Random things in our modern culture can become popular very easily, whether it is a hilarious video of someone doing something (or failing spectacularly), a funny joke or meme spreading like wildfire, a new video game or movie finally being released after so much teasing, or recent political news that sparked a lot of controversy.

Bear River, while some may notice it and some may not, has trends as well, like the popular and durable Hydro Flasks that many students use for carrying water around, or putting stickers on our Chromebooks as a way to distinguish ourselves and show others what we like without the possibility of confrontation.

Joseph Guerra, a junior, stated which trends he noticed in his classes.

“There are a few that I can think of, but one major one is leaving class,” he said. “… I’ve heard about other people leaving class, and the ‘frequent flyer’ list or whatever. It’s kind of stupid. … And then carrying around Hydro Flasks. Everybody has a Hydro Flask.”

Freshman Ana Hamilton listed a few other frequent trends that happen here at Bear River.

“A few of them [include] people putting stickers on their Chromebooks,” she said. “A lot of people have Hydro Flasks [as well], and they carry them around, put stickers on them, and stuff like that.”

Some trends can be quite enjoyable and interactive with students – bringing groups closer together and making new friends by finding interest in a relatable subject.

Matt MacDonald, the leadership teacher, explained some trends he enjoys here at Bear River.

“Sophomores are getting their licenses, and they’re excited about that,” he said. “Juniors are excited about being seniors next year, so they’re thinking about classes and stuff like that. Seniors are all thinking about life after high school, freshmen are excited about being sophomores soon, so the trend, in that sense, is that everybody is thinking about the future, the next step. … It’s kind of a cool trend of optimism and hope.”

However, some trends aren’t as liked as others. Some can be just plain irritating to deal with. Sophomore Kylie Scaglione explained how these trends could have a negative effect on students.

“It annoys me when people pick on other people, and then they’ll do something, and it affects the person, and everybody stands around and watches,” she said. “But I enjoy it when someone actually goes up and helps the person.”

Junior Zoey Moody described her views about some of the trends that she felt were annoying.

“I don’t really enjoy trends,” she said. “I guess if vaping was a trend, that would be kind of annoying. … The trend of teachers getting so up in your business, because of the no-fly list. It’s not really a trend, but it’s new. … So that’s kind of annoying, because they make big deals over nothing.”

There are also some trends that some consider to be unhealthy.

“Definitely vaping in the bathroom and skipping class,” Guerra stated simply.

Mr. MacDonald also had some input about unhealthy trends.

“I would point to two trends that I don’t know how positive they are for our society,” he said, “Obviously the first big one that is a national problem is vaping. … It’s easily accessible for kids, and I don’t know how aware students are of the negative effects. I think the other one I’d probably point to would be cellphones. I think that it’s a phenomenal tool that adults, kids, everybody uses. It’s great, it connects us with everything, but I think it definitely takes away from some of the face-to-face interactions that people have, and it’s changing society, in many good ways, and also a few negative ways that I’ve seen.”

Trends are a very integral part of our modern society, influencing what we do with our lives (if only for a time), but few look in depth at them instead of just hopping onto the bandwagon because something is growing in popularity. Take a look at the Instagram Egg and its popularity explosion. It rose to the most liked post in a very short amount of time, and, now, it’s not heavily talked about anymore. Matt MacDonald summarized this idea well.

“So I think every year, trends kind of come and go,” he said. “It’s part of the society we live in, like, fidget spinners were a trend, Hydro Flasks are kind of a trend, but usually they’re national trends, like Fortnite, for example, last year was a big Fortnite year. So, there’s definitely been a bunch over the years.”