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Teens like role models,  either famous athletes or some type of celebrity, or even their parents. This is the person they aspire to be or want to be like due to the celebrity’s lifestyle. They keep up with their idol’s trends and their life. Everyone has that person no matter the age, but it is most commonly found in teenagers. So, it can be said that teenagers learn first and foremost of what they want to do in life from observing celebrities on social media.

Kylie Jenner, one of the media’s most powerful people, started a trend towards the end of 2014, going into 2015, when she got lip injections as a teenager. She revealed that she got lip injections, after many interviews of denying that she didn’t get them, on her very own show, Life With Kylie.  According to Emma Akbareian, from The Independent News, on May 7th of 2015, some clinics the revelation had led to a surge in enquiries from the public, wanting to copy her pouting lip look after getting her lips done. After Kylie Jenner confirmed to getting lip injections on her show, Life with Kylie, it sent out a word to many teenagers, telling them that it was okay to get lip injections, and this inspired young teens that look up to her, to follow her ways of getting their lips done. Dr. Leah Totton from Dr. Leah Clinics told The Independent her clinic has reported a staggering 70% rise in lip filler inquiries in the last 24 hours from when Kylie Jenner posted her first picture with her lips done on instagram, with the caption “1 2 many selfies”. Because of the power that the celebrity had on social media and in general, she got a hold of the mind’s of the teenagers following her, inspiring those who did, to get their lips done. They did something they might have not even know they wanted to do, but because after seeing it happen to someone famous, it pushed them to do so.

Kim Kardashian, a major part of the media today that many people follow, started a trend  with when it came to body shape. One of the main things Kim Kardashian is known for is her body. People consider her to be today’s idea of a perfect body, with the curves and the thickness. She revealed her way of getting a bigger butt, given from her trainer Gunnar Peterson, which is by doing squats and other things in reps, using weights that is perfect for each body, but eventually having to use heavier weights. Hearing about this news and getting influenced by the body she has to get a body like that of their own, her fans and regular citizens began following after her ways. According to Daily Mail, a teenager named Charlotte Webb of 18 years old revealed how weights with squats gave her the perfect Kim Kardashian bottom. Webb also revealed that she began following after fitness icons on instagram because she was very unhappy with her body. If Kim Kardashian had not shown the world the body she had, people would not get the idea of working themselves out for the body they think is ideal. Webb and many other people realized what they wanted their body to look like and did what they had to do after seeing what Kim Kardashian looked like and what she did to keep her figure.

In Korea, plastic surgery is very big and popular. People that live in Korea get plastic surgery daily and it is seen as a normal thing. Some might get it for their birthday and some might get it just for their own happiness, but most get it due to celebrities getting their face done. They see that as inspiration for them to get it for themselves. The article The K-Pop Plastic Surgery Obsession states that “Feminist criticisms of body objectification are barely heard, and the racial argument that this surgery is a form of "trying to look white" has faded -- due to the rise of Korean pop music culture. K-pop has created a completely new beauty aesthetic that nods to Caucasian features but doesn't replicate them.” K-pop, which is Korean pop music, or even K-dramas, have korean celebrities who have admitted to getting plastic surgery. There was a plastic surgery called the v-line surgery, and after seeing the famous korean icons like Hani, Luna, and Hyomin get this surgery, many fans and regular people in the United States and in Korea began following after them, changing their face into what they thought was better. These people appear all over media and any social website. They provide pictures of their face on instagram, showing what they look like after these surgeries. Also according to the article, a teen named Hailey Kim told the press that she did not like what she saw when she looked in the mirror. She wanted to change a lot of her face and after seeing celebrities do so, she decided it was what she wanted as well. People get influenced by the cultural perspectives all around them to get their face done, and because the celebrities are all over social media. Those who follow and keep up with these icons see that this is happening and think that is it okay. They get the idea of wanting to get plastic surgery as well. They see it as something they want to do in life after seeing it from their most idled person and follow after them.

If teenagers stopped to think about it, they would realize that observing others is not just about learning how to be more like the person they want to be, but realizing what person they could be for the better, and learning more about themselves while approaching life. Being someone unique and different instead of someone trying to be like media celebrities is what teenagers should learn from media.

“How Celebrities Inspire Fashion Of The Youth.” Uloop, uiowa.uloop.com/news/view.php/112012/How-Celebrities-Inspire-Fashion-Of-The-Youth-. Accessed 25 Sept. 2017.

Akbareian, Emma. “Kylie Jenner lip filler confession leads to 70% increase in enquiries for the procedure.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 7 May 2015, www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/news/kylie-jenner-lip-filler-confession-leads-to-70-rise-in-enquiries-for-the-procedure-10232716.html. Accessed 25 Sept. 2017.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/05/the-k-pop-plastic-surgery-obsession/276215/

Spollen, Micki. “Fashion trends started by the Kardashians.” TheList.com, The List, 4 Apr. 2017, www.thelist.com/54591/fashion-trends-started-kardashians/.

Davis, Arianna, et al. “10 Ways Kim Kardashian Majorly Changed Pop Culture Forever.” Kim Kardashian West Social Influence Pop Culture Icon, www.refinery29.com/2016/10/126751/kim-kardashian-influencer-pop-culture.

Corrupt social systems have plagued the U.S. for decades, one of the most frequent and possibly overlooked types being the financial system. A major hub of all the action is Wall St., and their irresponsibility caused the wealth inequality to skyrocket, resulting in the hardship and suffering of the 99% and catering to the 1%. Even after all this, the government has yet to emplace the regulations necessary to fix the problem and stop it in its tracks. In order to begin mending the damage done by Wall St. merchant princes and financiers, the U.S. government must take the people who enabled it in the first place out of power.

  In 2007, Wall St. finance companies began to take part in subprime lending(companies were giving loans to people who were expected to have a great amount of trouble paying it off). These loans were plagued with high interest rates and poor quality collateral, meaning that it was close to impossible to keep up with and poorly insured, and the customers were struggling to pay off their loans. In the 2010 documentary Inside Job, Robert Gnaizda, former director of Greenlining Institute, one of the few companies the fought for public interest, stated:  “Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and Merrill Lynch were all in on this. Subprime lending alone had increased from 30 billion a year funding to over 600 billion a year in 10 years-they knew what was happening.” The companies were betting against loans they were selling people and then paid every time it failed. These companies-the same ones americans trusted to hold their money and receive sound financial advice from- were literally gambling their customers’ money for odds they created to be in their favor. What’s worse is that those in charge of overseeing these operations, to make sure underground scams like this don’t take place, opted for deregulations.

In December of 2000, the Commodity Futures Modernization Act (CFMA), written by financial lobbyists, was passed. This act banned the regulation of derivatives that allowed the companies to play into the hands of their own success. Any spark of hope that shone through to Congress was extinguished by the moguls who were benefiting from the corruption on Wall St., and anytime a company got close to being held responsible for this injustice they managed to be let off by some technicality left unchecked by the laws they created. Here lies the vicious cycles of corrupt institutions working together to get ahead as quickly and easily as possible, without the slightest regard to the country they are exploiting.

As Wall St. has corrupted the economy over the years, the government has remained stagnant and kept the same people in control of the departments that regulate Wall St. operations. They aren’t held accountable for their lack of morale and integrity and are even reappointed to hold these positions. John Thain, a successor of the previous CEO of Merrill Lynch, made $87,000,000 in 2007, and after the company was bailed out by U.S. tax dollars, the company then handed out millions in employee bonuses. Careless decisions like this resulted in the crash of the economy. These Companies had no cushion money to cover the costs of debt when everything fell apart. Though President Barack Obama’s presidential campaign was built on the promise of change, he, too, failed to bring it about as he reappointed former culprits of Wall St. corruption who were perpetrators in America’s financial deficit. . A few of these people include Tim Geithner, who aided Goldman Sachs’s gambling habits, Mark Patterson, former Goldman Sachs lobbyist, and Gary Gensler, who helped ban regulations.

If the U.S. government stopped to think about it, they would realize that Wall St. corruption does not just involve deregulation, but the people in charge of overseeing and enforcing them as well. They are the common denominator. The country can not begin to move past this until we are free of those whose selfish ways keep us from moving toward a better future. It has become very clear that whatever these people are or aren’t doing isn’t working for the country and expecting progress to come about without some sort of change is the very definition of insanity, yet we’ve been doing exactly that all this time. We are due for new leadership- leadership that doesn’t have corrupt history and shows promise of allegiance and integrity by putting public interest above their own.

Works Cited

Cole, Juan . “Top 10 Ways the US is the Most Corrupt Country in the World.” Informed Comment, 3 Dec. 2013, www.juancole.com/2013/12/corrupt-country-world.html. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.

“The White House.” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/. Accessed 3 Oct. 2017.

“Sony Pictures Classics presents Inside Job.” Sony Pictures Classic, www.sonyclassics.com/insidejob/. Accessed 2 Oct. 2017.

 Children have either a Positive or negative affect from playing video games. The Children think that it has a positive effect on their development. But their parents might think that Video games have a negative effect on the Child’s development. Parents Believe that video games are bad for children and think that it damages their brain. People believe that Video games help develop a kid’s personality in a positive way.

          The rating that parents hate the most are the mature rated games, because of the content. The content that these video games have are things that kids shouldn’t be experiencing such as gun violence, or blood. But teenagers think that the mature rated games are the best games. They think this because it is interesting to them. Violent video games that include profanity, blood, and gun violence are what kids are into these days.

The Positive effects of playing video games is that it gives their brain a workout.  In many video games, the skills required to win involve high level thinking. These skills are not even taught at school. The video games help improve a child’s hand-eye coordination.  “In shooting games, the character may be running rand shooting at the same time.” This quote is said by Daphne Bavalier, a Cognitive researcher. This requires the player to keep track of the position of the character, where they are going to, the character’s speed, where the gun is aiming, and  if the bullets are hitting the enemy. The player has to keep track of all of these things. This process requires a great deal of hand-eye coordination. As a result children can gain these skills while playing a violent video game.

The negative effect to playing video games are not in all games. Violence in the video games are the main reasons why parents think that video games are bad. According to Daphne Bavalier], Children who play more violent video games are more likely to have increased aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. This is not true for all children who play violent video games. But they can cause children to have bad behavior.

            When asked, Parents might say that Video games are bad for their child’s health. But on closer inspection, video games actually influence their perspective on the world. Although Video games may only seem important to Children that play video games, it should in fact concern anyone who cares about their development.

Works CIted

• “ESRB Ratings Guide.” Rating categories, content descriptors, and interactive elements from ESRB, www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_guide.aspx.

• “The Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games.” Raise Smart Kid, 20 Aug. 2017, www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games.

Amado Alfaro-Allah

English 3

Larissa Pahomov

9-25-17

More than just a hero

At one point, every child wants to be a superhero who does all the essential super hero deeds: saving people from tragedy, defeating bad guys, and being world renowned. The idea usually finds its way to young children through comic books, television and movies. But what happens when the situations get more complicated? What happens when a evil person is doing bad things for a good cause? Would it still be right to put them in jail? In real life these “good guys” & “bad guys” situations are complex because evil or bad is a relative term, two sides of the same coin.  Since people don’t have super powers, how when heroes who are just average or don’t have any power become relatable. The qualities that make a true superhero is when they are virtuous and powerful. The reason why stories that surround heroes who aren't the strongest and so many people are better than them. That's what makes stories so interesting and fulfilling to watch.

Heroes can either be anywhere on a relatable to powerful scale and amoral to virtuous scale. With relatable being typical human things and powerful being almighty and god like. The other has virtuos with heroes being centered on justice and very uptight about how saving every person is a necessity. Then the amoral heroes who’ll do anything to accomplish their goal no matter what the cost. For example, heroes in the majority of movies like Superman or the flash are Powerful beings with virtuous outlooks. A good example is in the “Man of Steel” movie from (name the year) when Lois Lane is in danger, even though Superman is being undercover he still decides to blow his cover to save Lois Lane. Then on the other side there are heroes like the Punisher who are amoral and kind of powerful. In the series movie and comic books Frank Castle a.k.a The Punisher, decides to seek out every single villain in Hell’s Kitchen and kill them. An example of this is that when the Punisher is confronted by the Russian Mafia he kills everyone until one man is begging for his life saying “Please I have a family” which the Punisher responds to “I had a family once” right before killing him. This is a key attribute for whom the punisher is, and shows that he’s so burdened by his loneliness and believes that the only way of doing good is getting rid of bad people all together.

The division of the heroes struggle can be seen in the book by Joseph Campbell The Hero With A Thousand Faces. The idea is that there are three main parts (departure, initiation, and return) with many other specific ideas under them. In stories the hero gets called to adventure, gets a great power of some sort, then defeats the evil, and promises to only use his powers for good. That's what makes so many heroes so predictable and alike today, because they follow this same narrative over and over again. These usually look cool and feel good to watch but people can never see themselves as these heroes because of their powers and set and stone ideals.

That's what makes all the heroes not on the virtuous powerful spot so interesting. Take for example a powerful hero, but a relatable one like Gon from Hunter x Hunter he’s from a fictional  show that's about exploration and discovery during the series the viewer follows him and his team to become hunters, an elite group who hunt for items, artifacts and even sometimes people. Gon is about 11 when he sets out to see to begin his adventure. He’s powerful and has superhuman abilities, but at the end of the day he is just a child and gets sad when he doesn’t win or angry because he knows he’s not the strongest and theres not alot he can do about it . What this means is that even though they have powers that give them an advantage over the common man, they are still weak to the surroundings around them, unlike the virtuous, powerful heroes who can change the surrounding around them. Characters like Shinji from NGE or Gon from Hunter x Hunter are relatable because even though they have powers, they can’t solve every little problem by hitting someone or power of the mind. In their world there are a lot of other people who are better than them and events or parts of their lives that just happen that they are in no control over whatsoever. Just like school children who can’t just fight the president or politician in power, they have a very little amount of impact on the world around them. With one show called Kaji about a compulsive gambler, he’s not very strong and hasn’t been really lucky with bad luck seemingly surrounding this character because in the first episode he is struggling from debt, because of a paper he signed for a co-worker years ago. He does anything it takes to win in the end, he knows he has no power and is weak physical and it frustrates him. Knowing that the world looks at him as a bum and he can’t really do anything about it. He knows that every time he goes into a Casino, no matter how much he might win they still make money. That's why watching him succeed matters so much to the viewer.

In the other spot there are powerful heroes but that are amoral, what this essentially means is that they are a super god like deity but they have some sort of flaw. People may argue that heroes like Superman flaw and that's kryptonite but it's not really a flaw more as illusion that the writers use to make a seem like superman is in danger because the writers know that superman is all powerful. So when there no weakness to the hero in the scene or panel you know they’ll be ok. Now when a hero who has amoral ideals it's hard to tell weather that hero is a bad person or just following the wrong ideals. So for example if there is a hero who is killing innocent people but the reason he kills innocent people is because it's the only way to save his hometown saving a million more other people in the process does that make him evil? Many people who have taken the trolley dilemma which is the idea if a trolley is speeding down train tracks and essentially what the person has to do is choose if you want the trolley to hit five people or one person. Many people have chosen to have the trolley kill one person rather than five, If someone must sacrifice one person to save five other people that doesn’t make the person evil necessarily.  

In the end the idea that makes heroes feel so relatable is not the powers and undaunting spirit but rather their room to grow. The idea of having a hero lose and get beaten up, to have him not at the top of everything in the world. (Christopher Vogler guide to a hero with a thousand faces) “The hero’s journey is meaningless without some trophy or prize” Essentially the prize for the heroes such as superman is the day is saved and he gets the girl but for the average hero the prize is the journey of growth and self acceptance.

When asked, fiction hero fans might say that it doesn’t matter what the hero stands for as long as the defeat the bad guys, but on closer inspection,the relatability of the hero to the reader or viewer directly affects how the audience feels.  When the  viewer starts zoning out or doing something else, that means that the character or hero in this case was flat and overdone. That's why when a hero is interesting on screen and the decisions made are unusually, it can be the thing that the viewer sees on tv while doing something and then stops to sit down and watch or read whatever the hero is in because the hero was written well and felt fresh.

Works CIted

http://www.thewritersjourney.com/hero's_journey.htm, Cambell Joseph, pg 2, “The writers journey.com” published,2008, Opened 9-18-17

Vogler Christopher"A Practical Guide to Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces" by Christopher Vogler” published 1949

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424369/quotes, Mark Braulent (Scriptwriter) “Punisher 2004 game” Imbd.com published 2005, Opened 9-20-17

http://screwattack.roosterteeth.com/post/51229635 Joe. K, “Screwattack.com” Oct-4-2015, Opened 9-21-17

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=8384 Nobuyuki Fukumoto “Animenewsnetwork.com” published 1996, Opened 9-21-17

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0770828/plotsummary Warner bros pictures, “imbd.com” first published June 18 2013, Opened 9-22-17

http://theconversation.com/the-trolley-dilemma-would-you-kill-one-person-to-save-five-57111 Lauren, D, Olempio, “The trolley dillema” “Theconversation.com”June 2, 2016, Opened 9-23-17

She’s known as one of the most influential moguls of 2017: Kardashian family member Kylie Jenner. Famous for her backside and pouty lips, a simple search can reveal her instagram, which is practically parading an ideal body type and sexual objectification. However, her physical appearance is an unrealistic look for girls all over America. By promoting this, she is adding to the low self-esteem and low confidence that is directly linked to the ideal of perfection. Her look, and body is what is deemed as beautiful in today’s society. She has a daily following of 19,182 and an overall following of 97.5 million people. With more than half being impressionable teenage girls. Kylie Jenner’s powerful social media influence is leaving a negative impact on the beauty standards for young women because it encourages unrealistic ideas of perfection.

There is a constant reminder of what is beautiful in magazines, advertisements, and social media platforms. With Kylie Jenner being a major influence among millennials, companies use her to promote their products. They specifically look at Kylie, because of in fact how engaging her 98.9 million followers are. The  products she promotes include “Flat Tummy Tea,” and waist trainers. Flat tummy tea is a company that sells detox products that “promote weight loss.” They claim their products are all natural, has vitamins and the right herbs to help you lose weight. They also sell things like waist trainers and weight loss shakes. Instead of kylie  being outright and saying her body was achieved with surgery, she says, “ My flat tummy secret is my detox tea… keeping my tea with me keeps my waistline slim.” This leads to people buying these things thinking that they actually work just alone without proper exercise and diet, they are being deceived. There have been many cases where girls have ended up in the hospital because of waist training. This is due to impermeable damage to the organs. On Flat tummy tea’s website, in big white letters says flat tummies with a big heart. The sites promotes being skinny as wonderful and perfect, compared to an overall healthy lifestyle.

Another way Kylie Jenner makes beauty seem unrealistic is in terms of identity. There is not any diversity in the models on their page, one of these models include Kylie. “According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, about 70 percent of girls grades five through tenth said images influence their ideals of a perfect body.” A lot of impressionable girls are seeing that, with kylie getting 165,000 searches in a month for her page. In marketing, there are certain things advertisers do to grasp the attention of consumers. One of these things is  called dismemberment, which she does on her social media feeds. It is when there is focus on one part of the body. Like her breast or butt for example. This is done only for the purpose of selling a product. This is dehumanizing to women, showing that the only way to get a point across is to objectify yourself. Also detaching the face, and other basic human features to only show the specific “feminine” ones are basically shouting the idea that women are nothing more than their bodies. A instagram post, which dates to August 21st  has  kylie selling her new t-shirts. These t-shirts have her in a bikini, which leaves nothing to the imagination. This shirt does not have her face or other features. Everything is cut off except her body.

She has become an expert in selling herself as a sex symbol. Her body is a brand. The business tactics used aren’t promoting anything positive for young girls.These pictures show beauty that isn't attainable. Jenner wasn’t born this way, her lips and breast have been achieved through surgeries. The Kardashian/Jenner surgeon, Simon Ourian states that just 10 years ago his clientele that was between the ages 15-19 only made up 1%. They now make up 10% of overall clients. There is no wrinkle, roll or flaw in site on Kylie. The young girls that fit in with her 97 million followers are going to like these pictures, and compare themselves in every way possible. These pictures show them that beauty is based on looks. An example of this would be the Kylie Jenner lip challenge. In order to look like kylie jenner, girls would suck on anything that would make their lips swell up. This did nothing but left girls with bruised or busted lips. According to an article by Mac Cosmetics. Shortly after this challenge, there was high demand for lip plumpers,

Although Kylie Jenner may not think that sexually objectifying her body to young girls matters much, her influence goes beyond just posting photos to them. In today’s time, she holds a lot of power in the minds of today's youth. They are looking for a role model, someone to look to or to aspire to be.In an interview Kylie mentions that she basically isn’t going to stop doing what she wants, no matter the consequences. "I feel limited in some ways because I have such young fans. But I'm okay with that; I do everything I want to do." She’s acknowledging her actions, but is completely disregarding what these actions do.  In the same interview she says she knows she has “young fans…”  Having this power, means being responsible. There are countless others like Selena Gomez, who holds the most followers on instagram who do not objectify themselves. In comparison to Kylie, she constantly promotes lupus research, and post photos that show her doing community work. For example, a post that is showing you how to reach out to the representatives of your state for DACA’s or  dreamers.  Which are immigrants who have come to the country as children, that are protected by a bill passed by Barack Obama. Her post are nothing but positive, and if she is promoting something, her body is in full view and it is appropriate for her young followers. There is nothing wrong with expressing one's sexuality, but it should be in moderation or in private. With adolescents being one of the most impressionable age groups, many girls are still trying to figure themselves out, and Jenner’s behavior messes with that process.

Citations

Urgo. “Detailed Instagram Statistics for kyliejenner.” Kyliejenner Instagram Stats Summary Profile (Social Blade Instagram Statistics), socialblade.com/instagram/user/kyliejenner/monthly. Accessed 25 Sept. 2017.

Lister, Mary. “33 Mind-Boggling Instagram Stats & Facts for 2017.” WordStream, 21 Aug. 2017, www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2017/04/20/instagram-statistics. Accessed 25 Sept. 2017.

Boone, Carly. “Beauty vs. Self-Image.” Prezi.com, 15 Feb. 2017, prezi.com/l9syqppjzwmr/beauty-vs-self-image/. Accessed 25 Sept. 2017

“Kylie Jenner Quotes.” BrainyQuote, Xplore, www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/k/kyliejenne825427.html.

Eli Zimmerman

Ms. Pahomov

English 3

September 25, 2017

The Unfortunate Truth of the Fishing industry

The fishing industry has been strangeling the environment for the past century.  Many hopefuls believe that if fishing industry is regulated and reduced the oceans fish population may thrive once again. However, this hope is unrealistic because,  the fishing industry has such an important role for developed nations and economy’s it would be  impossible to reverse what is happening without collapsing the world economy at the same time.  

Since the beginning of civilization, fishing has been a staple source of food for people. Nowadays it’s estimated that the total value of fish exports in underdeveloped countries is worth more to impoverished nations than the rice, coffee, sugar, and tea industry’s combined (Marine Stewardship Council). In some cases it was found that certain poor coastal African countries like gambia are actually not being looked at close enough and experts are underestimating the importance of fish in their marketplace. Meaning, not only are fish incredibly important to thriving economies, but are also a necessity to poor coastal countries economies. The fish trade is a 258 billion dollar industry, because majority of struggling countries happen to be located on a coast meaning this means fishing is most likely the main source of income and food. With that being said, fishing is so deeply rooted in the culture of hundreds of countries because both democracy and trade are built around it. The end of commercial fishing would cause a collapse and a lead to bankruptcy around the world for poor countries.

People debate that a simple solution to the problem of overfishing is to tighten regulations on commercial fishing and create artificial fish farms, which would deter people from foraging for wild fish. If a country like the U.S would implement a ban on commercial fishing and invest in farms, it would affect the global economy in monumental proportions (Food and Water Watch). Although it may be easier on the environment, use less resources and lower the price of fish, millions of local fishermen will lose their jobs causing an instant collapse of markets. It takes far fewer people to run a fish farm than it does to man a fishing vessel. Millions of people would be out of jobs, consumer rates will plummet sparking a much higher supply than demand which would cause companies to be forced to let workers go. This is due to the thriving fishing industry and its influence on the world.

Asia has been an leading cause of overfishing for centuries because the Asian fish market is the largest in the world. The selling prices of fish have skyrocketed causing the fishing industry to be incredibly lucrative. China being the largest exporter of fish, caught 32.5 million tons of fish in 2014 (The World Bank). That means that the average Chinese citizen consumes a staggering 350 pounds of fish a year (Green Facts), which makes up for nearly a third of the weight of food the average human eats a year. If China were to stop fishing completely every single citizen would be losing essentially a meals worth of food a day causing the country to starve. This would send the world's most populated country into an era of perpetual hunger which other countries could simply not meet the demand for. China and Japan have no other protein alternatives, fish is a necessity for their diet.  

Although people who do not consider seafood a regular part of their diet may not think that overfishing matters much, its influence goes beyond fisherman to the global economy. “Within the next decade, fish in the ocean will become so scarce that fishing will no longer be profitable”-Andrew Jacobs. If countries decide to call for harsher regulations then the world risks spikes in unemployment, hunger, and poverty. If the nations continue as it is then these problems will inevitably happen as well. Knowing this,  the world may face a new problem that cannot be solved, which is another example of what greed and ignorance can lead to. For example Japanese approved vessels have been found fishing in illegal water hundreds of times.  For these reasons it is truly impossible to halter commercial fishing on planet earth.  

Works Cited:

“China's Overfishing Crashes Fishing Industry.” Global Animal, 1 May 2017, www.globalanimal.org/2017/05/01/the-king-of-the-sea-how-chinas-king-sized-appetite-is-sinking-the-global-fishing-industry/ . Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.

“10 Alarming Facts About Overfishing.” One Green Planet, 17 Dec. 2014, www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/10-alarming-facts-about-overfishing/.  Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.

“Oceans, Fisheries and Coastal Economies.” World Bank, www.worldbank.org/en/topic/environment/brief/oceans . Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.

“Fisheries Latest data.” Fisheries: 6. How much fish is consumed worldwide?, www.greenfacts.org/en/fisheries/l-2/06-fish-consumption.htm .Accessed 24 Sept. 2017

Works Cited:

“China's Overfishing Crashes Fishing Industry.” Global Animal, 1 May 2017, www.globalanimal.org/2017/05/01/the-king-of-the-sea-how-chinas-king-sized-appetite-is-sinking-the-global-fishing-industry/ . Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.

“10 Alarming Facts About Overfishing.” One Green Planet, 17 Dec. 2014, www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/10-alarming-facts-about-overfishing/.  Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.

“Oceans, Fisheries and Coastal Economies.” World Bank, www.worldbank.org/en/topic/environment/brief/oceans . Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.

“Fisheries Latest data.” Fisheries: 6. How much fish is consumed worldwide?, www.greenfacts.org/en/fisheries/l-2/06-fish-consumption.htm .Accessed 24 Sept. 2017

        How can gym stereotypes be funny

When working out in the glorious house of gainz, in the zone with one's eyes on the prize, other people's workout distractions can be annoying, whether it’s [describe a few annoying behaviors here]. But videos made for entertainment shed some light on the comical side of these potentially annoying distractions.  Videos about gym stereotypes are funny because they take habits that can be found annoying in a space for working out and then put a funny and creative spin their behavior, shedding light on these kinds of people

According to the “Dude Perfect Stereotypes ” video series on YouTube, gym stereotypes are funny because of  how true they are.. From the screamers to Mr. Excuses (the slackers) they all happen and even though they are something that annoys a lot of people they can distract others and interrupt their workouts when trying to lift and hit the weights, Dude Perfect found a way to make them funny. In one video, they expand on the slacker behavior by showing a character who had many excuses to not go to the gym. Always having something to do or things that come up and ruin his gym plans. Or the screamers who would scream and grunt and make loud noises when trying to lift.

For gym bros and broettes trying to get swole and a sick pump for any reason whether it's getting that summer body, changing one's current lifestyle, or just wanting to better one’s self in one aspect of life. A gym is a place where everyone gathers to help reach a similar goal of one another. Now with a diverse group of people, it is certain there will be a diverse plethora of ways,habits, forms, and “techniques’ that people will do when they're working out. According to ‘’elitedaily’’ ( a website that is based on fitness and the problems that you might encounter) Going to the gym has many benefits such as improving one's sleep, feeling better, some may be less stressed, and is even known to give a self esteem boost.

Some habits can be considered to be worse or more annoying than others and certain people who are found doing them a lot do not go without notice. With those habits that people see and may or may not find annoying is where the stereotype is formed. A special group of people not chosen in any way just gain these habits that are noticed by others and therefore the stereotype is made. And proven by Dude Perfect, these habit based stereotypes can be funny if looked at in a lighthearted,  way. By giving them funny names, such as [name them here] and maybe even a slight exaggeration these sometimes annoying behaviors can be pretty funny.

Of the 2,000 people polled, 74 percent said fellow gym goers were guilty of bad gym etiquette, and many implicated themselves as well: 49 percent admitted to having used water bottles and towels that aren't actually theirs; 33 percent revealed they exercise without deodorant; 18 percent fessed up to working out despite coughing, sneezing and being sick; and 16 percent flat-out said they don’t wash their clothes between workouts. Skeeved out? Us too.” In this quote, it talks about the different behaviors in a way that one’s possibly see at the gym and the quote above sheds a lot of light on how bad these habits formed stereotypes can be. It shows the nastier versions of things that people don't particularly think about where the more obvious stereotypes are not as mentioned but still do hit on the  topic of the statement of “bad gym etiquette”.With the percentages added in this shows the reader how many people do these thing which is a lot compared to what one might notice. It also shows that to gym bros and broettes this is a fairly huge topic, so it only makes sense that a video from Dude Perfect would be so successful..

If gym bros and broettes stopped to think about it, they would realize that gym stereotypes can is not just about the fact that it can be annoying and distracting in the gym, but can also be funny if looked at in the right light!

Sean Johnson

9/20/2017

English 3

Ms. Pahomov

What is Perfection: the Halo Effect

The beauty advertisment industry is conscienceless. It is a complex system which dependant and cares about profit more than anything.  In order to make this profit, the people who create successful advertisements must be very intelligent, especially when it comes to manipulation of the average person’s desires. Through advertisements and subtle input, beauty adverts has successfully created a “Halo effect” around their products. A Halo effect that shines only on the pretty or attractive, while casting a shadow upon the average or ugly. The Halo effect has a negative impact on one considered conventionally average or  ugly, because through the relentless advertisements, we taught that pretty is perfect.

When most people describe beauty, it usually revolves around five human features, things such as symmetry of the face and body, a thin or athletic build, a big posterior or genitalia, large chests, and long customizable hair. These traits are deemed to be perfect which is what causes the Halo effect. This effect is most easily described as when something or someone is perceived as superior to another person or thing based on a certain trait or a certain few traits. This is a problem due to how tiny the percentage of people is who actually fit the ideal standard for their gender, in fact, only 1 in 5,000 people are generally considered “hot” (Business Insider). This problem leads to depression at a premature age and feelings of self doubt and inadequateness. The likelihood of feeling this way has and will only increase due to the accessibility of the internet and exposure to more and more potentially harmful types of advertisements. Children will have to learn to ignore the abundance of ads or suffer from the feelings of inadequacy.

The Fashion Advertising industry is very conscious when it comes to the subtlety of their adverts. Contrary to what many may think, building the image of the perfect person takes time and repetition, most commercials tend to add hints of the models body, before doing a full body shot to push the idea of an ideal body type. A side effect from this comes at the cost of the models mental health . According to a study lead by the huffington post, 64% of models have been asked by their modelling agencies to lose weight , 31% also admitting to having eating disorders because of it.. Creating the high standard for health manifests as a double edged blade that hurts the model, and the consumer.

Social media is a place where people of any skin tone or age can interact and share memories, experiences and ideas. But social media like Instagram and Facebook also serve as a medium for subtle advertisements especially when it comes to beauty. It is estimated that the average person visually consumes around 2,000 beauty advertisements per day. This usually has a massive affect on the mind of young teens, the majority being female. Studies have found that at least 27% of young females when asked if they felt pressured to be pretty by advertisements replied yes, due to the constant bombardment coming from beauty pages on Instagram and even the spam magazines that are delivered to homes, contribute to this lowered self esteem in young adults.

This effect reaches more than just self-esteem. According to a study conducted by Daniel Hamermesh, author of the Title “Beauty Pays,” above average looking people tend to receive 3-4% more on their annual salary than what an “uglier” person would usually make. This inequitable percentage can start to add up over time, and in their lifetime a normally perceived “good” looking person will receive up to 230,000 dollars more than their “ugly” counterpart. Even an average looking person will receive at least 140,000 dollars more in their lifetime (WSJ). Daniel Hamermesh often expresses that uglier people shouldn’t go into occupations where a professional look matters, like sales and modelling because of this injustice when it comes to getting paid. This harsh reality is all the fabrication of the Halo effect that humans created.

The Halo effect is responsible for the wide gap in pay as well as depression in some young adults, but the Halo effect is man made and was perfected over the many years that it has existed.  If the masses stopped to think about it, they would realize that beauty is not just about looks and features, but marketing as well. People should not see beauty or perfection as something that people are born with, but instead they should see it as something that is exclusively within the eye of the beholder. So if the population wants this system to change, then they have to change it themselves.

Works Cited

1.

Ries., Al, and Al Ries Al Ries is chairman of Ries & Ries, an Atlanta-based marketing strategy firm he runs with his daughter and partner Laura.. “Understanding Marketing Psychology and the Halo Effect.” Ad Age, 17 Apr. 2006, adage.com/article/al-ries/understanding-marketing-psychology-halo-effect/108676/. Accessed 21 Sept. 2017.

2.

Shellenbarger, Sue. “On the Job, Beauty Is More Than Skin-Deep.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 27 Oct. 2011, www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203687504576655331418204842. Accessed 21 Sept. 2017.

3.

“Beauty...and the Beast of Advertising.” Beauty...and the Beast of Advertising | Center for Media Literacy, www.medialit.org/reading-room/beautyand-beast-advertising. Accessed 21 Sept. 2017.

4.

Rudder, Christian. “Surprising Statistics About Hot People Versus Ugly People.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 13 Jan. 2011, www.businessinsider.com/surprising-statistics-about-hot-people-versus-ugly-people-2011-1. Accessed 21 Sept. 2017.

In a world where people depend on each other, many of these people depend on coffee as  well. It doesn’t matter where anyone is, but every morning, anyone can and will smell the smell of coffee, see coffee being consumed, or made by someone. Although coffee is not the only caffeinated consument, like coffee there are alternate fluid substances people may prefer. In a generation where people are always trying to succeed and “stay on the ball,” caffeine is something that a large amount of the people in this world depend on for their everyday lives.  Caffeine is not an addictive stimulant, but has the ability to alter and change how a person feels  mindfully.

According to The Drug & Health Blog article of The National Institutes of Health, “The world’s caffeine obsession can be described as a “dependency,” but is not an addiction.” Although caffeine seems like an addictive stimulant in a person’s everyday life, it is actually a dependent for a person to go about their day. Many of these caffeine consumers feel as if they are unable to function or perform their best when they do not get their daily dose. This is starting to sound a lot like a person who is addicted to drugs, but no, it is not the same. Caffeine, it is a widespread obsession that many people use to be more alert, which is also why it is the most consumed mood altering stimulant in the world. Again, the The Drug & Health Blog, from the same Institute previously given, states that “-- like many drugs -- caffeine enhances dopamine signaling in the brain.” Dopamine is a chemical that controls movement, motivation, and emotions. Since the dopamine in caffeine enhances the brain signaling, this makes a person more hyper and awake. No one likes to feel super tired or be sleepy when they have a full day’s worth of plans lined up. The success of one’s life comes in when the fact that people’s attitudes and actions differ by the level of alert and awakeness they feel. Therefore, consuming some sort of caffeine becomes a habit.

Caffeine is an effective way to get that energy that almost no one wakes up with. As stated before, caffeine contains a chemical called dopamine (which controls and changes the movement, motivation, and emotions by signaling the brain of a person). From an article about caffeine addiction by Deane Alban, this person has stated that although there are many upsides to “being addicted” to caffeine, particular things from the downside may not be good for a person. All of this would be a personal matter depending on the person’s body’s conditions. Alban also mentions that one of the main side effects of caffeine (not true energy) makes a person super tired, therefore if a person were to stop consuming caffeine completely, the withdrawal would be a burden. Alban gives a metaphor, “your brain on caffeine is like a car with no brakes and the accelerator pedal jammed to the floor.” Because the caffeine makes a person productive and more awake, during that time while the caffeine is rushing through the person, they are being drained of their true energy. Being so, once the caffeine runs out of the body, the body will remain super tired.

At the same time, studies that have been done on people who consume coffee on a daily basis shows otherwise. “The pre-clinical studies from The Institute of Scientific Information on Coffee shows that when a person drinks approximately two large cups of coffee in a day, it does not activate the brain circuit of dependence in humans, but activated regions involved in attention, vigilance, and anxiety…” This is saying that when a person says they depend on coffee to be “alive” and work efficiently, they actually mean that they enjoy what caffeine gives them which is activation of attention. When a person’s attention is activated, they would feel more productive and actually working their way up to succeed in life. Also this study is based just upon coffee. Throughout the day, people may consume more caffeine through other drinks or foods that they are consuming to trigger the dependency. Based on this study, people do not necessarily depend on caffeine or are  addicted, they just enjoy the certain activations it gives to their body. Being so, an article written by Karen Fernau from USA TODAY states that 83% of the adults in the U.S drinks coffee, meaning that on average they each drink three cups of coffee per day. Over half of the adults in this country drinks coffee daily, consuming at least three cups per day. The sole purpose of this would be what it does for the person. From personal experience, no one is born to like coffee. It is believed that the habitual tradition of waking up to consume coffee is what makes the people desire and depend on coffee.

When asked, people who depend on caffeine might say that they feel like they are addicted to consuming caffeine to better their daily lives. On a closer inspection, however, caffeine is not an addictive stimulant, but it does alternate a person’s mood and way of focus because of the dopamine in the caffeine. Although people of all natures may believe that caffeine is “addictive.” It is actually something that people enjoy and/or depend on to go on about their daily lives without fear of getting hooked.

Works CIted

“Caffeine and dependence.” Coffee and Health, 13 Sept. 2017, www.coffeeandhealth.org/topic-overview/caffeine-and-dependence-2/.

“Is Caffeine Really Addictive?” NIDA for Teens, teens.drugabuse.gov/blog/post/caffeine-really-addictive.

Alban, Deane. “All About Caffeine Addiction and Withdrawal & How to Quit.” Be Brain Fit, 24 Sept. 2017, bebrainfit.com/caffeine-addiction-withdrawal.

Stöppler, MD Melissa Conrad. “Caffeine Addiction: Can You Quit? by MedicineNet.Com.” MedicineNet, www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=43492.

Republic, Karen Fernau The Arizona. “Coffee grinds fuel for the nation.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 9 Apr. 2013, www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/04/09/coffee-mania/2069335/.

Most education programs in the developed world promote writing over art. This is a given. Above the kindergarten level, educators and parents take for granted that mastering language arts is indispensable in a competitive world, whereas fine arts are deprioritized as extracurricular. In a typical American school, students are required four years of English or literature as core subjects to graduate compared to no requirements at all in fine arts. However, upon in-depth research, the ostensible differences between the two subjects dissipates. In reality, fine arts and writing actually boast the same psychological benefits because both activities promote creativity and decrease stress.

While school can be strict and regimented, Creativity is the elusive gem that most educators try to refine in their students. Instead of relying on one prescribed way to develop creativity, research has discovered that a short session of making art can be as effective as creative writing. In the articles, The Modification of Sentence Structure and Its Relationship To Subjective Judgements of Creativity in Writing[3] and Educational Research: The Art of Problem Solving[4], investigators utilized a pretest/posttest design to quantify the increase of creative ability in children after writing and making art, respectively. In the writing study, fifth graders were asked to respond to writing prompts, whereas in the art study fifty graders engaged in sketching tasks. The children were assessed on their creativity and problem-solving abilities before and after the exercise. The results showed that the children were more likely to answer questions that stumped them in the pretest after both the writing and the art exercise. Both fine arts and writing contribute to psychological well-being from a creative standpoint.

One of the greatest benefits that both creative mediums possess is their stress relieving abilities. An article by the Huffington post explains how artistic expression can relieve stress and anxiety by temporarily distancing the artist from their problems.[5] A similar phenomena can be found in journal writing. An article from Harvard Health demonstrates the positive impacts that writing with emotions can have on one’s stress and experience of trauma.[6] Subjects mainly experienced a reduction in stress and anxiety. Frequently, both emotional writing and art are proposed as valid antidotes to excessive stress. This proposition is rarely disputed among the general public, yet it is not reflected in the American education. The psychological similarity between the two creative medium is only the tip of the iceberg when one examines the uncanny neurological equivalence of the two creative outlets.

The fact that the visual parts of the brain are activated while drawing may seem obvious. It may be less apparent that the same “visual and image processing” in the “parieto-frontal-temporal network”[7] are engaged during writing tasks. In a study entitled fMRI study testing the Neural Correlates of Creative Writing, Shah et al. reported that writing activates “a right lateralized activation pattern in bilateral hippocampi, bilateral temporal poles...and bilateral posterior cingulate cortex.” This pattern of activation improves “episodic memory retrieval, free-associative and spontaneous cognition, and semantic integration.” Another study focusing on the cortical integration differences of artists versus non artists discovered that fine artists also tend to have a “stronger right-brain presence.”[8] Furthermore, “artists showed significantly stronger delta band synchronization and alpha band desynchronization than did the non-artists,” [8] suggesting that artists can handle a larger “cognitive load,” have better “storage and controlled attention in the memory tasks,” and can better cope with “dual tasks.”[9] This means the regular production of art exercises the brain in such a way that one’s memory, cognitive speed, and integration ability are improved just like writing was shown to do in Shah et al. Art and writing affect a subject’s neurological functions in similar ways.

So what caused a shift away from the arts in education? The reason can be traced to the federal No Child Left Behind and Common Core programs, which prioritized science and math over other subjects. In LA County, for example, 1/3 of the arts teachers were let go between 2008 and 2012[1], and for half of K-5 students, art was cut all together.[2] How can a program that’s supposedly trying to make education better, do such a terrible job keeping something as strong as art? It is obvious that art is seen as something beneath other activities such as writing even though they are so similar. An programs like the No Child Left Behind and Common Core are what continue to push our culture in the ignorant direction of ignoring art.

Despite these paired benefits of  writing and fine arts, writing continues to be a core subject in schools and art is often pushed to the sidelines. Casual endeavors into writing and fine arts can result in a significant boost in creativity and problem solving abilities for all ages. Both subjects are effective stress relievers, and repeated practice of either creative medium results in similar brain activations and modifications. Given these facts, fine arts should be given a greater focus in schools and deserves the same respect as language arts.

Works Cited

1. Staff, EdSource. “Effort to revive arts programs in schools gains momentum.” EdSource, edsource.org/2014/effort-to-revive-arts-programs-in-schools-gains-momentum/63507. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.

2. “Let’s get rid of Art Education in schools.” Danny Gregory, 5 Oct. 2016, dannygregorysblog.com/2016/04/15/lets-get-rid-of-art-education-in-schools/. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.

3. Maloney, Karen Blase, and B. L. Hopkins. “THE MODIFICATION OF SENTENCE STRUCTURE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO SUBJECTIVE JUDGEMENTS OF CREATIVITY IN WRITING.” Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 27 Feb. 2013, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1901/jaba.1973.6-425/full. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.

4. “Educational research: The art of problem solving.” ArtsEdSearch, www.artsedsearch.org/summaries/educational-research-the-art-of-problem-solving. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.

5. Frank, Priscilla. “Study Says Making Art Reduces Stress, Even If You Kind Of Suck At It.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 16 June 2016, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/study-says-making-art-reduces-stress_us_576183ece4b09c926cfdccac. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.

6. Publishing, Harvard Health. “Writing about emotions may ease stress and trauma.” Harvard Health, www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/writing-about-emotions-may-ease-stress-and-trauma. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.

7. Shah, Carolin, et al. “Neural correlates of creative writing: An fMRI Study.” Human Brain Mapping, Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company, 8 Dec. 2011, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hbm.21493/full. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.

8. Bhattacharya, Joydeep, and Hellmuth Petsche. “Drawing on mind's canvas: Differences in cortical integration patterns between artists and non‐artists.” Human Brain Mapping, Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company, 25 Apr. 2005, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hbm.20104/full. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.

9. “Sensitivity of human EEG alpha band desynchronization to different working memory components and increasing levels of memory load.” Neuroscience Letters, Elsevier, 5 Nov. 2003, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304394003011352. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.

Additional Sources

1. https://lifehacker.com/the-psychological-benefits-of-writing-regularly-1783693547

2. https://bebrainfit.com/the-health-benefits-of-art-are-for-everyone/

3. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0191886995002022

Many students get home and the first thing they do is homework. They’re pressured by their parents to do their homework while simultaneously being encouraged to spend time with family, eat, spend time with friends, go outside, participate in sports or other extracurricular activities, and sleep for 7+ hours. Rather than motivating students to master material and learn efficiently, homework negatively impacts students by taking away from personal time that is necessary for them to lead balanced lives.

In an article published by The Washington Post by Gerald K LeTendre, a professor of education in education policy studies at Penn State, states that, “Worldwide, homework is not associated with high national levels of academic achievement.” This means that there is no direct correlation between homework and test grades, and very few studies have been able to prove this, and the ones that have were more of a reach. At Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia,  16 out of 19 of the students in Fire Stream agreed that homework adds extra stress onto them or takes time away from other things that they’re encouraged to do, such as sports, extra classes, extracurricular activities, family time, etc. This means that just over 84% of students in Fire Stream have agreed that homework is added stress and takes time away from things that they’re encouraged to do outside of school. Many students participate in these activities because they’re passionate about them and it makes them happy. Sports and exercise is proven to relieve stress, homework adds stress and if time for this stress reliever is taken away that just means more stress, this can cause more problems in many aspects of their lives.

In an article written by CNN about how homework has been banned in some cities and not others, “What is clear is that parents and kids don't live in the world of academic research; they live in the real world where there are piles of homework on the kitchen table.” Meaning that students don’t have the luxury of just easily saying that homework helps their academic performance or not, and they don’t have the luxury of just not doing homework. That is especially true to highschool students who have to regularly chose between sleep and doing work, especially when they get homework from every class every night and homework can be up to 30% of their grade. Students in every grade get piles of homework and a lot of the time they don’t have resources on hand to see if they’re right or to get help, meaning they might do it wrong and not learn anything at all.  Even if students do try and do their homework it might take a while, according to Nationwide Children’s Hospital adolescents should be getting 9 to 9 ½ hours of sleep per night. Due to homework and trying to fit other after school activities in many adolescents don’t get the necessary amount of sleep. Sleep deprivation in teens has many negative effects such as mood changes, being more inclined to engage in risky behavior such as driving fast, drinking, etc, doing worse in school, and declined cognitive abilities.

In an article published by the New York Times, a mother explained how… , “The stress homework places on families starts early.” The article also talks about how homework takes away from family time and family activities. The author also says that her kids “are fighting not just over the homework, but also over their share of my coveted attention and my unique ability to download and print images.” This shows how homework adds extra pressure and can cause tension in families. It takes away from family time and causes more stress on students and parents. It’s almost as if once children start school and the homework starts that it never stops, and that more family time is taken away while more stress is added.

In a study concluded in 2003 by Dr. Harris Cooper he tries to argue that homework has a positive effect on students, but his studies also found no direct correlation between increased homework for students and improved test scores. Cooper himself said that “The analysis also showed that too much homework can be counter-productive for students at all levels.” Meaning that excessive amounts of homework can cause negative effects on students, but who is judging what excessive amounts of homework means? He talks about the “10 minute rule” meaning that every grade that a student increases they should get 10 more minutes of homework, meaning that a second grader should get 20 minutes, and a twelfth grader should get around 2 hours of homework. That would seem ideal, but in most high school settings teachers don’t interact with each other to see how much homework each of them give to equal it out to around 2 hours. This means that one class’s homework could take a student 2 hours alone and that would be what the ideal amount of homework is, so if it takes 2 hours for one class’s homework then how are students supposed to have positive benefits from doing all of their homework? Cooper’s research was also limited because very little research was done to see if student’s race, socioeconomic status, or even their ability levels has an affect on how much homework is “good” for said age range. This means that other aspects than just that they’re students in a certain grade weren’t taken into consideration. These things could cause major changes to the data that was collected.

Rather than encouraging students to master material and learn efficiently, homework negatively impacts students and families by causing more stress and taking away from family time. This is a problem not just for the overworked students, but also for students who have more complex personal lives. Many students work or have family obligations that they have to deal with, but don’t necessarily feel comfortable talking to a teacher about them. Although teachers might not think that the amount of homework that they give matters much,its influence goes beyond giving students work to do at home to how they interact in other important personal aspects of their life.

Works Cited:

LeTendre, Gerald K. “Homework Could Have an Effect on Kids’ Health. Should Schools Ban It?” The Washington Post, WP Company, 2 Sept. 2015, www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/09/02/homework-could-have-an-effect-on-kids-health-should-schools-ban-it/?utm_term=.3ed6d0fa2c72.

Kralovec, Etta. “Should Schools Ban Homework?” CNN, Cable News Network, 5 Sept. 2014, www.cnn.com/2014/09/05/opinion/kralovec-ban-homework/index.html.

Dell'Antonia, Kj. “Homework's Emotional Toll on Students and Families.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 12 Mar. 2014, parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/12/homeworks-emotional-toll-on-students-and-families/.

“Duke Study: Homework Helps Students Succeed in School, As Long as There Isn't Too Much.” Duke Today, Duke Today, 7 Mar. 2006, today.duke.edu/2006/03/homework.html.

“Sleep in Adolescents (13-18 Years).” Sleep in Adolescents :: Nationwide Children's Hospital, www.nationwidechildrens.org/sleep-in-adolescents

For many years the game of ice hockey has been played on frozen water with sharp blades on the bottoms of the players’ feet. The goal of the game is to put a frozen piece of rubber called a puck into the net. The game hockey was created in Canada, but since then this sport has spread to many other countries, all of whom are attempting to catch up with Canada and become the best nation for hockey. Based on the rankings Finland, Russia and Sweden are rapidly becoming better at winning and making outstanding NHL players because they're Training is getting better.

Over the years hockey is almost played in every country to this date. Based on the rankings, individual nations are better at winning and better at getting NHL players into their teams. The International Hockey Federation or the IIHF ranks all the teams in the world by winning the gold medal in the world championship. The winner receives 12,000 points, and there is a 40-point difference between the silver and bronze teams. People always think that Canada as the best. According to the International Ice Hockey Federation, Canada is ranked number one in the world rankings, and their training is ranked number according to Korey Beckett of the Sporter. Countries are starting to get better at training and getting better at the sport. One example of a country that is more likely going to get a gold medal in Russia. According to the IIHF, Russia is ranked second after Canada. This is shocking because most people would assume that the U.S. would be second after Canada because for many years Canada and The U.S have dominated international hockey, but that’s not the case. Russia currently has 3,105 points. The training in Russia was ranked second, which was not shocking because Russia has provided over 50 players this year for the National Hockey League with fantastic players.

One example of a player is Alex Ovechkin who has over 500 goals. This shows that Russia has a lot of NHL players today and this due to having good training. This also indicates that the Russian hockey team is starting to develop and one day will be better as they come close to winning over Canada. It has already overtaken the U.S. hockey team. However, they still have not passed Canada because Canada is ranked number one according to the rankings.

The next country behind Russia and Canada is Sweden. Sweden is behind Canada and Russia, and they have 3,080 points based on the world rankings. Sweden moved up two places from last year. This means Sweden is improving, Sweden has also provided many quality players. Sweden also has over 50 active NHL players. This means Sweden is improving and this is due to some of the best training in the world, and the Swedish hockey team has moved up every year so it would not be a shock to overtake Canada because they already exceeded the United States hockey team regarding rankings. However, it is one spot behind team Russia.

    The next country is Finland. According to the IIHF world rankings, Finland is ranked 4th with 3,060 points. Yes, the Finnish team finished 4th and dropped back two spaces in the world rankings, but this team still has one the best prospects playing for them. One example of this is last year in the NHL, Draft Patrick Laine was selected, and Patrick is one of the best young players in the league based on him having 37 goals in his first season and a half. This shows that Finland is Making quality NHL players and are starting to be ranked higher because they are beginning to win more.

This shows even though the Finnish team dropped this year there are still making quality players.

   People who like hockey might not realize that many countries have hockey as a recent popular sports People have a bias towards the United States’ hockey team and Canada is the best. It is true that Canada is still number one but the way these countries are improving in the rankings and teams already passed the United States’ hockey team. Therefore, based on the ranking Finland, Russia and Sweden are rapidly becoming better at winning and making outstanding NHL players.

Works CIted

“Active Swedish NHL Players ‑ All-Time Stats.” QuantHockey, www.quanthockey.com/nhl/nationality/active-swedish-nhl-players-career-stats.html.

Iihf. “MORE HEADLINES.” 2017 Ranking, www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/championships/world-ranking/mens-world-ranking/2017-ranking/.

Beckett, Korey. “Top 10 Countries That Produce the Best Hockey Players.” TheSportster, 29 May 2015, www.thesportster.com/hockey/top-10-countries-that-produce-the-best-hockey-players/.

NHL.com. “Patrik Laine Stats and News.” NHL.com, 9 Oct. 2017, www.nhl.com/player/patrik-laine-8479339.

“Active Russian NHL Players ‑ All-Time Stats.” QuantHockey, www.quanthockey.com/nhl/nationality/active-russian-nhl-players-career-stats.html.

NHL.com. “Alex Ovechkin Stats and News.” NHL.com, 9 Oct. 2017, www.nhl.com/player/alex-ovechkin-8471214.