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RSS Hwestphal14

Reward Points:8
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8 most recent arguments.
1 point

There needs to be tougher laws when it comes to distracted driving. Not all distraction comes from using cell phones, though. Other distractions include eating, drinking, reading, adjusting the radio, or watching a movie. Regardless of the statistics, people are going to continue eating, drinking, and adjusting the radio. Are the cops really going to pull you over because you're eating while driving? Is that even a thing?

According to distraction.gov, texting is the most alarming distraction because it requires visual, manual, and cognitive attention. There is a texting law in place right now, although, I don't hear of many people getting pulled over and actually getting ticketed. I text and drive literally all the time, which isn't a good thing, at all.

During the time someone is driving, the driver should put all electronics away and focus on the ROAD - not texting, music, or friends in the car. There would be fewer accidents. Also, if the people who got in the accident because of one of these distractions get a heavy fine, I think that it would definitely teach them a lesson to not do it again, and inform everyone else about how terrible it was because of a small mistake and the huge consequences that resulted

"Distracted Driving | Facts and Stats | Texting and Driving." Distracted Driving | Facts and Stats | Texting and Driving. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.

Supporting Evidence: What is distractive Driving? (www.distraction.gov)
1 point

Students that go to public schools should be able to pick what outfits they wear to school. On the other hand, private school's students should wear uniforms, just because they are under different rules that are more strict.

The main reason I am against school uniforms is because students would have to purchase the uniforms to wear Monday-Friday, but then they'd still have to buy other clothes to wear on the weekends. So it's like having two wardrobes.

According to angelfire.com, if all students wore uniforms, they wouldn't learn that people are different than themselves and they can express themselves differently. From designer clothes to goodwill clothes, people choose how they express themselves in a variety of different ways, and I think requiring students to wear uniforms goes against their right to express what and how they're feeling.

Another thing I read was parents are offended that what they buy or pick out for their children isn't good enough. In some cases, the parents buy the clothes for their children and have a say on what is being bought. Parents are not happy that what they are choosing their child to wear is unacceptable to the school.

"Arguments about Uniforms." Arguments for and against School Uniforms. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2014.

Supporting Evidence: School Uniforms (www.angelfire.com)
2 points

Schools who pay their students to get good grades is an overall bad idea. Parents paying their children for good grades is a whole other ballpark. Granted, school feels like a job - or more than a job since we A L W A Y S have homework to take home after our 'job'. We come to school for 7 full hours and work the whole time, kind of sounds like we should get paid. Unfortunately, that's not what we're there for. At the beginning of the article I read called "What's an A Worth?", it talked about middle schoolers getting paid for good grades. Now, THAT is so unreasonable I cannot even begin to tell you. Middle schoolers are barely preteens, they shouldn't be getting paid to go to school, afterall, it is ONLY MIDDLE SCHOOL! It's not like they have to achieve big things before they reach the 9th grade. Sure, they should get decent grades, but paying middle schoolers is not one of the better ideas. Paying high schoolers to get good grades isn't something I would recommend doing either, but it's better than middle school for the simple fact that grades matter in high school when it comes to colleges - they look at things like grades, GPA, and class rank.

Sure, it will motivate the students, but it's for all the wrong reasons. I don't understand why everything in this world has to be a competition. This is just asking for kids to cheat. The higher the grade, the higher the pay, so why not look up as many answers as possible or get them from someone else? Students should be going to school to get a genuine education, not with the thought of how much money they're earning at the back of their mind. If students want money, they should get a real job like everyone else.

Mantell, Ruth. "What's an 'A' Worth?." Wall Street Journal. 17 Dec. 2012: R.4. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 25 Apr. 2014.

Supporting Evidence: What's an A worth? (sks.sirs.com)
1 point

Kent, I really liked how you brought up the accessibility of cheating on online classes. I have taken 3 online courses and in everyone of them I have googled the answers to the quiz/test questions. At the time, it was important to me to get all the questions answered in a specified amount of time. With the help of online sources to guide or persuade certain answers to these questions, it is difficult to hold yourself back and NOT use them when they are literally at the tip of your fingers.

In the article I read, there is sometimes certain software within the program or class that monitors your keystrokes and clicks. That is a great thing for colleges, but a terrible thing for students. Although, it wouldn't be hard for students to borrow another laptop, computer, or tablet to look up the questions. Having online classes is asking for students to cheat, after all, IT IS ONLINE - with the world wide web - where tons and tons of information is available. It's not so much of the pressure with online classes, its how easy it is to access the information. I don't know too many people that would rather spend hours lookin for answers in their textbook and reading pages worth of stuff when they can just find it in 5 minutes and be done.

Although, when it comes to actual classes in a school building, face to face, that changes the circumstances. The pressure is higher with the students right there seeing who gets the better grade. It's all a competition thing, but I think students should just try the best they can, and thats all that they can do.

Eisenberg, Anne. "Keeping an Eye on Online Test-Takers." The New York Times. The New York Times, 02 Mar. 2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.

Supporting Evidence: Keeping an Eye on Online Test-Takers (www.nytimes.com)
1 point

Cheating, in the long run, probably doesn't help you succeed. Although, once in awhile I think it's acceptable. If someone forgets to do homework and it's due that day, then they can copy someones assignment. I mean, it's ONLY high school & it's ONLY a few assignments.

I read an article over a group of students that attend Harvard and there was one instance in particular where a student "cheated" and thought he did nothing wrong. The assignment was to write a paper, the student wrote it then asked another student to proof read it and suggest anything that needed to be fixed. Under the school's rules, thats cheating because the suggestions weren't the originals students complete work. But in my opinion, asking others to proofread a paper is a good idea simply because there are probably small things that are being missed.

In today's world, there's pressure to do and succeed in just about everything, so competing for the highest grades isn't something new. That's why they have a class rank...who's higher than the next person? Who's "smarter"? People cheat to achieve the highest possible score or rank. I think part of it comes with society..but also, in all reality there's not many people who haven't cheated on SOMETHING in their lifetime.

Grant, Tracy. "Harvard Freshmen Who Admitted Cheating on Homework Did Nothing Wrong." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 18 Sept. 2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.

Supporting Evidence: Harvard freshmen who admitted cheating on homework did nothing wrong (www.washingtonpost.com)
1 point

I find it hard to believe that the statistics are so low. I definitely agree with you on how our school doesn't handle bullying very well at all. I looked up some statistics on Google and found, what I think, is a little more realistic with the numbers higher than what you stated. According to bullyingstatistics.org,

Around half of teens have been the victims of cyber bullying

Only 1 in 10 teens tells a parent if they have been a cyber bully victim

Fewer than 1 in 5 cyber bullying incidents are reported to law enforcement

1 in 10 adolescents or teens have had embarrassing or damaging pictures taken of themselves without their permission, often using cell phone cameras

About 1 in 5 teens have posted or sent sexually suggestive or nude pictures of themselves to others

Girls are somewhat more likely than boys to be involved in cyber bullying

Also, I do think some of these numbers are a little lower than they should be. Maybe this is because students being bullied don't report it because they might be embarrassed, shy, or scared. But they are certainly higher than what you had mentioned.

"Cyber Bullying Statistics." - Bullying Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.

Supporting Evidence: Statistics (www.bullyingstatistics.org)
1 point

I hate to say it, but schools and their bullying programs definitely need some more attention. An article I read on SIRS was titled “Schools Have Work to Do”. In this article New York Governor, Andrew M. Cuomo, signed a bill in 2012 that had very strict rules against bullying and cyberbullying. The article said the law was passed mainly because of a high school student who killed himself after being taunted and teased over his sexual orientation.

A similar incident happened in a very familiar part of Iowa. A high school student named Kenneth James Weinshuhn was from Primghar, IA. He went to the South O’Brian School District and was unfortunately bullied to the point that he hung himself in his garage, where his family eventually found him. Not only is this happening in New York, or Massachusetts, as the debate originally mentioned, but it’s literally in our own communities and surrounding school districts.

One major thing that has come about in the most recent years is cyberbullying. The new law defines cyberbullying as harassment taking place through any electronic means and that "reasonably causes or would reasonably be expected to cause physical injury or emotional harm to a student." The New York law now counts cyberbullying as harassment. In my opinion, this is the absolute BEST idea when it comes to the topic. Im not sure about anywhere else, but in the OABCIG school district, anything on Facebook or Twitter can’t be accounted for. Students can make any comment they wish about another student online and when someone tries to turn it into the school, the school simply says their hands are tied just because it’s online.

Cracking down harder on such a serious topic is an excellent idea. I hope that more states take part in this law and start acting on the topic that affects everyone!

"Schools Have Work to Do." Buffalo News. 11 Jul. 2012: A.6. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.

Supporting Evidence: Schools Have Work to Do (sks.sirs.com)
4 points

First and foremost, I don't think books should be banned. Sure there are some wonderful and important facts and information in school textbooks, but students can't just go off of those. If there are only a certain type of books that are in the school libraries, students will have very narrow point of view and they will all be similar because everything they will have access to is the same.

There are people who like certain types of books, and refuse to even get involved with books that have no interest to them. I think that describes you as a person by what your interests are as far as reading in your free time. Face it, high school students can't stay sheltered forever, and chances are they are doing and saying the exact same thing that is portrayed in the banned books.

I believe students have the right to choose what they read and not what people higher up think they should read. Although, there definitely needs to be some boundaries. Books that are legitimately way too graphic (sexual and violence) need to be banned from school libraries. If there is swearing in a book, than that is okay, in my opinion. High school students swear ALL THE TIME, so reading it in a book isn't going to change their thinking one way or another.

Ultimately, students should get to choose what books to read.

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