Climate change has been a growing controversy between the Democratic and Republican parties. Some hope to crack down on unsustainable energy practices to stop climate change from degrading Earth’s plant and animal species, while others believe it is crucial to support the oil and gas industries due to energy independence and job creation. Voters’ views on climate change will help decide the outcome of the 2024 presidential election, specially given that climate change has significantly intensified in recent years. According to the Copernicus Climate Change Serive — a European Union Earth Observation Program — 2023 was the warmest year in global records going back to 1850. Moreover, according to 2023 research conducted by the World Health Organization, 3.6 billion people already live in areas highly susceptible to climate change. As Gunn students approach voting age, their understanding of current debates will help them establish their opinions on the matter.

Concern about climate change has increased rapidly for decades. In 1970, former U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson created Earth Day to raise awareness about environmental issues. In 1988, ozone-layer depletion became an increasingly prominent issue in politics. The ozone layer protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation, and its depletion contributes significantly to global warming. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency states that currently, the rate of warming is more than three times as fast as it was in 1980.

Beyond the ozone layer, Earth’s average temperatures are increasing, sea levels are rising, glaciers and ice sheets are melting and severe weather is becoming more frequent, according to the Nature Conservancy, a global environmental nonprofit. Indeed, scientists estimate that the “safe threshold” for global warming could be passed in less than a decade. Nevertheless, Democratic and Republican views differ significantly when it comes to climate change. A 2022 U.S. survey conducted by the Pew Research Center on climate change showed that amongst the respondents, 78% of self-identified Democrats and 23% of self-identified Republicans view climate change as a major threat to the nation’s well-being.

Many Democrats believe that tackling climate change is important because of the threat it poses to humanity. During his time in office, President Joe Biden — who is running for reelection this year — passed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the largest piece of federal legislation to address climate change thus far. Aiming to reduce carbon pollution, this act includes $8.8 billion in subsidies for home energy efficiency and electrification projects, which are estimated to save American homeowners up to $1 billion per year.

On the other hand, many Republicans don’t see a strong connection between human activity and climate change. In 2017, former President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, which slowed international efforts to reduce emissions. Additionally, in 2020, Trump finalized plans that allowed mining and drilling in nearly 1 million acres of land in Utah, which were formerly off-limits. More recently, ahead of the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses, Trump supporters showed their enthusiasm for oil and gas drilling. Along with former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump promised surging levels of oil and gas drilling and the removal of President Biden’s climate change policies.

These differences could prove significant in November. According to 2024 research conducted by Matthew Burgess, an associate professor at Brooklyn College, views on climate change played a significant role in whom people voted for in 2020. Burgess and his team of researchers from Vanderbilt University and the University of California, Santa Barbara used logistic regression, a machine learning model and a simulation of the Electoral College, adjusting the importance of climate change in their study. They concluded that Republicans could have gained at least a 3% swing in the popular vote if climate change was not a top priority for voters, which would have almost guaranteed them the White House in 2020. Burgess’ team also found that one-quarter of Republicans who find climate change to be an important issue voted for Biden in the 2020 election.

In 2023, the Pew Research Center found that around three-fourths of Democrats approve of Biden’s actions against climate change. A large portion of the electorate views climate change as an important issue and want to see a future where it is taken into account. These beliefs will lead people to vote for the candidate that supports their views — most likely Biden.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that Biden’s policies have universal support. Some climate advocates feel that he isn’t meeting expectations. On Sept. 18, 2023, climate activists gathered in Midtown Manhattan to protest Biden’s insufficient progress in addressing climate change. Young voters in particular used the protest to show frustration with the slow pace of political action on green issues.

The ongoing debate surrounding climate change extends beyond presidential debates — it is something that will be discussed among students, clubs, families and communities. As Gunn students observe the effects of climate change around them, they should take care to understand candidates’ positions on the issue before deciding who they support.

According to AP Psychology teacher Warren Collier, kindness has physical benefits: People who are kinder tend to live longer and have better health, whereas people who are more adversarial and competitive tend to suffer from health problems and have shorter lifespans. He noted that even small displays of kindness toward others go a long way.

“This is one of the most consistent findings in all of psychology, which is that when we make a person feel good or better about themselves, they are much more likely to do good things for others,” Collier said. “It’s a two-way street, so when a person does good things for someone else, that also makes them feel better and happier.”

Although many choose to show their kindness through material gifts, these items do not provide people with long-term happiness. Collier confirmed that people are excited when they get something new, as they are not yet used to owning the item.

Eventually, though, the new purchase becomes normal and uninteresting, which tempts the receiver to buy something new to feel the earlier excitement again.

In order to avoid this vicious cycle, Collier suggests gifting experiences. Whether it’s going on a vacation, attending a concert or simply going out to eat with loved ones, the experience itself will be more valuable than a material good.

Another way to practice kindness is through gratitude. Expressing gratitude toward others is a simple, yet effective, way to spread positivity. English teacher Paul Dunlap encourages gratitude through a short activity in which students write down three things they are grateful for at the beginning of each class. Then, he has his students think about each one for 15 seconds.

Over a decade ago, Dunlap decided to start practicing gratitude every day and see how it impacted his life. He realized that the more he took time to appreciate small things, the happier and kinder he was. To spread this knowledge to those around him, Dunlap introduced the Sources of Strength Thankfulness Challenge to his students.

“I found that the more I stopped to say what I was thankful for, I took things for granted less,” he said. “I have so many things that I can be thankful for, and that adds resilience. When I find myself thinking negatively, I force myself to say, ‘But I have a house, I have a family, I have friends,’ and it just changes your thinking. Other people respond positively to that too. If they see that I’m willing to be thankful for something, it seems like other people say, ‘Maybe I should too.’”

While the holiday season may encourage generosity, it is important to remember that kindness should be something people take part in year-round.

“����ӰԺless shelters, soup kitchens and other similar places see a gigantic spike in donations during the holidays, but at the same time, that also means people don’t give nearly as much during the other times of the year,” Collier said. “If only we could balance it out.”

“If you’re still struggling with consent, just imagine instead of initiating sex, you’re making them a cup of tea.”

This sentence starts the popular consent-education video “Tea and Consent.” The video, which was used in ����ӰԺ student consent education in 2021, likens consent to the acceptance or refusal of a cup of tea. While this metaphor may be clever, it fails to identify the major factors of consent—that it must be freely given, reversible, informed, specific and enthusiastic. More importantly, it masks the severity of sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape. Although ����ӰԺ and Gunn have the resources, they fail to provide students with proper, consistent education on consent.

The ����ӰԺ Policy and Regulations book states that consent is not silence or passivity. “Consent is communicating permission,” it reads. “It is voluntary approval that can be withdrawn at any time without coercion.” Even if someone shows initial interest, they can change their mind at any point, and it is crucial to ask before doing anything that could make someone uncomfortable. Moreover, consent one time does not mean consent every time. Additionally, even if minors are willing to have sex, they cannot legally give consent.

Sexual harassment involves repeated requests to engage in physical conduct such as dancing, kissing, touching or sex. Additionally, sexual harassment includes negative comments directed at a person’s sex, gender identity or sexuality, such as body shaming. Sexual assault includes nonconsensual touching of any nature, such as grabbing, groping, grinding, fondling, kissing or sex. Since consent isn’t covered well enough throughout the year, students often do not realize that they have been sexually assaulted or harassed. Even if they do know, they sometimes aren’t sure how to file a report of a Title IX violation or find support from administrators.

The district’s educational programs fail to impart this information and address these nuances. Last year, the district did not provide any education on consent. The Title IX Club and Support for Survivors Project provided the only consent education, a video about consent at Prom shown during SELF. The video defined consent, explained that sexual misconduct acts as an umbrella term that covers any inappropriate sexual act, including sexual harassment and assault, and detailed how to report sexual-harassment incidents and resources on campus. Rather than leave the onus on the Title IX Club to provide consent education, the district should be proactive in consistently providing resources before large school events.

����ӰԺ’s slow progress on implementing consent education further precludes necessary, proper consent education for students. Despite first meeting over a year ago, from Sept. 26, 2022, to March 23, the Consent Education district committee has failed to plan and implement consent education lessons. Instead, at the April 18 school-board meeting, the committee shared its key takeaways and recommendations as an information item, meaning no action was required. The district committee also failed to provide any actionable conclusions that would have allowed the Title IX Club to move forward with consent education in the 2023-24 school year.

In light of ����ӰԺ’s inaction, Gunn should address this issue head on and come up with solutions as a community. For example, an Oct. 11 meeting between the Title IX Club co-presidents and Principal Wendy Stratton jumpstarted conversation about implementing outside consent-education curriculum and involving students in the Consent Education committee’s discussions. Beyond these growing conversations, SELF lessons — which currently contain no consent education, according to Assistant Principal Courtney Carlomagno — could teach consent through videos and realistic examples of different forms of sexual misconduct. It cannot be up to a small group of dedicated students to coordinate consent education, as in past years — it takes collective perseverance and action to truly create change.

����ӰԺ currently fails to consistently make resources and information accessible to students. If education is provided throughout the year, students will be much more likely to remember and act on this information. The district can also turn to curricula from national consent- education organizations to provide students with comprehensive, effective consent education. Equipped with this information, students will know how to file a report if incidents happen, leading to a stronger sense of safety on campus.

History of pride month

The origins of Pride Month can be traced back to the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City, in which a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar, catalyzed a series of protests and demonstrations by the LGBTQ+ community. One year later, the first
Pride marches were held in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago to commemorate the anniversary of the Stonewall riots. These marches marked the beginning of what would become an annual tradition of celebrating LGBTQ+ identities and advocating for equality and social justice.

The movement soon moved beyond these cities, touching the Bay Area. In 1970, LGBTQ+ activists organized the first San Francisco Pride Parade to commemorate the Stonewall riots. Since then, Pride has become an annual tradition in the Bay Area, with the parade and festivities attracting thousands of visitors from all over the world. The celebration has become a platform for the LGBTQ+ community to advocate for their rights and raise awareness about issues affecting their community.

Local LGBTQ+ events

Communities in the Bay Area have organized many Pride events and celebrations in addition to the San Francisco Pride Parade, including LGBTQ+ film festivals, dance parties and picnics. These events have become an important part of the cultural fabric of the Bay Area, highlighting the diversity, vibrancy and resilience of the LGBTQ+ community and promoting inclusivity.

Last year, junior Toni Minion inaugurated Gunn’s first in-person Pride Month celebrations as part of a Student Executive Council impact project. Events over two days involved festivities as well as educational activities. This year’s events took place on May 15 and 16, and similarly included a mix of celebration and education.

Co-Diversity Commissioner sophomore Sophia Howell, who took the lead in organizing this year’s events, noted that involvement from all Gunn students — regardless of whether they are part of the LGBTQ+ community — is key to building an atmosphere of solidarity and inclusivity. “It’s important to showcase your support and really step up as an ally to any community that faces oppression,” she said. “Whether it be a community that you are a part of or a community that you’re not, it’s important for all members of the Gunn community to step up and show that they’re an ally during Pride and celebrate alongside Pride because using your privilege is an incredibly important, if not fundamental, way to change the attitude of others and (of the) communities you’re a part of.”

In pursuit of this goal, many of this year’s festivities included more opportunities for student participation. The first day featured performances with connections to the LGBTQ+ community, and the second day included a fair with activities and resources from clubs and outside organizations.

Inspired by student requests for apparel during previous SEC events, such as Día de los Muertos and Global Cultures Week, Howell also designed a Gunn Pride shirt that was sold during this year’s celebrations. “I’ve finally gotten to the point where I felt confident enough to actually create, design and sell a T-shirt, which I hope will bring people together as another way of visible allyship and visible pride,” she said.

The Gender and Sexuality Alliance worked alongside the diversity commissioners in planning both days of events, providing feedback and ideas on activities, organizing their own resource table and ensuring that the event ac- curately represented the history of Pride Month. GSA Secretary junior William Sahami appreciated the more informational aspects of the events. “I’m looking forward to having educational opportunities that allow students to come out of these events with a better understanding of what (Pride Month) is about and why it’s important,” he said. “These events are a great way to show that Pride Month is also about just bringing people’s attention to the fact that queer people exist — there is the capacity to be seen and be strong.”

Through planning this event, Howell has been able to showcase queer joy and spark a sense of community. “Even before I came out, I always looked out for the little things, and I would say Gunn Pride is a little thing that our school does to show support,” she said. “As someone who is queer, seeing representation and seeing people prideful of themselves (makes me) really at home. Our community inspires those to take that leap to really find their community at Gunn and feel at home too.”

Intersectionality

The LGBTQ+ community’s fight for equality and visibility has been strongly intertwined with that of other marginal communities. The Stonewall riots that inspired Pride Month were led by people of color, demonstrating the role of intersectionality — or the existence of overlapping social categorizations — in shaping Pride. Because of this, Howell notes that it’s especially important to acknowledge the different types of privilege within the LGBTQ+ community. “In many ways, I and many people in Palo Alto are privileged in that it happens to be a more accepting community,” she said. “Personally, even though I am Latina, I am (considered) white since people perceive me to be white. There is a lot of privilege that goes with that, so learning about ways I can help and the history of the Black and brown trans communities is also incredibly important to me.”

Pride Month, in Howell’s view, is a time to acknowledge the varying identities and experiences the LGBTQ+ community encompasses and to celebrate the community as a whole. “I’m hoping that more people will see the joy that’s part of being queer because I know there is a history of violence and tragedy associated with being queer, but there’s so much innovation, love, joy and community that’s present in (the LGBTQ+ community),” she said.

Different apps such as TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram offer individuals a wider range of potential love interests, allowing teenagers to become picky and easily lose interest in someone they have feelings for. Teenagers tend to resort to online interactions because it seems easier in the moment to add someone on Snapchat or talk to them through Instagram than it would be to physically approach them in person. However, this method of communication takes away the authentic component of a relationship. There will always be a barrier when talking to someone online. One cannot know what their partner’s voice sounds like, how they laugh or any of their other mannerisms that make them unique. It’s hard to truly know and have feelings for someone when there are so few interactions with them in person. Not only does online communication take away from having genuine in-person interactions, but rising online trends have also added to the inauthenticity.

TikTok, for example, has caused teens to lose interest or change their minds when talking to someone simply because they got “the ick.” The newly popular phrase “getting the ick” comes from seeing a potential partner do something that makes one instantly disgusted by them. Usually, “the ick” is something completely harmless, such as swimming with goggles on, dropping something and chasing after it or double texting someone when they don’t respond for a while. All of these are prime examples of reasons people come up with as a way to no longer be romantically interested in someone. Something individuals must keep in mind when pursuing romantic relationships is that no one is perfect: When one genuinely likes someone for who they are, they should be able to look past these small and unimportant characteristics. Online interactions have only taught individuals to end relationships at the drop of a hat and to let small mistakes ruin their initial attraction to someone.

Another trend that originated from TikTok is finding different “red flags” in people. Although being aware of actual red flags in a relationship is important, TikTok has taught teenagers to specifically look for reasons why someone isn’t good enough. Red flags and “icks” are different in the way that “icks” are when someone does something that a partner could find repulsive, while red flags are deterrents to starting a relationship in the first place. Many of the trending red flags are actually just normal and harmless characteristics. For example, judging someone based on their astrology sign, taking too long to text back or not having a driver’s license are all considered red flags according to TikTok. Teenagers cannot genuinely get to know someone and like them romantically if they are constantly scanning the other person for all of their flaws. Social media causes people to have unrealistic expectations for relationships, and having this way of thinking will never lead to an authentic relationship.

One of the most commonly used apps for communication amongst teenagers is Snapchat. The app can be problematic for a multitude of reasons. Although Snapchat seems like a simple way to interact with someone because communication is through direct photos of someone’s face, it still fails to give an accurate depiction of what that person is like behind the screen. Talking through Snapchat builds a relationship based purely on physical attraction, and the main focus isn’t someone’s personality. Getting to know someone based on their attractiveness won’t lead to an authentic relationship because there is no interest in who they are as a person. With the addition of Snapchat and other similar apps, dating is less of a priority. It’s become more common for people to find someone attractive but not want to date them, since most communication is done through photos rather than genuine conversation. What’s popular now is being in a “talking stage” that potentially leads to a relationship, which is essentially an excuse to be physically attracted to someone but have no further interest or connection with them.What’s popular now is being in a “talking stage” that potentially leads to a relationship, which is essentially an excuse to be physically attracted to someone but have no further interest or connection with them.

TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram are all contributing factors to the inauthenticity of online romance, but an additional reason why it’s hard to trust genuine intentions is because of “situationships.” Being in a “situationship” is essentially being in a relationship without the emotional connection and without having an official title. Similar to casual dating or talking stages, “situationships” exist because online communication doesn’t revolve around getting to know someone’s authentic self. It instead revolves around how attractive someone is. Snapchat and Instagram have made romance and genuine relationships seem obsolete because people would prefer to “have fun” than to be in a serious relationship. Without an official title, someone can still communicate with another person they find attractive through Snapchat or Instagram and it wouldn’t be considered cheating. The whole purpose of a relationship is to open up to someone and be able to connect with them on a personal level. In a “situationship,” there are no real strings attached and no emotional connection to that person. It is difficult for people to trust someone they are not actually dating, and it takes away all the real components of a relationship. The more common these become, the less genuine romantic relationships will be.

Some would argue that using video chat or FaceTime as a way to date online can actually be authentic. For people who go to different schools or can’t spend as much time together, video chat can be a good alternative to talking in person with one’s partner. They allow people to talk to others even when they aren’t with them, which brings couples closer together. If people have busy schedules, just calling or FaceTiming their significant other can help to make the relationship more genuine. While FaceTime may be a viable option for already- formed couples to stay together, it doesn’t provide a substitute for starting relationships in person. Seeing someone through a screen still doesn’t accurately represent who they are. FaceTime doesn’t show physical gestures or mannerisms, which are important components when it comes to building a connection with someone. In-person interactions will always be the most genuine way to start a relationship. By listening to and following trends on commonly used apps, people will never be able to find truly authentic relationships until they meet their partner in person.

Building a real, healthy relationship takes courage. Although it can be nerve-wracking, the best option would be to approach one’s romantic interest in person to form a genuine connection with them rather than defaulting to an online approach. Talk to them, get to know their interests and learn what they are like beyond their Instagram profile. These are the ways to build a genuine relationship that will last.