Two of our EAR students were chosen by the NYT for their opinion on whether living to 200 years old is worthwhile and how to stop abusive language online. Both are from 10th grade, Guilherme Pimentel (200 years response) and Maria Eduarda Albuquerque (Abusive language). The shortened version is posted on the link below. Their full response is below.
Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/06/learning/what-students-are-saying-about-friendship-stopping-online-abuse-and-living-to-200.html
Maria Eduarda (Abusive Language)
“As much as I believe that the internet is a place where you can express your opinion, it can also be a very toxic place. Many of those who make mischievous comments on the internet have no idea how that comment can cause a whirlwind of feeling in the artist. I think the social platforms could do filtering to see specific words because there are many people who, besides nasty comments, make death threats. But even social networks filtering out this type of comment wouldn’t do much good; I think the change has to come from people and not from platforms.”
Guilherme (200 Years)
“Living 200 years sounds fantastic and exhausting at the same time. Imagine all the experiences you could live, passing through generations of human beings being born, while being safe and sound. Being able to coexist with several generations of your family, telling stories about how life was in 2021 as a great-great-great-great grandfather. It sounds incredible; it’s like you are a living history book. However, picture seeing all of your children or even grandchildren that you saw grow, pass away. Also, it is a fact that as you get older, you get more fragile. By the age of 100, you cannot do many things; imagine more 100 years past that. Even though it seems living 200 years sounds extraordinary, I’d prefer to live until my limit. Therefore, I would not like to live 200 years.”