‘21- ‘22
Why Amplify?
It was August 2021 when we
were selected to lead The Amplifier,
the countywide student journalism
magazine of Montgomery County
Public Schools in Maryland.
For some of us, it was a “do it for
college” kind of thing. You know,
something that would look good on
a college application supplemental.
Then, the 2021-2022 school year
happened.
We all expected turbulence re-
turning to full-time, in-person
school after the pandemic, but we
did not expect violence to drag
MCPS onto the evening news night
after night. We knew mental health
was on the decline among teens, but
we could not imagine it would take
classmates from us.
In April, we learned from the
CDC that 44% of American teens
feel persistently hopeless (up from
26% in 2009). Less than a month
later, we watched in horror as an
18 year-old killed 10 in a Buffalo
supermarket. A week later, another
18 year-old killed 19 children and
2 adults at an elementary school in
Uvalde, Texas. What seemed like a
“nice” thing to do back in August is
now clearly a public safety impera-
tive.
While we watch Congress lay a
goose egg in regards to sensible gun
legislation, there is something else
each of us can do right now.
Listen to teens.
It is the right thing to do: mor-
ally, psychologically, and for the
greater well-being.
Listen to teens.
We are not trying to be sensa-
tional or alarmist. However, if al-
most half of teens are feeling per-
sistently hopeless, an unbearable
number (i.e. any number greater
than zero) of teens are at risk of do-
ing harm to themselves or others.
We either listen to teenagers or
we are in for a world of hurt.
This edition of the Amplifier
features student writing, art
America clearly understands and ideas from:
the power of teen voices. In 2018,
we crowded the streets of D.C. for
March for Our Lives to hear David
Hogg and Emma “X” González, Bethesda-Chevy Chase
Stoneman Douglas survivors, and James Hubert Blake
gun control activists.
Yet, America fails to provide a Winston Churchill
consistent platform for teen voices.
---
Damascus
Assembling The Amplifier, we Albert Einstein
realized that print journalism is a
luxury restricted more and more to Walter Johnson
schools in higher-income zip codes, John F. Kennedy
leaving too many without a voice.
The Amplifier aims to change Col. Zadok Magruder
that narrative.
Over the past three months,
Richard Montgomery
we assembled a team of talented Northwest
writers, editors, and artists repre-
senting 15 schools in Montgomery Quince Orchard
County. Paint Branch
We applaud MCPS for having our
back, agreeing to finance the print- Watkins Mill
ing of thousands of copies of The
Amplifier, with no censorship what-
Walt Whitman
soever. They have made it possible Thomas Wootton
for The Amplifier to be a magazine
purely for student expression: free
of cost, free of advertisement, and
free of spin. Now, a word about
This edition of the magazine is the art on the covers
organized around a day in the life of (all 11 of them)
a high school student. Each chap-
ter chronicles a different point of That word is “Jack.” If you think Gen
the day: the hallway, class, lunch, a Z lacks passion, talent, follow-through,
party, etc. attention span, and empathy, then
--- clearly you don’t know Jack Clauss.
If those in power refuse to give We shared with Jack our vision. We
students a platform, we will do it asked him to help us follow a senior
ourselves. This edition of The Am- through the last day of school (Friday
plifier tells the story of students May 27, 2022).
and pushes their voices to center Jack created an 11-point POV adven-
stage. It is a platform where student ture that the creators of Oculus could
voices and concerns can be commu- only dream of replicating.
nicated, where their opinions can
be heard en masse, where they are
represented, expressed, and most
importantly… Amplified. Special thanks to
Emerson Delfin
The Editorial Staff for designing our logo
TABLE of
1. HALLWAY
O de to the high school
hallway. Hollywood
and TV have made the
hallway a place of mys-
tique; the reality is a bit
different. Today’s lock-
ers, for example, remain
mostly empty: scarcely
used for holding books,
let alone cowering fresh-
men. Yet, as one of the
few authentic melting
pots of school, the hall-
way is the perfect place to
study high school culture.
5. COVID
T he pandemic has
plagued us for far too
long. This section seeks to
examine the wide range of
effects that can be attrib-
uted to COVID. Only after
conducting a thorough
analysis of these effects
can we seek to move
forward from such a wild
period in time.
9. BEHIND
CLOSED
DOORS
A dults, close your eyes.
This section might scare
you a little. Or take you
back to a younger version
of yourself. Sometimes, the
things we need to hear the
most are the things we talk
about the least. Life as a
teenager is not as glamorous
as Hollywood makes it out
to be.
2. ACTIVISM
I n the last few years, teen-
agers have moved to the
forefront of activism. From
the courageous voices of
Marjory Stoneman Douglas
High School, to the unre-
lenting tenacity of young
leaders throughout the
Black Lives Matter move-
ment, we have witnessed
the power of the teenage
voice time and time again.
In Montgomery County,
teens carry on the tradition.
6. REDEFINING
OUR
GENERATION
W herever we go, Gen
Z receives unrelent-
ing criticism from previ-
ous generations. Now,
we are taking back the
narrative.
Editors in Chief
Aaron Tiao
the
Michael Shapiro
‘21-‘22 Managing Editors:
Amplifier Josh Garber
Gabe Gebrekristose
Staff Elyas Laubach
Nathaniel Schrader
Sammy Schuchman
Sydney Theis
CONTENTS 3. HATE
B igotry is an unfortu-
nate reality through-
out our nation. However,
if we want to stop hate
in our county, we cannot
run from it. Instead, we
need to confront it. We
must inform and commit
ourselves to substantive
action to eliminate hatred
in our communities.
7. SPORTS
T his was the first full
year of high school
sports in Montgom-
ery County since 2019
and, boy, have things
changed since then. A
generation of MoCo
student-athletes have
the game on lock, and
they are not afraid to
make themselves heard.
Section Editors: Featured Artists:
Katherine Comer Jack Clauss
Bennett Galper Sydney Theis
Hannah Troubh Sanjay Fernando
Madison Sherman Nina Pollak
Sofia Norberte Claire Wang
Nikki Mirala Lawrence Strothers
Karenna Barmada Aubrey Samuels
Samantha Wu Elizabeth Dorokhina
Micah Schuchman
Kate FitzGerald Sponsor
Mimi Danzis David Lopilato
Sophie Hummel
4. LUNCH
F or many students, lunch
is the highlight of the
school day. You get to sit,
eat, and unwind, all while
catching up with your
friends. What more could
one wish for? Over the
course of this section, you
will read about school “tea”
pages, snitch culture, the
art of the ratio, and much
more.
8. THE PARTY
T rying to emulate older
kids, role models, and
celebrity personas, it is
commonplace for high
school students to use par-
ties to engage in activities
far beyond their age and
maturity. While parties can
be a positive opportunity
to connect with classmates
and friends, they can also
be wildly unpredictable.
The Amplifier is made possible
through the generous financial
support and tireless profes-
sional support of MCPS Editorial,
Graphics & Publishing Services.
EGPS just gets it - the impor-
tance of teen voices to solving
cultural problems.

I watched my
country torn
apart. Don’t
let it happen
here.
BY NAVEED AHMAD
A photo my friend
took while fleeing
Kabul, Afghanisan
O n August 15th, rays of sun
splashed my eyes, waking me
up to a beautiful Maryland sunrise.
Nevertheless, I quickly brought my-
self back to the reality of Afghanistan,
checking my Facebook feed for up-
dates regarding the situation in my
home country. That morning, my mom
had made me pancakes, my favorite.
We were all seated together, eating
breakfast, when I noticed that my dad
seemed upset. I did not think anything
of it, nor did I ask what was wrong; he
worked from home and is a journalist,
so it was not unusual for a journalist.
After breakfast, I went to my room and
checked my phone. I couldn’t believe
what I saw. I thought to myself I could
not have read the message properly. I
skimmed through all my messages and
they were all the same. One of the mes-
sages, from my best friend, struck me
especially; it read, “Kabul has fallen to
the Taliban. I am so scared.”
I went to check the news and other
social media platforms to see if it was
true. Unfortunately, it was. Kabul was
trending on social media. My heart
skipped a beat and I immediately
called my friend to ask what was going
on.
He was so scared and even cried at
the thought of what might happen to
him and his family. I tried to calm him
down by saying that everything would
HATE
be fine. I went out of my room to tell
my family, but they already knew about
it. It was then that I came to know the
reason for my father’s dismay. He had
gotten the news early in the morning-
daytime in Kabul-but elected to keep
the news to himself.
Maybe he did so hoping the news
would end up being false. I cannot
blame him. He has spent a couple of
years working in various government,
non-government, national, and inter-
national organizations and has huge
hopes for the future of Afghanistan.
Not only that, but my father’s broth-
ers, sisters, and close friends still live
in Afghanistan.
The Taliban’s brutality continued as
they tried to cement their grip on the
city. Watching news footage of how
people were running and crying to
save their lives made me feel like it was
the end of the world. The country was
gripped by terror, and hearing that the
government officials had fled the coun-
try was even worse.
I would recall those memories of
myself enjoying Afghanistan and how
things were normal just weeks before
this tragedy. Day and night I thought
about my relatives, not to mention all
of the other innocent people. Every-
time these two questions came to my
mind: How are they feeling? What are
they going to do?
29
When I watched the news, I saw
thousands of people in the airport try-
ing to flee the country to save their
lives. Those who were lucky pushed
themselves among the crowd and
somehow managed to get onto an
airplane. It was chaos in the airport;
people spent days and nights just to
get a chance to get onto a flight. In one
instance, people were so frightened by
the prospect of living under the Tali-
ban that they clung to an airplane’s
wing; when the plane took off, they all
fell off and died.
A few days later, there was a bomb-
ing attack on the airport, killing hun-
dreds of innocent people. The streams
of Kabul, once blue and filled with wa-
ter, were now red and filled with blood.
Though the collapse of the democratic
system in Afghanistan affected me
negatively, causing me unspeakable
anguish, I am still optimistic about the
future of my country.
I believe that throughout our his-
tory, Afghanistan has been through its
ups and downs. I, as a teenager, have a
lot of hopes for my country’s future. I
am certain that one day the people of
my country will wake up to a peaceful,
bright morning, as I can in Maryland.
Rather than bad news or gunfire, they
will be greeted by the sounds of birds
chirping a happy hymn.
Naveed is currently a sophomore at
Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School
 HATE
30

De facto Segregation: not always visible but always toxic

BY MARIA BORDON & NANA OSEI-KUFFOUR

S tudents of Color (SOC) at pre-

dominantly white schools of-
ten languish at the margins of social
groups, advanced classes, and extra-
curricular activities.
Some argue this kind of margin-
alization comes down to choice and
shouldn’t be regarded as a structural
issue. Yet this exact scenario has a
name: De facto segregation.
De facto segregation is segregation
that is not dictated by the law yet in-
stead by trends and lack of desire or
effort to integrate.
De facto segregation can be a bar-
rier for minority students when it
comes to accessing resources, joining
school events and taking higher-level
classes.
MCPS has experienced dramatic
recent demographic shifts. In 2000,
Montgomery County Public Schools
(MCPS) was predominantly white.
Two decade later, 2/3 of its 149,000
students identified as racial or ethnic
minorities.
MCPS today:
32.4% Hispanic/Latino
26.9% White
21.4% Black
14.1% Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander
0.3% Native American Alaska
Native, Native Hawaiian or other
4.9% of students are two or more races
MCPS rightfully celebrates its di-
versity; yet our schools are failing
students of Color.
Decades of systemic racism have
left minority neighborhoods and
their academic support structures
weakened. Virtual learning during
the pandemic only accelerated the
problem.
Black and Hispanic students failed
classes at rates 5 to 6 times higher
than before the pandemic. White stu-
dents saw an almost imperceptibe
shift over the same period.
So what does de facto segregation
look, sound, and feel like? We asked
Students of Color at Bethesda-Chevy
Chase High School. Here is some of
what they had to say:

“ “
Social groups are
It was a big hit not being ac-

“
exclusive but you can It [B-CC] is very
knowledged. If you're won-
bump into somebody segregated.
dering what it feels to not
and have a short convo, When it's not,
be acknowledged, think about
but I made friends when I there are a couple
being the only student of color
started a sports club, join- of minorities who
in an IB class, in a graduating
ing the football team really are the tokens.”
class of over 400 students”.
helped, but that's not the
case for most sports clubs,
I just got lucky.”

“
I don’t get along with the
prideful B-CC students. The

“
people who are prideful at
I’m very much smart and yet I was often
B-CC overlook its problems. It
looked down upon especially in my freshman
has been a lonely experience.
and sophomore year. I don't feel a part of it
Even though I have always
[B-CC] because the school lacks diversity. There
been a part of a friend group, I
aren't many people that look like me and I relate
have always
to. I've tried to reach out but because of my per-
felt different.”
sonality and the way I conduct myself, I feel like
I'm perceived as too black for white kids and too
white for black kids.”

Ready for the World to Shake
spoken-word By Charlie Williams
A ttention! Attention!
May I have your at-
tention please.
Listen closely to the words
I am about to say. Let’s
talk about our history. The
one others try so hard to
forget.
They murdered our people
for something so out of
our control.
They held us back from
being great, so when I talk
loud, don’t silence me.
Photo By Johanna Krejza
News
They left us hanging,
whether from a tree or
from the shake of a hand.
It was almost like we were
a disease that spread like
wildfires over the coast of
Cali.
Like we were the cheese
touch, what ignited so
much fear within our
youth.
But they were monsters.
With N words flying from
their mouths like venom,
throwing us around like the asym-
metrical rocks they once used to kill.
They still don’t seem to get it…
Get how we fought from the depths
of hell with our hands behind our
heads… knowing they were pointing
the caliber towards the bright red
targets placed on our backs, crying for
dear life, but somehow they want me
to act like they saved us?
Let's talk about how police were cre-
ated to keep black people below, rock-
ing brown uniforms resembling a skin
color they seemed to despise.
Let’s talk about the people shot and
killed for refusing to be manhandled
by those who claim to protect us.
This is not a dig at the white commu-
nity because I know not all are bad,
but if you feel uncomfortable. Good.
Now you’ve felt a sliver of what black
people have had to feel.
We accept and appreciate our allies,
but don’t confuse the bare minimum
for heroism.
Thank you to those who marched and
gave me the right to vote. Thank you
to those who allowed themselves to be
held captive in a jail cell so that I can
walk the streets freely.
Thank you for being the hero.
As the black youth it is our turn to be
the change.
It is our turn to make a difference.
When we get loud, don’t silence us.
When we raise a hand, don’t leave us
hanging. And when we put our foot
down, be ready for the world to shake.
This story originally
appeared
in the March 2022
B-CC Tattler
 32
MCPS: The Fall of Violence followed by a fall in violence
BY ELYAS LAUBACH
2 021 brought with it the return of
students in MCPS to in-person
learning. There were several incidents
of hate and violence in our school sys-
tem shortly after the return to in-per-
son school. The most notable incidents
of violence occurred at Magruder
High School, where a student was as-
saulted and shot in a school bathroom,
and at Blair High School, where a
student was stabbed in the head. Fol-
low ing these incidents, as well as an
online bomb threat, the security pres-
ence increased in MCPS. However,
since the shooting at Magruder on
January 21, there have been signifi-
cantly fewer acts of violence. Many
questions remain unanswered. Why
did we see a jump in violence after
students returned to school? And why
have these violent acts seemingly
abated?
Before we get into why violence has
returned to relatively normal levels in
MCPS, we have to look at what may
have caused it to increase in the first
place. An important piece of context is
necessary to examine this trend. The
coronavirus pandemic created huge
problems, ranging from disrupted
schooling and the tragic public health
situation, to economic struggles and
high unemployment. Even before
many places in the US issued stay-at-
home orders and before the number
of confirmed infections skyrock-
eted, there was a massive decrease
in reported rates for almost all types
of crime. In the months after initial
lockdowns, as our society adjusted
to the new normal and many cit-
ies started to ease restrictions, crime
rates in the U.S. did not revert to the
patterns of previous years; something
had changed. However, the impact
has varied by type of crime, and there
have been notable exceptions. Overall
crime rates are lower than they have
been in past years, but more violent
crimes (homicides and shootings)
are much higher than usual. What
we know about crime during the
HATE
pandemic is that overall, crime fell
23% in the first month of the COVID
lockdown and has stayed lower than
usual since. The overall drop in crime
corresponds with a drop in the U.S.
population’s mobility. Stay-at-home
orders and business closures meant
that peo ple were not driving, shop-
ping, or walking around on the streets
as much as they normally were. Data
from the FBI shows the number of
homicides in the U.S. rose about 30%
in 2020 from the year before, although
the homicide rate is still lower than
it was in the 1990s. Home burglaries
dropped, while commercial burglaries
and car thefts rose. The discrepancy
in types of burglaries suggests that the
population’s reduced mobility had a
significant effect on the types of crime
people committed. When the pan-
demic hit, people began spending their
entire days at home; the residential
burglary rate fell by 24%. This drop in
mobility also resulted in fewer people
in public spaces, less surveillance of
non-residential buildings and a result-
ing 38% increase in burglaries across
the US.
So why did violent crime increase
during the pandemic? Experts have
been making the case for years that
keeping communities safe depends on
the availability of resources that keep
communities stable. Namely: afford-
able housing, quality education, men-
tal health resources, consistent food
access, child care, etc. The pandemic
reduced or eliminated access to all of
these. A key factor that has been ne-
glected for too long, especially in light
of recent events in Buffalo, New York
and Uvalde, Texas, is gun control. If
guns were not so easy to buy, there
would be fewer cases where a violent
outburst reaches the level of a mass
shooting. That’s how many crimi-
nologists explained why violent crime
increased everywhere during Covid-19,
even if the situation was most acute
in low-income communities where
these problems already existed. Even
Montgomery County, the most afflu-
ent county in the state of Maryland,
was not spared these issues. A lack of
food access, social isolation leading
to mental health challenges, a drop in
education, and high unemployment
were seen throughout the county.
However, this does not answer the
question of why violence continued
trending upwards--at least in MCPS-
-after students returned to normal
schooling. With the quality of instruc-
tion back to pre-pandemic levels and
students’ social lives also beginning to
look more like they used to, this time
should have relieved stress, resulting
in a happier student body and less
violence. Obviously, this was not the
case. Teachers, not only in MCPS but
across the country, reported having to
break up fights, and are raising con-
cerns about their own safety. Students
have been caught with guns or other
weapons on campuses in several high-
profile incidents. And school shootings
in 2021 surpassed their pre-pandemic
high. More worrisome for students,
experts say, is the social isolation
caused by the pandemic. Isolation is
among the risk factors for students
who commit violent acts in schools,
the Department of Homeland Secu-
rity warned in May 2021. The agency
noted that the pandemic also denied
many students access to mental health
professionals and put financial strains
on many families. “The reduced ac-
cess to services coupled with the
exposure to additional risk factors sug-
gests schools--and the communities
in which they are located--will need
to increase support services to help
students adjust to in-person learn-
ing as they cope with the potential
trauma associated with the pandemic
response,” read a Homeland Security
bulletin.
The toxic stress of everything going
on during the pandemic built up with
kids and adults. After returning to
school, students had to relearn how to
be around each other, handle their

emotions in a much more stimulating
environment than their bedroom, and
complete school work on time-- the
relaxed due date policy that teachers
used during the pandemic has ended
for the most part. Teachers and even
some students say the level of distur-
bance this fall has gone far beyond
years past. In some cases, students
are unaccustomed to following the
rules that govern a school building.
They don’t grasp the expectations
for their ages because the last time
Student analysis
BY GABE GEBREKRISTOSE
With Bill 46-20 passing in a land-
slide, and countless instances of the
county reassuring that hate will not be
tolerated and condemning violence in
schools, it is clear what county authori-
ties think about hate and Student Re-
source Officers (SROs) in our county.
But what do students think?
On March 31st, we opened a Google
Form and collected answers from over
50 students in our county, asking them
to answer six questions about major
MCPS hate incidents and SROs. When
we closed the form on April 7th, we
were unable to find a student con-
HATE
many of them were in school was two
grades ago. There is no national data
on less-serious instances of violence
in schools, but teachers and school
administrators across the country say
they are seeing a rise in everything
from minor misbehaviors to fighting
in the hallways.
Since the Magruder shooting, we
have seen a clear drop in violent inci-
dents in MCPS. This decrease appears
to have been caused by a multitude of
factors. Students seem to have finally
sensus relating to hate in MCPS. Yet,
the greater takeaway is that discus-
sion around hate in our schools needs
to happen more often. 48% of the 56
students believe that restorative jus-
tice and community circles were at the
heart of decreasing the frequency of
major hate incidents.
In fact, 67.9% of sampled students
weren’t even aware of how many ma-
jor hate incidents occurred in the first
semester of this school year. 50% of
sampled students believe that politi-
cal polarization was the primary cause
of hate incidents in our county. 51% of
33
adjusted to in-person schooling and
by now are better able to cope with
the accompanying stressors than they
were in the first semester. Another
reason could be that this violence has
brought school communities closer
together, eliminating the negative
feelings that cause students to lash
out. Perhaps the end of winter and
beginning of warmer weather has im-
proved the mental health of students,
leading to more amicable relations
between them. A last possible explana-
tion, or at least factor, is the increased
police presence. The violence in MCPS
buildings has meant the return of po-
lice officers to schools, which comes as
a blow to opponents of SROs, who in
the summer of 2021
won a landmark victory with the
removal of student resource officers.
But it seems as though there is a cor-
relation between an increased police
presence and less violence. It remains
to be seen whether this is causation,
or really just correlation. No matter
the reason, the end of the frightening
and troubling spike has been received
by MCPS with great relief, but skepti-
cism. Only time will tell whether the
past few months have been a mere
break in the upwards trend of hate
and violence in schools, or whether
they are an indicator that the resocial-
ization of students--and adherence to
school rules--has occurred.
sampled students were not sure if the
removal of SROs correlated to the in-
crease in major hate incidents, yet 41%
of sampled students do not want SROs
to be reinstated.
While The Amplifier did not include
data from previous surveys that MCPS
may have conducted on this topic, we
can safely guess that the answers we
have collected right now look com-
pletely different from the answers we
would have gotten if we had done the
poll in October 2021.
34
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opinion

The Reality of American Gun Violence

BY AARON TIAO

O n May 24th, 2022, an 18-year-

old took an AR-15-style semi-
automatic rifle into Robb Elementary
School in Uvalde, Texas, and killed 19
children and two adults. It marked the
deadliest school shooting in the Unit-
ed States since the shooting at Sandy
Hook Elementary in 2012. Ten days
earlier, another 18-year-old, in Buf-
falo, New York opened fire in a grocery
store, fueled by white supremacist ide-
ology, hate, and bigotry. In total, there
have been over 200 mass shootings
this year alone.
At the start of this spread, we wrote
an article highlighting the decrease in
violence in Montgomery County and
the United States. After observing how
the spike of violence in schools settled
down over the year, we attributed this
increase in hate incidents and violence
early on to the process of returning to
normalcy after the pandemic.
But as the pandemic seemingly is
calming down and people are returning
to normal life, we must remember that
of tone in the news these past couple
of days.
For the next two weeks, we will re-
member that a teenager can legally
buy an AR-15 before they can drink
alcohol. We will remember the names
of the victims. We will remember what
happened in Buffalo. We will remem-
ber the headlines in the news. And we
will remember everyone offering their
thoughts and prayers.
But is that where it will end? Will
the lives of the children and families in
Texas be memories and just that? Will
the cycle of the mass shooting, break-
ing news, thoughts and prayers, and
moving on simply continue? Will there
just be another moment of silence like
every single mass shooting we have had
in the past two decades? Or, will this be
an opportunity where our country can
re-evaluate and change so more chil-
dren do not perish?
Honestly, as much as I would like
to say we can and should look to our
country’s leaders for hope, I don’t
know if I believe that will do anything.
We’ve been through this exact sce-
nario before, and at the end of the day,
it comes down to elected officials de-
ciding whether to prioritize children’s
lives or the NRA’s campaign contribu-
tions.

ART BY KELSEA PETERSON

while problems regarding the transi-
tion from the pandemic to normalcy
may be dying down, the problems that
persisted before the pandemic are still
alive.
In a year that can only be charac-
terized as unpredictable, amidst news
cycles that move on to the next event
within seconds, and attention spans
that get shorter every day, we forget.
We forget that little to no police reform
was made after the murder of George
Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless
others. We forget that voter registra-
tion laws were passed-with no foun-
dation--to suppress the minority vote.
In this situation, we forget that gun
violence in the US reaches higher levels
each year. We forget that the NRA has
a chokehold on the GOP. We forget that
gun control laws are appallingly loose.
We forget that we go through the same
grieving process every year, to no avail.
It is the reason why there is a change

opinion
Dont Use The R’-Word
BY: ANONYMOUS
A lmost every day at school, I
come across a group of people
laughing about something they think
is dumb, expressing that whatever
they were just talking about is “retard-
ed.” I am autistic, and I find that word
extremely offensive.
That word plays into the systemic
ableism ingrained within our society,
yet nobody talks about it. So I will.
That word treats autistic people like
they are small children, incapable of
forming and expressing their thoughts
and emotions.
It encourages ableist behavior such
as demeaning slow-talking: as if our
disability lies in our ears instead of our
brains. Who could forget the grimac-
ing when an autistic person begins to
Note: I am one Autistic person,
and I am one Autistic woman.
I speak only for myself and my
experiences. I do not intend to
speak for anyone else.
ART BY CLAIRE WANG
HATE
stim? You know, the “Do they have to
do that now?” coming out of the mouth
of the thoroughly entertained starer.
The word “retarded” has a long history
of dismissing and dehumanizing men-
tally disabled people.
The word itself stems from the pre-
conceived notion of mentally disabled
people being exceptionally dumb. That
is ironic because the majority of autis-
tic and other mentally disabled people
I know are quite smart. It is very harm-
ful to anyone to assume that they are
intellectually incapable; mentally dis-
abled people are no exception.
It does not take a genius of any kind
to figure out that such a message di-
rected at a historically marginalized
35
group is incredibly offensive.
I was always put off and offended by
the r-word, even years before my diag-
nosis. I knew autistic people. Chances
are, you know some as well. Autistic
people are everywhere, and it is in the
best interest of neurotypicals (non-au-
tistic people) to accommodate us.
Try to accept us for who we are, and
maybe even let us talk about our spe-
cial interest with you one too many
times. Most importantly, do not be an
ableist. On behalf of one autistic per-
son and one only, please think about
the reputation of the word “retarded”
before you use it. Just say stupid in-
stead.
 36
The Rise in Asian Hate
BY: JORGE HERERA, RILEY NEE, AND RAHMA WADOOD
With an increase of 339% in 2021, it
would be a blatant lie to say Asian relat-
ed hate crimes have not skyrocketed.
Locally, this holds true; discrimination
has evoked a sense of hostility and tox-
icity among our student population.
Montgomery County, despite being
the most diverse county in the state of
Maryland, is troubled with prejudice
within our own community. The dra-
matic increase in Asian hate is most
notably attributed to the COVID-19
pandemic. The words of former Presi-
dent Donald Trump heightened the
xenophobia and racism toward Asians;
his referral to COVID-19 as the “Chi-
nese virus” and the “Kung flu” among
various Anti-Asian tweets have been
largely regarded as one of the bigger
factors towards the rise in Anti-Asian
crimes. Of all major US cities, D.C.
sees the most hate crimes reported
by police - 22 cases per 100K people.
Seeing news channels report on vio-
lent acts against the Asian-American
community is nothing new. Back in
March of 2021, six Asian women were
targeted and killed in a spa in Atlanta,
Georgia. Additionally, there are several
incidents of Asian Americans being
shoved onto subway tracks and killed,
and there was an assault on an Asian
family near the National Cathedral in
Washington D.C.
This April, Arvin Kim, a junior at
Walt Whitman High School, was elect-
ed to be the 45th Student Member of
the Board in Montgomery County. As
an Asian-American candidate, Arvin
faced discrimination during the four
months of his campaign; Arvin de
scribes “hateful messages sent online,
or comments that [he] hears shouted at
[him] as [he] traveled across the coun-
ty,” meeting students at their respec-
tive schools. He depicts a scenario that
many can imagine other students ex-
HATE
periencing - Arvin says in an interview,
“Asian Americans across the nation
and in our community are definitely
aware of [the increase in hate crimes].
As an Asian American myself, it takes a
toll on you to read and see in the news
the instances that arise; see how things
around you might be affected by an
increase in hate.” However, the rise in
hateful occurrences has not deterred
Arvin in the slightest. Using his elected
position as a catalyst for change is one
of his priorities in his upcoming term.
Among his current advocacy, which
include working alongside the Asian
American Progressive Student Union
to increase inclusivity of AAPI history
in curricula, Arvin intends to bring up
ways that Asian representation can be
implemented into the Board of Edu-
cation, saying, “In a county as large
and diverse as [MCPS], all perspec-
tives should be heard by the Board [of
Education] - Asian American students
included.” As Arvin illustrated, across
the county, students are advocating
for representation of Asian American
students to counteract the stream of
recent hate.
Although students may not see
representation in school curricula,
they may be able to see representa-
tion through their teachers. Ms. Gu,
a teacher at B-CC, mentions she has
had an “overall positive” experience in
the county and has “not received hate”
from any staff or student. She asserts
that B-CC has “done a great job rec-
ognizing there is a problem and [has]
done things to fix that.” It is evident
that B-CC, students and teachers alike,
have done well to make her feel at
home in this community. A sharp con-
trast to neighboring communities, Ms.
Gu expresses that in concern for her
safety she “tries to avoid certain areas,
like D.C.”.
ART BY OLIVIA ROMANO AND CARMEN TORRECILLA
Ting Ting Li is another junior, and
founder of the Asian Advocates at
B-CC. Her advocacy work was initially
inspired by “the rise of anti-asian hate
crime, and no one addressing it.” Ting-
Ting has contributed to making safe
spaces for her Asian peers, an environ-
ment where they can “be themselves.”
Along with the class of ’23 SGA, she has
helped inform through town halls, and
create new elective courses that dive
deeper into the history and culture of
Asian Pacific Islander Desi American
communities, so students see them-
selves represented.
There’s still substantial changes to
be made, and Ting Ting describes her
own experience with racism, receiving
and witnessing, in our school com-
munity. “Microaggressions… are more
subtle [to the point] where one [stu-
dent] might not even know they are us-
ing a microaggression,” she says. “Anti-
Asian hate isn’t anything new, but has
only recently received the necessary
attention, acknowledgement, and ac-
tion to fight against it.” However, other
times it is not subtle at all. Just this
past fall, students from Albert Einstein
High School received racist comments
from Sherwood students during two
separate athletic events. The alterca-
tions involved slurs toward Asian stu-
dents and sexist remarks.
It would be naive to say that Anti-
Asian racism isn’t common when stu-
dents are being targeted and harassed
right within our county. Instances such
as this remind us that even in our own
community, with a diverse body and
range of identity, we have work to do in
promoting acceptance and safe learn-
ing spaces - changes to implement so
that the entirety of our students feel
respected and have a sense of belong-
ing in MCPS.
37
HATE

The Myth of the Model Minority
BY VALERIE HOANG
T he American perspective on
Asian Americans has changed
drastically. 140 years ago, Chinese
immigrants were restricted from mi-
grating to the United States under
the Chinese Exclusion Act. Today,
Asian Americans are portrayed as
a universally successful group: the
“model minority.”
While the latter perspective may
seem positive, the model minority
myth is rooted in racism and stereo-
types. As a child, the stereotypes
placed on me took a while to sink in.
The first instance I can remem-
ber was when a classmate said to
me in middle school, “Aren’t you
Asian? You should be good at math.”
Though a joke, it highlights the un-
derlying stereotypical ideas that peo-
ple harbor: Asian American students
are often expected to do well in class.
Only recently, I was watching a
documentary in class where the in-
terviewee stated something along
the lines of “when an Asian student
walks into my classroom, I know
they will be a good student.”
Due to this stereotype, there is
pressure placed on Asian American
students to do well, contributing to
a highly competitive environment
which forces Asian students to won-
der: “If everyone in my demographic
is successful, how do I make myself
stand out?” “How do I become ac-
HATE
knowledged for any traits other than
academics?”
Such pressure is worsened when
added up with the conventional
pressures that a student’s parents or
peers may put on them.
When success is the perceived
standard of a population, there is the
idea that falling behind means let-
ting down those around you. While
these pressures may not be true for
all Asian Americans, it is not an un-
familiar concept.
The model minority myth is not
only harmful to Asian Americans - it
perpetuates the racist idea that other
minority groups are unsatisfactory.
There is the idea that if Asian Ameri-
cans are able to “make it” and over-
come racism, then other minority
groups should be able to do so as well
- such a tactic is used to downplay the
struggles of other minorities.
Likening the racism against Asians
to the racism against other groups is
wildly inaccurate; for example, Asian
Americans have not experienced the
systemic racism that Black people
have faced for centuries in this coun-
try. It’s unrealistic, and racist, to as-
sume that because some Asian Amer-
icans are able to succeed and achieve
the “American Dream,” other groups
are just being lazy.
This assumption also overlooks
the fact that Asians have the largest
39
range of income in the United States,
and although income is not necessar-
ily an indication of success. In the
eyes of those who amplify the model
minority myth and continue to cat-
egorize minorities, it is.
Furthermore, many people who
attribute success to Asian Americans
only apply it to East Asians, ignoring
the diversity among Asian Ameri-
cans in America.
This failure to recognize the vari-
ous different groups among Asian
Americans takes away the unique
differences that define each culture,
in turn resulting in division within
the Asian community, and furthering
the idea that to one’s peers, they may
not seem “Asian” enough if they do
not fit the stereotypical image.
While this stereotypical image
that Americans have constructed for
Asians may be considered positive
since it aligns with success and obe-
dience, its foundations in racism and
the need to categorize minorities and
populations they think less of dis-
plays the fact that the idea of a model
minority is not rooted in logic, but
myth. Placing such labels on young
students, who are facing pressure
from their peers, academics, and life
at home, harms their mental well-be-
ing and creates an inequitable school
environment.

40
The Toxicity of Teen Political Discourse
BY TREVOR O. BURRUSS-TAMBAJANG
“I wake up filled with rage think-
ing of Black people and Jews.”
Blau, 17, reevaluated his political
ideology throughout the pandemic
and arrived at one antithetical to the
liberal sentiments shared amongst his
peers. In June, he began immersing
himself in right-wing punditry, follow-
ing the likes of Alex Jones and Nicho-
las Fuentes.
He now frequents internet forums
that align with his newfound conser-
vatism, such as 4chan’s politically
incorrect board /pol/, which serves
as an oasis for politically motivated
rhetoric and memes. “I hate all news
everywhere, so I get my news from a
small group of internet racists online,”
Blau said. 52% of American adults
prefer to get their news from digital
platforms, so this notion is not un-
founded. The isolation created by the
COVID-19 pandemic facilitated criti-
cism and rejection of the status quo,
leading to self-reflection, indoctrina-
tion, and borderline radicalization into
communities with less than palatable
beliefs.
“I do not hate Democrats; they are
empathetic people who think they’re
doing the right thing. I hate the evil
pedophile billionaire elites with pen-
chants for small hats,” Blau says. Po-
larization leaves those on both sides of
the aisle feeling dejected, driving them
to their haven community of choice.
61% of adolescents state they feel “se-
rious loneliness,” a percentage which
drastically increased during lockdown,
further shepherding young folks into
communities that may not have their
best interests at heart. After the elec-
tion of Donald Trump, a rebranding
of conservative ideology occurred,
blurring the line between the familiar
right-wing thought and fringe authori-
tarian or ethnonational sentiments.
The internet’s anonymity exacerbates
this notion, considering the preva-
lence of subtle methods of spread-
ing opinions via memes and trolling,
backed up by plausible deniability.
Widespread misinformation, inten-
tional or otherwise, indiscriminate of
party affiliation, furthers the creation
of echo chambers, leaving ordinary
folks vulnerable to be capitalized upon
HATE
by bad faith actors seeking profit and
power. Problems arise due to lack of
communication; all ideologies will
become extreme if not presented and
debated in the marketplace of ideas.
Conversations often occur in 280 char-
acters or less, with reactions simply
visceral, contributing to a fractured
truth and national identity. “Political
memes are one of the best ways of at-
tracting people to a cause,” Blau says.
He is correct. After exposure to many
consecutive unprecedented historical
events, including the murder of George
Floyd, COVID-19, the insurrection at
the Capitol, and numerous others, the
American public has become accus-
tomed to the media bubble, which can
easily be one-sided. This trauma has
led many young people to, as a means
of coping or coercion, utilize comedy,
satire, and mockery to communicate
in a less abrasive manner.
Blau “grew up on the internet,” so he
is not easily offended or off-put by edgy
or unsavory comments online, and his
tolerance for adversity and backlash
is strong. Blau is more conservative
than those in his community and feels
unrepresented and unheard by politi-
cians on both sides of the aisle locally
and nationally. “The Republican party
are gay r******d shills owned by Israel
and only marginally better than Demo-
crats; (they are) socially liberal...as for
the Democrats, they might as well be
the ‘Demon-cratic party’ as they wor-
ship Satan,” Blau states. Blau is also
quite religious, and being an Orthodox
Christian, he does not use the term de-
mon lightly.
Blau’s ideal candidate is “racist, re-
ally racist, resilient, someone who will
not bow down to lobbyists, and who
gets things done via executive order.”
Qualities he believes are not currently
present in politics and will not be for
the foreseeable future.
Regardless of political leaning,
Blau’s main qualm with society and
politics is shared by many. He believes
those with wealth, authority, and pow-
er have overstepped their bounds and
acquired an unjust amount of control
over America in many instances. And
though he believes those in power are
“the pedophile billionaire elites with
penchants for small hats,” the senti-
ment still stands. “They don’t want you
to think,”
Blau says, “They just want you to be-
lieve what you’re told.” People feel lied
to, and that revelation is at least dis-
heartening and most destructive, be it
broken political promises, the status of
democracy at large, or the feeling that
peers and politicians alike do not care
about their stability, success, or safety.
Specifically, regarding COVID-19, Blau
distrusts government recommenda-
tions and guidelines due to changing
and evolving scientific protocols re-
garding the number of vaccinations
required and vaccine efficacy.
Blau finds it imperative to under-
stand the intentions behind every ac-
tion to find the best solution. He thinks
that if COVID-19 is as severe as scien-
tists and politicians would have him
believe, then someone should be held
accountable for the physical and men-
tal harm inflicted by the virus and so-
cial isolation. Since this information is
unavailable, he distrusts all subsequent
information regarding COVID-19. But
most of all, Blau simply wants to talk.
He describes multiple instances in
which friendships were ruined over po-
litical debates that have gone awry and
devolved into ad hominem character
assassinations. Romantic relationships
have also been ruined over averseness
to unfamiliar and uncomfortable top-
ics by either partner. Blau also feels
discriminated against frequently based
on his race and gender.
He says that often, in academic set-
tings, his perspective and lived experi-
ences are typically interpreted as the
privileged predisposition and thus less
valued and respected in the classroom.
He has been threatened with expul-
sion on numerous occasions under
the pretense that he makes commu-
nity members feel unsafe and espouse
hateful rhetoric. Yet, he attests that he
has never made remarks or attacks on
individuals at his high school based on
an immutable characteristic and in-
stead only criticizes systems and public
figures. “If they would just talk to me,
they would see I’m not that bad,” Blau
says. So set the politics aside now and
then, and love one another.
PHOTO BY MASON GOLDSTEIN
THE MCPS COUNTYWIDE STUDENT PUBLICATION