Current Connection 2.1

In a recent article entitled "At some schools, 'Big Brother' is watching," some schools are trying to make the decision of whether or whether not it is a good idea for the school's staff and teachers to be able and monitor their students' social network lives. It may not seem like a great idea at first, but once you think about all of the pros and cons of it, the idea does not seem as bad.

There are reasons schools should be able to monitor student's online lives that you may not even think of, one of the being just simply saving a child's life. This article states in paragraph 3, "The school district went with the firm Geo Listening after a pilot program with the company last spring helped a student who was talking on social media about "ending his life." By being able to keep track and monitor kid's lives outside of school, you could potentially save them in the long run. If a child is feeling that depressed then he or she obviously needs someone to talk to and someone to be there for them, but it is not possible to help unless someone knows about the issue. This article also says in paragraph 5, "We were able to save a life," said Richard Sheehan, the Glendale superintendent, adding that two students in the school district had committed suicide the past two years." Without being able to monitor that child's activities online, their life would have probably been taken. With that said, the two students that took their own lives could have possibly been saved if only the teachers and staff from their school were allowed to monitor the activities on their social networks, places online that allow students to share ideas, a way of spreading information or news.

Not only would making this decision allow schools to potentially save students' lives, but also just prevent cyber-bullying as a whole. In paragraph 11 of this article Wayne Blanton states, "the school was aware of on-campus bullying of Sedwick and dealt with it by separating the students and putting them in different classes, but it was not aware of the off-campus bullying -- online -- that was taking place." Schools can usually take care of any bullying that happens on their campuses. Although, they are not always aware of the cyber-bullying that takes place "behind the scenes." This would not be an issue though, if schools could just access a student's online sites and monitor them. Also according to Blanton in paragraph 12, "if parents or students notify a school about suspected bullying off-campus, the school has the authority to look at a student's Facebook posts and e-mails." I do not think schools should have to wait until they are notified of suspected bullying out of school to have access to a student's social media. Suspecting any type of bullying taking place, teachers should be able to access that student's social networks to investigate and find out for sure if there is anything going on.

In our school I know we have some teachers who follow some of our students on social media sites, such as Twitter, sharing information about school events. I really think that that is a great idea. It is an awesome way to watch and keep track of students' thoughts and their feelings. In paragraph 20, this article states "John Palfrey Jr., head of the boarding school Phillips Academy in Massachusetts, said he and his colleagues try to strike a balance between ensuring students' safety and not having them feel "like we are recording their every move." This is a very good point. Being able to monitor your students' online lives is great in the sense that you can protect them, but there is also a line that you cannot cross. Students, especially teenagers, need their space and their own lives without feeling like they're being watched every second of every day. It also says in paragraph 21, "If a student follows him on Twitter, he will follow them back, but on Facebook, teachers don't accept friend requests from students or extend them, and they don't "go hunting around" to see what students are saying on the social networking platform." As long as there is no reason to go "hunting around" and stalking what students are posting on their profiles, I do not think adults should monitor their every move.

There are many reasons why schools should be able to monitor a student's online life. Obvious ones being to protect them from cyber-bullying or even depression and just saving them from themselves. With that being said, if schools do make the decision to allow teachers and the rest of the staff to look at any students' profiles, taking the students' privacy in to consideration, they should not be able to look at anything unless of course there is a reason to look.


Work Cited

Wallace, Kelley. "At some schools, 'Big Brother' is watching." CNN. 8 Nov. 2013. Web. 9 Nov.

 2013.

Current Connection 1.2

 

In a recent CNN article by Bryan Koenig and Conor Finnegan titled "Malala Confronts Obama," 16-year old Malala Yousafzai confronts president Barack Obama about drone strikes after being shot in her own country, Pakistan, for promoting girl's education.

 

In paragraph 4 of this article, Malala states, "Innocent victims are killed in these acts, and they lead to resentment among the Pakistani people. If we refocus efforts on education, the basis of our life, it will make a big impact." She is trying to say and make a point that too many people are being killed by other people in their own country because they are trying to make a difference. Also, if they start to refocus on education then it could possibly change everything.

 

The article says in paragraph 8 of the CNN article that, "In a statement, the White House saluted Malala’s continuing efforts to promote education for girls." Obama and the rest of the White House staff completely supported Malala's claim and believes that she is right. This brave 16-year old wants to make a huge change to her country, and I think the White House is here to help her with that.

 

In paragraph 9 of this article it states, "In a proclamation marking Friday as the International Day of the Girl, Obama said, “Across the globe there are girls who will one day lead nations, if only we afford them the chance to choose their own destinies.” President Obama seems like he is willing to support any girl, the most delicate thing on the earth, that wants the chance to be a leader in the country, or anywhere they want. He wants to help out any young woman follow their dreams and follow their heart in whatever they want to do.

 

If you ask any girl what their dream is or their dream job, it is usually something that most people think will never happen. I see this happen all of the time, even in our own school; there are girls that want to "go big" and do so much with their lives. Some even want to have such an impact and run the country some day. In the last paragraph of the CNN article, this is what President Obama has to say about girls like this, "Every continent, there are girls who will go on to change the world in ways we can only imagine, if only we allow them the freedom to dream.” As long as everyone supports girls like this and allows them to go as far as they can go, the world can be changed by the female race.

 

You can only go as far as you dream. As long as our country gives us the freedom to dream and allow us to have the chance to go as far as we want to in life, girls can make a huge difference in our world today.



Current Connection 1.1

 

     In a recent article by Greg Toppo in USA Today called, "School is too easy, students report," Toppo informs her readers about the fact that students feel like school isn't challenging for them.

     In paragraph 3, a new analysis of federal survey data says that, "37% of fourth-graders say their math work is "often" or "always" too easy;" "57% of eighth-graders say their history work is "often" or "always" too easy;" and "39% of 12th-graders say they rarely write about what they read in class." This sounds like a big problem to me. If kids aren't being challenged in their school work, then they're not learning anything. Being made to think doesn't just help them in school work, but also in life.

     Ulrich Boser says in the article, in paragraph 7, "It's fairly safe to say that potentially high-achieving kids are probably not as challenged as they could be or ought to be." In other words, the students that are extra gifted or the "smart kids" are not pushing themselves and taking the advanced classes like they should be.This is why so many kids are saying their school work is way too easy.

     In paragraph 6, the article says, "The data suggests that many kids simply aren't pushed academically: only one in five eighth-graders read more than 20 pages a day, either in school or homework. Most report that they read far less." This means that possibly the teachers, the learning experts, aren't pushing their students to read as much as they should be. Which is probably another reason they say school isn't very hard; they're not made to do very much.

      This article reminds me of a lot of the small schools, 2A, 3A, and 4A schools, surrounding Batesville, our small, historic town. I have friends from these schools, and they constantly say their school work is always easy. I find it really weird how students at our school are taking the same advanced courses that some of these students from the other schools are; yet our students seem to struggle more often. Possibly because these other schools' courses are not as challenging?

     Obviously this issue of students saying school is easy isn't just a problem in our area, it's everywhere. I feel like teachers might need to push students to do more work and students should challenge themselves to take the more challenging courses, instead of settling for the easier ones with less work. That's not going to do anything to help their future unless they're learning to think critically and creating a hard working habit.

Referee Gets Punched

          Have you ever been watching some sort of game, like baseball, basketball, football, soccer, etc. and the players get aggravated by the referee/umpire? Well this is exactly what happened in the article, "Referee punched in face by teen player dies." According to CNN, the referee's call about the game, "prompted the 17-year-old player to turn around and punch Portillo in the face." I know kids and teenagers don't always agree with what the referee or umpire has to say or his call, but that's one of those things in life that you just have to get over. There's no reason to punch someone in the face just because y'all didn't exactly agree. The article also says, "But after he was taken to a hospital, doctors discovered he had suffered serious internal head injuries, police said."You see people get upset at referees all the time, but never take it to this extreme. This man was just trying to do his job and ended up dying from head injuries because a teenager can't control himself.
          Not only did this kid affect this referee, obviously, but also his family. Portillo's daughter says, "We just never thought this was going to happen. He loved what he did and it was his passion." Now this kid has to live with the guilt of making this family's life miserable for the rest of his life. And it was all over a small disagreement with someone he didn't even know. "As for the teenager, he remains in juvenile detention." As bad as I hate to say it, that's where he needs to be. If you're going to be an athlete, you have to learn to deal with the referees, even when you think their call was 100% wrong. There's no reason for anyone to take a small disagreement to punching someone in the face.

Make A Difference

          Take a second and think about a perfectly normal day in Batesville, but then the next day our town was getting bombed. How would we react? A CNN article titled 'Life edges back to normal in Boston-with lives changed' quotes a a citizen from the Boston area that said, "We were just so paranoid." I think everyone in Batesville can agree that we would feel this exact same way. We would all be paranoid and scared. I really don't know what I would do. This article also says, "Others said the experience offered a rare front-row seat to a phenomenon unfamiliar to most American cities, tested their faith or simply reminded them of life's fragility." After a tradegy like this one happens, it does make you think twice about life and the people you love. You wouldn't expect anything like this to happen to your city, but it can happen anywhere.
          How would everyone in our city respond to this type of terror? Some Boston citizens said that, "It makes you wonder how safe we all are" and "There's no real going back to normal after something like this." I think the best thing we could do would be to just look to each other for help and guidence. It would be really hard to make it through a crisis without the help of your fellow citizens and Americans. Going back to normal would seem almost impossible after this type of event, but if you worked through it with everyone, it would be a lot easier. This same article talks about Boston trying to get back to normal and says, "But at Fenway Park, in an attempt to regain a sense of normalcy, more than 35,000 Red Sox fans bellowed out the lyrics to their eighth-inning signature tune, "Sweet Caroline," led personally in a surprise appearance by Neil Diamond." That is awesome that not only are people living around close to Boston are helping, but also people all across America. When a crisis happens in our country, I think it's safe to say that people really put aside their differences and come together to help and make a difference.

Racial Integration Continues

          When you think of racial integration, you don't think of it happening recently do you? Well it just so happens that for the first time at a school in Georgia, "students are organizing an integrated dance" according the CNN in the article, ''New tradition' for Georgia students: Their first racially integrated prom'. We don't think of this being a problem anymore, because it is not a big deal in our school or anywhere around us. Although, some schools in different states, like this one in Georgia, still have some problems with racial discrimination. According to the article, "White students from Wilcox County attend one. Black students, another. They’re private events organized by parents and students, not the school district." So, not only were there two separate proms, but the school did not even organize the black student's prom. The students and their parents organized the whole event, which is really really sad and depressing.
          I cannot imagine our school not including a certain group of people in our prom because of their race. Just like our school, their students, "go to classes together and play sports together and hang out together.." Leaving some of our students and teammates out of going to one of the biggest events of the year would be absolutely horrible. I feel like our entire school is a huge family, and leaving some out because of their color is not right at all. Knowing that, "Wilcox County is not the only place with a racially segregated prom" makes me sick. Teenagers make so many memories when they're in High School, and this probably wouldn't be true without their friends. Your High School Prom is one of the most memorable events you will have in your life, and if you didn't have all of your friends there to experience it with you, it just would not be the same.

Be Thankful

 

 

          Some teenagers, kids, and even some adults take everything they have for granted. In the article I read called, 'Website shows foster kids their wishes are worthwhile' on CNN, it says that, "There are thousands of children in the foster-care system who go without those normal childhood experiences that many of us have had." There are so many kids out there that wish that they could half of the things we do. The sad part is, we don't even take a second and appreciate those things that we have. In this article it talks about a website that was created to make all of these foster kid's wishes come true, and it says, "Each child's wish is posted online, and anyone can pay to make that wish come true --- from tangible items such as a bicycle, a varsity jacket or school supplies to an experience like music lessons or a trip to the theater." So, it's just little things like a bicycle, a jacket, or pencils for school that can make a difference in a child's life. It's things like that, that we take for granted.

          Not only do these foster kids not have some of the stuff we do, they also don't have parents or siblings to talk to about anything. The article says, "These kids are separated from their parents. They're separated from their siblings." Do we take for granted having our mom or dad there everyday to talk to, or our brother and sister? Even things like that we take for granted. These foster kids don't have family by their sides everyday. The article also says, "They really don't have people to ask. ... a lot of them decide that it's not worth wishing anymore because it isn't going to happen." Our families do a lot for us, and are pretty much there every step of the way. These kids don't have that, and sometimes I think we need to be a little more appreciative about what we do have.  

Dogs Understand People

          So many people have a little puppy or a perhaps a big dog as a pet, whether it stays in the house or outside. According to Dr. Juliane Kaminski, of the University of Portsmouth’s Department of Psychology in the article, 'Can dogs understand a human point of view?' "..it implies dogs understand the human can’t see them, meaning they might understand the human perspective.” Though it seems weird, I believe that dogs can somehow understand what we say and how we think. I have a little puppy who amazes me when he actually understands things I say like "go to bed" or "you need a bath." He reacts to those words like a human would and goes to bed or goes to the bathroom for his bath. Dogs are just incredibly smart animals. The article from Fox news states that, "Dogs were four times more likely to steal food from a dark room." This just shows how smart they are. They know that they are more likely to not get caught if they are in a dark room instead of a light one.

           Although our dogs do listen to what we say, they may not understand exactly what we're thinking, they may have just caught on to the words and learned what to do. According to Fox, "She understands the human perspective, but only because I gave her the words." Dogs catch on to what people say, which is really smart if you think about it. They get used to you saying those words over and over and eventually know what they mean and what you are asking them to do. The article also says, "We may wonder what’s going on in our dog’s brain, and you can sure as heck know they wonder what’s going on in ours." You know your dog has to think you're crazy because of some of the stuff you do. I always want to know what my dog is thinking, and I'm sure if he could talk, he would say the same about me.


Women need Recognition

 

 

             We live in a world today full of sports and athletics. When you have a life like mine, where your life revolves around sports, it gets kind of rough when every men’s sport gets more recognition than a woman’s. An article from CNN, ‘Women’s athletics a battle for respect,’ states, “Top player Tina Charles says there is an unfair attitude toward women's sports in the United States.” I agree with this statement, and it has become obvious throughout the years. When you turn on ESPN or any other sports network to watch a game, 9 times out of 10, it will be some sort of men’s sport on. The article also says, “Leslie says the women's league is growing, "but it would be nice to get more fans supporting the WNBA and more women supporting women in sports." Not only women, but kids and men need to support women in their sports as well. They just need more people supporting them to get them out there and known.

                Like I said before, men’s sports cover the TV channels, whether it’s college or professional. In the article Tina Charles says, “I don't think we get a lot of media coverage the way that I wish we could.” This is so true. Women’s athletics deserve just enough air-time as the men’s games do. Women work just as hard, if not harder at what they do than the men do. Charles also states, “...how hard we play, how competitive we are, just to show that there is another avenue for girls, another outlet for girls." Girls and women need to be recognized for what they do in the athletic world. A lot of people assume girls to be non-athletic and all into shopping and things like that. Although, there are millions of women athletes out there that want to show the world what they can do.

Child Kills Parents

          Can you imagine a child killing his or her own parents and family? Well, according to CNN News in the article ''Horrific' New Mexico shooting leaves 5 dead; investigators arrest 15-year-old' that is exactly what happened. Sheriff Dan Houston said, "A 15-year-old boy, who may be a family member, was charged with two counts of murder and three counts of child abuse resulting in death." I just can't imagine anyone, especially a child wanting to hurt their own family. I just recently watched a movie called 'The House at the End of the Street' and the same thing happened in it, except it was a little girl that had killed both of her parents. The article also states, "Investigators said the dead included a man, a woman and three grade-school-age children -- two girls and a boy." I just can't imagine a 15-year-old boy going crazy enough to kill his own family. I personally, couldn't live without my family, so I don't know what he was thinking.
          Even though there are some differences between this story that happened in Mexico and the movie I watched, you can still see the connection between the kids killing their loved ones. The CNN article says, "He said investigators are unaware of any criminal history with the teen.." I don't think that this teenage boy would randomly do something like this. Something had to have triggered that kind of behavior. The little girl in the movie did have something wrong with her, and her parents weren't the best influences, which I also think had a lot to do with it. It is also very ironic that "The family lived in a large home at the end of a street on the southwestern edge of Albuquerque." The fact that both families lived on the end of the street is kind of freaky to think about. I know that has nothing to do with what happened with the children, but it's still pretty ironic.