Student Speak
Princeton, stop using ChatGPT
It’s always interesting to hear a professor’s policy or opinions on ChatGPT. Some strictly prohibit it, some allow it with proper disclosure, and some condemn its inability to be intelligent — or even accurate. I usually don’t pay much attention to these warnings, as I and the people around me rarely use ChatGPT in lieu of…
Read MoreSave our clickbait souls
[Editor’s note: Our archives contain several years of excellent articles, most of which remain relevant and important to today’s young people and the adults who work with them. This one is a “Director’s Choice” that we are reposting this week.] The metaverse. Virtual Reality. Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce. We live in a time…
Read MoreOne story for me, another for thee
As Ivy League undergraduate college offices release their regular admissions decisions for the class of 2029, we can expect yet another season of frantic student reaction videos, a dose of raucous enthusiasm and an atmosphere of hostile dismay. Just while students start poring over their options and coming to terms with a mix of…
Read MoreGen Z is falling short of who we were destined to become
I think for most members of my generation — the illustrious Gen Z crowd — it is a relatively common phenomenon to have a parent or other older adult turn and look at you, pleading with you to “save the world” or “be the change.” As an individual who is planning to attend law…
Read MoreAmerican kids are overmedicated
America is a lot of things: a global leader in innovation, an arms dealer, a centuries-old democracy, an abuser of human rights (sometimes). We are also a pharmacy, and if you are a toddler showing mild signs of hyperactivity, boy do we have the product for you. Meet the “focus pill.” Focus pills are stimulants intended to address attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder.…
Read MoreWe are losing ourselves to the internet
[Editor’s note: Our archives contain several years of excellent articles, most of which remain relevant and important to today’s young people and the adults who work with them. This one is a “Director’s Choice” that we are reposting this week.] Just the other day, I was sitting in the William Pitt Union people-watching. There…
Read MorePrinceton’s role in combating the drug crisis must start on campus
Drug addiction is a public health crisis in the United States. Total overdose deaths have increased in the United States over the last two decades across all demographic groups, with about 17 percent of Americans battling a substance use disorder in the past year. These alarming statistics show just how large of a problem drug dependency has become, but there’s…
Read MoreOur apps can’t dictate our politics
The rise of technology is affecting our relationships with the people in charge. At the moment, there is arguably no form of media more important than social media — for many cultural, social, and political reasons. It might even be labeled “technofeudalism,” where we essentially “rent” little plots of space from each platform, whether…
Read MoreThe calculus of Blackness
Who has jurisdiction over Blackness? Who gets to determine who is and isn’t Black, and why? And what is it based on? Is it phenotype — complexion, hair texture, lips, eyes, your nose? Is it who you hang out with? Is it how you dress, or where you went to school? Is it where…
Read MorePrinceton, it’s time to implement media literacy training
“Seek the truth by asking your own questions and coming to your own conclusions.” Under the gothic arches of the University Chapel in his 2011 Baccalaureate speech, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg defined a struggle that has plagued our generation: the exponential rise of online disinformation, which has consistently challenged democracies and hindered…
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