South students are realizing that gas prices are getting higher every day.

Have you checked out the gas prices recently? Since February the price of gas has been about 40 cents per gallon. Parkway South High students like freshman Sophia Cramer aren’t enjoying the extra money being spent. Do you buy prom tickets or a tank of gas?

“I think it’s kind of concerning, I see my parents spend up to $60 on gas every 2 to 3 days and it makes me wonder how it will affect me in the future,” Cramer said. 

Cramer said she hopes that the gas prices won’t stay like this for a while but really doesn’t think that’s going to happen. 

“Hopefully not for long but if we are being realistic probably for the next 3-4 years,” she said.

Despite the rise in gas prices, in general, many students and teachers aren’t changing their habits. However, FACS teacher Monica Dickens said she is. She owns a cabin 80 miles away in Fredericktown, Mo. She said they’re changing their driving habits getting down there, and she’s trying to drive less as the weather gets warmer.

“My husband and I drove separately to Fredericktown which is 80 miles away. And I was thinking about how it was going to impact our budget. And that would cost more than $60. And it will affect us more than we go down there. Now that the weather is getting better, I can walk to Schnucks and not do lots of driving,” Dickens said.

She said she hopes that when the weather starts to get better, her goal is to start walking to simple places instead of using her car. 

In addition, junior Anushka Rawat also can relate, even with what the gas prices are looking at right now. 

“It’s kind of bad, I should be changing my habits. I am going to work on limiting my rides and changing my gas habits but it just really hasn’t affected me that much,” She said. 

On April 15, 2021, the price of a gallon of gas averaged $2.69 in the U.S. On April 15, 2022, the price rose to $4.14. Day by day gas prices has been going up. 

According to experts, one reason for the high gas prices is because of the pandemic. The gas and oil supply is low because people weren’t driving during the pandemic. So oil companies stopped drilling for oil.  

Dickens talked about her dealings with gas prices when she was a teenager. 

“It was like $1.20 when I was 16 years old. My parents chose efficient cars. And we didn’t really care about the gas prices. And there was an oil strike and the gas prices went up really well. There was a big spike. It has always been around 2 dollars then slowly been going up. Nothing that caused people to look at the cars differently,” Dickens said. 

When Dickens was in school gas prices were very low. She mentions the dramatic change from when she was a kid and now. 

“I’m so lucky. I only live 6 minutes away from work.” Dickens said. “But I have so many things after school that it will make me reconsider what they think to do.” She states. 

Junior Maya Hoffman does not enjoy this new change in the world. She states how it effects how much she pays and how dumb it is. 

“It honestly sucks cause I have to pay for my own gas but there’s nothing I can do about it,”  Hoffman said. “I think gas prices are going to stay up mostly in the summer, maybe longer.” 

Throughout the years, Dickens has thought of getting a fuel-efficient car, now that gas prices have been getting so high she starts to think about it. 

“I have thought about getting a more fuel-efficient car over the years, but I also like having a big car and having good flexibility, but the trade-off is how big the car is and gas is so expensive. The solution I would want is to buy a fuel-efficient car.” Dickens said.