2. March 2010 by student.

Teens who become pregnant have a lot to deal with. For decades our society tried hard to break the link between behaviors and consequences. The truth is, we always reap the fruits of our choices. Taking ten minutes out to think before engaging in five minutes of intercourse is always a beneficial idea.

Teen pregnancy results in a variety of consequences affecting the mother, baby, father, family members and society itself.

Statistics frame it well.

What is the future outlook for a pregnant teen? Fewer employment skills. They will be less likely to hold a job for more than six months; only a third will graduate from high school. Their children will also hold a greater chance of becoming pregnant as teenagers, dropping out of school, and living in poverty.
The U.S. has the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in the Western world. Every year around 750,000 teenagers will get pregnant. It costs us about $7 million annually. According to the National Campaign to prevent teen pregnancy, at least 75 percent of teen mothers end up on welfare after their first child.

The good news is that teen births have dropped by a third according to Teenpregnancy.org. With pregnancy prevention programs, this will drop even more in the years to come.

Parents need to be proactive in communication, education, assurance and nurturing love. Teens who feel a sense of self-worth are less likely to sleep with the first boy who says “I love you.”

Posted in Social Problems | 4 Comments »

2. March 2010 by student.

Republican Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky has single-handedly blocked a million Americans from receiving unemployment and COBRA health insurence benifits.  “I believe we should pay for it” the senetor said. He continued on saying “I’m trying to make a point to the people of the United States.”  Sen. Bunning wants to find $10.3 billion in spending cuts to pay for the bill.  When his colleagues on the senate floor questioned Sen. Bunning about his actions and told him they thought his possion was wrong, Sen. Bunning replied “tough sh*t.”                                                                        

How noble of Sen. Bunning to make a stand against government spending on the backs of hard working American familys hurting from the current recession.  Where was his stand against excessive government spending when wastful defence bills were passed.  Sen. Bunning has a job. He has healthcare insurense.  Sen. Bunning obviously also has alot of power.  But what about American families that are strapped and are trying to buy grocieres and pay the rent?  How much power do they have?  Americans want to work but when unemployment is at near 10% it is not always possible to find a job.  Unemloyment benifits are a saftey net for Americans when times are tough.  It’s not good enough to say ‘Hey, I have everything I need if you don’t, well then thats just too bad’.  With power comes resposibility.  When circumstances warrant our elected officials have the resposibility to put aside idiogical grandstanding and do what is right for our countries people. 

When reporters approached Sen. Bunning after he left the senate floor and tried to ask him questions he walk toward the elevator and and shot the middle finger over his head.  Sen. Benning I have a point I want to make with you.  Here’s the middle finger right back at ya!

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | 2 Comments »

2. March 2010 by student.

Yes, it now has a name, third degree smoking. 

We all know first degree smokers are the ones who actually smoke, kill their lungs, are always coughing, and can barely breath by the time they’re in their 70’s. Also, they can get emphysema,  heart disease, lung disease, and so on.  It can shorten your life by at least 10 years and most of the time even more. And it obviously costs thousands and thousands of dollars.  Even when taxes go up, they’re still willing to pay to get their nicotine fix.

 Secondhand smoke is also known as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) or passive smoke. It is a mixture of 2 forms of smoke that come from burning tobacco: sidestream smoke (smoke that comes from the end of a lighted cigarette, pipe, or cigar) and mainstream smoke (smoke that is exhaled by a smoker).

When non-smokers are exposed to secondhand smoke it is called involuntary smoking or passive smoking. Non-smokers who breathe in secondhand smoke take in nicotine and other toxic chemicals just like smokers do. The more secondhand smoke you are exposed to, the higher the level of these harmful chemicals in your body.

The risks present to those around smokers are not just limited to second hand smoke (passive smoking) but also a less obvious “third hand” smoke residue.

That’s the term being used to describe the invisible yet toxic brew of gases and particles clinging to smokers’ hair and clothing, not to mention cushions and carpeting that lingers long after second-hand smoke has cleared from a room. The residue includes heavy metals, carcinogens and even radioactive materials that young children can get on their hands and ingest, especially if they’re crawling or playing on the floor.

It’s hard to believe that smoking has come to this.  It has a much larger effect on the people and spaces around you than one would think, rather than just being used to simply calm down and relax or to fix to addiction.  I sincerely hope that smoking will eventually come to an end.  I believe it will allow our society and population to live longer and healthier lives and fulfill our dreams to a more realistic time span of achievement.

Works Cited

American Cancer Society

Lampard, John. Dissasociated.com; notedpad to point zero. 7 January 2009. Web. 1 March 2010

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | 2 Comments »

2. March 2010 by student.

As you may know Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed training in the beginning of the winter 2010 Olympic games. He was training for his luge event at the time of his death. Nodar was going around a curve and crashed into a pole. There has been much debate about how NBC handled the situation. They showed Nodar’s death during the opening ceremony of the games, without so much as even a graphic warning to viewers. They also showed his crash on their morning news. What gives NBC news the right to show this young man dying?  

The video clip of his death can now be seen even on YouTube. I think that this is a complete outrage. If Nodar was your family member or one of your loved ones, would you want the entire world to see his life come to an end? In my opinion it is extremely disrespectful to Nodar as a person. I also feel that NBC news is only showing his death to try to increase their amount of viewers. Do you feel that NBC put Nodar’s family and friends into consideration before showing this tragic video? Should they have consulted the family for permission first?

Personally I believe that Nodar would want his loved ones to remember all of the great times they shared together and cherish his life. I would not think he would want to be remembered only by his death and the gruesome video. Have you seen the video of his tragic death? How do you feel about all of my concerns?

Rest In Peace Nodar Kumaritashvili

Posted in Social Problems | 1 Comment »