Gas Prices have soared due to the conflict in the Middle East, and students have been hit particularly hard. As the gas averages reach $3.89, a far cry from the $2.80 it was last year, students are finding it difficult to fill their tanks.
This has affected students participating in Senior Tag, as some are seeing the rise in prices as an obstacle, and some are playing with no worries. Ainsley Fennie is a student playing in Senior Tag, and she is also in charge of paying for her own gas.
“When senior tag was going on, I was driving anywhere and everywhere, we were doing loops around neighborhoods. That’s part of the game, you can’t just give that up for a gas price,” Fennie says. “If you want to win, that’s going to motivate you rather than having to pay some extra money on gas. I’ll do what my team needs, and if I need to drive to get there, that’s fine.”
For other student drivers, the rise in prices is influencing how they would usually spend their day. Senior Hope Adams is a teen driver who is responsible for paying for her own gas.
“I have to be more careful about how much I’m driving because of the increase,” Adams says. “It went from being 25 dollars to 40 dollars every time I fill up, which is pretty unreasonable for high school students.”
Students are not the only ones feeling the strain. Teachers, many of whom drive to school every day, have noticed a difference. Some teachers are concerned about doing the extra things they usually don’t have a problem with. Meghan Hiland is a teacher who drives from downtown Columbus to school each day.
“Because I’m driving so far every day, I have no choice but to pay.” Hiland says, “The one thing that I had to stop doing is driving around for fun. Take off the top of my car and just go for a cruise, but I’m definitely not doing that anymore these days.”
Rises in gas prices have also affected students and teachers gearing up for summer break. Teacher Peter Studebaker said that the rise in prices has been worrying for travel plans.
“Airfare has gone up significantly, too.” Studebaker said, “And there was a moment where we were like ‘oh crap, can we afford to go to Florida this summer?’”
This rise in prices comes after a war between Iran and the US. Some people have dire predictions as to how it will play out.
“Any conflict in the Middle East will affect gas prices all around the world,” Studebaker said. “The longer any kind of conflict disrupts those shipping lanes, the possibility that it will have large implications for all of us goes up.”
