Bust Out Gum From Educational Jail!

Gum has always been a controversy in schools ever since it had been invented! But the question is… why is it that gum is not always allowed in schools? It seems as if schools lock it up in some imaginary jail! What’s the big deal?! Well, it can be a bit of a mess when students leave it under the desks and leave the wrappers on the floor. On the other hand, myths of gum pumping the blood through the brain increase work ethic and effects school work. So is that myth real? Does gum enhance work ethic in school? Yes, its true! And surprisingly, the strongest subject it effects is math! The one subject everyone thinks needs a little boost.

Recent studies done by Baylor College took a look at this link between gum chewing and math scores. They had 108 students in Los Angeles from ages 13 to 16 contribute to the experiment. 54 were assigned to chew sugar free gum, and the other 54 did not. While taking math tests, doing math homework, and in math class the students were either chewing gum or not. After 14 weeks of the experiment, and students had to take a math test. After the grades were observed, it was shown that the students who had been chewing gum had better final math grades than the ones who were not. Not only that, but students who chewed gum scored 3% higher on standardized math tests. Teachers had also made observations that students chewing gum were quieter, more focused, and have a longer attention span than the students who did not chew gum.

So it’s true! Gum does help increase work ethic and boosts math grades! Just what we all need! Now, to answer the myth of gum helping the blood flow. Other research was performed to show that gum does stimulate blood flow. But not in the way you would think. FACT: When gum is chewed, it tricks the stomach into thinking food is being chewed and should soon be digested. Because of this, the blood starts to pump faster and produce a hormone called insulin. This increases glucose cells in the stomach, and brain. Blood then flows from the brain to the stomach, increasing oxygen and blood flow. During all this, the brain is energized so it is easier for it to take in information that may be harder to understand such as math. This increases the memory of the student which later comes into play when they’re taking a test. This is why gum helps students! So why ban it from school if it helps students with their education? It just doesn’t make sense to me. Gum should be allowed in every school! If education is so important, give it a little boost! I say, let’s bust gum from behind these confined bars and show  its potential.

~Ariana Pepper

iMustHave

The day to day updates on technology surprises us still. The last few decades have led us to become more and more dependent on electronics. Apple and Android has been one of the major contributors to this revolution. Over 110 million iPhones have been sold over the last 4 years, 300 million iPods sold in the last 8 years, and about 30 million iPads in the last two years. Recently we have even started reading on electronics. HTC, Motorola, Kindle, BlackBerry, Samsung, Pantech, and more have come out with new tablets. The last few years we have become so involved in electronics that I’m even dictating this blog entry on Dragon, a speech to text translation application.

More and more schools are beginning to integrate these electronics into daily learning. Before we realize it we will have already completely surrounded ourselves with these high-tech tools we use for every day tasks. I believe it is important to realize the significance of the electronics and how far they have come from typewriters and cups on either end of a string. We take for granted the technology that helps us with simple tasks like writing a paper or drawing a flower. The momentum in terms of electronics is building.

~Andrew Mahan