Year 12 English
By Year 12 English | Posted: Thursday April 10, 2025
Ms. Hope's Year 12 English class has been hard at work, producing some superb pieces with a focus on column writing. Keep reading to enjoy some of the work from this group of writers.
The benefits of school starting later
It’s 6:30 a.m. The blaring sound of an alarm clock shatters your silence. A groggy teenager awakens and tries to hit the snooze button for just another 5 minutes of sleep. But 5 minutes won’t cut it! Neither will 10. But it is not as simple as laziness; it’s biology. This struggle is all too real for high school students.
Why are we still stuck in the past? Despite extensive research on the benefits of starting school later, many schools still adhere to outdated schedules as though it is the only way, the right way. However, scientific evidence overwhelmingly supports the argument that pushing back start times could lead to improved academic performance, better mental health, and increased road safety. The real question is: Why haven't we made this necessary change?
Teenagers are not choosing exhaustion. Teenagers don’t stay up late for fun on school nights, but rather their bodies are programmed biologically to do so. Research indicates that during adolescence the production of melatonin, the sleep-regulating hormone, shifts to later in the evening and often not kicking in with full strength until 11:00 pm. Unlike adults whose melatonin levels drop at around 4:00 am, teens experience this drop at 7:00 am. Consequently, this means they naturally struggle to fall asleep earlier and are then forced to wake up before their bodies have met their requirements for rest.
Sleep deprivation is a silent-killing epidemic. Biological reality clashes with early school start times, which leads to widespread sleep depreciation. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends 8-10 hours of sleep per night. Yet 68% of teens report sleeping less than eight hours on an average school night. Sleep deprivation is not a minor issue that can be brushed away as though it’s irrelevant, as it has been linked to mood disorders, impaired concentration and lower academic performance.
More sleep, more success. The correlation between sleep and academic success is undeniable. A study published in the Journal of School Health found that students who started school later had better attendance, fewer absences and were more engaged in learning. Critically, their grades improved. This is real. A UK school that shifted its start from 8:50 am to 10:00 am saw a significant decline in absenteeism due to illness. Students were more alert, more focused, and better able to retain information. Later start times allow students to enter their classes well-rested for the school day ahead which enhances their problem-solving skills and memory. These are key components to academic success. With increasing academic pressure and important exams, ensuring students receive adequate sleep should be a priority.
Teenager’s mental health is in crisis. In New Zealand alone, the number of teens experiencing depression or depressive symptoms rose from 22% in 2019 to 31% in 2024. One of the leading contributors to this alarming trend is sleep deprivation. Numerous studies have found a direct link between inadequate sleep and increased risks of anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. Additionally, Māori students and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are disproportionately affected by sleep inequalities. Adjusting school start times could be a simple yet effective way to promote sleep equality, and benefit teenagers across all demographic groups. Beyond anxiety and depression, chronic sleep deprivation can lead to increased impulsivity and risk taking behaviour. Which have lasting negative consequences on student’s lives. By allowing teens time to sleep more, we could see a significant improvement in their mental and emotional resilience.
Drowsy driving is a ticking time bomb. Teen drivers are already at a higher risk of accidents due to inexperience. But when sleep depreciation is added to the mix, the danger quickly escalates. A study analysing data from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles compared two countries with different school start times. In the country where school started earlier, the crash rate among teen drivers was significantly higher than in the country with a later start time. Drowsy driving is just as dangerous as driving under the influence. Fatigue slows reaction time, impairs judgement, and significantly increases the likelihood of accidents. If delaying school start times by an hour could prevent hundreds of crashes each year, why wouldn't we make this important change?
The facts are staring us in the face. Despite all of this compelling evidence school still starts early. The evidence is clear: a later start time would be beneficial for students. They would get more sleep, perform better in school, experience better mental health and be safer on the road. So why are they holding onto that schedule that does more harm than good? Change is never easy, but in this case, it is necessary. If we genuinely care about the well-being and future of our youth, we must advocate for later school start times. It’s time for schools to wake up to the reality of sleep needs. And maybe, just maybe, students can finally hit that snooze button without feeling guilty.
By Ben Couling
“New Zealand, you are better than this”
I recently bought a slice of pizza in the school canteen, a waste of time and resources if you ask me. But still about half of the school stands there in a giant line of kids, pushing, pulling, trying to overtake the person in front of them while the person in front tries to overtake the person in front of him, and so on, and so on. Everyone is trying to get as close as they can to the end, just to get a one dollar slice of pizza, and hopefully have time to hang out with their mates, which they don't know are also stuck in this endless line.
Walking back with my pizza, I noticed the desperate, hopeless faces of boys stuck in the line. Each one of them hoping they'll get out of there with a pizza, not a pie. Each one of them with a dollar in their hand. Each one hoping to reach the end.
And while I felt like a king walking with my slice of pizza, I saw the boys that brought their own lunch. Sitting alone waiting for their mates, eating soggy, limp sandwiches they brought from home. It made me think of a youtube video I recently saw, a video about the free lunches schools give in different countries around the world. “That youtube video is not a good illustration of our society”,”and no one knows how accurate it is ” you might say. You would be right. But youtube is built on trust. You trust the creator that he won't get paid by the wrong people to say the wrong things, and make thousands, maybe even millions think that he said the right thing. Absurd, isn't it? Well that's reality, deal with it!
How absurd is it to make a youtube video your main argument? Yes it is, and we are not here to talk about the absurdness of the situation. We are here to talk about the video itself. The video which by now I have almost forgotten about. That stupid 8.32 minute video. A video showing the free lunches school students get around the world. A video which caused me to write all this in the first place.
“Give us free lunch” was supposed to be the purpose of this text. But by now I have talked about everything but this. A youtube video, pizza, sandwiches, and everything in between. But not about the free lunches we should be given. Yes, watching the video, seeing what schools give for free, and thinking why not me? Yea, New Zealand, why force kids waste dollars on pizza, instead of giving it for free?
While the politicians argue about budgets for building more roads, no one even stopped to think about the schools. Yes, I know, I know, what's so bad in those sandwiches you get every day for thirteen years? Well yea they are edible. But why? Eat something edible when you can have a good warm lunch every day. A lunch, after which you don't feel like a zombie, but rather a man. A lunch that you eat because you want, not because you need. Yea, while schools in the US get free burgers and fries, in Japan free soup and rice. Even in Finland which started the trend students get given some meatballs and bread. In New Zealand, students get a one dollar pizza and a slap to the face. Yea, New Zealand, you are better than this. So please treat your students as they please. Give us some free pie, maybe some soup. Just something. Please.
By Tommy Greenman.
Rowing is a right pain in the ass
A sleep in. In the eyes of the rower, it is very rarely available and never taken for granted. The immense amount of persuasion and discipline a rower undertakes laying in a bed, pondering on what the punishment would be if they “slept through” their 4:45am alarm every morning, can be summed up as a god forsaken nuisance.
Just to put it out there, rowing isn’t a fun sport. If you're looking for a fun sport then choose something like rugby, hockey, or even soccer. Anything besides cricket. You spend the majority of your time stressing about coaches pointing out your weakest traits in the boat, upon which if your coaches see fit, they won’t hesitate to replace you with someone who is hungrier for success over you. In rowing, you can’t depend on your crewmates to put in the effort for you, as the more they train, the better they get, not you. To be summed up in a quote, “It’s far too easy to become a passenger in the boat, so don’t be the reason for which your team doesn’t succeed.” -Thomas Ryan.
Urging. If you're foreign to the topic of an urg consider yourself extremely fortunate. Urging is quite possibly the toughest and most tedious singular activity I’ve ever had the displeasure of participating in. An urg is a machine that partially simulates rowing conditions, and often at times leaves the unfortunate soul to be drenched head to toe in sweat, and with less food in their stomach then they started off with. It’s dreaded by all those who participate in it and can cast a shadow upon anyone’s day if they have to do it later that evening. No matter how hard you pull, fight, or endure, the urg does not get tired. The urg will, and always does win.
For those of you who quite like spending time in your holidays working, doing hobbies, or spending time with family and friends… I envy you. Because if you guessed it, rowing leaves you with bugger all time to do what you like during the holidays. Being brought up to a stinking hot place, having 3 races in one day, each day, for half a week, or even a full week with nothing to do in between races besides pray that the days go by quicker. For example, let's say that your favourite movie that you’ve rewatched countless times over the years, invested tens of hours of interest into is finally making a sequel. So you decide to book a seat in the theatres on opening night, and just as you’re heading to bed the day after you booked it, you get a text from your coach saying that you have a surprise training row an hour outside of town. For the entire weekend. Resulting in you missing out on the premier. You’re flooded with spoilers from your mates around you when you get back. In short, It’s best to plan your events outside of the rowing season.
Now I'm not an overly negative person, truly I do try to stay positive. It’s more or less the large amount of negatives that cause myself to believe I don’t like rowing. But it’s also for the same reasons why I like it. Rowers tend to have a very mangled and complex love-hate relationship with rowing. As the usual answer to why we keep doing it is because we like it, but while doing it we say “Far out, I wish I choose to quit”. It’s the memories we make through the struggles, early mornings, flipping into the water or someone cocking up in general that make rowing a large part of who we are. And why we’ll remember it for the rest of our lives. But, the main question is, will I be rowing again next season? Shit no, I miss sleeping in.
By Zach Hall
Picture this. You’ve been training for the past 2 years. Everyday, twice a day even, preparing yourself as much as you can for nationals, putting in as much work as you can to hone your skills and your body to be in perfect condition. All this work, you finally get to compete for the glory, the pride of success. But one thing stops you in your tracks. Makes all this hard work for absolutely nothing. Robs you of what you’ve been striving for for so long. All taken away by one thing. The common cold.
This unfortunately is a reality for so many people, a lot of you could probably relate to this in your own way. Whether it’s missing work, missing assessments, or missing out on what you were looking forward to. All because of a little snotty nose and a sore throat. It’s like the cold spies on you, trying to figure out when the most inconvenient time to strike is. What have I done to deserve this? What have I ever done to a cold for it to hate me?
The worst part of the cold that it is impossible to get rid of. You’ll take a week off, take every pill and vitamin under the sun, every trick your mother has ever used on you. It will not go away.
It just lingers like that one uncle that won’t leave after christmas dinner.
It will stay with you even when you're back at school, or work. Lingering around. Not enough to take time off, but enough to drive you mad. When you finally think it’s gone, you finally think you can go back to your normal life, back to training and feeling normal again, it hits you harder again. This cycle continues for about a month, or two until you finally go to the doctor and they say to take a couple days off. A very helpful assessment.
A cold can drive you absolutely insane. It can even go as far to make you miss going to training. Something that you usually dread all week is turned into a craving by a small sickness. In the worst of cases, it can even make you miss school. It really puts in perspective how maddening a cold can make you in such a small time. To destroy your body, and your mind is something truly evil.
40% of all time taken off work is from the common cold. Not only does the cold take your body, your sanity, but it also takes you away from your job. Now some people see this as a great thing. A cheeky way to get a day off, a bit of a rest off a hard week with a genuine excuse. But all this really does is just push all the work to your next time back at work. You're only making things harder for your future self. I would definitely rather have a normal work week rather than a shorter work week with a stressful day of catch up.
But I don’t get to decide. The cold does that for me. A cold robs you of your decision making.
A cold puts your body out of commission from doing almost anything, robs you of your sanity, and to top it off, takes away your decision making. So imagine, having a cold is like being dead, no control of your decisions, your body is destroyed and your brain is useless. To me, something that makes you basically dead is something very serious. That is why the common cold is the worst sickness you could ever get.
By Max McCaul
Are we all secretly phone addicts without knowing it? Nowadays, it seems wherever you look every man and his dog are glued to their phones. Even when you try to talk to someone it feels like you’re talking to a brick wall as they are so glued to their phone. The simple dry answers drive me insane and I’m sure I'm not alone. But why are these people so invested in their phones? It makes me think sometimes, if people like me and you are secretly social media drug addicts?
Let’s be honest with each other, we’ve all ignored things we’ve had to do by giving ourselves the pleasure of a quick scroll. I mean, I personally find myself doing this all the time, whatever the situation. One example of my terrible habit was about a week ago with a ton of homework due, I still found myself scrolling late at night. I’m not sure why, but from my concern I was getting tired of achieving absolutely nothing. I was being dragged by my right thumb through a bunch of useless videos until I finally got too tired to keep going.
Late the following night, I found myself being consumed by the same endless social media videos. Why would I do this you may ask? To be honest, I simply have no idea. Whenever I turned my phone off to try and escape I found myself a few minutes later right where I was before. I simply had no escape! Like every addict that had come before me, I just couldn’t get enough of it. I just kept needing more and more. Hours passed, and the dopamine rush these videos gave me drowned out the subtle tired feeling that had settled in.
The next morning I woke up to my brain arguing with itself. The argument itself was quite pointless as whenever it came up with an answer, it’d quickly shoot it down with excuses. Deep down, that sorry brain of mine knew the answer it was looking for. My whole life I’ve heard my folks say, ‘accepting an addiction is the hardest part’, and they couldn’t be more right. I knew I had an issue, but I was just too afraid to admit it to myself. This left me in a state of fear and panic, as I had this issue I didn’t really even know I had until now. Amongst this useless panic, I started to wonder if I was the only one who had this issue? Well, it turns out, I’m not alone. A new study showed that ‘10-15% of New Zealand’s youth are considered phone addicts.’ Like me, these people find themselves late at night needing that rush of dopamine the phone gives them. I’d like to think that these people would at least know that they have an issue, but I don’t think many of them do. No one talks about the issues the phones are causing us youth around the country. It’s becoming a problem.
Social media is a big part of why young people use their phones, and it is a big part to blame. I don’t know if you know, but social media companies have purposely created the algorithms to produce the same neural circuitry that is seen in gamblers and drug users. What this means is they have purposely made it so that we, teenagers, find it easily addictive and watch it more regularly due to the hit it gives us. We are being sucked in by these social media platforms so they can make a profit off of our doom scrolling addictions. In my opinion, it's just wrong and sickening that these big companies can take advantage of us young kiwis. The average teenager within New Zealand spends upwards of three hours per day on social media, which is 9 years of the average life. Valuable years of our lives are being stolen and converted into money by these disgraceful companies. They are the heart of this beast and yet, no one's doing anything to stop them.
The small mobile phone that is most likely either in your hand, pocket, or near you is starting to hurt you and me. Now, I’m not telling you to run as far away from it as possible, or burn it to crisp. I’m asking that you think about how you use it. We are all either already addicted, or are on our way. So please, put the phone down.
By Alexis Owen
Glasses should cost less
Can I ask you a question? Why do glasses cost so much? Can you tell me why? We are overpaying to see clearly. Around four billion people worldwide wear glasses. Taking into account that on average, glasses cost $196 NZD. Four billion people wear glasses, and each person has one pair of glasses, we can calculate that $784 billion NZD has been spent on glasses alone. Do you know how many Big Macs that is? It is roughly 157 billion Big Macs! However, if you buy cheese burgers instead, you could get 313.6 billion cheese burgers.
As each year passes, more and more people will start to need glasses. This will happen because the world's population will increase, which would mean that more people will have eye defects that require them to wear glasses. Over time, inflation will increase the price of glasses. Why do we have to pay $196 NZD to see our friends, co-workers and loved ones? Is it fair for others to have the same luxury for free, when others have to pay for it? NO! It is not fair. Why do we want to charge people to have a normal life? An equivalent example to this is when two rugby teams play each other. One team has studs on their boots while the other team doesn’t. Will the game between these two teams be fair? No! It will not be fair. If the team with no studs wants to play as well as the team with studs, then they will have to put in much more effort just to get the same result.
Why do glasses cost so much? Why do they, on average, cost $196 NZD with some even costing upwards of $700 NZD? Glasses are just pieces of glass which are framed with plastic, sometimes metal. On average, glasses use 5cm2 of glass per eye. To get four times the amount of glass per eye, 10cm2, it only costs 50 cents without shipping costs. One kilogram of plastic can cost anywhere between $1 NZD and $5 NZD. Do you know of any glasses which use one kilogram of plastic? I don’t. For the materials, the cost is only $5.5 NZD.
Although glasses only cost $5.5 NZD to get the materials, some cost will be added due to labor costs. This means that currently we are paying about $190.5 NZD in labor costs. I understand that glasses will cost more due to labor costs and materials costs, but price per pair of glasses should not cost above $15 NZD. If we use the amount spent on glasses worldwide, we can buy 313.6 billion cheese burgers. If we assume that each person eats three cheese burgers a day, and that New Zealand’s population stays at 5.12 million, we can then calculate that 313.6 billion cheese burgers are able to feed New Zealand for slightly less that 56 years! Now that’s a long time.
Glasses should cost less. This is because the materials only cost $5.5 NZD at most and $1.5 NZD at cheapest. This means that glasses are being overpaid far too often. Why do some glasses even cost more than $700 NZD, and more importantly, why are people buying that? Does making something cost more make it more prestigious? If so, why can’t you sell a car, such as a 2009 Honda Civic for example, for 1 million dollars? Why won’t people line up to buy it? Is it because it does the same thing as everything else? Every pair of glasses does the same thing! So why do glasses cost more when giving the same performance as other cheaper glasses? We should only need to pay $15 NZD at most for each pair of glasses.
By Neo Salomonsson
