Pro- Con: Students should have smartphones

Pro: Students should be able to bring their smartphones to school. By Jasper Chuang “Ahhhhh! My foot! Somebody get call 911!” “Nobody has a phone!” Students should be able to bring their phones to school because they would be able to access the internet with their devices and emergency care. They could have access to their parents, friends, and games. Consequently, smart phones help students become smarter. Students also have the ability to call their parents for emergencies. In addition, students will relax even more during break time because of texting to friends, family members. They can also play games that can make them smarter, help their reaction to things like when a ball comes to you, when playing a game that needs a lot of reaction, such as heart- attack(poker card), dodgeball, and speed(poker card). Even though phones could ring during class, the teacher could take away everybody’s phone which is turned off. If a phone did not get taken away, the student will not see their phone until the end of the school year. If the phone has been taken away one month before summer break, they will not see their phone until next year. With smartphones, students are able to connect to many people, emergency cares and games. Smartphones can make lives easier for students in both schools and at homes.

Con: Students should not bring smartphones to school

By: William Wang

“When can I play my smartphone?”

“When is it break time? I want to play my game!”

These questions above are heard daily in classrooms during class time. Do you call that focusing in class when they are waiting to playing their smartphones? Of course not.  Another problem that arose when bringing smartphones to school is it disturbs the learning environment because smartphones can ring loudly when the teacher is teaching class. The last problem we should consider is bringing smartphones to school allows the student to play more than what is considered appropriate. The excessive amount of time they spend on their phone can hurt their eyesight. Furthermore, we all aim to create a safe and equal environment but having a smartphone at school can make the gap between rich and poor more obvious. Please consider the following explanations.

If students bring smartphones to school, they will not focus in class. Students will look forward to play their phones instead of listening to the teacher. Also, students will think what is happening to their games currently, which is not focusing in class. If students want to play their smartphones, they should play it at home because home is the appropriate place to play their games. And think about it, if students play smartphones, it will hurt their eyes because of Blu-ray. So either at school or at home, playing your smartphone and not doing homework is not suggested unless you have Blu-ray glasses, which is expensive.

Another reason why students should not bring smartphones to school is because if the phone rings in class, it disturbs class. These are some examples of disturbing class:

1. When phone rings, it might annoy the students and students might laugh because of the ring tone.
2. Teachers trying to find whose phone is ringing then taking the phones to turn it off then confiscating the phone is all a waste of time. If you think about it, there are around 30 students in each class. The teacher spends about 5 minutes through this whole process, which is wasting 155 minutes in total (30 students and 1 teachers) and wasting the students money because your parents pay every minute that you are in class.

The last reason why students should not bring smartphone is because the gap between rich and poor is going to be more obvious. The students who do not have smartphones might be envious at the students who have smartphones because they can play in break times in school. But the students who do not have smartphones also want to have smartphones, so parents who don’t have have enough money to afford the money for buying smartphones will be very upset. Why not create the safe and equal environment that we all want and not bring smartphones to school? The ending result will be that everyone is happy with their school life while focusing on learning and not complaining to parents of wanting a smartphone.

So for the people who have smartphones, why not sympathize with the students who do not have smartphones by stop bringing your smartphones to school? It helps an envious free environment, making it a happier place to go for everyone while creating a learning environment that schools are set out to do. By focusing on learning instead of playing your phones excessively, it will not let your eyesight deteriorate. Due to these reasonable reasons, we should all not bring smartphones to school.

Food in Class

Pro

By  Halle

Should the students be able to eat food in class? Yes! Some people are neatly clean and don’t like the sound of munching food in their mouth. However, eating food during class can help you stay alert and focused, you wouldn’t have time to eat, and you won’t be hungry.

First of all, eating food during class can help you stay alert and focused. If you are sleepy in class, you can get out your snack, like energy bar, to wake you up and pay attention. Also, some students are very stressed and won’t be able to eat food, so eating snacks during class time would let them focus and get healthy.

Second, you won’t have time to eat. Some students wouldn’t have time to eat breakfast because they are rushing to get to school. However, when they come to school, they wouldn’t have time to eat because class starts. In addition, students should able to eat breakfast during class time so they would stay healthy and have time to eat. Another thing is that

Third, you won’t be hungry. During class time, a lot of students whine about that they are hungry. Therefore, if the teachers let them eat, they won’t whine how hungry they are. Also, when the students are hungry, they would feel uncomfortable. When the students’ stomach growl, it gets harder to focus during class. Some of the students think that they make a mess after eating, but they can still clean after eating.

In conclusion, students should be able to eat during class time because eating can stay you alert, you won’t have time to eat, and you won’t be hungry. Eating can let you pay attention and take time eating.

Con

By Ashley Huang

Everyone likes to eat. But should food be allowed during class? No. Food should not be allowed in class.

First of all, it can be a big distraction to a student. Not paying attention in class is disrespectful to both the teacher and other students. Others students might feel uncomfortable hearing chewing or swallowing noises and can not concentrate on learning.

Second, health issues such as allergy is a big problem. If someone is eating a food other students are allergic to, they might start to itch or have other allergic reactions, even if they didn’t eat any. If someone have a certain disease and cannot get close to a certain food, he/she might be in danger if a student next to him/her is eating that food.

Third, most schools have a lunch time. Students should be able to wait until lunch time, even if they are really hungry. No one should be really hungry anyways, because they should’ve eaten breakfast. If they did not eat anything in the morning, it should be their own problem. Students should not be eating in class just because they are hungry.

Students should be learning and paying attention to the teacher, not eating and providing distraction to both him/herself and others. It could be unhealthy and unclean, and sometimes even threatening. So to conclude, students should not eat during class.

Pros & Cons of Percy Jackson

By: LiT

   In 2005, the first Percy Jackson book, the Lightning Thief, was published, soon became the most popular book. nowadays, the Percy Jackson series, plus the two series that came after it, is still some of the most loved stories, and the latest book, Blood of Olympus is one of the most wanted book ever. Though, personally, I don’t like Percy Jackson stories that much, I made an effort to understand why it so popular, and discover the reasons for my dislike for Percy Jackson.

Why is Percy Jackson so liked by kids? A lot of people says it is the Greek mythology. But I think it’s because though Greek mythology takes place in the past, Rick Riordan’s stories take place in the present. It includes many things that kids are familiar with and gives the readers an interesting view at the Percy Jackson world. The modern language Rick Riordan uses also makes the stories a lot more likable. It takes the stories closer to the readers than any other stories. Instead of taking the readers to another world, the stories fit comfortably into the readers’ world. The characters themselves also use languages that many kids today uses, with a lot of sarcasm. The entire story is seen through teenagers’ eyes, and makes the readers more fond of the characters. Occasionally, a modern device shows up, like an iPad, something most older stories don’t have, but it an everyday thing for the readers. Moving the entire setting to a well-known country and make the stories more popular. Like putting Olympus on top of the Empire Building in New York, and sticking the Underworld entrance in Los Angeles. He also changed the myths, so they won’t be completely boring and monotone, such as making Daedalus three thousand years old. The gods, their enemies, and the demigods also have very distinct personalities. Sometimes the personalities are somewhat absurd, yet amusing. Like the ballet loving giant that lives in the sewers of Rome.

   Why don’t I like Percy Jackson? One of the reason is that, like many stories, the minor characters have to die for the major characters. But in this case, it seems more pronounced. Bob, the Titan, and Damasen the giant both sacrificed themselves to save Percy Jackson and his girlfriend, though neither Bob nor Damasen owe Percy and Annabeth anything. To make matter worse, Bob and Damasen both wanted to be free and “see the sun and stars again,” something that both haven’t done in a long time. They could have easily escaped their fate, but Rick Riordan doomed them. Of course, if Bob, or Damasen haven’t died, Percy would have gotten away too easily, but at least, one of them could have survive, and Percy and Annabeth could have suffered more casualties.

Also, Rick Riordan could have made the characters more life-like, and think more like a normal person, and not winning simply by sheer luck. A few hits on a monster’s head on it’s dead. Sure, if every monster’s battle is long-winded, it will not be extremely boring story to read, but there could be a lot fighting and closer calls and the hero or heroine could be the one finally killing the major monster.

   These are just my opinions, and I hope that I have not insulted you if you are a Percy Jackson lover, but only gave you another view to look upon.