As the school year ends, The Cord News reviewed a few of the biggest stories of the year by visiting people around the school for their opinions about some of the more controversial issues of the day.

Biden announces Re-Run For Presidential Election 

As the news has come out that President Biden will be running for the 2024 election, the question as to how old a president can be arises.

Senior Sarah Schroeder believes that the president should not be too old.

“My current opinion about the president is that I feel as though he is a little bit old to be president because oftentimes he’s reading his speeches and he says things that don’t make sense. While it’s fine to read a speech, to mess it up kinda gives it not as much credit as people would like,” Schroeder said.

Schroeder believes that the president should be old enough to have enough experience to have lived through a lot, but there is some point when they can get to be too old. 

Junior Maya Hitzges agrees. 

“I think he is too old and another Democrat should run for president because he is close to the end of his life span and is not making good decisions,” Hitzges said.

School Shootings 

School shootings are a huge problem in the world today as we have already had 202 mass shootings in 2023.

Senior Cadence Stubblefield wants to see a change in the future on the safety students have in schools.

“Students are going to school every day scared for their lives. We do drills to hide under desks and stay safe, when I feel we shouldn’t even need to worry about these things.” Stubblefield said. 

Senior Madison Welch has similar concerns. 

“They are devastating, sad, and disappointing. The amount of times it has happened is crazy. I think society has changed because of school shootings by making everyone more cautious and aware–for those that aren’t, makes them more scared and fear of the world around them, especially making school sometimes not a comfortable place to be,” Welch said.

Roe vs. Wade 

The Roe v. Wade decision was passed by the Supreme Court in 1973, protecting a citizen’s right to abortion, but in June of 2022 the court overruled this decision. This caused a very controversial fight over women’s right.

Senior Caitren Vie believes it is a right that belongs to women, no one else.

“I think abortion bans are stupid because they aren’t allowing women to have bodily autonomy. I personally believe women should have choices over their body. Just because you don’t personally want to get an abortion doesn’t mean we should take it away from other women. There are several circumstances regarding why an abortion occurs, and it isn’t our call to make a permanent decision for ALL women,” Vie said. 

Inflation

Inflation is also a problem that teens, especially, are experiencing. As they are starting to get jobs and pay for their own things, they are now seeing how much prices are changing on products like gas, or even their Starbucks order.

Senior Brittany Weiser enjoys going to get a Starbucks drink after school, but recently she has had to get Starbucks less frequently due to the price changes.

“Inflation affects my everyday life. As I am a working teenager, who also still goes to school, it’s hard to keep up with the constant price changes. I’ve seen it especially in my Starbucks order, it’s been going up like 30 cents, which is a pretty big change,” Weiser said.

Senior Rosella Martinez is cutting back, too.

“Inflation has impacted my daily life because the prices of everything are increasing, making it difficult to afford things like gas. I’ve had to be more wary of how I’m spending my money. With that being said, I’ve learned to budget and save the money I earn,” Martinez said.