Tag Archives: students

Should Schools Stop Assigning Homework?

Of course students would say yes to no homework, but that’s because when they think of homework, they think of time consuming school work that they have to do at home when they can be doing other things. Every day students go home with 2-3 hours of homework and not everyone is able to get it done. This is because of how time-consuming it is. Even when they do have enough time to do it they spend way more time than they needed to. Schools in the U.S have decided to completely ban homework or have a no homework policy because homework itself takes up so much time and also immensely stressful. Most teens have to deal with the pressure of having good grades and making sure all of their homework is done before they can do other things. It’s the main reason why students have stress, so they have to stay up late and lose a lot of sleep just to finish it.

I like the idea of no homework so I do agree with the no homework policies schools are trying, but sometimes it would be better to have a few examples to practice with if I’m not understanding something. I mostly disagree with the overload of homework that we usually get daily. I would rather not understand something and ask my teacher about it the next day, than stress over getting the work done when I’m most likely doing it completely wrong. Most students participate in school sports and because the practices take up a lot of after school time this means that they can’t get all of their homework done. Even extracurriculars take up most of our time. As you can see, homework has become quite a problem for many reasons and will continue to be until a better solution is found.

~Aleysia

Bullying can be Worse Than it Sounds

 

Bullying is a big topic in most schools. It could be cyber or personal bullying. Cyber bullying is when someone bullies another person online. Most of the time when cyber bullying happens it’s through social media. Personal bullying is when it happens at school, work, the playground, or even at a friends house. The definition of bullying is “Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may have serious, lasting problems.  A bully could be anyone anywhere.

Every time I hear about bullying its normally at an annual school assembly. When I hear the teachers talk about bullying I don’t actually pay attention until they start to tell us about the stories about some bully victims. Some of the stories you hear really will break your heart. Most of them are about students who attempted suicide or who have actually commited it. Did you know that there are 4,400 deaths every year from suicide caused by bullying? Also that there are at least 100 suicide attempts every year? Next time you see someone getting bullied please stick up for them so that they aren’t added to the statistics.

~Cecilia

Cell Phones: Helpful or Distracting ?

Cell phones are a must have device now days. I can tell you at least 99% of the people I know have cell phones. They are a great source when you miss the bus, forget some homework, need a ride home from somewhere, etc. Kids use them constantly and make teachers not want them in school. These kids are just ruining these privileges for everyone else. Do you think its fair when everyone elses privileges are taken away because of a few kids. No, of course not! Cell phones are for emergencies, and aren’t supposed to be distractions during school hours.

Personally, I think cell phones are pretty cool. Well of course I do! I’m almost a teenager and teenagers can’t live without them. However, for kids my age, I think an iPhone or Galaxy X3 is too much. I am a contender of this nonsense. I happen to have a smartphone myself but I don’t over use it unlike many of my classmates.  I think a good flip phone that can call and text would be fine for someone my age. It gives all the basic functions someone like me would need. Now I ask you fellow reader, does it seem right for a 4th grader to have a cell phone? I didn’t think so. My little cousin is in 4th grade and she has a cell phone! These days, cell phones are no longer for emergencies. They are now just something that almost everyone has.

~Caylee

Erin Cox

A little over 2 weeks ago, Erin Cox got a phone call from one of her friends to ask Erin if she could give her a ride home, since the friend was too drunk to drive.  Erin agreed, thinking that she was doing her friend a favor and keeping her out of trouble.  However, just minutes after Miss Cox went inside to find her schoolmate, the police entered and accused some of the group of underage drinking.  Even though the police proved that the honor student (Erin) had not been drinking and had no contact with alcohol or drugs, her school still demoted her from volleyball team captain and benched her for the next five games.  Once she got home, she was devastated, and many of her friends and family members are trying to get the school to reverse its punishment given to an innocent girl.

I think that North Andover High School should revoke Erin’s punishment, because she was just trying to do what was right and help her friend.  The school said that they have a very strict rule on alcohol and drug abuse, but I think if it includes punishing a perfectly innocent girl for trying to help, it’s much too strict.  Would they rather have the drunk friend try to drive and end up killing someone?  Honestly, they should rethink their decision.  After all, aren’t the counselors always telling us to help out our friends and make the right decision, even if it’s persecuted?  They should not ever be the ones making the worse choice, especially when almost everyone who has heard about the situation has agreed with the Cox family.  If you were attempting to do something good and got one of the worst punishments the school could give you as a prize, don’t you think that would be unjustifiable? (Hint: the answer is yes.)

~Stephanie

“Pop!”

Teachers may think that chewing gum in class will just be a distraction.  Actually, popping a strip of gum in your mouth can academically, physically, and mentally help students.  It helps students keep on task, and need fewer breaks, which means more learning.  It also relieves stress and anxiety.  Students who chew gum are proven to get 26% to 36% higher grades on their tests and quizzes.  Physically, it can keep them from being hungry, and chewing gum can help with your oral health.  Chewing gum will help students in many ways, so not being able to chew it in class may actually prevent students from doing better.

I believe chewing gum in school is a good thing.  It helps students to concentrate, so they can absorb more material and do better on assignments.  Chewing gum during class also prevents students from having to go to the bathroom, or get a drink.  However, if the kids are using the gum as a distraction, or not disposing of it properly, I understand teachers would get annoyed.  Having to scrape gum off of the bottom of desk wouldn’t make me happy.  If the students are capable of chewing the gum and not sound like a cow, teachers should let them chew.

~Zoe

Should cell phones be allowed in school?

Do you think students should bring their cell phones to school? Many will either say yes or no. You would probably infer that teachers will say yes, but you never know. Now with the improved technology, and upgrade in cell phones, many people are bringing cell phones with them everywhere. Even in a school environment. Many students bring cell phones to distract themselves in class, call parents, or just to have them. Its been said that a student with a cell phone in class, is a student that is uninterested, has a short attention span, and doesn’t like to listen in class. This could lead to students failing in classes because of the distraction of the cell phone. Its not just cell phones, it can be tablets, laptops, or any other type of electronic that they bring to class.

I think that cell phones should not be banned in school. But, when bringing a cell phone, you should always turn it off during classes or have a teachers permission to use it for any class project or class work. Would you really need to text someone or make a call to someone during school hours? I don’t think so. But, bringing a cell phone to school/class can tempt a person to not go by the rules and go on an app that is not related to class. One purpose of bringing a cell phone to school would be to call parents of any emergency or transportation changes. People can argue against this and say that students could just go to the office and call their parents. But, why go to the office when you have your cell phone in reach? Now in this generation, cell phones are basically status symbols. This means that, when going on social media sites and stating that you’re currently in school and online, can make you look “cool” or rebellious. In conclusion, if teachers give students the rules and regulations of bringing cell phones to school, then it wouldn’t be a problem to bring them. For example, you can turn off your phone during class, put it on silent/vibrate, and/or you can just not bring it at all.

~Paula

Are Schools Really as Safe as They Say?

There has been more than 30 school shootings since Columbine in 1999, but only about 15 throughout the rest of the world since the Columbine shooting. With school shootings becoming more common in the US, what are schools doing to be safer for students and staff? Some schools have just begun to practice lockdown drills in case of emergency and locking school doors during the day.  Before December, many schools left their doors unlocked during the day, free for people to come and go. Some schools in Ohio are required to give a floor plan to police, and 58 schools have failed to do so. A bill is trying to be passed in Congress called the School Safety Enhancement Act of 2013. The bill is trying to ensure that schools can get the money they need for school safety.

In the wake of the Newtown school shooting, many schools all over the country are reconsidering their safety plan. But why did it take the lives of children for schools to realize they weren’t safe? Even this past week in Connecticut a five year old was able to get out of his kindergarten class and walk all the way home. In the same school, a young girl was missing for about 45 minutes before found in her sisters classroom. Schools claim to be taking more safety measures, but if a school cannot even keep track of all it’s student, what would happen if everyone were to be evacuated? Here in Cheshire, we have been practicing lockdown drills in schools for years, long before Newtown. Even though many schools don’t have many safety measures, it is better late than never to keep students and staff safe in school.

~Carolynn Pechmann

“Netbooks, iPads, cell phones, iPods, e-readers and even PDAs are increasingly becoming the tools of choice for today’s educators, and it is easy to see why”(Wylie). Today, many students are using electronic devices in the classroom for multiple purposes. Some schools now have the new bring your own device policy or BYOD. Students use their devices to work on projects during class, write essays, look up research using the Internet, and many more ways. These devices allow the classroom to work more efficiently and to work much faster than doing only book work. Thanks to IPads, IPods, IPhones, Nooks, Kindles and lots of other devices homework is a lot faster for today’s 21 century students. Although the use of these devices greatly benefits students, there can be some negative effects as well. One complaint of the BYOD system is that students take advantage over the wonderful opportunity given to them. For example some students text instead of working, others take photos of students during class, and some students work on other class homework during a separate class. No matter the temptations and distractions these devices bring upon students, electronic devices couldn’t be more helpful in the classrooms.

Electronic devices are extremely beneficial thanks to educational apps in the classroom. I believe that many apps make classroom work a breeze for students and it helps the teachers as well. Teachers can put up an assignment during class and students can start the assignment right away on their devices. Also, the use of electronic devices greatly benefits the community as well. This is because as a country we can and are saving ALOT more paper thanks to sharing documents and posting assignments on websites for the students to check at any time. Yes, students are often tempted to do other work and get off task when given time to work on their devices, but I believe students can be trusted. Students today may be more lazy compared to years in the past, but there still is motivation in the classroom especially if teachers promote it even more. I still wonder if there are more ways to make the classroom even easier and faster and even more efficient. For example, I wonder if years from now we will be using other devices in the classroom than the phones, e-readers, iPods and others that we use today. Thanks to these devices the country can stay efficient in the classroom and we can dream and have hope about the future with even more electronical advancements that are yet to come.

~Camryn Formica

When is it Too Much?

School, homework, sports, and time for family and friends? Some days this doesn’t even seem possible. Even with great time management skills, there is just not enough time in the day for all of it! Most kids of this generation have a full plate and are being jam packed with activities. Although sports, school, and even homework are all apart of a healthy lifestyle, is it still healthy when kids are up until 2 a.m cramming for a Science test the next day?  So when does it all become too much is the question.

Studies have shown that a “too busy” schedule can cause nervous breakdowns, lack of sleep, anxiety and even worsening grades. Around 90% of kids and teens play in an organized sports team and around 73% are involved in at least one other sport. Although this might not seem like a hard challenge, when is there time for homework?  Per day, an average teen has 6 hours of school, 2-3 hours of homework (not including studying), and a 2 hour sports practice. With all of this, days seem to go by too fast and teens are spending more time in a car driving to a sport or sitting at home doing homework. This rush is causing more fast food stops, less family time, and less time sleeping.

Personally, I think that a majority of kids have too busy schedules and just need time to relax and remember what it’s like to be a kid again. As a swimmer, I am aware of long practices. Our  5 days a week practices range from a 2 hours – 2 hours 45 minutes. On top of a swim practice there is also homework that has to be accomplished and extra curricular activity promises to uphold. This has been a problem for many generations but people always manage. Even though I agree with it being too much, time management and prioritizing can play a major role in evening out a schedule. But when it all seems like it is becoming too much to handle, remember, skipping one practice every now and then is surely understandable.

~Jenna Tubby

Enough is Enough

Imagine yourself at ten o’clock at night. Most kids are sleeping, while others are doing homework. Many people believe it is the kids fault for being up so late. People say it is about time management. That is true. How our body is being treated at a young age is important but many people don’t fulfill the requirement of number of hours slept. What is unfair is the amount of homework they get. Each subject’s homework should be an overview of the class and not anything additional. Homework is designed to test kids learning and see if they were paying attention and understand. So I question how much homework is too much?

 Too much homework can affect kids sleep, family relationships, and can cause serious amounts of stress.  I agree that teachers do give an abnormal amount of homework. I am probably not the first to say that I don’t like homework, but there is really nothing you do about it. Homework can cause large amounts of stress because kids stress about their grades and homework is only half the question. Homework separates us from the real world. It deprives us of what is important in our life. Homework keeps kids and teens from daily exercise too. Instead getting an hour of exercise, instead they get 3-4 hours of homework, and by the time they finish it is too late out.

In my opinion I think that kids should be given no more than a total of 2 hours of homework. This may change or fluctuate between different grades. This is also important for kids and teens too. Time management is also key for success. This also depends on the kids and teens to see if they can balance their schedules  Therefor I believe the amount of homework that students receive should be reduced.

~Evan Sokolik