CELL PHONES AT SCHOOL

Today, one in every three teens have a cell phone. So what do we do about cell phones at school?
Parents and administrators believe that it distracting our learning when that point was brought into argument the students said that having 30 kids packed into a little classroom sitting in uncomfortable desks learning about topics that have no relation to them was more distracting.

Another argument that was made was that students would use the cell phones to set up drug trades. Yeah, probably somewhere a fair handful of teens use their cell phones to get or set up a trade but they probably use cars to go pick them up and money to pay for it, and backpacks/ pockets to transport it. So where are the bans on kids driving, carrying cash, using backpacks, or even wearing pants with pockets?

Here are a few pros and cons to having cells at school:

Pros :
- Instant Communication: if an activity gets canceled after school or something happens at home you can contact your child.
- Memory Aids: most cell phones have a camera, so children can take pictures in class of what they are learning for example in science class they might take pictures of an experiment that they did and later review it.
- Calendar: help your remember test dates, exam dates, assignment due dates
- Voice Notes: sometimes it takes too long to write a note down so why not just record a quick voice note
- Phones can be silenced during class or study periods, and active only in appropriate places

Cons:
- Students often forget to turn off their phones in class, and ringing noises or text-message alerts disrupt learning.
- Even if set to silent, cell phones can still cause distraction, since text messaging has become a high-tech method of passing notes in school.
- Cheating: students text message each other the answers for tests or exams or might even go into the web to find the answers
- Student cell phone networks add to the spread of rumors and misinformation, which can be harmful during a widespread crisis
- Encouraging fights to happens and posting them on youtube
- Setting drug deals/ bombs etc

Some places like parts of South Korea, Japan and Ottawa have ban cells at school.

Do YOU think cells should be ban from schools, do you think they’re just a distraction, or should we be able to keep them?

WORK CITED:

Cohen, Maya. Cell Phones at School: Should They Be Allowed?. 30 May 2008 .

Love to know: Cell phones. Cons of Cell Phones in School.. 30 May 2008 .

Love to know: Cell phones. Pros of Cell Phones in School.. 30 May 2008 .
Kuehn, Larry. Education and Technology: Cell Phones: To Ban or Not to Ban?. 30 May 2008 .

3 Days of Media (Friday- Sunday)

What I did:
-Walked to the park
Media I Experienced:
-Saw an ad on the sidewalk for a real estate company

What I did:
-Went to the mall
Media I experienced:
-Phone ads
-Glasses ads
-saw an ad at the front of the store for the new j-lo perfume
- heard music playing inside

What I did:
-Drove home
Media I experienced:
-Tim Horton’s ads
-Heard music on the radio
-Heard an ad for subway, "eat fresh!"

What I did:
-Watched TV
Media I experienced:
-Saw a cover girl commercial
-Quit smoking get a new car commercial
-Olay body wash commercial
-Saw a commercial for McDonalds

What I did:
-Went to Oakville
Media I experienced:
-Perfume ads
-Clothing ads
-New shreddes diamond ads
-Honda car ads

What I did:
-Visited my aunt
Media I experienced:
-Home hardware ads
-Future shop ads
-Blockbuster ads
-New homes ads-Heard song “Your not the same” while my sister listened to it on her iPod

Does anything surprise you when you look at your interactions with the media? how do you feel about your exposure to media? is it too much, or too little, just right? Expalin.

I think we are exposed to too much media, if it was just in a few places it would be okay, but its everywhere you go. There is no way to escape it and it has alot of control over people nowadays. I believe the media has too much influence on our society today, people don't think for themselves anymore the media does it for them.

Dixie Chicks - From the American girls next door to being the most hated

America is known as the land of opportunity, equality, and freedom. But is there really freedom of speech and if so is there a limit to how much someone can say? This was all questioned when the Dixie Chicks performed at the Shepherds Bush Empire in London, England when Natalie Maines said “ We are ashamed that the president of the United States is from Texas!” Their number one hit dropped and so did their careers. During this time Bush had everyone supporting him and the war. At this point everyone was very patriotic. This is where propaganda plays its part, Propaganda makes people proud of “our” side and fear and distrust the “other” side. The media demonized them by saying such things as “ Natalie is not paid to espouse her ideas on stage.” This was a quote by Terry Dorsey. But is that really true? Musicians sing express their opinion through music just like politicians say it through speech. Another comment that was made towards the Dixie Chicks was “ Dumbest Bimbos” … “Foolish women who deserve to be slapped around.” This was broadcasted all over, reporters aren’t suppose to give their opinion therefore making this statement people believed it was true. This statement was very sexist and unnecessary but no one did or said anything about it but when Natalie made that statement everyone went against her. Lipton the sponsor of the Dixie Chicks stopped supporting them because of the bad publicity they were getting. If the Dixie Chicks were ashamed that Bush was from Texas that would mean that if Lipton kept supporting them they think the same thing. If we had freedom of speech, why did the media verbally attack the Dixie chicks? Yet nothing happened to the guy that made that sexist comment. The Dixie Chicks gave a lot of courage to other people to start voicing their opinion such as Pink who sing the song “Dear Mr. President” and the Kanye West comment that was made on national television saying that “ Bush hated black people.” Their careers are fine but I guess the Dixie Chicks spoke out at the wrong time.

Photo Manipulation

Photo Manipulation isn’t something new, its almost as old as photography itself and it was used as early as the Civil War. Correcting a photograph isn’t always that bad there are certain techniques that are still acceptable for example colour correction, retouching of the dust, retouching scratches, brightness, contrast adjustments, and cropping the photo to make it fir a layout. But when is it too much? Is it considered too much when you change the whole idea behind the picture? Or is it too much when we see it in the news?
O.J. Simpson known as a legendary football player was arrested in 1994 for allegedly murdering his wife and her lover. It was all over the news. Everyone took time off work, left early etc just to see the case, but what were you suppose to believe? The actual mug shot of O.J Simpson in Newsweek or the manipulated version in Time Magazine. The Mug shot in Time Magazine made Simpson skin darker, scarier and gave him the illusion that he looked guiltier. And the headline was “An American Tragedy” basically saying his guilty before trail even started. This trail ended up being a black vs. white ordeal. . Changing a persons skin tone, or a key feature of this person that makes them original and unusual is not ethical though correcting a minor flaw or brightening a photo, or perhaps making someone appear more perfect. Photos aren’t like text, you can’t read it and have everyone have the same idea. People see it differently and have different opinions for example if you were an African –American and you saw Simpson’s mug shot you might get really offended but if you were a Caucasian you wouldn’t thinks it’s a big deal. But it is. This just goes to prove that we cant believe everything we see.

Work Sited:

thelistuniverse. .. 20.May. 2008 http://listverse.com/history/top-15-manipulated-photographs/