OP/ED

Screen Time Limits 

By Isabella Miller

Every parent has different rules and ideas on how to parent their kids. Some kids are on their phones for hours, and some rarely go on their iPhones. My preference for screen time on a phone really depends on how the child is. Being on your phone for too long can cause many problems with your social life and mental health.

How does screen time affect early childhood development?

Young children develop rapidly, especially those under the age of three. Toddlers learn by exploring their surroundings, observing and imitating adults. Too much screen time can make life hard. It will make it hard for kids to know and observe the real world outside their iPad. Less screen time is always best for kids so they can know the real world. If all kids know is the screen and not real life, it will be easier for them in the future to learn properly.

How does screen time impact a child's ability to learn?

Research has shown that children two or under can not learn as well from a video as from another person. Even if children look at television screens even younger than a year old, they generally do not understand the content until they are older. It is also proven that children who watch hours of television in elementary school, even towards middle school, perform worse on reading tests and may have attention deficit disorders,

How do electronics impact a child's sleep?

As humans, our body's clock and melatonin, the sleep hormone, begins when the sun goes down. However, tv screens, iPhones, and iPads cuts out melatonin, which can delay sleep. "According to one study, children between the ages of six and twelve months who were exposed to screens at night slept significantly less than those who were not exposed to screens at night." Watching TV or playing video games also keeps our brains and bodies more awake and less ready to sleep. Tablets and smartphones reduce melatonin more than televisions because the screen and blue light are closer to the face. 

Source: https://www.procon.org/debate-topics/

Schools Should Teach Life Skills That Apply in Daily Lives

By Halo Jenkins

Schools should prioritize teaching students life skills such as money management, meal planning, budgeting, paying bills, cooking, and time management that students can apply in their daily lives. By focusing on real-world applications, students will be better equipped to navigate the challenges of adulthood and achieve success in their personal and professional lives. Three reasons schools should prioritize teaching students life skills are real-world readiness, there are more important things they could be learning, and they need to learn these skills to live. 

The main reason students should be learning life skills in school is that when they move out, they will be on their own and know what to do all they will know is how to do algebra and make a chemical explosion which is not helpful.

Another reason students should learn life skills is that they are more critical and valuable than everything they learn in school. If you think about it, kids spend twelve years going to school learning about Shakespeare and triangles, which is helpful if you want to write a poem about triangles, but most people will not use the things they learned in school real world. Schools need to teach kids how to cook, to budget, and how to do taxes.

Some argue that students must learn math and science to increase their knowledge. 

While this might be true, an extra class to teach them life skills would not hurt. It would benefit the students significantly because, in the future, they will not be googling how to find the circumference of a circle; they will be googling how to apply for a job. Why do we not just teach them while we can and prepare them for the future? 

In conclusion, schools should start teaching students life skills kids will use when they become adults because they will rely on these skills in real life. What is the point of teaching students unnecessary things they will not use when you can teach them valuable things they will use?

The Double-Edged Sword of Video Games

By Isabella Miller

We all know that video games have a significant impact on kids today. Since nobody could go outside during the pandemic, more people played video games online. According to ProCon.org, "Around 73% of American kids aged 2-17 played video games in 2019, a 6% increase over 2018. Video games accounted for 17% of kids' entertainment time and 11% of their entertainment spending." 

Cons of Video games

As sales of violent video games have significantly increased, violent juvenile crime rates have also increased, which means that all of the violent video games cause them to have aggression and do what they would do in a game in real life. It matters because it is slowly ruining our world, and if all the kids are in Juvenile halls, they cannot get an education in the future. "Exposure to violent video games is linked to lower empathy and decreased kindness." This means that kids are not kind and do not empathize with one another. This is bad because kids are getting bullied. This matters because if the bullying increases, then more kids are most likely to commit suicide or have depression and anxiety in the future.

Pros of Video Games

Many people would not believe this, but there are some pros of video games. It speeds up your response time because if you are in a game with shooters, you move around and look around the map. They encourage teamwork with all the buildings and working together as a team to fight the bad guy or protect your land in some games. Games also teach you how to think outside the box because, in some games, you have to think outside the box to protect your land. 

Should video games be banned?

Video games not be banned, but parents should limit gaming. Some people's full-time job is gaming, and some get plenty of money off gaming. The violence in characters and games should be more appropriate for kids. There should be age restrictions on some games that promote violence for kids so they do not grow up as bad people. Now that I have explained the pros and cons, every kid should have restrictions to go outside, see the real world, and not be trapped in a room. Kids should learn and know there is a world outside of gaming.

Source: 

https://www.britannica.com/story/pro-and-con-violent-video-games

Students Should Only Have Schoolwork on Computers

By Simone Simantob

Have you ever felt like you will break your shoulders and back because of your heavy notebooks, textbooks, and folders? Well, we should have a solution. Carrying around all these things that can be stored on a computer is much more convenient and safer for your back. Many middle schoolers have reported feeling back pain because of the heavy textbooks that they have to carry.

A student I know pinched a nerve in her neck and missed three days of school because she had to go up too many stairs lifting an extremely heavy roller backpack. Not only is this not beneficial for the student, but it can be dangerous for a kid's health since they are still developing.

Also, if we store it on computers, we can buy smaller bags and find room to store more things rather than having to carry a separate bag to store our things. 

In conclusion, this shows that a computer is the only thing you need to work on.

Armed Teachers, You Decide

By Isabella Miller

Many prominent school shootings have made kids feel unsafe to attend school. So, the real question is should teachers and security guards have guns in their classrooms? Many people have different opinions on this topic; some might think this is unsafe for teachers to carry guns, and some might think this is needed during these scary times.

Why Teachers Should not Carry Guns

Teachers should not carry guns because it requires many hours of training and feeling comfortable with the gun in their hands. Instead of carrying a gun, pepper spray, and tasers are safer, considering they would not kill someone. Also, there is always potential for human error. Some teachers are not physically or mentally prepared to have guns in their classrooms. 

Why Teachers Should Carry Guns

Considering what has happened in many schools, teachers carrying guns might be the best way. There have been mass shootings in many schools, where young kids, some even younger than five, had their whole life ahead of them had their lives tragically taken away. If shooters knew that teachers have guns, they might be intimidated, and a lower percentage of shootings could happen. Parents knowing that their teachers are armed might make parents feel more comfortable having their children sent to school. 

Will Locking Classroom Door Deter a Shooter?

Classroom doors should not be locked all day. If there was a fire and the door was locked, it would take extra time to unlock it and try to get out instead of evacuating swiftly. If something does happen to the teacher and the door is locked, there is no way that the kids can get out of the classroom and get help. However, if there were an emergency, like a shooter walking into the school and the school does not realize it, and the classroom doors are unlocked, that would be a terrifying situation. School doors should be locked, but have a button in the classroom to quickly and safely unlock the doors. Even though this is not cost-efficient, schools should use their fundraising money to buy doors like those because it will keep students and teachers much safer. So much violence is happening in this world, so we should take more precautions by locking doors and finding a way to unlock them quickly.

Homework, No Thank You

By Gia Mejia

Should schools give homework? I think not. Students already have school five days a week for seven hours. In California, that is considered a full-time job, plus homework that can take 1-3 hours. Estimated that would be 45 hours a week of academic work. Inverse.com says working that much can be “detrimental to your health, physical and mental, in many ways.”  

Many students say that school makes them anxious and worried. Students do not need to have homework after seven hours of school. It damages a person’s well-being. Westwoodhorizon.com says, “Many students were saying that they had anxiety and depression from homework, as well as panic attacks.” Schools should consider not giving students homework, as research shows it harms their health.

All Immigrants Should Learn to Speak English 

By Halo Jenkins

All immigrants coming to live in America should learn to speak English simply because it is an English-speaking country, and what is the point of moving to a country where you cannot simply order a meal or apply for a job?

Three reasons I believe that all immigrants coming to live in America should learn to speak English are because it is the country's primary language, you cannot apply for a job if you do not speak English, and not speaking the language will make everyone's life harder.

The primary language spoken in the United States is English, so why should immigrants come to a country where they cannot talk to anyone? It just does not make sense. Can you imagine walking into a shop to find something but cannot even ask someone working there because you do not speak English? It must be challenging, and it must be hard for the worker as well. Why not just learn the language and make everyone's life, including your own easier?

Most people who migrate to another country need to find a job, or else they won't be able to live in the country; however, if you are an immigrant and you cannot speak English, it is going to be hard for you to get a job especially if you are trying to get a regular minimum wage job like being a waiter or a cashier you cannot get a job, you will not be allowed to because you will not be able to communicate with the majority of the population.

Some might argue that not all jobs require you to speak to anyone. While this is entirely true, you must still know how to speak English for the job interview. You can only expect to get a job if you talk to someone. It is just not going to happen. 

Therefore, all immigrants living in America or any other English-speaking country should learn to speak English because it will help them in the long run. It will help them live their lives easier and, most importantly, help them get a job. Also, learning English will benefit not just the immigrant but the rest of the country because they will not have to worry about translation or anything like that.