Bullying should be a crime?

According to the Canadian statistics, 1 out of every children is getting regularly bullied. The results of bullying are children being hounded to despair and if it gets worse, they could commit suicide. Therefore, should bullying be a crime? In my opinion, it should be a crime because in the past times and nowadays, it is causing many serious problems. Therefore, resolution must stand either to make it a crime from now or keep it how it is.

In 2010, 15 year old girl named Phoebe Prince hung herself to death after months of bullying in her high school. Studies now are telling us that bullying has become a serious problem. Through Facebook, Twitter, physically and verbally kids are getting bullied. (children's health) Nowadays, bullying is starting to make UN convention on the rights of the child not true at all which is "Every child has the right to feel safe at home, school and in the communities".

Bullying is when a child uses aggression and control a victimized child. Bullying could be divided into physical and psychological bullying. Physical bullying includes hitting, kicking, punching, and more. Psychological bullying include insults, threats, rumours, and more. One of the main reasons that bullying is not stopping is because not many adults are in action. Simple things such as listening to their bully problems and giving them advice could stop serious disasters such as committing suicide.

Bullying in societies is increasing little by little everyday. Bullying cannot be stopped but it could be reduced by adults getting in the action and not going to places where bullying occurs such as online websites such as Facebook. It is up to you risk it or be safe.

Sites I used
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39758956/ns/health-childrens_health/t/students-regularly-bullied-survey-shows/#.T99OYGt5mK0

Http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/res/cp/bully-4211-eng.aspx

B.C tanning beds getting banned

There is a law being passed out right now that says that minors are not allowed to be using tanning beds. The ban was made to limit the spread of dangerous skin cancer. The government want to stop cancer from spreading to the youth. Studies have shown that tanning beds can raise your chance of getting skin cancer by a lot.

Many beleive that people who use tanning beds underage are mainly doing it to look like their friends. Many people also beleive the youth don't know the actual risks from using tanning beds. They can get a dangerous skin cancer called melanoma. Melanoma could be easily be avoided if they never used tanning beds in the first place. By banning tanning beds from the youth, there would be less deaths and cases of cancer.

On the other hand, some people beleive that it is a restriction of rights. The "The Joint Canada Tanning Association" say that the parents of the children should decide whether or not their children use tanning beds. They think that by letting parents decide, children would be able to tan more responsibly. They beleive that the ban is too hard on the youth and they should be able to tan if they want to.

Personally, I beleive that the ban should pass. There are too many people dieing from cancer right now. The ban would help alot with reducing the number of people who die every
year. Cancer is a big problem right now. Banning tanning beds make it so cancer wouldn't be so much of a problem.

My sources:

Banning Tanning Beds in B.C

What is with these tanning beds these days? In the present day, teens all over the world are using tanning beds to have that kind of tan to look better or only because that person’s best friend has a tan and wants to look like them. Tanning beds has been creating problems in the world for couple of years now and now, B.C in Canada is doing something about these tanning beds.

What are tanning bed? Tanning beds are machines that people go into when they want to have that tan or that look that their friends might have. At a young age like ages under 18, it is bad to get cancer when those people are still too young when they probably can live for at least 20 years or more depending on the person. There was a study about indoor tanning and it resulted with the age under 35 years old can get melanoma by 75%. Melanoma is a kind of skin cancer which is deadly.

The people who use these tanning beds thinks that they look good after using it but it may create skin cancer due to the light. Tanning beds are interesting that way because it creates that kind of tan that people get while on vacation but while on vacation, those people usually put on sunscreen to prevent a big burn that the person could get. These tanning beds are just a waste of money to just get good looking skin. It is also a waste of time laying down on a machine and waiting for a tan. Tanning beds only creates problems and there was almost no point in inventing it. I would actually like the tanning bed to develop into a machine that can be also used for something else. If the machine can be used for something else, like for example curing some kind of disease or some kind of other thing which would make the machine to save lives not for killing people.

Tanning beds has 30 million American people who use these tanning beds each year and they are ages 16 to 49 years old. The ages of people who use these tanning beds are not thinking that well about the conditions of the bodies that they could get. There are around 8 billion people in the world and you should imagine how many people who use these tanning beds.

Many people die from these tanning beds each year but not everyone is helping to do something about these tanning beds. It is a great thing for B.C to ban these tanning beds but I am really hoping for other countries and places to ban these tanning beds. I am hoping that people around the world would help the foundation of skin cancer to prevent people from using these tanning beds or maybe to ban them.

Sources:

http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article/342856--bc-government-announces-tanning-bed-ban-for-teens

http://www.livestrong.com/article/68868-tanning-beds-skin-cancer/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/03/20/bc-tanning-bed-ban.html

Bullying Should be a Crime?

     Bullying: to use superior strength or influence to intimidate (someone), typically to for him or her to do what they want. Bullying is a terrible thing, but not a lot of people actually notice it at all. In fact, I'm quite certain that most of you have been bullied, or even bullied someone before in your life without noticing what you were doing. Bullying could range from as simple as a Kindergartner snatching a toddler's toy. Or it could be as elaborate and horrific as somebody cyber-bullying another person via internet to the point of causing suicide. As I said, bullying is a terrible thing. In fact Canadians have voted that bullying is a serious problem in middle/high school (94% voted that it was a problem), elementary schools (88% voted that it was a problem), college and university life (43% voted that it was a problem), in the workplace (53% voted that it was a problem), and even in family life (52% voted that it was a problem). As you can see, bullying does not occur only in middle school or high school. With the range of people getting bullied being so large, everybody has to be aware of bullying and all of its dangers correct? No! Some people even think that bullying is a normal thing that naturally happens in school, or that it is just, "friendly horseplay." But it is not. Sixty-five percent of 1006 Canadian adults thinks that bullying should be a criminal activity. And I believe that those 654 (1006 x 0.65) Canadian adults have a good reason to believe that. I support this belief. A lot of bullies are just getting away with too much, and I give credence to the fact that they should be punished for what they are executing.

     There are several different types of bullying. Bullying isn't just limited to physical harm. Especially at this day and age. There is physical bullying, verbal bullying, cyber-bullying, and emotional bullying. Physical bullying is just what you would expect it to be. It involves things like hitting, kicking, punching, scratching, spitting, and any forms of physical attack. Taking, or damaging someone else's belongings is also considered physical bullying. Verbal bullying is when someone is verbally insulting someone. Name-calling, insulting, making sexist or homophobic jokes, using abusive language, and offensive remarks are all considered verbal bullying. This is the most common form of bullying. Another type of bullying is cyber-bullying. Nowadays, with cell-phones and the internet so easily accessible to us, many people are abusing and harassing others through these social networking devices. One million children were harassed on Facebook in the past year alone! And lastly, there is emotional bullying. This is when somebody spreads nasty stories or rumors about another person. This type of bullying seems to usually be used by females. Not everybody bullies the same way, but each method of bullying is just as abhorrent as another.

     There are many effects of bullying. Bullying effects the bullied, the witnesses of bullying and those who are doing the bullying. Most people who bully others don't know what kind of pain and troubles that they are putting the bullied into. People getting bullied usually experience depression and anxiety, increased feelings of sadness and loneliness, changes in sleep and eating patters, and loss of interest in activities that they used to enjoy. These feelings can persist into adulthood. The bullied may also experience decreased academic achievement. The stress, depression, and anxiety distract the bullied from their studies. In some cases, bullied children may retaliate through extremely violent measures. In 12 of 15 school shooting cases in the 1990's, the shooters had a history of getting bullied. Lastly, the built up anxiety and depression may lead to suicidal behaviors.
     The bystanders of bullying may also be affected. The guilt of witnessing bullying and not having the guts to tell an adult about it in fear of being the bully's next target may be too large. Large enough to cause stress. This may lead to increased usage of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs, and decreased academic achievement.
     Kids who bully others can also engage in violent and other risky behaviors into adulthood. Kids who bully are more likely to abuse drugs in adolescence, and as adults. They are also more likely to drop out of school, and vandalize property, and also be criminal convictions and traffic citations as adults.

     With all of these negative factors, it's hard to think, "If bullying has all these negatives, why don't they pass a law regarding bullying immediately? What's holding the government back?" well I'll address some of those issues. What exactly creates a bully? There are many reasons why a bully may bully. One big reason is fear. When some people bully, they are trying to say, "I'm not afraid," this is a natural response to fear. When somebody has a lot of fear, they can respond to it by being fearful, thus attracting bullies, or they can become bullies themselves. For example, if the captain of a football team starts using his power to bully a newer, younger member of the team. Most of the team will bully that member with the captain, in fear of getting bullied by the captain themselves. Another main reason is that they are in a bad family situation. Alcoholic parents, or divorced parents are a big reason that some kids bully. When they are always feeling miserable at home, they want to feel superior at school, and they start bullying. Also, some people may bully just because they want to. Much like tyrannical dictators flaunting their powers just because of their superiority.

     Even with those reasons why a bully may bully, it's still no excuse that they'd be spreading their negative effects like wildfire. There is just too many negative factors, too little excuses for bullies to be bullying. Bullying should be a crime, and bullies should get criminal records so that their current actions will effect their future. Bullies should be responsible for their own actions, especially with the damage that they are causing to the people around them. Any method of bullying should be a criminal act, and nobody should be afraid to stand up to the bullies. If everybody stands up to the bullies, and the government passes some laws to stop bullying, we can stop the bullies now.

STOP BULLYING NOW!

Sources:

http://www.bullyfreekealing.synthasite.com/types.php

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/44413/many-canadians-believe-bullying-should-be-considered-a-crime/

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/02/29/even-non-violent-bullying-should-be-a-crime-canadians-tell-poll/

http://www.fortmcmurraytoday.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3487269

http://www.puresight.com/Cyberbullying/cyber-bullying-statistics.html

http://teenadvice.about.com/od/violencebullying/a/girlbullies.htm

http://www.stopbullying.gov/at-risk/effects/index.html

Banning Tanning Beds

    Research has shown that being exposed to tanning beds before the age of 35 raise the risk of skin cancer by 75 percent. British Columbia is banning tanning beds to teens under 18 due to this enormously large increase of hazard. Tanning bed is an artificial way of using ultraviolet radiations to increase melanin in your skin that causes your skin to become darker. A German scientist, Friedrich Wolff brought this device to North America in 1978. It has been very popular since then, being one of the best selling cosmetic devices. There are many tanning salons open to people who prefer darker skin colour. Home use tanning beds are also available for those who wish to tan at home. However, this is no choice for those under 18 anymore.

    Peer pressure is a main reason why young people want to get tanned. Many go to tanning salons just because their friends did and they want to look the same. The “tan” has become popular since teens thought it was so “cool” to get that golden colour. A study in 2004 has also shown that tanning salons were addictive. The American Academy of Dermatology tested people’s mood before and after using the tanning bed. Their moods were better and more relaxed after tanned. Now that it will soon to be illegal to use tanning beds in British Columbia, teens who wish to artificially tan will either have to wait until eighteen or go somewhere else where people under eighteen are allowed to use tanning beds. Tanning salon owners are also despondent because they’re losing many young customers.

    Other than the increased risk of skin cancer, tanning beds can easily get you sunburned. Many misunderstand and think that if you get a base tan, it is unlikely to get sunburned after. This idea is incorrect because it is the same amount of damage to your skin either you have a base tan or not. The ultraviolet radiation waves makes your skin age faster and gives you wrinkles. Tanning beds have two types of ultraviolet lights, ultraviolet A light and ultraviolet B light. In one tanning bed, there are about 95% ultraviolet A light and 5% ultraviolet B light. Ultraviolet A light makes your skin looks older than it actually is, and ultraviolet B light can cause you to have a risk of sunburn and skin cancer. However, recently it has been proved that ultraviolet A light is also linked to skin cancer and damage. Tanning beds can also harm your eyes. The light from tanning beds is a hundred times stronger than the natural sunlight. If you are using a tanning bed, wearing sunglasses or just closing your eyes is not enough, you should wear proper eye protection. Cataracts, corneal burns, and retinal damage may easily occur if you don’t protect your eyes.

    Everyone’s skin is unique, be proud of your own skin colour. Using money to change your own skin colour to something else is not worth it, especially when the something else also brings harm to you. Tanning beds are harmful and should be banned for every age group, not just people under 18. Don’t let tanning beds ruin your skin; don’t let tanning beds ruin your future.


Sources:

http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120320/bc_teen_tanning_bed_ban_120320?hub=BritishColumbiaHome

http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article/342856--bc-government-announces-tanning-bed-ban-for-teens

http://www.uihealthcare.com/topics/medicaldepartments/cancercenter/cancertips/tanning.html

http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/5722/1/The-Pros-and-Cons-of-Using-Tanning-Beds.html

Banning Tanning Beds

   Tanning beds are a huge problem today. What are tanning beds? Tanning beds are machines you lie down in and they give you a tan using ultraviolet waves. We always dream of a world without cancer, yet the government still hasn't banned tanning beds. Why should tanning beds be banned?

    Well as you just read, tanning beds cause cancer. Skin cancer to be exact. They cause cancer because they give off the ultraviolet rays. These rays are too strong for your skin. This leads me to my opinion on tanning beds.

   Tanning beds are a huge cause of cancer. Just imagine what life would be like without them. yes there would still be cancer , but it would definately reduce some death rates.

   To summarize this all up, tanning beds are evil and should all be destroyed. Doing this would make us many steps closer to getting rid of cancer.

New Backround

     So guys, as you probably have noticed... I changed the background, hope you don't mind, the black and white was too... dark for me. :)

Are social networking sites more beneficial or harmful?

About 901 million people in this world use Facebook very actively.  Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter are different kinds of social networking sites and other sites of this kind of site continue.  Is social networking good or bad for us? In some ways, it can be very helpful and a good way to communicate with people but however, studies show that social networking sites like Facebook is very addictive and harmful in many different ways.

Social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace made communication a lot easier.  Therefore, many people use these various sites instead of using the phone because communicating over the phone is costly.  Also, you can ask your friends about school assignments and talk with different people about educational topics and learn new things about the world. Also, social networking sites help low-income kids to become more familiar to computers and technology which may help in the later life.  These sites also help people to enjoy their time by talking with friends and sharing ideas without meeting people physically. 

Even these social networking sites have these good and helpful features, it causes lots of problems.  Most common problem is that these sites have created cyber-bullying. It made some big problem such as committed suicides, drop in grades, and depression.  Also, many people are spending way too much time on these sites instead of using their precious time that never comes back in more productive activities such as playing sports.  Average teenagers spend about 9 hours per week on social network sites.  When they are on these sites, they give away personal information, pictures and this is dangerous because a sexual predator may go after you and your employers could find bad things about you and you lose your job. 

Social networking sites could very helpful and harmful to you.  For example, social networking sites like Facebook is a great site to communicate about homework and other important things.  However, social networking has caused many different problems over the years.  It made some people to commit suicide, waste their time, and to lose their jobs.  Therefore, it is your risk that you are taking so use it right way and keep yourself safe from other people.  

Sources

http://socialnetworking.procon.org/

http://webupon.com/social-networks/the-good-and-bad-of-social-networking/

http://www.economist.com/debate/days/view/806

Is social networking good or bad?

             Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other social networking sites have several risks and rewards. Recently there has been an argument over if social networking sites are better or worse for the youth to use. If you have a social networking account please remember that there are positives and negatives.

             There are many benefits to using social networking. For example, say you need to work on a group project with some friends, but you can't talk over the phone because your friend's parents don't like paying the phone bill. Instead of talking over the phone using you can talk to your friends over the internet. Talking over the internet can also increase typing speed which can lead to a better job. People can also talk to friends who they can't talk to in person due to them being too far away or having no time.

              However, social networking has downs too. Some people stay on social networking sites for unnecessarily long periods of time commenting on other's posts or liking pictures. Since they sit at a computer doing nothing but clicking on links, they could time to do homework or other things. There are also health concerns about people who stay too long on computers. Children may eventually lose interest in meeting there friends in person to talk about things and play, instead they'll spend a lot of time chatting over the internet and worsening their health.

     

             Personally, I believe that social networking is bad for people who go on for long periods of time, if you don't talk to your friends over the internet, you would still talk to them in person, but if you do spend too much time socially networking it would have consequences.

Websites I used:
http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2011/08/social-kids.aspx
http://news.discovery.com/tech/is-online-social-networking-good-or-bad.html

Are social networking sites more beneficial or harmful in our society?

    One in every nine people has Facebook. It will take over six hundred years to watch all the videos on YouTube. Twitter is adding about five hundred thousand users a day. Wikipedia has seventeen million articles. For over 40 years, social networking has been taking over our lives. Social networking was invented to benefit our lives, but it also brought some harm for us. When you created a Facebook account, did you think over the harm it may bring you? However, social networking was still an evolution for beliefs and understandings. Before making a decision of whether you agree that social networking is beneficial or harmful, consider all the arguments and reasons first.

    Social networking was designed to make life easier. It allowed people to communicate without having to hand-write mails. This saved a large amount of time, especially when the mails are delivering overseas. Social networking is incredibly fast; it can spread news out to the entire world in just a few minutes. People around the world are able to understand what’s going on in different countries. Many organizations partner up with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social networking sites because of their rapid news spreading speed and a great quantity of information. Sometimes, social networking becomes a “lounge” for the busy ones. As time pass by, people become busier and busier. Social networking usually gives them a time to rest and put down all their duties and pressure. They can relax and go on social networking sites to chat with friends or read about current events. They can also meet new friends with similar interests and personalities. This can maintain people’s friendship without having to talk physically since many people are too busy or too far away. Social networking also matures people with the realities and rules of life.

    There are a lot of harms about social networking that many people don’t realize. Social networking decreases the time for people interacting face-to-face. Communication in person is as important as online chatting. In fact, it’s more important than online chatting. As social networking takes over other activities during free time, people often talk more online than in person. Some may talk all day online and not even greet each other when they meet in person. When social networking didn’t exist, people had to go outside their comfort zone to interact and communicate with other people. Nowadays, they just have to sit in front of a computer and simply move their fingers to communicate. Talking anonymously has also become an option if they weren’t comfortable with the person they’re talking to. A large problem with social networking is about privacy. The reason teachers and other adults keep talking and emphasizing this major point is that privacy online has became extremely dangerous, especially for youth and teens. Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter may have third parties who can view your profile. They can always take your information and photos to put it on some other sites. Other harms include cyber bullying and sexual harassments. Research has shown that thirty-two percent of teens have experienced some kind of online harassments. Small actions of others may cause serious emotional pains for some. Actions such as uploading an unwanted picture, spreading rumors, and threading people are all part of cyber bullying.

    For my opinion, even though social networking is very dangerous and has a lot of harms, the benefits of social networking are much more valuable. However, the choice is up to you; whether the benefits outweigh the harms or the harms outweigh the benefits.


Sources:

http://www.jeffbullas.com/2011/09/02/20-stunning-social-media-statistics/

 http://www.digitaltrends.com/features/the-history-of-social-networking/

 http://socialnetworking.lovetoknow.com/Are_Social_Networks_Harmful_to_Society

 http://www.mhlearningsolutions.com/commonplace/index.php?q=node/5582

Are social networking sites more beneficial or harmful in our society?

What do you think about social networking these days? How many social networking accounts do you have? People these days are spending a lot of their time on social network sites and they don’t realize how much they are missing out on life. Social networking could also get addictive too, since it uses internet or other communicating networks. Some social networking sites like Facebook try to get the most attention from people even when they don’t want it.

Facebook and maybe Twitter (I not sure if Twitter is like Facebook) want to get people’s attention so that they will use their sites while the social networking sites make money off those people. Social networking sites like Facebook use email to get more attention and I am sure that it gets really annoying after receiving hundreds of emails from Facebook that are not really that important. Social networking is bad for young people because they can be really addicted to social networking but sometimes it can help people too.

What I think of social networking is that it is harmful to people and it is bad for all ages and websites like Facebook are really annoying and I don’t like them that much and I imagine that other people don’t like them either. For me, social networking helps me get a hold of my friends or people I know so that I can ask them for homework and things but many people talk all day about their day and other things that they shouldn’t be sharing. Facebook isn’t all that bad but I think not everyone should use it because they are writing their own thoughts and things. Also social networking can be bad because of bullying sometimes happens on social networking sites.

In conclusion I think that social networking is good in some ways but bad in other ways. Also even Facebook says that people under 14 should not use it but that doesn’t help people stop joining Facebook. I think that Facebook shouldn’t be a place where people should talk but somewhere else on the internet. Technology has been changing a lot in the last couple of years but I think that it will get more advanced in the future. For example, Facebook can get more complicated in the world but I think soon that there will be a new way of social networking and it will get worse or better each year. I suggest that you don’t join too many social networking sites or get too involved in social networking.

Sources: http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/94940-ns-teens-identity-ban-battle-heads-to-supreme-court

http://www.mhlearningsolutions.com/commonplace/index.php?q=node/5582

http://socialnetworking.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=001614

Are Sports Drinks Okay for Teens to Drink?

     To drink, or not to drink. That is the question. And no, I'm not talking about alcohol, that would be a definite "not drink." But sports drinks! A frequently asked question. Should, or should not teenagers drink sports drinks. A sports drink, by definition is; "A thirst-quenching beverage used in sports and related activities, to get hydrated, boost energy and replenish electrolytes lost to sweating. All sports drinks contain water, sugar, salt, potassium; some contain extras." Let me just say, right now, by sports drinks, I mean things like Gatorade and Powerade... not energy drinks or sodas like Red Bull, or Coca Cola. Those have a lot of caffeine, and sugar, which are bad for you if taken in in large amounts. But most sports drinks contain no caffeine, and much less sugars. Would that not be a great thing to consume? Would that not help people? Some may say yes, and some may say no. But what is the right answer? Let us find out.

     Some positives about sports drinks, are that they really help athletes get hydrated, and boost their energy. Studies conducted at McMaster University in Canada, teenagers were drinking 90% more if they were offered a sports drink, compared to if they were offered water. And that extra fluid does help. Many teens get dehydrate when faring physical activities, and they won't even notice. And that dehydration may cause; fatigue, muscle weakness, poor concentration, headaches, dizziness, light headedness, and decreased metabolisms. Severe dehydration could also lead to seizures, and unconsciousness. This could all be solved by consuming fluids, but some teens just don't know why they're feeling those symptoms, or even are just lazy enough to not grab their water. Meanwhile; sports drinks usually taste good, so people actually want to drink it.

     

     Sports drinks also replenish electrolytes; such as sodium and potassium; which were lost to sweating. These electrolytes are what lets your body stay hydrated, what lets your muscles contract, and what makes your heart pump. Also, energy drinks usually contain quick carbohydrates; such as sugar; to feed your body energy quickly. This, working with the electrolytes, will improve your muscle and nerve performance. By replenishing yourself like such, you won't over sweat, which will destroy the possibilities of getting a stroke.

     Even outside of sports, sports drinks can be helpful... that is, the electrolytes in the sports drink can be helpful. If you vomit, or have diarrhea, you lose electrolytes, and therefore get dehydrated. So after you get sick, you could drink sports drinks to help replenish those lost electrolytes.

     Now onto the negatives... drinking sports drinks, is basically bathing your teeth in acid, since sports drinks have quite a bit of sugar in them. This sugar erodes the enamel on your teeth, which protects your teeth. This causes sensitivity in the teeth, and increases the likeliness of cavities. And even worse, this damage to your enamels will most likely be irreversible.

     Although the sugar is good extra carbohydrates (energy) for you, if you do not use it all by the end of the day, it'll all turn into fat. Consuming too much sports drinks, means too much sugar, which may lead to obesity. This is especially bad since a lot of children are buying sports drinks just for the taste. I mean, they're called sports drinks for a reason! With this sweet taste, and the fact that students' favourite athletes are advertising to, "drink this," or "drink that," beverage manufacturers have reported that market shares for sports drinks have increased by 5% between 2009 and 2011. And a lot of these sales have gone to kids sitting around on their couches who wanted something to drink. Since they aren't burning the excess carbohydrates off, they are gaining weight.

     When your body gets rid of sodium by urinating, calcium comes out with it. This causes lots of calcium to form in your urine, increasing possibilities for kidney stones. A kidney stone is a solid mass of crystal (calcium) that can form in your kidney.

     In all, I believe that sports drink are great. Presuming that you are actually engaging in a physical activity. In fact, even water would do for easy to moderate exercise. But for moderate to difficult activities that take long amounts of time, I think that it would be a good choice to use sports drinks for replenishing. So in all, teenagers should only use sports drinks when they are actually faring in vigorous exercise. Only use sports drinks only when they really need them. Craving something sweet to drink is not neediness. Drinking it after a ten kilometer run, or after you vomit, is. The carbohydrates and electrolytes could definitely help athletes function better, but consuming the carbohydrates and electrolytes, then not using them, could end up badly, with obesity, cavities, or kidney stones.

     How'd I do Angela, Ms. Lees and gents? 

*Note-Guys, can we change the backround? I always seem to have some kind of weird thing going on with my text when the backround is... dark.

Sources:

http://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_center/healthy_eating/power_drinks.html

http://healthland.time.com/2011/05/30/teens-dont-need-sports-and-energy-drinks-pediatricians-say/

http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/energy-drinks-sports-drinks-rotting-teens-8217-teeth-175400844.html

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/09/27/health.sports.drinks.teens/index.html

http://kidshealth.org/teen/safety/first_aid/dehydration.html

http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/diet-fitness/information/question565.htm

http://www.waterbenefitshealth.com/water-vs-sports-drinks.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/035118_sports_drinks_kidney_stones_osteoporosis.html

http://www.euromonitor.com/sports-and-energy-drinks-in-the-us/report

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001493/

Should Students Be Forced To Take PE Class?

This is a two sided topic for me. Having PE class has goods and bads. For starters PE teachers push the whole class to exercise to a degree where some kids might not be able to keep up. Therefore your final marks will not only be based how hard you work but more of how healthy you are. Since all students are at a different physical states than others, marking students on their physical performance isn't very accurate.

That is the down side of PE class. I also think PE is really important because it keeps kids healthy and teaches them how to become healthier. If there was no PE class then kids would be less healthy and would be discouraged from becoming healthier. With PE class in school kids are forced to exercise while at home kids probably wouldn't. Plus PE class brings a little competition to the game. That definitely will make them work harder. Anyways over-all PE is a good class to have in school and should be kept how it is. So peace guys!

Forced Gym Class at BCIT

        Right now, students studying Computer Science Technology at British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) are being forced into have gym class at least 45 minutes a week, or else they would not be able to graduate. This is not happening to any other class, and is considered unfair by most of the students taking the course.


         Most people believe that students taking a course that involve working with computers would make them "nerds" and the stereotype would mean that they are unfit and spend all of their class working on computers and being unhealthy and unfit. By forcing them to exercise they would live longer and healthier.


       However, most of the students are protesting for a reason. They believe that as adults they can make their own choices on how to live healthy and that it's not the schools decision. Students have also been reported to instead find a quiet spot , stay out of sight and catch up on schoolwork. Some students also lie to their instructors about how long they've been exercising to get out of doing the actual amount. They also dislike the fact that they're the only ones having to be forced to exercise while everyone in the other classes get to continue on with their work.


       I think that it's unfair that gym is being forced upon students. I actually somewhat consider myself a computer nerd and would not like the idea of being part of the few people forced to have gym due to a stereotype that computer nerds are unhealthy and lazy


To read more go to:


http://cupwire.ca/articles/52695
http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2012/04/20/mandatory-gym-ctrl-alt-delete/

Sitting could kill us?

        If healthy is wealth, the adults in this world has gone bankrupt.  Today, it became so difficult for them to visit the gym and exercise.  Instead, they are crammed into their job and even after work, they are seated on the car, sofa, or desk just doing nothing active.  Therefore, many are in more risk of diseases compared to other normal people that regularly exercise.
 
       According to the Canadian guideline, adults need to get at least 150 minutes of vigorious exercise weekly.  However, only 15 percent of Canadian adults are meeting this minimum amount.  Nevertheless, this 15 percent of people still  spend lots of time sitting down on chairs, front of the television, or whatever and a large portion of them are considered "active couch potato".  Also, they spend a lot more time doing something not active and for most people, they spend three-quarters of the day doing something when sitting down.
   
       Sitting down most of the day has really made people in risk of many things.  For example, sitting down increases risk of diseases such as coronary heart diseases because sitting down boosts levels of C-reactive vitamin.  The world did not know the importance of physical activities and we were blind for a long period time about our health.  Therefore, we seriously must starting exercising so that we could live for a longer period of time.
     
      

Should schools / government agencies be regulating our lunches?

These days I feel that schools and government agencies are regulating lunches in different parts of the world including Canada and the US. Most schools around the world have been strict or have been taking over students’ food within their school. Many people in the world want to eat what they are used to or what they commonly eat but schools and government agencies are trying to influence student's life styles.

 I think for students, they have rights to have freedom of choosing what kind of food they would want to eat for their lunch. Students don’t want to be eating food that they are assigned everyday but it seems that schools want more control over what students eat which is unfair. I think students needs freedom from strict foods from their schools because it is the same way with uniforms. My friend made a speech about uniforms and he said that students have different personalities and students should have freedom to wear what ever they want to show their personality. As with uniforms, students want to show their personality with food and what they like to eat. As it says on the state has no place in the lunch bags of a nation schools want students to eat the right food which means that they are forced to eat the food that they may not be used to. It also states that when students are allowed to have any food they want, they usually have an unbalanced lunch or eat junk food.

However, I also think that it is a good idea to have a pre-set lunch which is nutritious and well chosen from all the food groups which students need. When the school or the government chooses to give healthy food options to students, there is no worry that students will be sick or unhealthy from eating those chosen foods. For us students, we are eating too much of one type of food or junk food so the government has been regulating lunches which some schools are making the students eat in the cafeteria.

I think this regulation is both bad and good for students and maybe even their families. I think that this regulation should not be made in schools because students have the right to choose if they want to be healthy by eating the cafeteria food or bringing lunch from home. This regulation is not important to me because our school doesn’t have this rule but for the students that do, I think those students do not like this and I think the students should be able to choose. What do you think?

Sources: http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2012/02/16/still-more-school-lunch-nonsense/

http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2011/04/26/the-state-has-no-place-in-the-lunch-bags-of-a-nation/

Year-Round Calendar

    In B.C., the Liberal government have offered a plan of year-round schooling. This means that there will be no summer break; instead it will become shorter breaks throughout the year, yet students will still get other holidays off. The most popular plan for the year-round calendar is the 45-15 plan, which is attending school for 45 days, then getting a break of 15 days. Other examples are the 60-20 and 90-30 plan. Originally, about 100 years ago, the school calendar was established because the students needed to help their parents harvest on the farm in the summer season, but in the modern days, barely any family owns a farm anymore, so summer break is unnecessary. In fact, students will learn better if they don’t have such a long break.


    An Argument for the year-round schooling is that students enjoy their long summer break too well, and tend to forget school work during summer, so they often waste the first few weeks of school playing catch-up and reviewing what they learned last year or further back. Now with the plan of year-round schooling, the long two-month break has shortened into a few weeks. This way it is more difficult for students to forget what they learned from before the break. Also, it is easier to schedule personal vacations. Not everyone wants to go on vacation at the same time, so the year-round schooling plan can satisfy everybody. If you have noticed, the plane tickets are extremely expensive during summer break, because that is the main break throughout the year, so even though the plane tickets are much more expensive during summer, most people would still purchase summer tickets. If B.C. operates the year-round schooling plan, B.C. students will have the option of purchasing cheap tickets throughout the year while other provinces and countries’ students are still busy at school. Another reason for the year-round schooling plan is that more students can be able to attend a single school by multi-tracking. With the rapid population growth in B.C., schools are overwhelming with students and are forced to enlarge the building or adding more portables, but either choice costs a large amount of money for the government. With multi-tracking, the students can take breaks at different times and also attend school at different times, which will decrease the amount of students attending school at once.


    There are also people who disagree with the year-round schooling education. Some arguments they have against this plan are that summer programs will have to be canceled because there will be no “summer”. Summer camps and summer school will not exist due to the fact that no students will attend. Summer camps are a great opportunity for children to learn other strategies such as collaboration skills that are necessary in school. It is also enjoyable for some because of the interesting activities in camps. There will also be no summer school for those to catch up and go forward. Students who didn’t do so well in the school year will have no opportunity to re-do the course during summer; they will just have to stay behind and re-do when others go on. Some who wants to go forward in their education also can’t grant their wish. Some poor and old schools don’t have air conditioning, so the students will suffer during summer, having to stay in the heat for hours. This may cause medical issues because they might get heatstroke. Most teachers also don’t agree with the year-round schooling plan, because with students’ multi-tracking, teachers will have almost no break at all throughout the year. It is also necessary for teachers to renew themselves before a new school year. Also with multi-tracking, students from the same family may get different schedules, which mean it is more difficult for their family to plan vacations.


    Personally, I don’t support this plan of year-round schooling. Summer has always been my favourite season of the year, mainly because we get two months off. During the two months, we don’t have to worry about education and the stress from school. Summer break is a break for our brain to relax and enjoy the sunshine. Sam Keen once said, “Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.”




Sources:

http://712educators.about.com/cs/reformtime/a/yearrounded.htm

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1170354--b-c-opens-the-door-to-year-round-school

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art22031.asp

Do Students Really Need Letter Grades?

Do Students Really Need Letter Grades? 

     The University of Toronto has suggested that they get rid of the letter grades (A, B+, B, C+, C, D, F), and bring in a new grading system. The reason that they suggested this because they want the students to stop stressing about exams, and stop stressing about their marks. They want their students to focus primarily on their "intellectual engagement." I completely understand this idea. Some students do get pressure from others, or even themselves to get, "above 90%," or, "an A." This pressure may get to them, and cause much stress. This may cause test anxiety, or over-studying. These things could in fact get you even worse grades. If you lessen the stress on students, I believe that the students' grades could definitely rise.

     If these grades change, there will be some definite positives. Much of the stress will disappear. Since I believe that even more of the stress comes from waiting for the marks, more than studying for, or writing the exam itself. With that stress gone, you could think more clearly, and therefore do better on your work; rather than have your thoughts clouded by the pressure, and not doing very well, thus adding to the stress. Having too much stress can also cause; irritability, thus the relationships with his/her teachers and friends being affected. Loss of concentration, causing the student to not pay attention in class, thus missing important information. Forgetfulness, causing the student to forget key parts of his/her studies. Anxiety, causing the student to think more about what marks they'll get, rather than trying to get the good marks. Disorganization, causing the student to lose notes, and also making them lose track of their schedule. And even more deplorable feelings.

     But there are a few negatives about this change of grading. It could make students care less about doing well in school. If it's a pass or fail, I'm assuming that a lot of people would think, "oh, of course I'm not going to fail, and it's not like anyone will know how I passed. A pass is a pass right?" And of course, a pass is a pass, but passing with a 51% and passing with  99% are completely different things. I really don't think that anyone would be happy with a 51%, and I do believe that most people would be ecstatic about a 99%. But no one would know what exactly what you got. Would your parents reward you for a pass? Someone might not even deserve the praise. Also, it that might even encourage lying. If someone passes, they could easily (if they were malicious people) tell their parents that they passed with a ... 95%, and get showered in praise, when they actually got a 60%. 

     In conclusion, this change of the grading system definitely seems to have more positives than negatives, and I do believe that the change of grading could help people. But only if they were pass/fail kinds of grading. Unlike the U of T, who are using the grades; High Honours, Honours, Pass, Low Pass, and Fail. Are you kidding me? How is that at all different from letter grades? What's the difference between "I must get an A," and "I must get High Honours." That just seems silly to me. So personally, I really think that stress can diminish students' abilities. And I believe that the pass/fail system could be of great help towards students.

       "I promise you nothing is as chaotic as it seems. Nothing is worth your health. Nothing is worth poisoning yourself into stress, anxiety, and fear."
                                                                                                                        -Steve Maraboli

Sources:

http://www.mystressmanagement.net/articles/how-stress-affects-student-productivity.html

http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2012/04/23/u-of-t-law-school-adopts-new-grading-system/

http://www.governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/policies/grgrade.htm

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show_tag?id=stress

Cool!

Love the background for CE. You might want to change the color of your title fonts- maybe red?

Problems of the Homeless

     Today, number of homeless is increasing everyday at an alarming rate because of money problems, natural disaster, and other personal reasons.  Therefore, the governments of many different countries are working hard so they can deal with this problem.  What is the problem with the houseless? The problem with these itinerant people is that a large portion of them do not have a job.  Also, all homeless doesn’t have a house to live in, so they live on the streets.  This is one of the most serious problems in the world and I think there has to be a way to solve this problem.

         First of all, I am going to talk about problems of homeless not having a job.  Most houseless does not have an occupation and if someone doesn’t have a job, there is no income meaning someone can’t get any money.  Therefore, many people ‘without a roof’ are not able to support their necessities such as food, water and clothing.  Therefore, many of these desolated people become robbers and steal other people’s money and valuables so they can support their self.  Thus, many of these thieves get caught by the police officers and get shoved into the prison.  Then, when they come out of the prison, they steal again to meet their needed items so many of them gets captured again by the ‘boys in blue’ and goes back to the jail and this cycle continues for the rest of their life for some of them. 

       Second of all, all homeless do not have a house to live in.  This sounds obvious because these people are called homeless but do you really know how much trouble they face because of not having a safe and warm house? If someone doesn’t have a place to live in, that person is going to live on the sidewalks or anywhere outside in house made out of cardboard boxes unless someone nice offers you a nice warm place to live.  Anyways, living outside is not pleasant in many ways.  First, when it is snowy or rainy, you are going to be very wet and cold because you live in an abode made out of cardboard boxes.  Also, if you get diseases from being wet and cold, you could be very sick and there is a chance you could die.  Even it is not a serious disease, you could die because almost every homeless do not have such money for going to the hospital and getting a treatment for the disease.  Lastly, many people are going to be able to see you if you sleep on the sidewalk or other places outside.  Therefore, it is not very safe because a random person could just come at you and murder you for no reason.  This may sound funny but there are people in the world that is that way. 

      The government can do many things to lower the number of these wandering people and the most efficient way is to stop the big banks like HSBC from writing mortgages that people cannot afford.  Many people in this world don’t have a large income so we need to make affordable housing for the people with less money.  For the people that doesn’t have any income and have no where other to go other than the streets, the government need to build more safe and clean shelters for free and give out free food for these people.  The government is going to lose lots of money by feeding and housing houseless people however, if these people become successful and get a job, they are going to pay taxes to the government and they will gain the money back. 

     We can help these homeless a lot by helping them to find a good occupation that they can get enough money for them to support their life.  The things that you can do are tutoring the desolated children so that they can be successful, and collect donation by contacting all the organization in your community.  Also, you can buy those moneyless people groceries, clothes and other necessities until they can pay it on their own.  Giving them money is not such a great idea because when they get the cash, some of them tend you use it on drugs such as heroin.  Therefore, teach the hobos the correct use of money.  There are much more things you can do and we can make a difference.

     We can put these steps into action and this will decrease the number of homeless in the world.  We also have to help them with kindness and respect so that these people can understand that they can get up and live a better life.  Also, if you are need someone to employ, use the hobos so that they feel wanted and this will make them confident.  As a result, the number of homeless will decrease and these unwanted people will feel confident and happy in their own home.  The author of the “Pilgrim’s Progress” John Bunyan once said “You have not lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you”