their] only two days off from school during the week,” sophomore Brianna Erler said.

It is not a bad thing for students to bring home work from school, but some students believe that school work should stay in school. Although this is understandable, there is not enough time during the school day to finish all that needs to be learned. Going home and doing some school work helps students remember what they were taught in school. It also allows them to get help from older siblings  or parents if there is something they do not understand.

Even though most students would disagree, having homework over the weekends is not as troublesome as they think.

By Alyssa Kuntz

Halloween is a very popular time of year, but with kids and teens growing older many noticed they seem to become less festive, and they do not partake in the same activities as they used to.

Halloween is a time of year where kids usually go trick or treating. While trick or treating, kids dress up in any costume and walk around their neighborhood with friends or family. When they reach a house they all say “trick or treat” and then the neighbor gives them a piece of candy.

However, now, as children get older around ages 13, 14 or 15, they decide that they are too old to go trick or treating anymore. This is the case for many teens across the country.

“I stopped going trick or treating about two or three years ago,” sophomore Hassan Badat said.

On the other hand, some students still like to go trick or treating.

“This year I was a strawberry,” senior Audrey White said.

These students love receiving candy and hanging out with their friends as they trick or treat around many local developments. Trick or treating will never get old for them, and they always feel that there is no set age to quit such a fun festivity.

“I did not go trick or treating this year, but what I loved most about going in previous years, was hanging out with my friends,” sophomore Logan Winters said.

In today’s society, there has been a new attraction becoming very popular amongst teens: haunted houses. Instead of going trick or treating, many kids go to haunted houses where they seek the adrenaline rush and the thrill of being scared.

Another thing teens do instead of going trick or treating is just going to a party. The students may just go to someone’s house to hangout, or they might dress up in a costume and go to someone’s house for a halloween-themed party.

As trick or treating becomes less popular among older adolescents, it can either be a fun time out with friends, or cherished memories of the past. However, as everyone grows older, they still find different ways to celebrate this spooky holiday most Americans seem to love.

The word “necessity” often brings up the three basic needs of food, shelter and water in one’s mind, and from the word “luxury,” items can bounce from new shoes to a week-long vacation. When these two words are put together, thoughts of college begin floating around.

A necessity is something needed to survive and prosper. Normally, these are reachable for the average person. Luxuries are harder to grasp, and if it is something humans can live without, many people do not make it to them.

College is beginning to come hand and hand with living as humans are now born and raised to learn how to talk and walk, and then they are immediately sent into schools where they learn to socialize, and above all, they are told every decision they make will affect their future.

According to College Board, the average cost of tuition and fees for the last school year was $31,231 at private colleges, such as New York University, $9,139 for state residents at public colleges, such as Kent State University, and $22,958 for out-of-state residents attending public universities, such as the University of Miami.

Kent State University has their undergraduate tuition for Ohio residents on ksu.edu listed as $10,012 without room and board for the 2015-16 school year. If this price did not change for the next few years, it would end up costing a current student $40,048 for a four year education.

Looking plainly at the huge numbers strikes the topic of what else on which money could be spent.

According to charitywater.org, it costs about $20 to provide water to one person for 20 years. With the price of college at KSU for four years, over 2,000 people could receive clean water for those 20 years.

While providing water seems to be a really spaced-out example, there are many products that put the price of college in a new perspective.

College prices often shy students away from the experience. A minimum-wage job does not provide enough money for a student to pay his or her way through college.

When the $40,000 price is displayed, it scares students, especially when the price does not include living arrangements, meal plans, books and extra-curricular activities, such as sports equipment.

The prices of college has huge margins, and if they were lowered, so much money could be saved for students and their parents. As well as saving money, people would, in the end, experience less stress without having to worry about abundant student loans.

The price commitment acts as a leash for students, and that is no way to excel in college.