Praying in school

Should prayer be allowed in public school?

While you might believe in God or a certain religion, your peers around you may have other view points. Everyone has the freedom or has the right to their own choice of religion. Should praying in public schools be mandated? Absolutely not. However, i do believe that praying should be allowed on your own personal time in a public school. If prayer was mandated in public schools, it would be a violation of the constitution. Although times have changed and parts of the constitution may be irrelevant now, I don’t believe the separation of governmental institutions and religion has changed. With the many different Gods and the many different religions, forcing students to pray would be unfair. Encouraging or teaching specific religions is also unfair. That would be pushing or forcing a religion onto someone. I believe if a child is going to believe in a religion, they’re going to grow up being taught to follow that religion based on their parents values. As long as it’s not a disturbance to the class and it is not a disturbance to the child’s grades, prayer should be allowed. Many pray before eating or pray before a major test. Some pray for comfort  when they’re going through rough times. That’s okay. People are allowed to follow their religion and do as they please. Someone who is praying on their own time is not causing harm unto anyone else as long as they are not pushing people or forcing their religion onto others. Forcing someone to be taught religion in a public school could make students feel uncomfortable or unwelcomed into the school setting. Students may disagree on religions and many do disagree. Having to talk about your beliefs in school can also cause bullying. With the many different beliefs, kids could be teased or tormented for what they believe is right. Bullying is already a pretty big issue, not only in high school, but the younger generations as well. I think teaching religion in public schools would just cause more controversy.

I am against praying being mandatory in public schools, but i am for it being allowed on your own personal time. I think making it mandatory would do more harm than good. Parents would be upset, children may have more of a risk of being bullied, and  rights of the constitution would be violated. Everyone has different beliefs and i think they should have to right to not be taught certain religions in school.  

"Should Prayer Be Allowed in School?" The Premiere Online Debate Website. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Sept. 2013.

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New Fuel Options

I think the idea of using hydrogen as fuel is a great idea, but I agree with the author of this article (starting on page 197 in our English books). There is no way to efficiently store the fuel. As many advantages as the hydrogen fuel has like its abundance and cleanliness to the earth,   there are major downfalls that play a big role in determining whether or not the hydrogen is a good source of fuel. The author poses a good argument, and supports her argument well. It is simple to think that we could easily begins using that as fuel, yet it is not so black and white when it is written down on paper. As if we thought prices of fuel are high now, the cost of fuel then would sky rocket. There is no possible way to contain that significant of an amount of hydrogen for everyone to use as fuel. Say a gas tank could hold six gallons of gasoline; when it holds hydrogen fuel it cannot nearly hold as much as regular gasoline. Finding some way to convert to a greener fuel is a fantastic proposal. We just need to find out which fuel s most efficient for the sake of our natural resources and preserving them, saving money, and finding a way to store the fuel properly. Perhaps someone will one day discover the key to maintaining a greener fuel economy while saving money at the same time. I think more research should be done to find a more practical, greener fuel to keep this Earth green.

Accepting everyone!

The author of the article, Julia Cheng, tells us a little bit about herself. She is 5 foot 4 inches tall and naturally very thin. The article is about how women are scrutinized for their body types, especially naturally thin women. While I was reading this article, I made note of the key ideas. I noted how the author thought of herself, how others thought of her and treated her, and how she would overcome the negative effect the world had on her. I found it to be interesting that many people told her "you don't understand how lucky you are" yet she still got many negative comments and reactions like "real women have curves" or "don't you eat anything". People accuse her of not eating and harming herself. In all reality, she cannot control her body. Like women who have a hard time losing weight, she has a hard time gaining it, and she gets scrutinized for it. She also brought up a modern day organization. "Real beauty" is being promoted by dove. Women of all shapes, sizes, and ethnicities are on the cover of magazines, showing the world that everyone should be accepted and not judged by their body. The only problem with this campaign is that Dove did not include very petite women. The article written by Julia Cheng is about loving your body and loving who you are. Although she gets negative reactions, she learns to accept herself the way that she is, and so should every woman who has ever been scrutinized for their weight. Nobody should be questioned or accused of something based on their appearance. Also, women should not base their self-esteem or independent body goals on what the media shares. The campaign through Dove should not influence anyone. It is good to love your body the way it is and the 'real beauty'. If there is a campaign to show 'real beauty' thinner people should be included. Since Julia has learned to accept her body the way that it is and she can do anything she sets her mind to. She would like to encourage anyone with similar problems to love themselves the way they are. I think the article proves a good point. Not only bigger women should be encouraged to love their body. Everyone should learn to accept their bodies whether they are big, tall, short or small. Build your body to your own standards and do not fall to the pressure that others put on you to change it. Others should also be taught to not judge someone else based on appearance. If we want to stop eating disorders and disorders related to appearance in young adults or children, media should include all types of women including the thinner ones. If they want their campaign to be successful with all people, this will show 'real beauty'. I can relate to the topic because I too went through the same problems. I was too concerned with what other people thought about my body and not concerned enough with what I thought about my own body. Similar to the author, I had to learn to accept my body the way that it is. Then, I did not let my worries consume me or restrain me from doing what I wanted to do. My ideas did not change after reading the article. I 100% agree with the perspective from which the author is writing from. Women should not be discriminated against because of their size, shape, or ethnicity. Shouldn't all body types and styles be accepted?

http://ic.galegroup.com.library.icc.edu/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Viewpoints&dviSelectedPage=&limiter=&u=peor81815&currPage=&disableHighlighting=&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&zid=&search_within_results=&p=OVIC&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010128243

Is Social Networking A Waste of Time

We find ourselves asking, Is social networking a waste of time? According to Bernhard Warner, social networking is not such a waste of time. Students are already using technology and social networking outside of class and often times in class to work on school work and communicate with their fellow classmates. Why not embrace the modern day form of communication? While I think it is great to embrace using social networking as a form of communication and creativity, I think it is hurting the way many people communicate in person. Students should be able allowed to work together online, but should still learn and know how to personally work together as a group. I do not believe that Bernhard has a valid argument as to why students should use social networking for school. In a recent survey, a little over half of five-hundred english students admitted to checking social networks during class. Sure, they checked it during school hours, but was it strictly for school purposes or not?  Students check social networking sites as a distraction, something to give them a break. It is good for students to be able to have an outlet. Whether this outlet is used for school purposes or not may make all the difference. Social networking should be slowly worked into the curriculum for some instances like a psychology or english class, but not for every school subject. Social networking should be left alone as an outlet for people to escape. It should be something for people to let their creativity and feelings show. That would be a way to show artistic skills for school work and projects.