The PHS Perspective - Spring 2013

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Gun Control

Written by: Truman R. Katula

The Obama style gun control has been in debate for some time now after the Sandy Hook shootings and other tragic shootings. I think the gun plan will not change the violent crimes committed in our country. Where does the rest of the youth think our great nation is headed?

I have personal worries about the leadership of this country. The government is meant to be led by our country’s people, not the other way around. Right now, the constitution our country has been built on this entire country’s life is at risk. We were given personal rights for reason’s, and i fear our government believes these rights hold too much power. According to a poll taken by Harvard University, “Just one in four younger Americans believe the nation is headed in the right direction, and a majority of so-called Millennials disapprove of President Obama's gun control initiatives”.

With tragedies such as the Sandy Hook shootings, and shootings close to home like the Azana Spa Shooting, or the Sikh Temple shooting, you would think the young adults of this nation would lean with Obama’s gun control policies. There was an even split on the poll of 37% for the NRA and 38% against it. There aren’t guns in the people’s houses to cause crazy shootings and tragic murders. The guns can be used for this, but that doesn’t mean everyone will do it. and what happens if these shootings do happen, who can protect themselves? The youth aren’t the only ones disagreeing with Obama’s gun control plan.

A National survey found that the majority of law officers disagree with Obama’s plan and say, “a federal ban on assault weapons would not reduce the risk of violent crime”. “The American people, and particularly the members of law enforcement, want politicians in Washington to stop pursuing a failed political agenda and get to work fixing our broken mental health system, improving school security and getting criminals off the streets,” said Chris Cox, head of the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action. Raising gun control policies cannot eliminate guns or the ability to get guns. This would just mean less innocent people have the ability to protect themselves that wish to do harm with the weapons they have through the black market.

Works cited

mas-gun-control-plan#ixzz2S3BFJLDJ

-http://washingtonexaminer.com/harvard-young-americans-slam-obamas-job-on-gun-control-economy/article/2528492

-http://nation.foxnews.com/gun-control/2013/04/09/survey-majority-law-officers-dont-agree-oba

Immigration Reform

By: Kayla Vitalbo

Ever since we became a nation we have been known as the land of the free and have been attracting immigrants from all over the world, and even in modern times there is no exception for this attraction. There has been talk about a reform in the immigration system, which would consist of granting visas to foreign entrepreneurs looking to start businesses in the U.S. and those looking to attend college and attain a degree in the science or math field and stay in the country after graduation. The President is all for reforming the immigration system, and he believes that “[W]e’ve got to bring our legal immigration system into the 21st century… if you are a citizen, you shouldn’t have to wait years before your family is able to join you in America... If you’re a foreign student who wants to pursue a career in science or technology, or a foreign entrepreneur who wants to start a business with the backing of American investors, we should help you do that here. Because if you succeed, you’ll create American businesses and American jobs. You’ll help us grow our economy. You’ll help us strengthen our middle class.” Not only could this reform create more jobs in our economy with our unemployment rate at 7.5% (which should be between 4-6% to be at full employment), but with all of the baby boomers retiring and needing more funds for social security, there is nothing but positive outcomes from this reform.

The idea is very liberal because of the idea of equality among everyone, and the conservatives believe that the program already is too costly given our current national debt. The idea itself though could potentially reduce the deficit and help out our economy. Sure we will need to accommodate for more citizens and there will be an increase in demand, but with this government spending we could potentially create more jobs, and with more jobs there would be more income taxes for FICA (social security and medicare) to provide for the baby boomers retiring soon. The chart below emphasizes the need for more money for social security. Our nation is already running low on funds for social security which was why they increased the income tax for social security to 6.2%, and if we don’t find another source of money to provide for those who have retired, we will run out by the time we retire. It is very important for the income for social security income to increase, and by passing this immigration reform we could use the income from the new citizens to help provide for social security.

Our government has been working so hard to control the border and keep illegal immigrants out. There are arguments that more crimes could be taken into our country, but if we were to make these immigrants citizens, they would be treated as such and the necessary measures would be taken to account for these crimes. Our nation has been trying to emphasize the diverseness within, and what better way than to better than economy while making the country more diverse.

Works Cited

" National Employment Monthly Update."NCSL Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 May 2013. <http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/labor/national-employment-monthly-update.aspx>.

"Streamlining Legal Immigration | The White House." The White House. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 May 2013. <http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/immigration/streamlining-immigration>.

Werner, Erica. "Study: Immigration bill would help Social Security - News - Boston.com." Boston.com - Boston, MA news, breaking news, sports, video. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 May 2013. <http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2013/05/08/study-immigration-bill-would-help-social-security/ylynxmSxGYMpzURAJqXgzH/story.html>.

"What Happens to Workers Who Drop Out of the Labor Force? | Sober Look | FINANCIAL SENSE ." FINANCIAL SENSE | Applying Common Sense to the Markets. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 May 2013. <http://www.financialsense.com/contributors/sober-look/what-happens-to-workers-who-drop-out-of-labor-force>.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Ban Homework

Written by Kevin Bauman

Ban Home Work

Let’s face it no one likes to take home work. Whether its school or actual work, at the end of the day we want to go home and not worry about any of it. Ask any adult if they liked doing home work and the answer will be the same as if you asked kids of today’s generation. Not only is homework a pain to deal with when most students in high school play sports and work, but is also ineffective for students making it just busy work. In my honest opinion, homework should be banned from schools for good because there really is no point to giving assignments that don’t have an impact on the education of students.

Many students find that home work is boring, tiring, and in some cases very stressful. According to BBC News, teachers often underestimate the time it will likely take a student to complete the task that they have been given. This in turn makes children develop a resistance to school. As Dr. Mary Boustad says “Children should be able to explore experiment and enjoy their learning without feeling pressured”. When you make something short and fun, you make it appealing to younger children and by making it seem appealing to them you build lifelong habits of enjoying learning.

Looking at the concept of Homework, some may say that it is solely focused on a student doing well on a certain test, but what about the life skills necessary to support them throughout life and in the work place? This question has been debated over other things as well such as standardized testing like the ACT and SAT and other state standardized tests. After these tests The government compares the results and punishes the underachieving schools. As Johanna Sorention points out in an article for education.com titled The Homework Debate, “Because schools and teachers are therefore scared about their students doing poorly, they give them more homework, not in the hope they learn more but simply to do better on the tests”. Also one of her key interviewees, author Alfie Kohn, says “no study has ever found the corolation between homework and academic achievement in elementary school and there probably is none in high school”. The basic theory here is that home work isn’t helping a student learn new things while retaining the old information, it’s simply helping them do better on a specific test, almost like a football team prepares for their opponent, you teach them this weeks game plan and they forget about last weeks.

Finally, let’s not forget that these kids have lives too. Many of them in high school may have jobs and many kids today are involved in some sort of after school activity such as sports and clubs or any other teams that their school offers and on top of it everyone has their own family to think about as well. Giving them home work that has been classified by many as just “busy work” is not only a waste of time but it is also contributing to the stress levels of these kids. Many mothers were interviewed by NBCnews.com and all of which had agreed that children deserve to live like children, “they don’t need the stress created by homework”. Some mom’s have even told their childs teacher right out “my son won’t be doing any home work”. Duke Universities psychology professor, Harris Cooper, was the creator of the “10 minute rule” that was encouraged by schools after the sputnik launch in 1957. That meant that students would spend 10 minutes studying for each graded class they had. What he didn’t account for was the increase in the schedule for students but also the growth in the amount of home work given today. IN this same article on NBC news he said “ if a student is doing home work effectively, but it seems to be taking them too long, then the parents need to confront the teachers in a non- aggressive manner”.

Home work is one of the many ineffective ways that our education system attempts to enhance the education process for many children today. Home work is not something that encourages kids to want to learn, it makes them resent learning and resent going to school at a young age because of it lack the appeal to a younger student. We start these habits out early and they continue to escalate. Also, home work doesn’t help a student retain and learn information. It’s like prepare for a game, you learn one game plan and win and the next week you learn a new game plan, and you forgot the previous weeks. IN other words, home work puts a specific focus on a single test, not contributing to the overall education of kids. Last we see that home work is cutting into the time that kids have to do other things like being a kid, enjoying time with their friends and having tim e to spend with their families. When that starts to cut into a belief that this country was built on, the idea of being with you family, then it’s time we rethink our approach towards home work.

Works cited

· "The Homework Debate | Education.com." Education.com | An Education & Child Development Site for Parents | Parenting & Educational Resource. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2013. <http://www.education.com/magazine/article/The_Homework_Debate/>.

· "BBC NEWS | UK | Education | Teachers call for ban on homework." BBC News - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2013. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7287962.stm>.

Is the Education System weak?

By Sybelle Gesman

In an ideal school, a teacher’s mission is to help a child develop and grow not just cognitively, but also socially, emotionally, linguistically, ethically, and physically. Nowadays, school’s main focus does not correspond to those certain lifelong growths but mainly focus on the temporary results. High schools today focus so much on honors classes and standardized testing that they fail to see students are missing out an opportunity to learn beneficial life skills they could use in college or beyond. Has our education become more about temporary grades and results rather than long term success and knowledge?

A common trend today is standardized tests. These tests or “high stakes” are one of the major factors that determine a student’s future. But research show that high stakes testing causes damage to the student and their education. One of the reasons that the article, “The Dangerous Consequences of High- Stakes Standardized Testing,” stated is that, “more schools focus instruction on the tests. As a result, what is not tested often is not taught.... Important topics or skills that cannot be tested with paper-and-pencil tests – such as writing research papers or conducting laboratory experiments – are not taught.” Some may argue that these standardized tests would be beneficial to a person while others would disagree.

Some of the reasons people disagree is because it tends to drive out good teachers. Good teachers are often discouraged and even disgusted on the overemphasis of test preparations. The overemphasis on standardized test eliminates the teaching aspect of being a teacher. Setting the curriculum to standardized test prevents teachers from utilizing creative teaching styles. The lack of focus on creativity oriented learning styles diminishes the enthusiasm of many students.

There are also non-academic factors that standardized testing can cause affecting the student’s score. These include test anxiety, fatigue, lack of attention—and the list goes on. Other characteristics can be categorized through the child’s grade. Students in kindergarten through 2^nd grade have short attention span and there is little motivation to do this type of test because of their lack of understanding on the purpose of the test. In grades 6 to 8, there is an increase of test anxiety and the students become more skeptical about the value of the test. While students in high school, are more skeptical about the validity and usefulness of the standardized test. The standardized testing advantages and disadvantages are explained in this video Standardized Test in Education.

A study in 2009 found that U.S.A students ranked 25^th among 34 countries in math and science. According to an article, “Best Education in the World,” it stated that, “just 6 percent of U.S. students performed at the advanced level on an international exam administered in 56 countries in 2006. That proportion is lower than those achieved by students in 30 other countries.” The low performance of American students could jeopardize the nation’s economic growth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLluAqPIo8w&feature=player_embedded (embedded video)

So should schools really focus more on these tests and forget about the other subjects? Is the American education system really weak? All these lingering questions needs solutions or answers so educators know how to help and improve a student’s learning.

Bibliography

“Best Education In The World: Finland, South Korea Top Country Rankings, U.S. Rated Average." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2013. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/27/best-education-in-the-wor_n_2199795.html>.

"Standardized Tests in Education: Advantages and Disadvantages - Free Educational Psychology Video." Take Free Online Courses. Earn College Credit. Research Schools, Degrees & Careers. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2013. <http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/standardized-tests-in-education-advantages-and-disadvantages.html>.

"Statistics About Education in America | StudentsFirst.org." StudentsFirst.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2013. <http://www.studentsfirst.org/pages/the-stats>.

"The Dangerous Consequences of High-Stakes Standardized Testing | Education.com." Education.com | An Education & Child Development Site for Parents | Parenting & Educational Resource. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2013. <http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Dangerous/>.

curiosity, forcing them into a compliance-based model of education. All children are natural learners. We’re born with, creativity, wonder, intrinsic motivation. Research shows that with more years of formal schooling, those very qualities are stunted tremendously. Moreover, schools largely resemble prisons: children are cut from society, and social media is banned.. "How Should We Rebuild the U.S. Education System? - Forbes." Information for the World's Business Leaders - Forbes.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2013. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/ashoka/2013/02/15/how-should-we-rebuild-the-u-s-education-system/>.

TSA Knife Policy

TSA Knife Policy by Brandon Desjardin

September 11^th destroyed the lives of thousands and made many worry about their safety when they travel by air. September 11^th was a good reminder that there are people out there who seek to crush the United States, and now we are going to give them another chance by reversing the policies that we put in place to protect the lives of all travelers. It’s something that makes absolutely no sense and seems like we are taking a few steps back because nothing has happened in the past few years. Well news flash for you, things haven’t changed, people in the Middle East still don’t like us and that opinion has grown to several other countries, so allowing people to carry knives on a plane is absurd.

The policy itself just seems ridiculous. The TSA says it will allow things such as pool cues, lacrosse sticks and no more than two golf clubs. As we learned from 9/11, someone will find a way to make any object a weapon. We never thought of the idea that a plane could be used as a weapon until we woke up to news coverage of burning buildings and it shocked us all. Someone could break a pool cue over their knee and use it towards someone. It’s mainly just common sense, I don’t know anyone that takes one or two golf clubs on a golfing trip. Overall, this whole plan seems to be a joke, do you really think someone can’t find a way to make a lacrosse stick, golf club or a pool cue a weapon?

Allowing this policy to take affect will also be increasing the danger of a potential hijacking. In the 9/11 incident, it was found that the terrorists used knives such as box cutters and Leatherman’s tools to overtake the plane. Those kinds of things would also be allowed with this new policy. The TSA confiscated almost 850 pounds of banned goods over the 12 year run to the ban of knifes on planes. Now people feel that this will leave us open according to CNN says that the when it comes to the safety of the flight attendants and the passengers we are basically on our own. The author of the article even says “I find this blatantly offensive”. This is somewhat disturbing to many and for many, it may change their minds when traveling the world or even the country.

It seems that a part of this policy is to please those people that think the time to go through security takes too long. Well when it comes to the safety of hundreds at a time, you time is insignificant. Security workers at airports have even been known to agree that the attitudes before and after a traveler goes through, change dramatically. One Security officer said that “you see their faces go from happy and laughing to frustrated and angry”. Many people from the TSA screeners union also disagree with the policy saying that safety should not be rushed. Allowing people to have that little bit of leeway on what they can and can’t bring on an airplane is bad enough, but rushing through security to make sure the customer is satisfied is something that is irresponsible.

The TSA policy overall is irresponsible and actually kind of stupid. You really think that someone won’t find a way to make a pool stick or a golf club a weapon because it’s almost guaranteed that they will use a knife as one. That makes it almost pointless to try and allow people to carry those thing on a plane. Rushing Security checks is also wrong, you never risk safety for speed. This is a touchy subject for many due to the fact that they may have lost loved ones in the 9/11 tragedy and for the rest of us the fear of something like that happening to us or our families is something that scares us all.