Sandy Hook Elementary  

In the article "Do We  Have the Courage to Stop This" Nicholas Kristof talks about children that are most likely to be murdered with guns and others will die from public health. He also talks about how easy it is to get a hold of a gun these days and how he received a riffle from his father at the age of 12. Kristof thinks that people should be able to buy one gun once a month instead of 15 in one day.

Some think that in order to buy a gun the seller should do a background check on buyer to see if there is any violent history or mental problems. It says in the article that more american's die in gun homicides and suicides in six months than have died in the last 25 years in every terrorist attack and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq combined. Australia suffered 14 mass shootings and 5 massive ones in the U.S.

I think no one should own guns because someone would wind up being killed. Police Officers should own taser's only. This  would stop homicides. I also believe that people with mental problems and criminal history should not be able to own any type of weapon. But if we take away guns there will still be knives that can also lead to deaths. Today you have to be 18 to own a gun and 21 to drink which is totally backwards.

Why do parents take guns around their children? Taking guns around your children is just influencing them to pick one up and use it. Why do parents give their children guns at such a young age? If parents give their children at a young age they can be raising a soon to be criminal. 

In the article " Should 16-year-old's drive" Ted Gregory talks about should teens drive at a young age. He's also telling how lots of teens are being killed on the roads from car crashes. Some people think if you have experience it's fine to drive.

The article includes quotes from Brent Johnston a driving teacher who coached teenagers for driving test. He says he thinks its good that "Illinois has gone the proper way for rewarding the kids who do a nice job by letting them drive and penalize the kids who don't."

I think this is a good topic because I'm young and will like to drive one day. Even though people my age are young some of us know how to drive. We know how to drive because our parents take us to parking lots and empty places to practice. Many kids now a days take their parents cars and drive dirty.

This article reminds me of my brother because when he was 16 he started driving. Everyone was skeptical because he was a very wild child and couldn't control a toy car. Now he's 18 and a very good driver but we're still scared to get in the car with him.

In "Marijuana law just creates criminals" Hakeem Jeffries talks about how people get arrested for getting caught with marijuana.

This article tells the percentage of people that are released without actually being took to an holding cell. He also says that most of the people that are caught with the possession of weed(marijuana) are African American and Hispanic. It also tells how you can arrested with a small amount of marijuana in your system.

I think marijuana should be legal because it really doesn't do harm to people. If they make cigarettes legal and that gives you cancer why not make weed legal. Weed doesn't do anything to but give you better vision which is a good thing. This is an important topic because some people think marijuana should be banned cause it's supporting people unhealthy habits. Some cops smoke marijuana their selves and arrest other people when they have it.

I know people who smokes weed daily some of them of them are my close friends and they think it makes them feel good.This reminds me of rapper Wiz Khalifa. He smokes marijuana all the time, in his songs, traffic, in the studio and everywhere else you can imagine. He says it in his songs.

*Unapologetic*

Rihanna released her new alum on Nov.19 Unapologetic which to some sounds like a love letter to Chris Brown her singer famous ex-boyfriend. It took Rihanna forever to write this album. The top songs off the album is "Diamonds." One of the songs off the album that has everyone talking is "Nobody's Business" ft Chris Brown. Everyone on is shocked because of the incident that happened between her and Chris in 2009. The same day Rih's album came out it sold 238,000 copies. 

9th grader Dymond Bishop said she believes "Rih's song has the same exact beat as Juicy J's song Bandz Will Make Her Dance." 

In "Attention Disorder or Not, Pills to Help in School" By Alan Schwarz tells you how Dr's are giving children Adderall Pills which is used for children with A.D.H.D to help them be calm and focus in school but it's not just the children's fault it's also the " poor academic performance in inadequate schools".

Dr. Anderson a pediatrician for low income families in Cherokee Country, north of Atlanta is giving Adderall to children with failing grades that parents are covetous to see them conquer. This articles gives quotes from other pediatrician's and child mental health services stating their opinion about the giving of the pills.This article also includes a quote from a parent that has two children taking Adderall who say " These children don't have A.D.H.D, The Adderall is merely to help their grades and because Alexis was, she became a little blah." 

I think the pills are a horrible idea for the kids because you never know how their going to react later on to the pill. For instance some kids might get addicted to the pill and claim they can't do anything without it. Why are the parent's letting there kids pop pills at a young age? Some kids might also get sick later on from the pill's and like it said above the young girl Alexis wasn't acting like herself after she took the pill. Her parent said she started acting very weird and blank, she had no expression. 

This article reminds me of kids of the street smoking marijuana and getting arrested, but the person who sells it to them gets away with it. Both problems should be banned from children.

"In Studies Find More Students Cheating With High Achievers No Exception" Richard Perez-Pena tells how students in various schools are cheating and some are the smartest kids that go to the top schools in the country.

The article tells what makes access to cheating easier.The Internet makes cheating easier because college students has access to the Internet and can easy to copy and paste other people's work. Cell Phones also make cheating easier because it's allowed in school.

I think sometimes it's called helping out instead of cheating. When someone missed a couple questions on homework or classwork and another student gives them the answer it's not called cheating. It's not called cheating because you did the other 95% of your homework so you tried to complete it.

What makes some of smartest kids in the united states cheat? Why are teacher's so quick to call someone a cheater or think we as students didn't complete our homework? I was told by one of my teacher's it should of been done at home and as a teacher he takes his job seriously. This article reminds me of Mr.Petro, he wants the class to understand the work that's giving to us and not copy and not get what where copying.

"Texting May Be Taking A Toll" Katie Hafner tells how texting among teenagers is getting out of hand. Teenagers are sending more than "2,272 text messages per month and hiding behind their book-bags texting in class.

The article give quotes from a young teenager who has sent and received a total of 14,528 text messages in one month. Hafner also told effects from texting. One fact from texting is drops in grades. That should be a reason for parents to confiscate their children phone's. 

I think having a cell phone and texting isn't a problem if your getting good grades and completing things that need to be done. Students shouldn't text in class because what their texting may not be important. If grades drop and students are caught on their phone, parents should then remove the phone from the child's hand.

How come the teachers aren't noticing the children on their phone in class? It's obvious that the kids are texting when their hiding behind their book-bags and coats all the time. This article reminds me of my principle Dr.McCladdie. She does not want her students phones in school because she believes it would be a problem in the classrooms and a effect on students grades. She takes our phone at 7:45 and doesn't give it back until 2:49. Both Dr.McCladdie and Many of the Doctors that quoted in the article are trying to help children succeed.