School of Thought 2.0 (Logo by Parkersburg South High School student Rayna Short)

STUDENT INTRO: School of Thought this week was written by Parkersburg South High School senior Ariah Strong and covers the importance of good communication. When Ariah isn’t working, she loves learning new things, reading a good book and spending time hanging out with friends and family.

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Communicating effectively is something people struggle with. We use communication skills every day, but for some reason there is still a communication gap. Maybe it’s because they don’t understand the person they are communicating with, or maybe it’s because the person receiving the information isn’t listening. Either way and without fail, people struggle to communicate.

Communication has changed drastically over the years, and it is constantly changing every day. In the last 50-100 years, technology has rapidly developed. We now have phones that we can put in our back pockets that have access to everything we could possibly want or need on them.

Social media and just the ability to be online in general has changed communication tremendously. Initially, when social media first came to be it was fun and used for good — like to interact with friends who live far away or share memories and photos with people. But now it’s as if there are more discouraging, cruel and difficult elements to navigate in these forms of communication that take away from the positive ones.

If we’re being honest, I think social media and the ability to communicate online has been damaging to communication and communication skills. It used to be a fun thing to talk with your friends, but now it’s a competition and about how many likes or followers you have. I truly think that if people took it back to the basics and relearned how to communicate in a more kind and effective way, these things would change for the better.

Making students in high school and college take a communications class would not only better the students, but better our society. The young people of this generation are our future, and without effective communication they will not succeed to the fullest in this world. Communicating is a life skill that everyone uses on a day-to-day basis. Why would we not try to perfect this skill and teach students how to better themselves in the world?

The reasoning as to why this type of course should be mandatory for high schoolers and college students is simple. People use communication skills every day, from birth to death, but the problem is that some people don’t know how to use these skills effectively or don’t have/come from an environment that promotes using them effectively. This is why there is confusion and conflict among people communicating.

The goal of the mandatory class is to eliminate some of that conflict and confusion by teaching the correct ways to communicate. Without this as a required course, people are going to continue to struggle to communicate in the world.

My sophomore, junior and senior year I took Advanced Communications, an elective class offered to me by my high school. I chose to take this class to help me be more confident when speaking in front of large groups. Little did I know, these courses would help me with so much more. My communications classes taught me how to better prepare and present myself when talking to someone face to face and over the phone. These classes showed me how to pay attention to people’s body languages and attitude. They also taught me how to write letters and type emails in the correct format. I’ve grown and learned how to be a better listener. The list goes on and on. Honestly, it touched every topic you can think of that a person needs to be able to communicate effectively in this world.

While the courses can do a lot for you, I was very fortunate to have two extraordinary teachers, Mrs. Pickrell and Mrs. Nestor, who took the time to teach and go through each topic we were discussing. The class is very important, but a big part of it is the teachers and how they present the materials and teach the class.

Prior to my Advanced Communications classes, I had an extremely hard time presenting or talking in front of large groups. Mrs. Pickrell was my first communications teacher and helped me a lot with this. She talked me through my nervousness, forced me to get up and present, and each time I did it got easier. I got better at talking in front of large groups of people, so much so that today I am confident when I do it and I even volunteer to do so.

Mrs. Nestor has helped me understand what the different types of communication mean, and now I use them in my everyday life.

Both Mrs. Pickrell and Mrs. Nestor have made huge impacts on my life in and outside the classroom.