Should high schools start an hour later?

Either side brings a valid case, but in the battle of school starting times, the facts stack up against allowing them to remain the same rather than bumping them up an hour and/or switching start times with elementary schools. Typically, high schools start around 7:35 am, a time where many students would rather be getting up instead of trudging off to their first class. An extra hour of sleep, many say, would be beneficial to students emotions and academic performances. Indeed, this has been seen to be a proven fact. Eastham, MA conducted an experiment in the change of start times in order to find some sort of validity to moving start times. A 53% drop in the number of failing grades was presented between the two times, as well as the numbers of D's and F's dropping from 597 to 368. Students with suspensions dropped severely in numbers as well, plummeting from 166 to 19. Something else that also presses the fact of the matter even farther is the fact that many younger children tend to wake up at early times such as 530 or 6 am, whereas teenagers would much rather wake up later in the morning. Suggestions have been made to switch start times between high schoolers and elementary students in order to accommodate both wants and needs of each age group.

This article mainly aims at pulling readers in to the idea of the abundant benefits brought forth by changing the time in which a school beings session. By providing staggering statistics, the author allows the reader to be informed of all of the increasing benefits of this change, ranging from academic performance to social skills in the learning environment. Evidently, this brings forth a strong argument as to why high schools should begin at a later time.





"Let teens hit the snooze"
http://bangordailynews.com/2012/01/23/opinion/let-teens-hit-the-snooze/

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly was composed by a fourty-three year old editor who found himself completely paralyzed after a stroke that overcame him, leaving him with "locked-in syndrome". In a shocking turn of events, Bauby devised a system in which he could write his memoir through blinking techniques with his left eye which was published days before his death in 1996. The book explores the wonders of his life following his life-changing stroke, reaching all aspects of life from eating to spending time with the family he loved dearly. The memoir served as liberation for himself, allowing him to express his true emotions through his writings, words he could never get across previously due to his paralysis.

I'm hoping that this memoir allows me to get a new insight on life. So many of us are spoiled with nearly anything we could never ask for or desire. Hopefully, his words of wisdom can reflect a truth in life that many of us might never approach or attempt to comprehend. This memoir can hopefully be used as a tool to look at life through a new perspective, where life is a gift, not a burden.

Bless Me Ultima: Chapters 1 - 7

Bless Me Ultima seems to me as if its using many different strategies in order to draw a reader's attention in initially. It blatantly begins with frequent usage of Spanish phrases, such "llano", "que lastima", and including some full throttle sentences in Spanish, such as, "Esta sola ya no queda gente en el pueblito de Las Pasturas." Although I myself have been taking Spanish for many years, throughout these early chapters, I have come across many words and phrases where I am constantly researching the definitions of the words, no matter how much Spanish background I have personally. This left me confused many times, as I would constantly be forgetting the meaning of each word and found myself re-googling each word, slowing the process of reading down considerably each time I google-translated a word, phrase, or sentence.

At this point, it seems as if conflicting points in this novel will be between Ultima's magic and Antonio's religion. Antonio's parents, especially his mother, present their intense expectations of Antonio to prevail with his religion and religious beliefs and become a priest when he is of age. Viewing Luptio's death seems to begin to pose as an issue in the novel, playing a major role with his trust in the outside world and as an issue within his family, affecting his mental state in a permanent manor. Surely his view of the outter world has been skewed after such a morbid experience, and could possibly foreshadow future events to come in the novel. Antonio's personality seems to be that of a typical 7 year old, yet he has already faced great plague within the opening pages of this novel. Surely he faces greater challenges in the future, which could eventually lead to a change in character.

Words with Friends... or More Than Friends?

A simple word game used by millions across the world on their smart phones and ipods created a tale of two lovers, and eventually created an everlasting love between two random players. In 2009, a random game was created by two players living several thousand miles away from each other. Megan Lawless, a resident of Chicago, IL, began the randomized session and ended up being paired with Jasper Jasperse, a man living across the pond in the Netherlands. The two exchanged greetings, and what started out as a simple hello from one side to another turned into contact exchanges and an eventual meeting between the two. This random act of romance is one that touches the heart of technology addicts and also serves as a new twist to any typical love story that circulates the system.

Ben Silverman, author of the article, introduced us to a new tale of two loves, moving past the typical love stories constantly being portrayed by pop culture movies and novels. Silverman draws the reader's attention with the "Words with Friends" reference, a game that many students and even adults can closely relate to. By setting a frequently accessed background in reality, Silverman relates the love tale to readers who often grow weary of the same old love stories being portrayed over and over again, and provokes the reader with this new twist to a classic tale. This love story likely won't be the only one of its kind with this growing technology universe.


"'Words With Friends' spelles love and marriage"
http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-in/words-friends-spells-love-marriage-173817262.html

Creating controversy in the Conrad Murray trial

AOLTV.com reported yesterday Nancy Grace's reaction to the verdict in the Conrad Murray trial. Grace was quoted saying, "Well, once I found out it was a guilty verdict thats really all I needed to know... I only wish it had been a murder one, because murder one deserves life behind bars, not four years." She then continued to say, "Hey! He and Casey Anthony can have a tea party in four years!" Catherine Lawson, author of the article, intends to influence the reader with the comparison of the two major trials, where she then implies with Grace's statement that they both got off easy. However she still places emphasis on the fact that she, amongst many other major figures of our culture (including our public), believes that this should be a murder trial and that Murray deserves to rot in prison.

I, however, could not oppose these statements any more adamantly. Where Murray did provide Jackson with the drugs, Jackson has been a known drug addict. It was totally along the lines of his personality to overdose. Tens of thousands of people cannot come to terms that their beloved pop prince could have ever overdosed and they looked to Murray as the fall guy. Jackson had been in a frail state, as well, and with his history of drug use it only makes sense that he would overdose as if the medication he was taking was "magical".

On another note, Grace and Lawson CANNOT relate Murray to Casey Anthony at all. Anthony had so much evidence stacked against her yet she still got out of all murder charges and all child endangerment charges. Murray is bound to get the harshest punishment for his situation, which I feel is wrongfully placed upon him. While Anthony walked away a FREE WOMAN, Murray will walk away in 4 years with a punishment he did not deserve.

I guess when id comes down to a 3 year old and the prince of pop that a jury would rather convict in favor of pop culture rather than for the young child...

Drawing a line in the ballroom: when transgender paranoia crosses the line

With the season fully underway, Chaz Bono has faced the brunt of the "Dancing with the Stars" experience, not only facing elimination this past Tuesday night, but being the face of the season's biggest controversy: his sex change. While both Chaz and the producers of the program attempt to present him as a normal 40-year-old celebrity trying to master his routine for the week, many of his critics continue tearing into his gender-bender decisions. Of all people to display his extreme dislike for Chaz's actions, Dr. Keith Ablow, a psychology professor at Tufts University School, made an appearance on the Bill O'Reilly show the week previous, making a statement to parents that their children should not be allowed to watch the show due to risk factor of enhancing a child's chances of suffering from Gender Identity Disorder. However, many other psychology professors agree to disagree with this accusation, stating that there's no physical evidence that proves that watching Chaz Bono on the show would induce the disorder in which children would begin to question their own gender identity.

Both sides of the controversy bring very strong arguments to the table. Anti-gender-benders claim that Gender Identity Disorder could be similar to when kids light up because their favorite actor smokes or chugs a beer because they did so in their favorite movie. However, pro-gender-benders refute that statement, saying that its extremely easy for teens to be influenced by teen smoking and drinking in movies compared to watching a 40-year-old transgender dance on a reality show, where the issue of his sex change has not even been discussed on the air.

Whatever the case, the extremes some critics are going to in order to degrade Chaz and his sex change are unacceptable at any level by any human being. His sex change was not influenced by watching a transgender on television, then causing him to think in similar ways as that celebrity. In addition, with the transgender bill stalling at the statehouse, nothing could hinder the bill's passing more than a professor from Tufts appearing on a nationally acclaimed show and announcing his distaste for the subject, then taking it one step further and telling parents to shelter their child from reality and having them forbid their children from watching this season because of a transgender, when his sex change has not been mentioned ONCE throughout the duration of this season of "Dancing with the Stars". Already  4 episodes deep into the 20 episode season, you would think if something was to be said about the topic of his sex change, it would have already been said, correct? They're 1/5 of the way through the season, so these allegations are simply factious in nature. If children even find out about the issue, wouldn't it just be easier to simply explain Chaz's situation upfront, avoiding the issue for a later age when it might be too late to discuss the matter? Ablow's comments can only hinder the progression of transgender rights in this state.

Deborah Kotz displays both sides of the controversy upfront, allowing the pros and con from each position to flow through her article.  While stating Dr. Ablow's thesis, that watching Bono on "Dancing with the Stars" could induce a child's Gender Identity Disorder, she counters the thesis with Dr. John Oldham's commonly accepted thesis that Gender Identity Disorder would not simply be created due to watching a transgender on a reality television show. While Kotz states her insecurity with telling her children about Chaz Bono's situation, she describes the benefits and handicaps of understanding the term "transgender", which is more or less a cultural term. "Transsexual" is simply a term associated with hormone transitions and organ transplants due to a person's insecurity with the gender they supposidely embody. Kotz reassures her readers that the chances of having a transgender child are extremely slim, in order to persuade those parents on the edge with this situation that its likely that whether or not your child watches the show that their child will not be a transsexual.

"Chaz Bono on Dancing with the Stars: should kids be banned from watching?"
http://www.boston.com/Boston/dailydose/2011/09/chaz-bono-dancing-with-the-stars-should-kids-banned-from-watching/EPkM8y89Nb6nK2opxlO9JK/index.html

No more hiding behind the word "Drama" anymore... It's time to come clean.

Bullying becomes such a common occurrence all throughout high school that students learn how to cover up their tracks through denial of accusations, knowing who you can and can't say things to, and covering up the severity of situations using well-worded vocabulary. Girls, especially, attempt to shade over the severity of most bullying situations with the word "drama", implying that its not bullying, but simply that girls are going into their "natural" dramatic state that they all go through during their adolescent years. To many unaware of this scheme, they feel as if they may have over reacted to a situation when accusations of bullying arise, only to find out that its "stupid drama", often times those blind to this scheme being teachers, parents, guardians, or many of the other adult figures in a teenager's life. All teenagers, however, learn the coded-language of bullying, and know the true meaning of "drama": a cover-up to hide the true severity in a bullying situation.

While the majority of bullying programs attempt to stop bullying before it happens, very few attempt to provide resolutions in the case of current bullying situations. No teenager is ever unaware of the bullying being put upon them, however they were never given the tools to resolve said situation. Intervening at the point of victimization is crucial in diluting the situation at hand, since the bullying won't simply seize due to one small comment. Adults fail to use "drama" as a synonym to "bullying" due to the previous context of the words being far more distant than they are at this current moment. Students trying to cover up bullying situations use the word to hide their illegality. Whatever the word used, drama or bullying, both qualify under Massachusetts state law as forms of harassment. And yet whether its drama or bullying, we'd rather to tools to diffuse any current bullying situation, rather than trying to prevent something that is simply impossible to halt.

Danah Boyd brings many interesting, often times untouched, ideas to the table towards the increasing bullying situation. Boyd tries to convey how important it is to look deeper than the typical meaning of seemingly harmless words, drama being the most overlooked of them all. Boyd tries to show parents, educators, and the general population as a whole the disturbing level the children of this age have brought bullying to. Where its used to be black and white now involves not only the gray area, but virtually all the colors of the rainbow with so many people hiding the cold hard facts of bullying yet no one giving or receiving help towards diffusing a bullying situation in progress rather than attempting to prevent one. Where are all the programs, she asks? Surely educators should have been on top of this already with the extensive amounts of results pouring in from student surveys pertaining to their bullying in their lives. No better time than the present.


Why Cyberbullying Rhetoric Misses the Mark by Danah Boyd
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/23/opinion/why-cyberbullying-rhetoric-misses-the-mark.html