8. December 2009 by student.

               “Uniforms, yuck,” I said to myself as my school passed around surveys of if we should purchase them or not. Not only were there surveys within the student body there were surveys being mailed, and sent home with each student. Though, my eigth grade class was the last to not have to wear this attire, I felt bad for the kids who did following me.

                Not until a few years ago did I understand how important this issue is. When kids are roaming the campus, or outside of school playing hookie, with uniforms we are able to recognize the difference between a child and a student. With uniforms we can eliminate the skipping of classes, recognize non- affliated children and intruders on the campus. While kids are on the playgrounds we can see who is with our schools and and who is not. On field trips we can keep track, rather than them mixed into the misc. crowd.

           Uniforming as a whole has a positive outlook for the children of our future. It can help many of the children in our schools from becoming in trouble, getting lost, and just looking professional. With uniforming we, as a whole, can provide a safer enviornment for our students within our schools.

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8. December 2009 by student.

                Euthanasia. Everyone has heard of this reoccuring social issue in today’s society. With that comes many protests, family fueds, and angry citizens. For those of you who do not know, Euthanasia is better known has pulling the plug on someone. With that many family end up fueding and going against eachother, due to the devestating decision of continuing or hulting the life of there loved one.

                  Terri Shaivo is a worldwide issue known by many American citizens. I personally was in Tallahassee when these protests occurs. There were hundreds of people with poster after poster, down the sidewalk. I couldn’t believe have big of an issue this was. Though it is very contreversial, many schools eliminate this topic due to the religious attachment, and intensity of the situation. Terri Shaivo was a case in which her family fueded against her husband for the decision of if she is to continue on life support or eliminate her suffering. After years of battling the judge finally elected Shaivo’s husband to make the decision. Finally, she was pronounced dead.

                Though I do not understand why anyone would want to live with there only functioning being, breathing through a tube. My personal opinion on this matter is parents should discuss with their children vice versa, who is to make the decision and what that person prefers to do. With that there should be a written statement to resolve the matter. That were there is no one else to decide our destiny. It will be somewhat like a will and the person will be coherrant and capable of understanding the matter at hand, rather than leaving your loved ones with this devestating decision. Within our YOUTH years, we should discuss this so that , when it is our time to go, it is OUR decision and OUR own right to leave in peace.

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8. December 2009 by student.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 1 million U.S. citizens are talking on the phone while driving at any given moment. This is hazardous to anyone driving on the road nowadays, the truth of the matter is driving requires you to be attentive and aware of your surroundings, and surrendering your senses (not to mention one of your hands) to a conversation is nonsensical and dangerous, to say in the least.

About 115 people die every day to automobile accidents in the U.S. alone! If everyone was forced to pay a little more attention to the road while they were driving, I believe these numbers could be cut drastically. Some 50 or so countries have already banned the use of mobile phones while driving, our country is beginning to follow the lead.  California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Utah, Washington, D.C. and many municipalities have fully outlawed in-vehicle handheld phone use. Many other states have banned their use for minors only. This is simply an unnecessary distraction that our society’s transportation system cannot afford anymore.

Hands-free systems for phone use should be a MUST for all drivers intending to talk while behind the wheel. Maybe this is something our government should look to enforce with our domestic car manufacturers? Making it a uniform amenity with any car bought.

Posted in Social Problems | 3 Comments »

8. December 2009 by student.

Texting is becoming the main form of communication within our society.  There is very minimal face to face communication and talking on phones is becoming extinct.  People text others to ask simple questions or to have detailed conversations with each other.  Due to texting becoming such a vital part of our society, we seem to be losing touch with the people around us.  We do not stop by our neighbors house to see how their day went, we don’t call up our parents after a long day at work; we simply text them.  Statistics show that eleven billion text messages are send per second everyday. By such massive amounts of texting, peoples social skills are being ruined. People are unable to talk properly to people because they use shorthand texting like “brb”(be right back) or “lol” (laugh out loud).  Our way of communication is diminishing because we focus so much on texting that we are loosing how we communicate with people on a regular day.  We do not know how to express our feelings or word things properly because we communicate so much via text messages.  Texts are also affecting the way we write e-mails or papers.  Since we type shorthand when we text, that sometimes tends to carry over in our writing.  We do not notice it because we are so used to seeing it through texts.  Our lives are becoming so enthralled with text that even our basic form of communication is dwindling.

http://www.youthradio.org/news/is-texting-ruining-teen-communication-skillshttp://hothardware.com/News/Does-Texting-Ruin-Your-Ability-To-Communicate-WHU-KNWZ-LOL/

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

8. December 2009 by student.

            There are a lot of problems with the health of our Americans today.  We are the most obese country in the world with almost 36% of our county obese. There is a real problem with that to me. It really goes back to how they were raised. When I was growing up I was an active kid running around all the time. I was playing outside for the most of my not including that I played sports. I think now days kids are not so active and parents have to blame them self’s. The kids now all they want to do is stay in the house and either watch tv or play video games. I think kids should go outside and do some running around. The parents should also start to feed their kids healthier foods. I remember when I was growing up I could eat non healthy foods and get away with it because I played sports and ran around all day every day. So if this is what the kids are going to do now we should feed them healthy food so we can stop being an obese country.  By them just laying around and eating the foods they do they become obese, so if you would do one of the other it would help out in the fact of not becoming obese. When you are obese more health problems arise. You can have breathing problems, heart problems, and many other problems. Our country as a whole needs to be healthier.    

Posted in Social Problems | 1 Comment »

8. December 2009 by student.

For every dollar made by a man, a woman makes 77 cents. This wage gap has been an issue since the prevalence of women having careers. This issue was coined as “the glass ceiling.” In other words, there is an invisible barrier that prevents women from being able to thrive as well as men do with their careers. This issue is the product of social stability.  As a result of norms in our culture, it is expected for women to take care of families and play the role of a housewife and mother over been a successful business woman. This is because this is how roles of family and gender have been viewed from generation to generation. In order to overcome this social problem, society must be more open minded. We no longer live in a society where only men go to college and earn the family living. Successful people in our society include powerful women, such as Hillary Clinton and Oprah Winfrey. Women are just as capable and in many cases, are the majority of the population in their job industry. By accepting these facts, our society will be a step closer to fixing the gender wage gap in businesses.

http://www.forbes.com/2006/03/07/glass-ceiling-opportunities–cx_hc_0308glass.html

Posted in Social Problems | 2 Comments »

8. December 2009 by student.

Each and everyday our privacy is shrinking little by little. Due to the new advancements in technology, there are cameras everywhere like on street lights, computers, and cell phones. Even though these things are fun to use and some help us in case of emergencies but do we really think that we still have privacy? Even if we dont want to be photographed we still are. Everytime you walk outside of your house and use a main road, your photograph is taken. Everytime you go inside of a store you are being videotaped due to secruity cameras. With cameras everywhere do we really thing we have privacy? Not only do we have to watch out for those cameras, but random people may take inappropriate pictures of you. There are many incidences were women were secretly videotaped in dressing rooms and sometimes even end up on the internet. With picture messaging photos and videos can end up all over a city! Also we tend to put valuable information about ourselves online for the world to see. Credit card fraud is at a high due to people buying things online from unsecure sites. Pictures we put up on one site can end up on plenty of others and so can our information.

Sure there are some safety provisions but are there enough? I for one think that this is a problem because peoples identities are being stolen because we put our business out there for everyone. I think we need to educate people that yes maybe the government has a lot of acces to our information but we put ourselves out there for others to get the same information. We need to put less of our information online. This can help prevent fraud, identity theft, and maybe even creeps from stalking your. Even though we can’t change those that do choose to do these things, we can limit their access to us.

Posted in Social Problems | 2 Comments »

8. December 2009 by student.

What is a social problem in our society today? An enormous crisis in our world today is the pace of which everything travels. Technology is inevitable in today’s post modern society, but what are the effects of that?

For example, look at how long it took televisions to intrude and taint people’s houses; in 1939 President Roosevelt opened New York’s World Fair from an experimental station. Televisions did not arrive in South Dakota until 1953. The iPhone came out recently and currently, the iPhone is not only sold in the United States but Apple is pushing for the same outcomes here to be in China and Europe as well. We are falling into the trap of perceived obsolesce- you can’t be happy until you have the latest phone, car or appliances. We are all a slave to the man. Since World War II real obsolesce has made our appliances and tools fall short of their actual capability, this was created to build up companies income and boast our society.

In my research I came across an artist by the name Chris Jordan, whom realized there was a problem in our society today; he uncovers the truths about consumption rates in America. Showing how we all have to fill up on items and the latest object we can get out hands on. We lose focus what really matters; our future, or what we are allowing to be “normal.” His art work is very real and factual, offering knowledge with beauty. For example, one collection of his works is named “Intolerable Beauty,” which consists of a picture in a picture, from cell phones to chargers and he gives the amount of time their used and how many are used.

The truth is we are all American consumers and there is no changing that. All I am saying is that we need to analyze what we use and the repercussions of our choices before it’s too late. Also, I would greatly encourage you to check out Chris Jordan’s art work and see for yourself the amazing pace at which we all create debris.

 Sources:

http://www.k-director.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/iphonetimeline.jpg

http://www.chrisjordan.com/

Http://www3.northern.edu/wild/th100/tv.htm

Posted in Mr. Andoscia, Social Problems | 1 Comment »

8. December 2009 by student.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves.”
– 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

The quote above describes the passion of love. Patience, kindness, protection, trust, hope, and preservation. These are all qualities that can be found in any given person around the world. Whether they are male or female, each gender is capable of feeling these emotions. If this is the ideal quote of the feeling of love, and both male and female are capable of these feelings, then why does our society try to deny us of them? I am refferring to same sex marriage. Marriage is a promise of unconditional love and support. Who is to say that two females, or two males do not have the right to legally love and support one another in holy matrimony?

Sure, the traditional wedding includes a bride and a groom, male and female, ceremony, reception, and a big wedding cake. This may be traditional, but what about the people who want to do things a bit differently? Why does it even matter who’s getting married to who when statistics show that 50% of marriages end in divorce. If half of the men and women who get married can’t keep their promise, then we are obviously doing something wrong. What if we gave gay marriage a chance? Is it possible that same sex marriage has a better chance at staying together than the traditional marriage? Are we threatened by the thought of gay people being better at staying married then us, the orininal creators of holy matrimony? I think that society is scared of the thought of same sex marriage because we are afraid that we may fail at what we were meant to do.

 If same sex marriage does have a higher success rate, there is a better chance for children to be raised in a happy, healthy environment and home. Of course, this would not be the standard traditional environment that God may have wanted, but what difference does the gender make of the two people who are in love raising a happy family? This puts the focus on the children, and what is best for them. If there is a 50% chance of divorce in traditional marriage, that puts the children in jeopardy of growing up in either a single parent home, or having to split time with each parent. Children may end up with a step mom and step dad, confusing them and corrupting their minds about who are their real parents. There is a chance of an abusive environment that the child may grow up in. So many problems for children arrise when parent’s are going through a divorce. If same sex marriage is able to avoid all of that, then I say it is for the greater good of the future children of America.

When two people are in love, and willing to make the committment of marriage and raising a family, then I do not feel that we should deny them of that right, regardless of their gender. As I said before, if 50% of traditional marriages end in divorce, then we are obviously doing something wrong. Let other’s step in and pick up the slack that we as women and men are not upholding. Allow same sex marriage so that our society can experience the true meaning of love, and better the chances of children growing up in a happier, healthier home.

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8. December 2009 by student.

Sexism is still present in todays society. There are many organizations around now that do not accept member of the opposite race. Some of these organizations do this for good reason such as Fraternities and Sororities. Others do it still in discriminatory ways. One case that truly has me surprised regards Augusta National country club not allowing any women members into their club. Since its opening almost 80 years ago Augusta has never had a women member. As of right now it does have members awaiting acception into the club, but none has actually been accepted in. Cases like this are still present all over the nation today. Both men and women are still segregated against throughout the workplace, and in many  other public places. As a nation we need to accept everyone for who they are and not discriminate. It is a tough thing to do, and one that will most likely never happen. But in today’s time with so many new advances and more and more things becoming acceptable I believe that people of all race and gender should be able to do nearly all the same things.

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