Counterargument to Sex Education

If schools started teaching students a more comprehensive approach to sex education I believe they will begin to think that having sex is okay as long as it is protected sex. By giving students the opportunity to learn about safe precautions to take while having sex, we are giving them the impression that it is okay to have sex as long as they are being careful. Students should be taught Abstinence only while in school so that they are continually reminded that the only safe sex is no sex at all. I think it is only fair for teachers to teach students this approach because it should be up to the parents to decide when it is appropriate and the right time for their children to learn about sex and the risks that are involved. Also, with this approach students may be a little bit more hesitant about having sex because they are kind of conditioned to believe that sex is wrong. With constant media and surrounding peer influences, it is important to push the idea that abstinence is the only way to protect yourself from unplanned pregagnancies and STDs.
Let’s be honest, kids are going to make their own decisions based on their personal influences and situations anyway, so why not let them figure things out on their own, but still let them know that the only way to really protect themselves is to not have sex at all.

Megan Caruthers

smaller is not the answer!

For my arguement people say that we do not have the money to pay for extra teachers and the space needed. They say it is not needed we could find other ways to help the kids without reducing the class sizes. There is other teaching methods that have been experimented and helped, but they have not worked as well as the smaller class sizes. They argue that we would be cutting into funds that are needed in other places. These other teaching methods such as one called formative assesmemment, which would only cost 2,000 per class per year instead of the estimated 20000 for reducing class sizes. This involves stopping a few minutes after each session and talking abotu was learned, and if the student dont understand the lesson they they must go back and relearn it.

Students Using Prescriptions Illicitly

When students use prescription drugs illicitly they use excuses to justify why they take these pills. Some excuses sound good but are still not valid. One reason that they use to justify taking these pills is that it helps them focus. When taking Adderall it has helped patients diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactive disorder to be able to focus and stay on topic. Another reason some students use to justify is that they can stay up longer and not feel tired in class. When students use Ritalin to stay awake along with other methods of staying up it puts there health at risk. They may be staying up and focusing more but they are not helping themselves in the long run. When they stay up and study for a test using these drugs they don’t get their best rest for the test they are studying for she they are going to do the same if not worse on the test because they will be exhausted.

Lack of Financial Aid

The government states that it is not their responsibility to fund a students’ college education, it is the responsibility of the family to support their child through all their schooling. If we gave financial aid to any student whose parents would not help them through college, than every family would just deny their child any financial help for college, and the government would have to give financial aid to every student. If financial aid was given to students who do not receive funding from their parents, there would be more people taking advantage of the system. Financial aid would be a lot easier to find loop holes to receive it also. Since there would be more people receiving financial aid, there would be less money to go around, therefore everyone would receive less money for college. The family’s that truly can’t afford college would not receive as much help as they are receiving now, and some low income family’s might have to give up the dream of college because of the lack of financial aid available for them.

My best friend and I have been friends since we were seven years old. We did everything together. i said did everything together because now our time is limited and sometimes she doesnt feel well enough to do certain things. She developed a lot faster than most girls at our age. this caused a lot of male attention. Not only male attention but older male attention. At the age of 15 she got a boyfriend. he was an 18 year old senior. He always had a reputation for sleeping around but when he met her he was a one women man. When she turned 16 she lost her virginity to this boy. Of course she did not think it was a big deal that he was not a virgin because she loved him and she new that she meant more to him than any other girl ever did. A year later she was having problems, she was sick all the time. she was also always tired and never felt like doing anything. I felt like i was losing my best friend and i was actually a little upset with her. She went to the doctor to find out what was causing her fatigue. The results came back one month later totally unexpected, she was diagnosed with HIV. When i found outi went to her house and held her as we both cried for hours. i felt like my friend was getting ripped away from me to soon. This changed both our lives and plans for the future. We were suppose to be room mates in college, be neighbors when we got our own houses, have kids at the same time so they can be best friends too, and finally coctail parties in the Bahamas when we are old and grey. Most of this will never happen because she did not go to college, has choosen not to have kids, and she might not live long enough to get to the Bahamas. She never used a condom with her boyfriend because she was on birth control, she did not see the use. Condoms are 90% effective in protecting against HIV/AIDS. We were never made aware of this. we were only taught that if someone has sex before they are married they will most likely contract an STD. We thought the message was silly and it was just adults trying to scare us out of the fun in life once again. They never once were realistic and told us about our other options. That is because we had an abstinence based program. Teenagers in America have the highest STD rate out of all Industrial countries. This is exactly why we need to provide to our young people information on safer sex. More than half of teenagers have pre-material sex before they graduate high school. That is more than the majority. They need to be taught safer sex for their health and others health as well. Abstinence is a good thought but it is unrealistic to think that it will make every teenager choose to abstain from sex untill marraige. Schools need to give kids more options. They need to teach safer sex in sex education so America's future can be healthy.

i posted this on my own blog and i thought i posted it in this one. It was posted befor the due date

abstinence only sex ed

Abstinence only sex education promotes one way to prevent pregnancy and STD’s. Collins states that abstinence only sex education programs do not acknowledge the students who do become sexually active before marriage. They do not teach about contraception use. These programs cite STD’s and HIV as reason to remain abstinent, and finally they avoid discussion about abortion (4). Abstinence only programs try to scare kids enough to stay abstinent. The people who promote abstinence only education argues that teaching comprehensive sex education will give mixed messages to young people (Taverner 3). They also believe that pre-marital sex is immoral and that young people need to be guided strongly against sex before marriage (Taverner 3). Abstinence only educators also discredit the effectiveness of condoms (Taverner 3). They do not teach the kids how to use or how efective and safe condoms really are

Stick to the real subjects

There are many reasons the arts and music specifically are being cut at an alarming pace in today's society. First, many argue that time wasted on music should be more wisely spent on other core academic subjects such as Mathematics and literature. Standardized tests are structured to evaluate these core subjects and the success of a school is judged accordingly. Time spent on music and other non-core subjects only distracts students from the true reason for being in school, learning to read and write. Second, music classes are expensive. The average cost of a student cello or bassoon is roughly 2000.00 dollars. Band instrument prices in general have gone through the roof. Due to this cost the schools typically provide many of these instruments for the students to play. Maintence and care of these instrunents alone can become quite costly as well. Even in choral ensemble classes the costs of uniforms and travel to and from contests and events can become very exspensive. Due to a lack of funds available to schools from the state level, these overpriced extra curricular classes are the logical place to make reductions. Once again, our funds should be spent on the "real" subjects and not be wasted on this musical nonscense.

The Negative Aspects of Dry Campuses

Although dry campuses are statistacly safer than their wet campus counter parts, dry campuses also have negative aspects to them. A few of these negative effects include an increase in drunk driving and binge drinking. The reason why there are more drunk driving accidents on dry campuses is because students are forced to drive home as opposed to asking for help. On dry campuses if a student is caught with alcohol they will get in trouble. This problem does not occure on wet campuses because students are able to contact campus security for a ride home. On dry campuses students are not able to contact the security because they will get in trouble. The second part about a wet campus that is better than a dry campus is the reduced binge drinking rate. The cause of this reduction is because students are able to drink where ever they want whenever they want. On dry campuses students are not able to freely drink. Because of this the students binge drink on one occasion as opposed to spreading the alcohol out over long periods of time. Dry campuses are always noted for having no flaws. When looked at, wet campuses are really safer in the aspect that there are fewer drunk driving accidents as well as fewer binge drinking accadents as well.

Beginnings Debate Part 2

While kids should be allowed to think for themselves, the important ideal of separation of church and state should not be compromised in the process.  This ideal has been a key foundation of American since the creation of the Constitution.  Thus, a theory about human origins unsupported by empirical data and largely derived from church teachings should not be introduced in a public school.  One of the main reasons that America can be considered a melting pot is the complete acceptance of all people, regardless of race, gender, and religion.  Losing one of these freedoms can alienate entire regions of the world.  Evolution theory does not cross this boundary, and is almost universally accepted as a fact, even though its name contains theory, and so it should be the sole theory taught in public schools.

Disadvantages of Increasing Securty Measures In Schools

Many argue that student caused school deaths are not the real problem, but that crimes outside the school are the issue. Eighty-five percent American communities recorded no juvenile homicides in 1995, and only 93.4 percent recorded one or no juvenile arrests for murder. Three times more juvenile are killed by adults, and only about 3 percent of U.S. murders consist of a juvenile murdering another juvenile. The 1996 Journal of the American Medical Association, two studies led by the Centers for Disease Control, stated that from 1992-94 that “the estimated incidence of school-associated violent death was .09 per 100,000 student-years.” This indicates that there is less than one in a million chance of suffering a school associated violent death. According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, there are 3.8 murdered juveniles per 100,000– 40 times the number of juveniles murdered in school. In the 2 year period of 1992-94, 105 school-associated violent deaths were reported, of which 76 were students. Researchers estimate that less than 1 in 100 deaths among school-aged children were school related.

Jessica Updike

The disadvantages to home education

Despite the many benefits to homeschooling, there are some disadvantages. The most significant disadvantage seems to be the amount of sacrifice it takes. Parents have to sacrifice emotionally, physically, and financially.
Financial costs of homeschooling vary, but if a parent wants to use a curriculum to ensure their student is covering everything they need to in their specific grade, the costs can be around four hundred dollars a year. That four hundred dollars is only the cost of the curriculum for one child, what about a family that has four kids? Plus, to homeschool, many families who would have had two parents bringing in income then only have one working, so they are losing even more money.
In addition to finances, parents have the responsibility of monitoring their children’s education and encouraging learning. If students have questions about something they are studying, they will go to the parents, and parents have to help them find answers. Parents have to choose curriculum for each child, or plan lessons according to their grade, and this can be very time consuming. Overall, there is a lot of commitment. The sacrifice and commitment that help so many home schooling families to succeed are also the responsibilities that cause many to fail.

Against Coffee Shops on Campuses

Coffee shops continue to pop up all over the world. Coffee has become a big part of our lives. Many people drink at least a cup every day. Not many things can be compared to coffee. However, coffee can have negative effects on the body. Students can be particularly susceptible to the dangers, latching on to coffee to stay alert.

Caffeine, the most famous component of coffee, causes an increase in activity of dopamine, which largely accounts for both caffeine’s stimulating effects and its ability to diminish feelings of depression. Caffeine wakes the brain up, helping people get through the day. However, after it wears off, there can be a depressive effect.

Drinking too much coffee may cause health problems. It is believed that too much can raise your stress level. Some heavy drinkers shake after drinking coffee. Coffee can increase the risk of heart attack. It can raise your heart and blood pressure. Other studies show that drinking too much coffee could result in stomach problems. Furthermore, some experts believe that caffeine is addictive.

Having nearby coffee shops could contribute to dependency. If Coffee is not as readily available, perhaps people would not consume as much, therefore reducing the chance of health problems and addiction. Last but not least, not having coffee shops on campus would save students money!

Counter to dry campus

When hearing the idea of a dry campus many people get very upset for multiple reasons. While some people believe that alcohol is bad they also believe the idea of a dry campus is impractical and really is impossible. It is very hard for a college to keep students from drinking alcohol based on the fact that you can't watch thousands of students all the time. There is also the argument that if the government has allowed a twenty-one to drink what gives the school the right to take away the student's rights.

Some people also argue that alcohol is actually good for you so there is no reason to stop it's consumption. While alcohol is good for you in moderation, and can decrease a person's chances of getting dementia and other heart diseases most students do not drink in moderation. The last argument for a wet campus is the idea that a college can make a lot of money. As you can see there are many arguments against a dry campus but if you research each of these arguments you will find out there are many better arguments for a dry campus than for a wet.

-Jeff Prentice

Journal 9

As a counter argument for my topic, school uniforms, there aren't many.  The number one fight that is used against school uniforms is that they don't allow the student to be unique or to show their creative side.  Some students say that if they are forced to wear certain clothes that they will be even more rebellious than they  were in the past.  As  a high school kid i don't think that i would have like the fact that i would have had to wear what i was told but as a high school student i would have appreciated the business like environment.  i understand the fact that kids dont want to be told what to wear no matter how old they are.  Kids want the feeling of freedom and with dress codes becoming more strict it is as if the students are being put on a shorter and shorter leash.150 This is not fair to the children that  are coming up because they are going to have to pay for the troubles that we, the earlier students, sat upon them.  The schools have been fine without strict dress codes for this long and i am still alive.  Why should they change everything if the way things are going is still working great?

Journal #8 Grades

Hey Class!

Those of you who participated in Journal #8 by posting both an initial argument for your topic and at least one substantial comment to another student's posting were awarded a check+. I was very impressed with your involvement, especially those of you who commented on several postings.

Those of you who only did one portion of the assignment, however, did not receive credit for Journal #8. Also, if you're using the screen name xsldeathx, or any other user name that does not reflect your given name, please let me know who you are!

As for Journal #9, it is due before class on Tuesday, April 21. Frank has already started us out, and I look forward to hearing from the rest of you!

~Hidi Moore

Against Vocational Programs J-#9

The opposing side to having more schools with vocational programs, argues that the cost and lack of academics is not worth the trouble of having the programs. Some scholars believe that vocational programs are a waste of student time. They think that students should have more academic classes, instead of vocational programs. A large percent of people that participate in vocational programs do drop out of high school or do not attend college. The cost of the programs are a big issue with some people. The price per student ranges between 2,000 dollars to 14,000 dollars, depending on the program and what state the vocational program is located. They argue that the money should be going to more academic classes. Another issue is that some students get to drive to their vocational program. They think that the students will not go to class or they will go off and get in to some kind of trouble, which is true. These are the main arguments against vocational programs, but there is a lot more good aspects than bad.

Why dry campuses are the way to go.

In college it is a given that students are going to drink alcohol. In order to combat this issue many colleges are instating a dry campus policy. This policy does not allow any alcohol on the college campus at all, regardless of the student’s age. This policy is a very good idea for many reasons. Some of the major ones are there are less alcohol related deaths, the GPA's of the students are higher, and there is less likely a chance of a student to harm himself or others. On "wet" campuses the alcohol related death rate has been proven to be higher than that of dry campuses. Studies have also shown, if students drink it can cause damage to the brain this making the drinking students GPA up to one half of a letter grade lower. Finally, on "wet" campuses, it is a higher chance for a student to get harmed physically or emotionally due to alcohol related issues. Some of these issues may include rape, assault, battery, or police intervention. To conclude, a dry campus is more beneficial in every aspect when compared to a "wet" campus.

Harmful Illicit Use of Prescription Drugs

Many students have a hard time with studying and focusing in classes from day to day. Some students just deal realizing that they are going to have to study harder for the next class. There are some students though that have discovered prescriptions that they believe aide their ability to focus. Some of which may help them stay awake. These drugs however are normally prescribed to assist people diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Ritalin being a prescription that is very available is also prescribed for narcolepsy. Ritalin is one of the most commonly illicitly used prescriptions because of what it is used for, to help people stay awake and to help people focus better.
Many students have been surveyed about the use of illicit drugs many have shown shocking results. On campuses students use to just simply drink crazy amounts of coffee and take caffeine pills. Now students are taking prescription that are not prescribed to them to stay awake and study. The effects of these prescriptions are endless. Taking these drugs interrupts sleep even after they have begun to wear-off. Interrupted sleep is only one of the many side effects that can harm a students health. Digestive problems, twitching, paranoia, and overdosing are a few more. Staying awake to study can be hard but why go through all the pain and side effects that are possible when coffee and energy drinks will do the same thing?

Being healthy is important these drugs can cause major complications helping to stop this drug abuse is going to take more than one person to stand up and say stop. Seeing students who are so worried about their grades that they go to these extents has effected many students. Using drugs that aren't prescribed for that individual is very dangerous. To stop this we must take a stand and show students our concern and help them find better ways to get better grades.

Who Needs High School?

It's the same old story year after year. The summer after graduation is coming to a close, Fall Semester begins for universities all across the country, and once agian another group of 18-year-olds is left baffled and confused as to why they are struggling to make C's in college, when they had just floated through high school making A's without even hardly cracking open a textbook. The blame for their poor performance automatically falls onto the shoulders of the colleges and the professors, and the classic complaint becomes, "Why don't colleges make it easier on incoming freshman?" Is that really a valid argument? Isn't college supposed to be the place where students, by choice, pay upwards in the tens of thousands of dollars to recieve the training and knowledge neccessary to get a slip of paper proving they have earned their right to contirbute to society in whatever field they so choose? It's not high school anymore. A degree cannot be earned by simply cruising through four years of nothing but, for lack of a better term, worthless standardized tests that do nothing but satisfy sub-par state and federal education standards so that "No child is left behind." The focus of blame here, needs to be shifted off of the universities and onto the high schools. Numerous studies have proven that the difference between what is taught at the high school level and what is expected at the college level is staggering. High schools need to, for lack of another better term, step up their game, so as to better prepare students for the challenges and expectations that college and life have awaiting them.

Journal #8 Daniel Leist

There is more than 83 billion dollars of financial aid available through our government. The cost of college has increased over recent years, yet financial aid is still only available to families considered low class. The government determines financial aid through a FASFA form. This form asks for a variety of things; the most important of them is the parents income. I don't see how it is possible that the government can judge how much money i need by asking my parents how much they make. My parents haven't given me a dime to attend IPFW. My parents give me as much aid for college as a low class family would give their child to attend college. The government needs to come up with a better way to determine who needs financial aid. Merit based financial aid is aid that is rewarded to students who excel in high school. I believe the cutoff for need based financial aid should be alot stricter and only the very needy students should receive that, and then more aid should go to boosting the merit based financial aid system. We need to come up with a better way of determining who and how much financial aid each student receives.

Sex Education in the classroom

Growing up we are taught that the only safe sex is no sex at all. Of course abstinence is the only way to 100 percent protect ourselves from diseases and child birth, but I believe the rate of pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases would greatly decline if health teachers began teaching students other ways to protect themselves. At a young age, probably around sixth grade, I believe students should be taught how to protect themselves other than by just staying abstinent. We live in a fast past world and the number of teen pregnancies and sexual transmitted diseases are increasing significantly. I believe that if teachers started educating their students about all the risks that come with having unprotected sex and started being more open about other ways to be safe; such as using condoms or being on birth control, then this widespread problem will decrease.
I also believe that teachers should start being more open and honest about the major risks that come with having unprotected sex. Yes, we all learn what sexually transmitted diseases are, but how much do students really know about each STD? As a student that was only taught to be abstinent during high school, I can truthfully say that I do not believe I am as educated about sexually transmitted diseases as I should be. In order for students to understand just how extreme these diseases are, it is my opinion that teachers stop being so vague about sexually transmitted diseases and start really reaching out to students about this topic.
It is my hope that if teachers begin teaching alternative ways to have safe sex that the rate of STD’s and teen pregnancies will drastically decrease.

Stop the insanity!

You don't have to look very hard to find a headline in the newspaper or a story on the nightly news that says "music program cut due to budget cuts. Music and the arts in general have become an easy target in these struggling economic times. Charles Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences lists eight different areas of intelligence that are displayed by human beings. Each one of them is thought to hold equal importance and should be treated equally. Music is one of these areas. Most schools focus on mathematical and linguistics studies due to a push for standardized testing, and often forget about the other crucial areas in of intelligence's in education. Music should be held with the same importance as these other core subjects and it is time stop this injustice and listen to what Gardner has already stated. In addition to Gardner's work, Greek philosophers Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates told us long ago that music is a vital component of our lives and should be taught to everyone. They felt that music was not only important as it relates to other learning, but that music helped to make people better people in society. Music as it relates to society, culture, higher academic achievement and overall happiness are just a few of the areas that prove it's importance and value in our schools.

The Beginnings Debate

One of the most intrinsic questions we have as human beings is where do we come from?  The two main theories put forth are creationism and evolution.  Creationism states that we were created about 10,000 years ago by God, in the form we are today, along with all the animals and Earth.  Evolution, on the other hand, says Earth came to being several million years ago, and all life forms currently inhabiting it have descended from simpler beings.  As the centuries went by, life forms got more complex and varied, with the weaker ones dying out and the strong ones passing on their traits to the next generation.

Obviously, the two are mutually exclusive, and the question educators and, lately, legislators, have been asking is: what do we teach in public schools?  The short answer, to me, is both.  While both theories of course have their detractors, I think this is an ultimately personal decision.  The students should be told the various views, with the relevant hard data, and then left to decide for themselves.

However, due to the wisdom and foresight of various legislators and concerned citizens, evolution is the only theory to be found in most public schools.  Citing the need for separation of church and state, creationism has been struck down by courts in several states.  Neither theory can truly be completely proven, as we obviously have no witnesses to tell us what exactly happened, although there has been evidence to corroborate evolution.

Journal #8-by Jessica Updike

Violent incidents that have occurred in schools over the past couple of years have caused an uproar over increasing school security measures. In the 2003-2004 school year, there was a total of 2,165 students that have been expelled for bring a firearm to school. In 2005, in a survey of students and teachers, 7.9% of them reported being threatened or injured with a weapon on school property. By increasing security measures, these numbers can decrease dramatically preventing students from possessing firearms at school, along with any other type of weapon. School administrators tend to worry more about the cost of security measures, although they may not realize that there are major costs and aftereffects of school violence that is much greater than the cost of installing different types of security measures. The total amount of money needed to cover the costs of violence is estimated to be around $2 million per episode. Therefore, it would be a better plan to be ready for a security breach rather than waiting for it to happen and pay for the costs later. Schools are meant to be a learning environment, but how can students learn if they are in constant fear? There are different types of security measures that can be installed to decrease the risk of a violent episode happening in a school. Such security measures are closed-circuit television cameras, door security hardware, electronic security panels, metal detectors, and panic buttons. If all schools included these measures in their assessment, there would be no more fear or pain that students can endure due to the incidents that are occurring within schools.

Titles

Give your blog posts a title that reflects the content of the entry. "Journal #8" only tells me what assignment you are doing, which is something I will be aale to figure out based on the date range of your post. Giving your post a creative title will also allow you to jump right into your argument, as opposed to beginning with: "My argument is about..."

Try it, you'll like it. :) Your readers will appreciate it, too!

Coffee Shops on Campuses

My argument is for coffee shops on college campuses.

Caffeine is one of the world's most widely consumed stimulants; so popular that coffee houses are popping up all over the world. Caffeine is a naturally occurring substance from the leaves, fruits and seeds of over sixty plants, when consumed the effects are felt within moments. These effects have become almost a necessity in the fast paced, demanding society we live in today.

Since College is such a drastic change in atmosphere, schedules, class loads and stress, many students rely on coffee to get them through the sluggish moments of their day. Studies have shown that students who consume caffeinated beverages such as coffee or tea before class have a better mood and concentration level. Further studies have shown that foods containing caffeine are not harmful when consumed in moderation. The U.S. FDA has classified caffeine as a safe food additive. Most people are able to control the amount of caffeine they consume in order to maximize the positive effects and eliminate the negative ones.

Coffee shops on college campuses not only provide convenient access to coffee and tea, they also provide a great study environment and a place for students to come together and converse.

Journal #8

Vocational programs are just not good for getting out of school, they also are a good learning experience. The people that participate in vocational programs may learn what they want to do for a living or what they don’t want to do. There are all types of programs to interest all sorts of different kinds of people. For those who choose to make a profession out of it, are way ahead of other people who didn’t participate in vocational programs. The programs are taught by an expert in that field of education. Hands- on activities teach the students what and how to do certain things in that program. Most people would rather learn something hands-on, then read in a book and still not know what’s going on. Most of the vocational programs have the students working with very expensive machinery. The programs teach responsibility, respect, awareness and other important aspects. I participated in a vocational program and it made my high school experience more fun and I learnt a skill. There should be more schools that offer vocational programs.

Journal 8

My argument is over whether or not college campuses should be dry. A dry campus is a campus where alcohol is not permitted in any way. I believe that if alcohol was not allowed there would be fewer accidents on campus as well as a lot fewer unwanted sexual advances. Alcohol is a very dangerous substance that should be monitored and should be kept out of the reach of underage students. While a student is in college the number one priority should be getting good grades and progressing towards your degree or certificate. Studies have shown that the more alcohol a college student drinks the worse the grade point average. I don't think it is fair to a student who has a drunk roommate which makes it more difficult to study. When you are paying so much money for an education I really think the school should do it's best to hold of all of the possible distractions. Overall, I don't see any benefits in having alcohol on a school campus.
-Jeff Prentice-

Journal 8

Smaller class sizes have been a controversial issue for many years. By reducing the class sizes in college classrooms the students will be able to achieve and take in more from the professor. It would also be easier on the professors, they would have less to grade, not as many tests to make up, and would be able to make lesson plans to interact with the students more. The institution would also benefit greatly. If the students are happy with their classes and feel they are benefiting students will talk and refer the institution to other people, and they are less likely to drop out or transfer to another school. In my experience in high school and college i have had much larger classes and i feel i didn't benefit in the larger classes. I felt like I was not getting all the information correct i needed, and that the professor did not know how to teach with so many students. When I entered into the smaller classroom the atmosphere was lightened. I was able to interact with the students and the professor more efficiently. Though many argue that many schools do not have the funding to support these smaller class sizes, many low income schools have already found ways to. It is proven that if schools cut down on unnecessary funds they could easily afford this change that is greatly needed. It has been proven many times in many studies that students benefit in smaller class sizes. Class size reduction has been shown to be a flexible tool that helps raise student achievement while reducing the achievement gap between minority and non-minority students.
-Kayla Craig

Journal 8

My argument is for school dress codes to better enforced. I believe that there should be more strict rules and that they should be enforced more strictly. The only fight that people have against this issue is that the kids wont be able to be themselves and be unique or creative, but i don't think that it matters. When they get a real job the kids are going to have to follow the dress codes that they are given. School is not a place to show off your body or express how you feel through your clothing. School, just like work, is a place to learn and work at improving ones self. There is a time and a place to wear the clothes that you desire but i do not believe that school is the time or place to do it. When going to school you should dress presentably and professional. When you go out with your friends to a movie or the mall, then is the time to show how unique you are and to be a kid.

NOTE!

If your username doesn't clearly indicate who you are, please let me know who you are so that you will receive credit for your posts/comments.

Journal #8

Contrary to the belief that home education is detrimental to children, in most cases homeschooling better prepares students for college. This is shown in countless studies and through my own personal experience. Studies from Dr. Brian D. Ray, Ph.D. , founder of the National Home Education Research Institute, claims that the amount of individual learning in a home school environment nurtures traits that benefit that students need to succeed in college, such as, self-motivation, work ethic, and industrious minds. More and more home educated students are getting into top universities, like Harvard. The atmosphere of home education tends to be very similar to college, especially since it allows kids to base their studies around their interests, passions, and goals. Isn’t this exactly what we do in college? Picking a major, and having the rest of our studies build to that. Also, I have seen many of my home schooled friends take classes at community colleges during high school instead of taking a high school class to prepare for a college class. Why not take gen-ed college classes to help prepare for their future in college? One of my friends, a former home schooler, would not have been considered the smartest student, but she decided to take college classes her junior and senior year. She will be graduating from high school in may, and she will also have her Associate’s Degree in Fine Arts. It cannot be denied that the flexibility and personalization of studies in home education closely resemble college, therefore helping home schooled students to fare better once in college.
-Jocelyn Deckard

Hey Everybody!

Now that you've made it here, start by posting your arguments. Don't forget to respond to others!