The United States spent more aggressively to protect its economy from the pandemic than many global peers, a strategy that has helped to foment more rapid inflation — but also a faster economic rebound and brisk job gains.
Now, though, America is grappling with what many economists see as an unsustainable worker shortage that threatens to keep inflation high and may necessitate a firm response by the Federal Reserve. Yet U.S. employment has not recovered as fully as in Europe and some other advanced economies. That reality is prodding some economists to ask: Was America’s spending spree worth it?
Daily Word Challenge
Can you correctly use the word foment in a sentence?
Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.
Then, read some of the other sentences students have submitted and use the “Recommend” button to vote for two original sentences that stand out to you.
If you want a better idea of how foment can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com.
Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.
Do you like cars? What kind of car do you hope to own or drive one day?
In this lesson, you will learn about the culture of souped-up cars, luxury cars and collector cars that has flourished in Miami for decades. In a Going Further activity, we invite you to design the car of your dreams.
Warm-Up
Part 1: Share your experiences and opinions about cars
Do you know how to drive? Do you have a driver’s license? If not, do you hope to drive one day?
Take a few minutes to reflect on the role of cars in your life and in your dreams for your future. Then, respond to one or more of the following prompts in writing or through discussion with a partner:
What is your experience, if any, with driving? If you have your license, how difficult was it for you to pass the test? What aspects of driving are you particularly good — or particularly bad — at? If you don’t have your license, are you working toward getting it? Why or why not?
How would you describe the car culture in your community? Do people depend on cars? Is getting a driver’s license an important rite of passage for teenagers? Do people customize or collect cars? How central are cars to your work, school, family and social life?
What’s your dream car, if you have one? How would you want it customized if you could afford to do anything? Why?
1. The article begins: “The bald and tattooed man known as Juice cruises South Florida in a car named Charlie Brown.” Why do you think the Times reporter, Patricia Mazzei, begins with the story of Juice and his “donk,” a customized 1970s Chevy high-riser with large wheels? What does Charlie Brown tell us about Miami and its car culture?
2. Why is the popularity of Formula 1 growing in America, according to the article?
3. Look at the photographs and their captions featured in the article: What story do they tell about cars, car culture and their drivers? Which images stands out to you and why?
4. How does Miami’s car culture compare with that of Los Angeles, which Ms. Mazzei calls the capital of America’s iconic car scene. Why has a large community of people collecting and restoring cars grown in South Florida?
5. The article notes that around 80 to 100 cars an hour and more than 1,000 cars a day visit a single location of El Car Wash in North Miami. What does the popularity of the carwash chain tell us about the challenges and importance of protecting cars in South Florida?
6. Geoffrey Karas, a co-chief executive of El Car Wash, and originally from New York says, “People spend a lot of time in their car, and it’s also a status symbol and a way of life down here, much more than in the Northeast. It’s just part of the Miami lifestyle.” How does the car culture where you live compare with that of South Florida? Do you wish your hometown’s love and appreciation of cars could be more like Miami’s?
7. Why does Ira Shapiro, 68, a past president of the local chapter of the Antique Automobile Club of America, have mixed feelings about the new Miami Grand Prix, despite being a Formula 1 fan since the 1970s? Do you think the race will become a big hit in South Florida? Do you think the sport will ever rival NASCAR in America?
8. What are your biggest takeaways from reading the article? What did you find most fascinating, surprising or memorable? Does the article make you more interested in cars, car culture or Formula 1? If you could own any of the cars featured in the article, which would it be and why?
Going Further
Option 1: Learn more about Formula 1 car design
Sweeping changes to the rules dictating Formula 1 car design have upended the team standings this year, representing “the biggest aerodynamic overhaul in 40 years,” according to Paul Monaghan, the chief engineer at Red Bull Racing.
Read “How Formula 1’s Car Redesign Is Changing Racing” to learn more about these changes — the science behind them and their impact on the sport. Then, respond in writing or through discussion with a partner: What was most fascinating, surprising or memorable? In your own words, what roles do physics and aerodynamics play in the sport of Formula 1 racing? Do you think the new changes will improve the safety of drivers and the success of the sport? Why or why not?
Option 2: Design (or redesign and customize) your dream car!
Inspired by the souped-up cars featured in this article? Now it’s your turn to create your dream automobile! Lowrider versus donk? Sports car versus all-terrain vehicle? Classic versus futuristic? What’s your fantasy ride?
Design, sketch and label your ideal car. Whether it is big or small, practical or fantastical, be sure to consider color, style and materials as well as major automobile features, such as the body, interior, windows, wheels and rims.
Want more Lessons of the Day? You can find them all here.
Please note: We are trying something new and linking to the vocabulary.com definitions for some of the words and phrases that might be unfamiliar to some students or need more clarity.
Vocabulary.com defines family as a “primary social group,” “parents and children” and “a social unit living together.” By these definitions, who is your family? Are there other people you consider “family” who may not fit these definitions? Who and why?
Have you ever heard the phrase “chosen family” to mean the close relationships and connections formed outside of a nuclear family? The Times is currently asking readers for stories about these chosen families. Here, Dani Blum introduces the idea:
In honor of Pride Month this June, The Times is collecting stories about chosen families in the L.G.B.T. community. The term comes from anthropological literature and refers to the intense, intimate relationships some L.G.B.T. people form apart from their biological relatives; it is the kinship you create outside of a traditional family structure.
Chosen families are defined by the strength of the connection people feel to each other, said Cole Milton, a doctoral candidate and researcher at Oklahoma State University. “It’s different from a group of acquaintances, or even really good friends. It’s something deeper,” he said.
Do you have a chosen family? We want to hear about them — who they are, how you found each other, and what these relationships mean to you now.
What is your response to the definition of “chosen family” given by Cole Milton in the article? Do you have people in your life whom you would describe as your “chosen family”?
Describe a close relationship with someone in your biological or chosen family. What kinds of things do you do with them? Why are they special to you?
In your experience, why can it be important or helpful to have close connections with people outside of your nuclear family?
Share a story about a time when you turned to someone outside of your nuclear family for advice or support.
If you identify as L.G.B.T.Q., you can submit your writing to The Times for a chance to be included in an upcoming feature and photo essay.
Want more writing prompts? You can find all of our questions in our Student Opinion column. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate them into your classroom.
Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
This essay, by Anya Zhang, 17, from Dublin Jerome High School in Dublin, Ohio, is one of the top eight winners of The Learning Network’s third annual STEM Writing Contest, for which we received 3,564 entries.
You can find the work of all of our student winners here.
Straight from a science fiction blockbuster, light particles allow self-driving cars to detect surrounding objects, scientists to map out the ocean floor, and even archaeologists to uncover historical monuments. Gee-whiz as it may seem, light detection and ranging, or lidar, utilizes light molecules to “see” the environment around it.
So how is lidar able to detect objects? Through laser pulses, light photons are shot out, interacting with the different surfaces they encounter. Think of billiard balls — a poke from the pool cue sends the balls flying, knocking into the table sides or bouncing off one another until they plummet into the corner pockets. Similar to billiards, some of the light particles reflect off a surface and return back to the pocket of the lidar instrument.
Carrying energy in a “waveform,” lidar technology collects data on the time and angle at which the light photons enter the instrument. Lidar compiles photons arriving at similar times and directions into energy spikes; larger spikes indicate that the light bounced off an object or the ground. Using these spikes and the x-, y- and z-coordinate information provided by individual photons, lidar can depict a minuscule surface. Stitching these surfaces into a patchwork, lidar can generate detailed 3-D representations of an area, presenting even the leaves of trees or the crevices in a sidewalk.
Different technologies can also use unique types of light, depending on the purpose. For example, one of the two categories of lidar, bathymetric, uses green light. This green light can penetrate water, which makes it useful for charting underwater surfaces. The other category of lidar, topographic, uses infrared light: a classification of light that ranks on the lower end of the electromagnetic energy spectrum compared to green light. Topographic lidar is typically employed to map out land features and is utilized in smaller sensors.
Currently, smaller lidar sensors are used to detect speeding violations or to sense road surroundings in self-driving cars. However, more powerful lidar technology is implemented for a larger task: visually representing entire land expanses. In October of 2021, Science News reported that lasers aided the archaeological discovery of an underground plaza and pyramid in Guatemala.
David Stuart, the director of the Mesoamerica Center of the University of Texas at Austin, explained that “there was no visible stonework there” so “it was thought to be a natural hill.” Encrusted with soil and vegetation, the structures were camouflaged from the everyday eye. However, because of the lidar maps collected by helicopters, archaeologists matched the layout of the “hill” to that of a similar structure: La Ciudadela, a plaza located near Mexico City. This revelation led experts to discover the hidden structures.
Outside of its archaeological implications, lidar maps provide a multitude of exciting opportunities. Scientists can use the technology to characterize vegetation in different ecosystems or to plan efforts in the face of landslides or tsunamis. No matter its application, lidar is certainly making “light” work of science fiction laser fantasies by making 3-D-mapping aspirations a reality.
Landing your first job as a developer is a time for celebration. You’ve made it through your coursework and the hiring process, and now, it’s time to kick off your new career. But this time can also come with new, sometimes intimidating challenges, according to Codecademy Software Engineer Zeb Girouard.
“There’s this idea of what lies at the end of the rainbow — more money, freedom to travel while you work, and the ability to dictate your own schedule,” he says. “But along the way, you might face some hits to your self-esteem.”
While training and research can give you an idea of what to expect, some things can only be learned on the job. Ahead, Zeb and other Codecademy software engineers shed light on eight challenges you might come across as a new developer and how to overcome them.
If you find yourself facing any of these challenges in your own career, try not to feel overwhelmed. They’re not insurmountable. With patience and a little ingenuity, you’ll find your way in no time. “You’ll have ups and downs, but things get easier over time,” says Codecademy Software Engineer Jasmine English. “You just have to roll with it.”
1. Dealing with new and unfamiliar technologies
Every company has a different tech stack, and new and experienced developers alike are often faced with tools and technologies they’ve never used before. In her first role as an apprentice, Codecademy Software Engineer Amy Resnik had to learn TypeScript — and it took some time for her to learn its syntax and how to use it. “It can be challenging when you’re coming into a new role that requires you to use a language or framework you’re not familiar with,” she says. “But if you continue to work at it and expose yourself to the code, you’ll pick things up pretty quickly.”
The best way to learn something new is to dive into it head-first. You could even try an online programming course to help you master the ins and outs of a new language — including right here on Codecademy. For example, if you find yourself in a position like Amy’s, try our Learn TypeScript course.
2. Working with an existing code base
There’s a big difference between the projects you built during your coursework and professional code bases that have been in the works for years. “Most people start on small toy projects, but professional code bases are sprawling,” says Judah Anthony, Senior Engineering Manager at Codecademy. “There’s not a whole lot between the two, so it takes skill to learn how to navigate a large code base and know what you have to know — and don’t have to know — to get the job done.”
Large code bases can be intimidating. Some of it might be new, some of it old, and some might be written in a language you’re not familiar with. But the key is to take it one step at a time. Read through documentation. Reach out to your coworkers when you have questions. “There’s a learning curve with figuring out how to navigate through the code base,” Amy says. “But as you continue to work at it and work within your team, it gets easier.”
You can also prepare ahead of time by finding opportunities to work with larger code bases. Maybe you could lend your skills to an open-source project or find volunteering opportunities to write code for a nonprofit.
3. Feeling overwhelmed by onboarding information
There’s a lot you’ll be expected to learn in your first few days on the job. Your onboarding might include information about the company and its goals, product features and value propositions, system architecture and infrastructure, coding practices and standards, and more.
“You get a whole lot of information all at once, and you’re not sure what to do with it or how you’re going to use it,” Jasmine says. “It can seem a little overwhelming because you feel like you need to know all this stuff, but you really don’t. You can always come back to that information later when you actually need it.”
Instead of trying to absorb all this information at once, focus on what’s most relevant to your immediate duties and go back to your onboarding documents as necessary.
4. Facing interruptions and context switching
Codecademy Software Engineer Sarah Kate Haddon is two months into her first engineering role, and her biggest challenge so far is managing her workload.
Developers and engineers have a wide range of responsibilities, from building applications and integrating systems to running tests and reviewing code. It’s a lot to juggle — especially when you have several projects on your plate and have to switch between them throughout the day.
Think back to a time when you were writing code and someone interrupted you to ask a question. It probably took you a few minutes to regain your flow. Now, imagine trying to focus while dealing with emails, Slack messages, meetings, and pull requests.
So how do you find a balance? Sarah Kate suggests blocking out time on your calendar to focus on specific tasks. “Dedicating a certain amount of time to code reviews, research, or just straight up writing code is super helpful,” she says.
5. Figuring out how to prioritize
Not only will you have to juggle many tasks, but you’ll also need to get them done in a timely fashion. This can be hard when you’re still getting used to the job, learning new languages, and taking on new responsibilities. And it’s especially important when you’re looking to work your way up to the next level, where you’ll often be expected to accomplish more in the same amount of time.
But it all comes down to time management and prioritization. Try making a list of all your projects, how long you think it’ll take you to complete them, and the people you can turn to if you need help. Then, talk to your manager about prioritizing these tasks and laddering them up to your team’s goals.
Using a similar approach helped Jasmine increase her productivity (and eventually earn a promotion). “I just needed clear, concrete goals to work toward,” she says. “Once I was aware of those goals — for instance, reaching a certain number of tickets during a sprint — it was easier for me to recognize what I needed to do and how to manage my time and resources to get there.”
6. Adjusting to remote work
Remote work has been on the rise over the past couple of years. Studies suggest that up to 25% of jobs in the U.S. will be remote by the end of 2022, so there’s a decent chance you might find yourself working from home. And while working remotely has its perks, it also comes with unique challenges.
Amy says that one of the biggest challenges of working remotely is the lack of face-to-face contact with your team. In a traditional office setting, you could roll your chair over to a teammate when you have a question, or they might notice you struggling with something and offer to lend a hand. But when you’re remote, you have to take a more direct approach. “You have to take it upon yourself to make sure you’re getting the help and support you need because everything is very different in a remote world,” Amy says.
The lack of face-to-face contact can also be isolating and make it difficult to bond with the rest of your team. Amy recommends finding collaborative opportunities to share and learn from each other. “My team used to have bi-weekly ‘casual coding’ meetings, where people could just pop in and ask for help or just hang out and work together,” she says.
7. Worrying you have “too many” questions
It might seem like a small issue, but many new developers struggle with asking for help when they need it. When you’re new to your role, you may not be sure what you’re expected to already know and what you’re expected to ask for help with, Jasmine says.
You might worry about seeming incapable or being a burden, but if you have a supportive team, they’ll likely be happy to lend a hand. Remember: Most of them have been in your shoes at some point. “Nobody is born with innate knowledge,” Sarah Kate says. “People at the senior staff levels still don’t necessarily understand or have complete comprehension of what’s going on at all times.”
Asking questions is the only way to grow, and it’ll also help you avoid spending hours (or even days) on a problem that might have a fairly simple solution. But it’s also important to ask questions in a way that will kickstart a productive conversation. Instead of telling your manager you don’t know what to do, try explaining the problem and outlining how you tried to resolve it. This will give them more information to work with, and it’ll also illustrate that you’re capable of tackling problems on your own and willing to ask for help when you need it.
“Maybe you’re working on something that’s completely new to you, or things turn out to be more complicated than you anticipated,” Jasmine says. “There are a lot of reasons why you might need help, and they’re all fine. Nobody expects you to bake a pie without looking at a recipe.”
8. Facing impostor syndrome
When you’re worried you’re asking too many questions, that anxiety can lead to impostor syndrome. Judah says that self-doubt is one of the most common issues he sees in new developers. “People don’t realize they’re not supposed to know everything as a beginner, so they feel like a fraud and unnecessarily toil on things because they’re afraid to ask questions or get help,” he says. “This can stunt people’s growth and cause a shame spiral.”
It’s understandable. Software development involves a lot of moving pieces, and new technologies and methodologies are developed every day. There’s a lot to learn, and there might be times when you wonder whether you’re up to the task — especially when you compare yourself to more experienced teammates.
“I’ve had experiences in the beginning of my career where I was in a room with 25 people talking about things I didn’t understand,” Zeb says. “I felt like if I interjected, I’d be that guy who has no idea what was going on, and I’d derail the entire meeting.”
But remember that you were hired for a reason. Your hiring manager evaluated your skills and brought you aboard because they believed you could succeed in the role. Focus on what you can do, and make time to learn what you don’t know. “Allow yourself to not know everything and to be curious,” Sarah Kate says. “The only way to eat an elephant is bite by bite.”
If you need help brushing up on your skills, check out our course catalog, where you can find courses on everything from front-end development to data science. And if you’re still working on landing that first job in tech, you can find code challenges, portfolio projects, interview prep, and other helpful resources in our career center.
Students learned one list at a time. While the students were learning the lists, they were asked to make a judgment of learning (JOL). A JOL is just a prediction about how well they think they have learned the material. In this case, they were asked to rate the likelihood that they would remember the pair in the testing phase later. Sometimes they made the JOL right after seeing a pair, and other times it came after a delay of a couple of minutes (at least intervening 10 items).
Testing Phase:
After learning the first list, the students performed an unrelated “distractor task” for 2 minutes, and then took a cued-recall test to measure their learning of the items. The students saw a cue word or picture one at a time, and were asked to recall the other word or picture from the pair they originally studied.
Repeat for the Second List:
Finally, the learning and predictions phase and the testing phase were repeated for the second list. (I.e., the students who learned the pairs of words first now learned the pairs of pictures; the students who learned the pairs of pictures first now learned the pairs of words.)
The Results
The researchers found that learning style was not related to actual learning. In other words, the verbal students did not remember the words any better than the pictures, and the visual students did not remember the pictures any better than the words.
However, their predictions about how well they would remember the pictures and words did depend on their learning style.
The verbal students had higher JOLs for the words than pictures, indicating they predicted they would remember the words better than the pictures (even though they didn’t).
The visual students had higher JOLs for the pictures than words, indicating they predicted they would remember the pictures better than the words (even though they didn’t).
The predictions were only related to learning style when the JOLs were made right after studying the pair. This means that after waiting a little bit, the students were better able to assess how well they would remember the item. In general, delaying one’s prediction of how much is learned (i.e., metacognitive monitoring) leads to a more accurate prediction.
Why is it a problem that learning styles are related to learning predictions but not actual learning?
If a student is studying, and they believe in learning styles, they may study the information in their own particular style. While they are studying, they are likely assessing how well they think they know the material, likely in preparation for a test. If they think they learn best with verbal information, and they are studying verbal information, this pairing alone should drive up their prediction of how well they are learning without actually meaning they are learning more. (And, students tend to overestimate how much they will remember in general as it is.) Their prediction that they know the material better may lead them to terminate studying early, potentially leading to a disappointing surprise when it comes time for exam day. If the students were told that learning styles don’t matter for learning, and encouraged to use dual coding (and delayed predictions of their own learning for that matter), their assessments would generally be more accurate.
Bottom Line
Catering to learning styles isn’t just ineffective at producing learning. It can also be harmful. While this experiment utilized very simple experimental materials for learning, that does not necessarily mean it doesn’t have any validity for the classroom. This type of experiment can allow for greater control over the materials and experimental procedure, making it easier to determine cause-and-effect relationships (see this post).
Instead, we should engage students in multimodal learning, or dual coding, and match learning activities to the material to be learned. Imagine trying to learn the anatomy of this flower and how these parts work together without a diagram. It would be very difficult for many people to learn just based on a verbal description. On the other hand, if we remove all of the words from this diagram, the chances of learning would likely be greatly reduced.
This is what part of the U.S. and Mexico border looked like in 1898, just an open strip of land with train tracks going across. Here’s what that same stretch looked like 110 years later, in 2008. The open land is split by a fence. A border gate replaces the train tracks. So how did we get here — from open desert to a patchwork of highly politicized border barriers? To understand, we’re going to focus mostly on a single location, in Nogales, the spot where this stone monument marks the border line. What happens here tells the story of the border’s transformation, the how and the why. We’ll begin in 1848. The United States has just defeated Mexico in a war over expansion. Mexico is forced to sign away more than half its land and sell a bit more later on. This is how the U.S. got the land which includes today’s border, but there’s no fences or barriers yet. No. First the border just gets marked, in many places with nothing more than a pile of stones. These stones are at the spot I mentioned that we’re going to focus on, outside a saloon in Nogales. The saloon is on the U.S. side. There’s essentially free movement back and forth. But these rocks hardly mark the border accurately. The border stays like that for 43 years until 1891. That’s when the U.S. and Mexico set out to define the border with better accuracy. Stone monuments go up at regular intervals to clearly mark it. If we go back to the saloon, Monument 122 stands where the pile of rocks once was. The monument will remain, but the saloon will be torn down. Why? In 1897, the president orders that several buildings be demolished in order to clear a 60-foot-wide path along the border. Mexico has already done this. The path is cleared to make smuggling easier to spot. Not drug smuggling — this is smuggling of everyday goods to avoid import and export taxes. The new tract of open land also emphasizes the growing separation between Mexico and the U.S. Still, there’s no border fence in Nogales, not yet. But in rural areas, there’s a problem only a border fence can solve: ticks. In the early 1900s, ticks are causing disease among cows in rural areas. Those cows are crossing back and forth over the border. So the first-ever border fence is actually built to keep cows from spreading disease. But what about the first fence meant to control human movement? There are three big reasons the U.S. invests in more security at the southern border, culminating in the first permanent fence. Number 1, racist attitudes towards Chinese people had led to law banning their immigration to the U.S. The law was enforced mainly at water ports, but less so on the Mexican border. So going through Mexico became an easier way Chinese people could avoid the ban and still enter the U.S. But the large number of people showing up along the southern border eventually drew stricter security. Then in 1910, a revolution breaks out in Mexico. That leads to reason Number 2 for a security buildup. The U.S. sends troops to the border to stop the fighting from spilling over. Here’s that monument I showed you earlier, where the saloon once was, this time in 1913. Then — World War I — reason Number 3 for the security buildup. U.S. troops stay on the border. There’s paranoia in America that German spies might cross over from the Mexican side. All this violence and intrigue creates a tense atmosphere on the border. Small gunbattles erupt between jittery American and Mexican forces. Each side blames the other. So here’s where the first permanent border fence to manage human crossings comes to be, in 1918. It’s made of wire — very basic. You could easily climb over the fence if you wanted to. But its purpose isn’t to wall off the two countries. The fence is a way to diffuse the tension and control the flow of growing border traffic. Then, Prohibition happens. Alcohol is legal in Mexico. So yeah, a lot of American visitors go there. The U.S. monitors crossings to enforce the regulation of American morality, as one researcher puts it. Also, population along the border is growing, so we see the border fence get enhancements in the late 1920s. It’s got barbed wire at the top. Lampposts are installed. New stone pillars form crossing gates. Prohibition gives way to the Depression and then World War II. Here’s where the U.S. starts to use barriers to really keep people out. A program is bringing Mexican workers into the U.S. to beef up the wartime labor force. “The term most commonly used is Braceros.” But at the same time, other Mexicans without authorization to enter the U.S. sneak across the border anyway, looking for jobs. This photo shows a U.S. border agent demonstrating how easy people can get through a rural border fence. So all of this leads to more fences and more border patrols. The racial slur in this newsreel title shows the prejudice towards Mexican workers during this time. The U.S. places more restrictions on Mexican immigration in the following decades. That begins a cycle that continues to this day. Less ways to legally enter the U.S. means more people crossing the border illegally, which leads to more deportations. To build stronger border barriers, the U.S. uses surplus from the Vietnam War. See right here: It’s a helicopter landing mat. Mats like these line the border in the 1990s. Meanwhile, the U.S. is increasing roundups of undocumented immigrants. “There is too much of it, and we must do much more to stop it.” Then we come to Sept. 11. That brings strong bipartisan support for more border security. “This bill will make our borders more secure.” And the length of the border wall expands to five times what it was, even though the number of illegal crossings are going down. “We have more of everything — ICE, Border Patrol, surveillance, you name it.” Border security remains a huge rallying cry. “We’ve got to have a wall. If we don’t have a wall, it’s never going to end.” “A wall is an immorality. It’s not who we are as a nation.” And so the debate continues. That’s how we got here. Barriers have existed along the border for a long time, but their purpose has been ever-changing. So five minutes into the video, you saw how Vietnam-era landing mats were used to help construct the border fence. But there’s another surprising material that was also used: During World War II, the U.S. forcibly confined people of Japanese ancestry to internment camps. Those camps had fences, and some of those fences were reused later on to build the Mexican border fence. This time not to keep people in, but to keep people out.
My personal journey about mental health has been a long one. I’ve been in and out of therapy since a very young age and I’m pretty heavily medicated for depression/anxiety. I live with the guilt of what I did to myself, what I put my parents through. I was only 11/12. I had thoughts I didn’t know how to process, urges to do things I really shouldn’t have done. I hated everyone, and especially myself. I missed out on my childhood due to extreme anxiety, and I’ll never get it back. I feel like something is missing, even now. I’m nearly three years clean now, and I’m doing a lot better. I’m on meds, in stable therapy, and I have a really good support system. But recovery is not linear. Days, weeks, months, years of progress aren’t erased when you have an episode or relapse. I am so happy I am alive today, but I do have episodes where I am not. That does not erase my progress. To everyone in these comments, I’m proud of you. <3
— B.
Almost all of my peers have some form of mental health disorder, they just aren’t being treated for it. Saying this to someone from older generations may cause snarky comments like “your generation is just too sensitive,” but that only strengthens my idea that older generations struggled just as much with mental health, but weren’t given any help. Even now mental health can be considered a taboo, but compared to the 19th century it’s not nearly as severe. I assume the reason it seems like mental health is only a recent problem is because people in the past feared being locked up in asylums for seeking help. I believe that the solution to our current “crisis” is to continue being loud about mental health advocacy to destigmatize it.
— S.
“I Think Social Media Does Play a Big Role …”
If I’m being honest, I didn’t think I would live to turn sixteen. Since I was little I was always anxious, slept in my parent’s bed while it was thundering, cried because I was too scared to go to school, and missed out on birthday parties and such due to my anxious nature. As I started to grow older depression came along too. The last two years were the worst of my life. I became [part of] the eighty-eight percent [rise in] teens in the hospital due to self-harm, I allowed myself to go on so long feeling the way I did like life isn’t for me for too long. I hid it from my family members along with my raging eating disorder, which was a major contribution to my negative mental health…Looking back on it I wish I would’ve done something, said something, but the truth is I found comfort in how horrible I felt. Social media was also a contributing factor to how bad my mental health was, and how many others feel, there’s no doubt about it. The social media platform, Tiktok is a nasty place sometimes. I personally used it as therapy instead of going through the “struggles” of telling someone real. It would show me videos about pro-anorexia, depression, and suicidal ideation. It made me feel as if I was less alone when in reality it was more damaging than I would know…
— A.
Applications like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat all are platforms that will create an online environment that is best fitted to the user. Sometimes when we are in a sad mood, maybe we want to scroll through TikTok or Instagram but what users aren’t aware of is that they will custom create an algorithm for their desires. If they decide to listen to sad music, more sad music will be advertised to them and then it becomes an endless cycle. Social media also has been infamous for highlighting people with the ideal body types and this can be very hard for youth that are going through body changes in their teen years. For me personally, I only scroll on social media when I feel in a sad mood and, spoiler alert, it never helps me feel better. Social media has served our society a lot of good but we need to be aware of some of the hidden consequences of having access to the whole world at the click of a button.
— S.
We’ve been in a pandemic for 2 years now, and I feel that social media is the most important factor revolving around teens’ mental health. Endless scrolling through videos, not leaving the house, and comparing themselves to fake images decreases their mental health and self-esteem. It could also lead to exhaustion, since many, like myself, tend to scroll through posts and watch videos from the evening into the early hours of the morning.
— T.
“The Pandemic Has Made a Great Change in Mental Health.”
I’ve seen many different teens in my school, in stores or just in public who seem to be struggling with mental illness. Signs that I’ve seen are, sitting alone, never smiling, always looking depressed by their body language and facial language and their actions. Personally, I think that the pandemic has made a great change in teens mental health. There isn’t much to do anymore and it’s a lot harder to socialize. Teens and kids need socialization in their life or they’ll become more sad and they wont know how to talk to people. I think teens now a days are more scared to reach out and get help, therefore they live with this struggle on a daily basis and nobody may ever know.
— B.
Many of my friends went into deep depression during the pandemic, a few of which nearly attempted suicide. I wish I could say I’m surprised by the drastic jump in self harm and suicide rates but I’m not. Kids are always told that they are the future, but little is being done to insure that they are actually there in the future. Mass education on mental health needs to be achieved or I fear the problem will just get worse.
Thoroughbred races have increasingly surrendered to the sheikhs and princes, the hedge fund wizards and industrialists, the fat cats who could plunder their vaults and pay whatever it took to secure a regally bred horse who, they hoped, could run a hole in the wind.
But that was not the story on Saturday in the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby. Not after an 80-1 named Rich Strike, who did not even earn his spot in the starting gate in America’s greatest horse race until Friday, seemed to follow Moses’ path through the Red Sea to a three-quarter length victory that had appeared impossible.
This is an image from a recent news story. What does it show? What do you think it is saying? How does it relate to or comment on society or current events? Do you have a personal reaction to it? What is your opinion of its message?
Want more Picture Prompts? Find them all in this column.
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