mortal kombat.. fo'cereal.

I think that the two teens that were involved in the death of the 7-year-old child should be charged because as 17 and 18-year-olds they should have the common sense to realize that they shouldn’t have been “body-slamming” such a young child. Imitating the moves from Mortal Combat is stupid, especially on a child that is exceedingly smaller than you. The teens should have immediately realized that the child was in serious danger of dying. They should have called 911 immediately, instead of waiting after trying to revive her. It doesn’t matter that one teen was drunk; they should have to take responsibility for their actions.

(picture by gamespot.com)

sorry, i can't hug you...

I think that it is absolutely ridiculous that students were punished for hugging other students at school. Hugging isn’t an act that is explicitly sexual or inappropriate, unless taken to that level, so there is no reason that the school should punish them.

(picture by eareeve.blogspot.com)

ac in philly

I don’t think that building casinos in Philadelphia is a good idea at all. Despite the beneficial consequences of having casinos, I think that the bad consequences outweigh them. First of all, Americans directly associate gambling with an increase of crime activity. Research shows that gambling does foster increased criminal activity. An estimated 40 percent of white-collar crime is committed by gambling addicts. Also, research suggests that $1.3 billion per year in insurance fraud alone is related to gambling. Local businesses, such as restaurants, feel that they are at risk of going out of business. The location of these casinos is not beneficial either. Having a casino 100 feet away from a neighborhood or school is not a good idea. The traffic and attention a casino will attract are not things that children and people in their homes should have to deal with. Gambling can also result in horrible consequences for families. Gambling is associated with material deprivations, and family members frequently experience the trauma of divorce, child abuse and neglect, and domestic violence.

(picture by destination360.com)

stop and frisk?

I think the stop-and-frisk policy could be helpful, if it doesn’t turn into harassment. If a police officer suspects a person has or will commit a crime, with justifiable evidence, he should be able to prevent this crime or catch this person. I think this could help solve some of the crime/violence issues in the city, as long as the policy proves to be fair and just.

(picture by stus.com)

babies having babies... cute.

I do not think that it is a good idea to give Middle School students birth control. I agree with the student, Carissa Procurer, because it does seem like schools are condoning the fact that their students may be sexually active. I would definitely not want my child to be using birth control without my knowledge or consent. I think that if a child is sexually active, it’s important for their parents to know, just to make sure they’re taking the right precautions. If I had a sister, in middle school, I would definitely not want her to be taking birth control. I think that when you’re in middle school, you’re too young to be sexually active anyway. If she was taking birth control, I would definitely tell my parents because I think it would be important for “her” and “our” parents to have a talk about it. If I were in middle school, I would definitely not be taking birth control because I don’t think that sexual activities should be a part of any middle schoolers’ life.

(picture by ahajokes.com)

what if my house was on fire...

If I had ten minutes to take anything from my house before it burned down, I would take my pets, my pillow, and any pictures I have.

(picture by sipbuilding.wordpress.com)

california wildfires vs. hurricane katrina

The California Wildfires are similar to Hurricane Katrina because they’re both natural disasters, the death rates are high, the damage is enormous, and the method of shelter is the same. But the specifics about each are different. The California wildfires were responded to almost immediately, while response to disaster in Louisiana was slow. In both situations, people seek shelter in their state’s football stadium, a similarity. But, the conditions in California and Louisiana are very different. Southern California is primarily a place of wealthy citizens, while economic conditions in Louisiana are not so great. Living conditions in Louisiana, where Katrina hit, are still horrible multiple years later.

(picture by musicforte.com)

pop culture in school

I don’t agree with this person’s opinion because popular culture is large part of every college students’ life. This culture is something that can be used in the classroom to relate to other academic studies. Although certain aspects of popular culture come with bad connotations, there are aspects of popular culture that can be beneficial. For example, an article in The Amherst Student, newspaper for Amherst College, featured multiple professors who spoke about the benefits of incorporating popular culture in their classroom. One professor said, “I do make references in class to current TV shows, advertisements, movies and so forth, sometimes to draw a contrast with ancient Greece, but sometimes because of the apparent influence or even continuity of something first attested in antiquity.” Another professor said that pop culture “is a good way to enliven material”. He continued to say, “I think that using pop culture to make arguments [and] analyzing pop culture is a part of what we do here… We are very serious about our studying of the world around us, past, present and future, and that includes pop culture.” In a conference at Columbia University, rapper and actor Ice-T talked about how teachers can use pop culture to relate to their students saying, “You need to be a little cooler. When you’re a teacher, get to know what the kids know … Get into their zone, communicate with them.” I think that Ice-T is right. Although popular culture is not always helpful, there are certain ways to use examples in pop culture that students will understand, helping them relate it to whatever subjects they’re learning.

(picture by fashtastic.net)