Should the U.S government keep or get rid of the pennies ?

The U.S government should get rid of the penny because it cost more than a penny to make a penny. In 1857, the Mint stopped making the Half-Cent coin, partly because the cost of making it had exceeded its face value, and partly because it was considered to be so small a denomination that it was no longer needed. New Zealand got rid of its penny and two-penny coins without incident back in 1989, and in 1991 replaced their two lowest paper denominations with coins. My issue is important because our government spent nearly $169 million just to put $70 million of currency into circulation. The U.S. Mint makes an average of 20.27 million pennies per day to produce its 7.4 billion penny annual output. I chose this issue because making pennies is waste of money and time.

Many people in the U.S believed that the pennies we have is useless. In 1990, U.S Representative Jim Kolbe introduced the Price Rounding Act of 1989, HR 3761 to eliminate the penny in cash transcations, rounding to the nearest nickel.  On February 15, 2013, President Barack Obama stated his willigness to eliminate penny.The citizens are the one who are affected from it because some people believe rounding the prices is not a good idea. However, other people consider that rounding prices is a beneficial way to eliminate pennies. Based on what the President and the representative states, I think we should get rid of the pennies because it can save up a lot of copper and rounding up the prices would not matter.

Pennies are worthless, they cannot buy anything and many people just throw them away. My issue is important to me because putting pennies in the pocket is too heavy and they are easy to get lost as well. The issue I chose relates to my communtity because we are the one that is using pennies. This issue has an impact on my community because it costs the U.S Mint 1.26 cent to make each penny, meaning that taxpayers are losing 19 million dollars each year. Therefore, we should agree that producing pennies is wastes taxpayers money.

The U.S. cent, or penny coin, has almost no purchasing power today. (Susan Headley (October 18, 2014). The Great Penny Debate: Should We Keep Producing Penny ? Retrieved from http://coins.about.com/od/uscoins/i/penny_debate.htm.)  There is 765,600,000 hours lost per year in this country because of handling pennies, or waiting for people who handle them. This statistic, which is cited by the folks at RetireThePenny.org, is the result of compiling a number of penny-handling related events, including the ubiquitous 30 second period we sometimes spend waiting for someone who just has to dig through their pockets or purse to find that last cent so they can pay for something with exact change (probably so they don’t get stuck with any more pennies.) The article had points out that producing pennies is a waste of time. So, I strongly believed that pennies are not that important for our country.

The U.S government should eliminate the penny from the coinage system because producing pennies is s waste of money. The issue I chose is should the U.S government keep or get rid of the pennies.The issue can be solved by rounding up the prices. Even if you shop two or three times a day, and even if the rounding goes against you 2 times out of 3, that is still only talking about 3 or 4 cents per day, at the most! Most people are throwing more than 4 cents’ worth of pennies into the jar or the trash every day. So, we should agree that the U.S government should stop producing pennies and eliminate the penny from the the coinage system.

Should the U.S. government keep or get rid of the pennies?

The United States government should keep the pennies because if we get rid of the pennies, it can cause many negative effects on people. The penny continues to enjoy overwhelming support from a majority of Americans, and for good reason. It plays an important role in our everyday lives and in our nation’s economy, and alternatives have consumer and social costs. Consumers benefit with a low denomination coin, with the penny helping keep high prices in check for millions of America’s hardworking families. The penny also fuels charitable causes, allowing America’s wonderful charities to raise millions of dollars. I chose this issue because now a days, Americans are wondering if pennies are worthless and should get rid of them. However, some Americans did not think pennies are useless. They states that pennies are beneficial in their everyday lives.

The design for the first one-cent coin was suggested by Benjamin Franklin. The image on the first penny was a lady with flowing hair symbolizing liberty.  The coin was larger and made of pure copper, while today’s smaller coin is made of copper and zinc. It was one of the first coins made by the United States Mint after it was created in 1792. However, a debate exists within the United States government and American society at large over whether the one-cent coin, commonly called the penny should be eliminated as a unit of currency in the United States.  The United States has eliminated a small denomination coin in the past with relatively little trouble. In 1857, the Mint stopped making the Half-Cent coin, partly because the cost of making it had exceeded its face value, and partly because it was considered to be so small a denomination that it was no longer needed. Back in 1857, the Half-Cent had purchasing power that would translate to well over ten cents today, so in some ways it was akin to eliminating the dime. It causes even more trouble.

Pennies are necessary and useful to people. If we eliminated the pennies, it can cause a big change in people’s lives. Without pennies, people would be forced to round everything up to the nearest nickel. This system would be extremely confusing and awkward for consumers and businesses, and it would also cost lots of money. For instance, instead of paying $29.96 for something, you may have to pay $30. Over time, rounding to the nearest nickel could mean a big loss for consumers. The poor will be affected the most because they are most likely to make more frequent, smaller purchases, thus suffering the rounding up more often.  Also, there are thousands of small charities that depend on penny drives to bring in donations. People think nothing of pouring out their old penny jars to support these drives, but they would not part with nickels so easily. The issue relates to my community because the prices usually end with cents. I need pennies to make payments and I do not want the prices to be rounded up.That way I have to pay even more. My parents are a low income family and can not handle the budgets. It affects me and my family a lot. With all these negative impacts on people, the U.S. government should keep the pennies.

An overwhelming number of Americans want to keep the penny system. Americans for Common Cents, from (http://www.pennies.org/).  There are over two-thirds of adults (67%) favor keeping the penny in circulation. 77% were concerned that if the government implements a rounding system for cash purchases, businesses might raise prices. 66% of Americans oppose eliminating the penny and establishing a price rounding system. National polling over the past two decades has consistently shown that between two-thirds and three-fourths of Americans support keeping the cent in circulation. Nick Wing (February 7, 2014). Can We All Just Agree That Pennies Are Stupid And Need To Be Retired? From (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/07/get-rid-of-the-penny_n_4719984.html) A Gallup Organization poll in 1990 and Opinion Research Corporation surveys conducted in 1995, 1996, 2001, and 2006 show Americans are persuaded by several factors, such as antipathy toward price rounding. And a 1992 CNN/Time survey conducted by Yankelovich found 74 percent of Americans support keeping the penny in circulation. The importance of preserving the penny goes well beyond high public acceptance and historical significance. A 2006 Coinstar National Currency Poll found that public support spiked when people became educated about the issues around the penny, such as rounding at the cash register. Public support for the penny jumped to 79% in 2006, a time when Congress was discussing penny elimination. These results confirm the strong and unwavering public support for the penny. Americans understand that eliminating the penny would lead to a rounding process and cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in higher prices.

             People will face a lot of issues if the U.S. government eliminated the pennies, so it is important to figure out a solution to solve the problem. The issue can be solved if the U.S. government produces less pennies than today and use other cheap makings instead of copper because the use of copper cost more than a penny to make a penny. By using this solution, people would not worry about the prices getting round up anymore and the U.S. government would not waste too much money on making the pennies. It is a great way to both satisfy on whether people agree to keep the pennies.

Is Social Media Beneficial to Our Society? (No)

The beeping of your phone instantly pulls your eyes’ attention to flicker over the social media notifications that fill your phone’s screen. Social media is something that benefits our society by allowing us to instantly communicate through chatting with one another as well as help remove communication barriers. The first social media site created was CompuServe in 1969 which changed the way people communicated back then. There are doubts on whether or not social media is beneficial because the positive benefits are not realized by those who use it everyday. We are able to communicate instantly through our phones. The process of communicating is very simple. It can be a way of making new friends as well as expressing yourself more freely, which can boost self-confidence. I think it is important for people to be able to see the positive effects and realize that social media does benefit the society.

Social media expanded from the first social media program, CompuServe. It was the first program that let people in different states chat with each other and was extremely popular in the 1900s. However, it was later taken over by new sites such as AOL and CompuServe was eventually bought out by H&R Block. Despite the eventual failure of CompuServe, they had led the country to a whole new realm of communication and paved the way for future social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.

Despite the many positive effects there are also negative effects of social media such as cyberbullying and talking face to face less. They can be seen physically which  tends to be more noticeable, leading people to associate social media as a bad influence. However, in doing so, they are ignoring its benefits. We use social media almost daily so we do not notice its benefits. Some of these include making new friends, being able to express ourselves and relieving stress.

It has been statistically proven that the use of social media helps students strengthen their relationship with friends as well as make new friends. 70% of adults use social media to connect with their friends and family. 52% of teens have said that social media has helped improve their relationship with friends. 57% of students were able to make new friends on social media websites. This data strengthens the belief that social media positively affects its users.

People use social media almost daily so they do notice how it has positively influenced them. The checking of social media sites seem almost like a natural routine for its users. Overall, you can not say that the positive outweighs the negative or vice versa, but both balances the other out. With the good comes the bad.  If people still think social media has a negative impact, they should remind themselves that there are a lot of good benefits too such as improvement in relationships and better expressing of themselves.

Is Social Media Beneficial to Our Society? (Yes)

Social media is harming our society not only physically but also internally and emotionally consuming our time, lessening human contact and face-to-face communication. This started in 1997; Six Degrees was launched and became the first modern social network. It allowed users to create a profile and to become friends with other users. Social media from then on has become an integral part of modern society. As I did more research, I found that it does not just affect our physical and social world, but also our mental and emotional state. While it’s good to keep connections, it also makes us all more vulnerable to less privacy, cyber-bullying, and isolation. I chose the con side of this issue because I believe social media and electronics are affecting our society. Although there are positive effects, there are much more damaging effects of social media and electronics use.

Technology has many great uses. From the beginning, it has kept many people in contacts over long and far away distances. When social media was created, it completely changed the way we communicate. We all started to slowly lose those real human connections we make when we meet. Now, all we do is send a smiley face expressed with a colon and a parentheses. The effects are quite unprecedented. Society is affected and we are all to blame for the effects created. As life constantly changes, we develop more convenient ways to keep in contact, but we should not lose the essential human face-to-face connection we all need.

Communication is important to keep in touch, but is it really helping us keep a strong bond and connection with each other over technology? There are actually many effects to this. This puts our friends into question; are they really our friends? We are now in more danger than before. It makes it easier for identity theft, stalking, and cyber-bullying. All these unlawful people have an advantage. Some other effects are bad relationships, distractions, and a loss of privacy. Bad relationships can lead to depression, drug abuse, and isolation. The social media now is a huge distraction in today’s daily routine. If we keep taking a few minutes here and there, it adds up. It becomes an addiction and can consume all your time. Privacy nowadays is a big concern. Everyone everywhere can now just upload photos revealing where they are, going to, or who they are with. Confidential information is easier than ever to find. You may not even be aware of some information you’re showing. Do you still think social media and networking sites are nothing to worry about?

Browsing social media can make you feel connected to a larger community, but such easy, casual connection can also have its downside. Cyber-bullying has spread widely among youth, with 42% reporting that they have been victims, according to a 2010 CBS News report. According to Cornell University’s Steven Strogatz, social media sites can make it more difficult for us to distinguish between the meaningful relationships we foster in the real world, and the numerous casual relationships formed through social media. Studies have shown the impact social media has on an individual. According to Paul Booth, PhD, an assistant professor of media and cinema studies in the College of Communication at DePaul University in Chicago, studies have shown that people actually are becoming more social and more interactive with others, but the style of that communication has changed so that we’re not meeting face-to-face as often as we used to. Although we communicate, it’s not the same as a real conversation, seeing the other person’s reaction; instead of seeing a simple “LOL” on a bright screen. Social networking sites benefit people in faraway places but also dangers them to be more public about their personal lives

The frequent use of social media can lead to negative effects in society and cause less human interaction. Social media use can affect our society in a number of ways but is also beneficial in our daily lives; we just need to find a balance. To improve our interactions, we can have more face-to-face interaction, put the technology away, and limit our use of social media. It does not mean you should not use it at all, you should just be more aware of how you are affected and how the community is influenced. After learning the effects of social media and technological advances, we should all be more aware of the harm it can cause and how we can change that a little at a time.

Teenage Stress

Stress is a feeling that is created when we react to particular events. It is the body’s way of raising to a challenge and preparing to meet a tough situation with focus, strength, and stamina. The term stress was borrowed from the field of physics by one of the factors of stress research Hans Selye. In physics, stress describes the force that produces strain on a physical body. Hans Selye began using the term stress after completing his medical training at the University of Montreal in the 1920’s. He noticed that no matter what his hospitalized patients suffered from, they all had one thing in common. They all looked sick. In his view, they all were under physical stress. In today’s society, most of the teenagers are having a large amount of stress on school work and often do not know how to manage their stress correctly. Stress on school work is a relevant issue to me and my peers because it leads to poor physical, emotional, and mental health.

A broad biopsychosocial concept of stress and adaptation offered the promise of helping everyone achieve health and happiness by successfully responding to changing global challenges and the problems of modern civilization. From the late 1960s, academic psychologists started to adopt Hans Selye‘s concept, they sought to quantify “life stress” by scoring “significant life events,” and a large amount of research was undertaken to examine links between stress and disease of all kinds. By the late 1970s, stress had become the medical area of greatest concern to the general population, and more basic research was called for to better address the issue. Teenagers often feel stressed about academic and extracurricular demands. They feel pressure to complete daily classwork and homework assignments, finish projects and study for exams. In addition, teens also participate in clubs, organizations or volunteers. Many types of things add up to stress. They might not have time to finish one thing or the other. When you are feeling stressed, you might not realize right away what is causing your stress. First you need to figure out what the problem is and make it manageable. The problem will not go away on its own. In fact, if you ignore the problem, it will probably just get worse.

Most of the teenagers are struggling with stress. Research shows that students who have higher grade have more stress than those who receive lower grade students because the higher grade students always worry that their grade will drop anytime. Barbara Palmer( February 23, 2005). Pressure for good grades often leads to high stress, cheating, professors say. Retrieved from (http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/february23/cheat-022305.html). They feel very depressed if any grade drops. Instead, the lower grade students would not worry as much because they think they would not get a high grade anyways so they decided to give up. Research also states that homework was a leading cause of stress. Patti Neighmond (December 02, 2013). School Stress Takes A Toll On Health, Teens And Parents Say. Retrieved from (http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/12/02/246599742/school-stress-takes-a-toll-on-health-teens-and-parents-say). However, too much stress may have negative consequences for your health, both physically and mentally. For example, feeling frustrated with things that normally do not bother you. You do not feel confident in yourself and you give up on things very easily. You have the inability to sleep which leads to headaches, stomach aches, etc. One of the most important physical consequence is suicide. In a survey of high students, the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center found that almost 1 in 5 teens had thought about suicide, about 1 in 6 teens had made plans for suicide and more than 1 in 12 teens had attempted suicide. These consequences can really harm your body, so try to prevent those situations away from you.

Stress is a real problem affecting a large number of teenagers. Margaret Shapiro (February 17). Stressed-out teens, with school a main cause.  Retrieved from (http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/stressed-out-teens-with-school-a-main-cause/2014/02/14/d3b8ab56-9425-11e3-84e1-27626c5ef5fb_story.html). 83 percent of teens report that school work is a significant source of stress. Just under 60 percent of teens said that having to manage too many activities was a “somewhat or very significant” stressor. From my experience, as I became to junior year of high school, I felt very stressed too because there were a lot of exams you have to take. There was much more homework compare to the previous years. In my senior year, I started to take advanced course. It can be a challenge for me, but it leads to highly stressful life.

Stress is the most big issue for teenagers. The first thing to learn is how to avoid a build up of stress in the first place. One of the most effective and rewarding techniques is meditation which encourages you to relax your mind. Meditation practice helps to release old patterns of stress, tension and distraction. This process can inspire you to find a deeper source of real motivation to make healthy change of your life. In addition to meditation, engaging in regular exercise such as walking, yoga or swimming can also reduce stress. It increases self confidence and lower the symptoms associated with anxiety and depression. There are number of ways you can deal with stress. If you try to spend some time regularly doing those techniques, your stress will be gone pretty soon.

A perspective by Shu Juan Huang

                 

The Problem With Homework

You would think that homework is something that is supposed to help kids in school. The idea of homework is to give extra practice on the subject that the student is learning in class. This sounds like a great thing to help students get used to complicated concepts. However, based on my research you would be wrong. All homework does is create unnecessary stress for students.

The history of homework in the United States had its ups and downs. According to nctm.net, during the 1940s homework was considered something bad and just caused students stress. This all changed in the 1950s when the Russians launched sputnik. The U.S was determined to outsmart their communist enemies so schools started to give out more homework in the hopes of having the next generation be smarter than America’s enemies. Homework was again increased during the 1980s after an article called “A Nation At Risk” was created, which basically said that homework was the only thing that would keep our kids from becoming stupid.

This topic is obviously important to our school because the students have to deal with homework everyday. It is important to know if doing homework actually does anything to improve your grade. If I had to do something for hours each day I would at least want to know if it helped me with anything. Teachers should also know that giving lots of homework does not always mean that students will do better on tests. Maybe the information I present in this article might changed the way certain teachers think about homework

It turns out that based on my research, homework does not improve the grades of students at all. In fact, it does the opposite. According to today.com, “kids who do more homework actually perform worse on tests”. Kids that do more homework usually have poorer mental and physical health compared to students who do not do as much homework. High amounts of homework are literally unhealthy according to this article.

In the end, I think that teachers should be more reasonable when it comes to handing out homework. The amount of homework being handed in school is just too high. Students are forced to stay up late to complete their homework, and then are expected to get up early to make it to school on time. I think that homework for each class should only be like 10 minutes long so that we won’t have to stress out about the workload. High school students already have enough stress to deal with besides homework.

Students not getting enough exercise

Getting exercise is a big part of life that will help you in and outside of school. Physical education is one of the requirements for graduating from high school. It is where you learn to exercise and to do different exercises. People in America have become lazier and more overweight than people in other countries. Growing up, students do not realize the importance of exercising and do not exercise enough. For me, I love playing sports and exercising which has led me to be interested in the benefits of exercising. It is a good stress reliever, improves your mood, reduces health risks, and can improve your grades.

Students often exercise in high school because they have to, but once they graduate and go  to college, they stop exercising. Everyone is affected by it whether you are the one not getting enough exercising or if your friend is the one not getting enough exercise.  In a report by the Board of Regents of Georgia State University,“…60% of adults are not active enough and 25% are not active at all.  They also list a lack of exercise combined with poor diet as the 2nd leading cause of death in the United States. “  (Knight, “Exercise and the mind”) If you are the one who is not getting enough exercise, your mood can be more depressed which can lead to health issues. As a bystander, your friend’s mood will affect your mood and make you feel depressed as well. When a student stops exercising, it leads to a habit of not exercising which is not going to benefit you at all. Students need to understand the importance of exercising and that it can help you in life.

Not getting enough exercise is a serious issue because it can lead to major health risks. Getting exercise can help you improve your health, life, and grades. As a student, I do not want to be sitting in a classroom all day, I want to play games and be active. Students often stress about things in life like school, parents, siblings, and other things. Exercising is a great healthy way to help relieve stress. Exercise also increases self-confidence and pumps more endorphins which is a feel good signal that is sent to the brain. If my peers exercise, the mood of the community and the environment will be more positive and not as stressed. When students do not get enough exercise, they are more susceptible to health risks. With exercise, your life, grades, and health can improve, but without it you can have a old man’s body at a young age.

Getting exercise can improve your grades and how you perform academically. Studies have shown that exercising can improve your grades. “One school has shown that 30 minutes of walking on a treadmill improved students’ problem-solving skills by 10%. That could bump you up a letter grade!” (Brennan, “How exercise boost your brain”) Exercising will increase the oxygen flow to the brain. Another study done at a high school in Naperville showed that when they added P.E. to first period, math scores and other scores had improved by 20%.  As a community, if they do not get exercise, peoples life span will be shorter and more miserable. I see a lot of people who become out of shape and not as positive due to lack of exercise. Facts and studies can prove that your grades and life will improve with exercise.

With exercise, your life inside and outside of school will improve. Student have not been getting enough exercise and do not understand the importance of getting enough of it. Once the Board of Education stop requiring students to exercise, they will be fat, lazy, and not able to think as well. This issue can be solved if everyone was required to get a certain amount of exercise in a week for high school, college, and certain jobs. Not getting enough exercise can lead to a more depressing life , but if you get enough exercise, your life will improve.

An opinion by Jared Siu

Cyberbullying in High School

Cyberbullying is an important issue to me and my peers because it can happen to anyone and almost everyone ignores it. Cyberbullying has been around for as long as the internet, but has become very prevalent recently with the advent of social media. This issue is important because anyone can become a victim, because everyone uses the internet now. According to Hertz (2008), “9% to 35% of young people say they have been the victim of electronic aggression.” (p. 7). I chose this issue because it seriously affects us all as teenagers and we cannot keep ignoring it any longer.

Cyberbullying is the harassment of others on the internet. It has been around for as long as the internet itself has. However, in recent years, with social media like Facebook and Twitter, cyberbullying has become very common. Teens are typically on their phones and computers for hours a day. This puts them at constant risk. According to Graham (2008), “70 percent of middle and high school students have experienced bullying at some point.” (p. 1). If we do not deal with this problem now, it will spiral out of control.

This issue is important because everyone goes online so everyone could become a victim. We almost all see it, but we never seem to care until it happens to us. According to Graham (2008) “Studies based on playground observations found that in 75 percent of bullying incidents, at least four other peers were present as either witnesses, bystanders, assistants to bullies, reinforcers or defenders of victims” (p. 4). This is why we need to take a united stand against cyberbullying.

The dangers of cyberbullying can be verified by statistics. A huge number of teens, as many as 43%, have been cyberbullied, and even more witness it, says Moessner (2007, p. 1). This causes school to become an unsafe environment for young people who are already naturally at risk of mental problems such as depression and suicidal thoughts. Teens become scared and distrustful of their peers, meaning they cannot focus well in school. Cyberbullying hurts everyone, no matter what role they play.

In conclusion, cyberbullying is a huge problem in today’s schools. It hurts us all and we all turn a blind eye. If it does not stop now, it is quickly going to grow out of control. We will all need to take a united stand against it, and call it out when we see it. The damage caused by cyberbullying will be difficult to repair, but if we all work together, we can definitely do it.

A perspective by Milton Savage

Works cited:

Hertz MF, David-Ferdon C. 2008. A CDC Issue Brief for Educators and Caregivers. Atlanta (GA), http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/ea-brief-a.pdf

Graham, Sandra (PhD). 2008. “Bullying: A Module for Teachers.” http://www.apa.org/education/k12/bullying.aspx#

Nishina, A., Juvonen, J., & Witkow, M. 2005. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will make me sick: The consequences of peer harassment” http://www.njbullying.org/documents/nishinajuvonenwitkow2005-jccap.pdf
Moessner, C. 2007. “Trends & Tudes; Cyberbullying” http://www.ncpc.org/resources/files/pdf/bullying/Cyberbullying%20Trends%20-%20Tudes.pdf

A Closer Look at Self-Harm

         

Self-harm is a widespread issue that affects different age groups and serves as an unhealthy coping method to many people, especially teens. Self-harm is often misunderstood as a “fad” among teenagers and a cry for shallow attention; however it is a complex issue that takes time to fully understand and treat. This is relevant to my community and peers because a large amount of individuals who resort to self-harm are teenagers and adolescents. One reason that someone may turn to self-harm is because of their overwhelming emotions and stress. Teenagers are known to be very emotional people and deal with a large amount of stress due to relationships, school, peer pressure, and the list goes on. Many of us just don’t know how to handle our feelings and will turn to unhealthy coping methods to make us feel better in the moment. I have known individuals who have mutilated themselves because they have felt alone, empty, stressed, and just wanted an escape from their pain. As a high school student I have listened to many of my classmates talk about self-harm in hushed words. Many of them seem very confused as to why someone would want to inflict pain upon themselves, which is understandable since most of us do our best to avoid feeling pain. I wish to enlighten my community on self-harm, why it happens, how we can help, or if you are someone who harms yourself what you can do to help yourself.

A common myth that many of us have heard about self-harm is that it is merely a “fad” amongst teenagers that they we will eventually grow out of, however many different age groups actively harmed themselves and the behavior can carry on for many years. There is no real way to trace this issue back to the first person who started hurting themselves, but there are records of this behavior tracing back before the twenty-first century. In the late nineteenth century, two doctors by the names of George Gould and Walter Pyle discovered that women all over Europe had been puncturing themselves with sewing needles. Many doctors were confused by this phenomenon; however other doctors came forth and revealed to have seen this occurrence before. Even though many of the doctors could not understand what they labeled as “self-torture” they concluded that it was some morbid form of self-help that their patients resorted to. In this day and age many people are encouraged to use self-harm through websites that promote self-mutilation and their “friends”. This issue dates back before the twenty-first century and large amounts of people of different age groups and gender have turned to it.

Self-harm is an important topic to bring up around teenagers because of how many of us partake in this behavior. Studies have shown that forty-six percent of teenagers self-harm and that ninety percent of people that engage in self-mutilation started in their adolescent years. This means that there is something about our teen years that makes us more vulnerable to this behavior. A large reason why this happens is because as teenagers our emotions are a turbulent and hard to control. Since this is an issue that targets teenagers specially it is important to call attention to it rather than let it sort it out. It is incredibly hard for teenagers who suffer with this to come clean to their family and friends about it because of the fear of rejection. My peers need to know how to help themselves and how to react to others who self-harm.

Self-harm is the purposeful intention to inflict harm on oneself and there are many different ways that people will go about harming themselves. Some of the methods that people use to inflict harm on themselves are: cutting, burning, hair-pulling, carving, impact with a large object, etc. Some of the warning signs that someone is self-harming are: frequent injuries, difficulty handling feelings, wearing long clothing in warm weather, relationship problems, poor functioning at work and school, etc. Individuals who have been sexually assaulted are more prone to self-harm. A staggering fifty percent of people who have been sexually abused self-harm females make up sixty percent of individuals who self-harm. About fifty percent who started self-mutilation at the age of fourteen carried on to their twenties. A common question that comes to mind when talking about self-harm is: Why would they do this?” People self-harm for many personal reasons. They can include: feeling lonely, a way of punishing themselves, they want a distraction from their pain, etc. Self-harm serves as a tool of emotional “stability”, however this will not fix or get rid of any problems, it merely postpones the emotions for a short period of time. A very dangerous part of self-harm is the addictiveness of it. There is a psychological part of self-harm that not many people know about. “The physiological aspects of self-injury are why it is so hard to “just stop”. When we are injured we stimulate nerve endings and endorphins are released from the brain. We experience a high for about 15 to 20 minutes. We feel fine for a while until the high wears off. Then the individual may need to injure more often and more severely to get the same feeling.” (Juzwin & Levitt). In conclusion self-injury is a short term solution to long-term problems that may be going on.

Self-harm is an unhealthy activity that many different age groups can turn to. It is not a “fad” that people do for attention; it is a serious issue that should be treated with seriousness and respect for others. Teenagers are especially at risk because of our mental state and issues. Some ways to deal with self-injury is to go to a school counselor for advice, writing about your feelings first, use a stress ball or anything else to help soothe you, or talk to a friend. You can help a friend by not getting angry or hysterical, taking the issue as a serious matter, support them but do not enforce them they need to take things at their own pace, and keeping the issue private unless it gets too dangerous. Know that there are many different ways to replace the behavior and that you and others are not alone. Finding the reason behind self-harm is the first step, and finding techniques to help is the rest of the journey. With patience and support we can overcome it.

A perspective by Amy Johnson

Sources

http://www.siris.com

www.healthyplace.com

http://www.thesite.org

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Overweight Students

Overweight is an important issue to me and my peers because it can affect our school performance by getting negative social feedbacks from other peers. It has been an issue a long time ago. The percentage of overweight high school students increases every year. It is important because students can get a low self-esteem from peers who are giving negative social feedbacks from them. Overweight students tend to have low self-esteem, are less likely to attend college, and have health issues such as high blood pressure, diseases, and diabetes. The reason I chose this topic is because it has been a major issue for high school students in United States.

    A long time ago, overweight has been a problem for high school students. It is one of a major problem for high school students because it can affect students in many ways. It began when students don’t eat healthy food and don’t do physical activities. Students who overeats fast food and junk food are most likely to be overweight. We should take actions and not let the history repeat itself.

    It is important because it can affect me and my peers in many ways. According to Serena Gordon from health.usnews.com, bullies target overweight students in schools. (1). Victims are often called names, humiliated, punched and teased. This can lead to isolation, depression, and even suicidal thoughts. All these results will affect school performance. In other words, overweight high school students are less likely to attend college. As a result, overweight is a relevant issue to me and my peers.

Overweight affects students in many ways. According to the national surveys, 16.6% of students are overweight and it is increasing every year. (2). It relates to the community because there are a lot of fast food restaurants in San Francisco. A person’s Body Mass Index (BMI) can determine if he or she is overweight. If a person is overweight, he or she will have a higher chance of getting diseases, high blood pressures, diabetes, and other health concerns. Overweight has a huge impact on high school students.

The issue that I chose to write about is overweight high school students. Overweight has been a significant issue for high school students because it can be an influence on our school performance. Students should be aware of their behaviors toward unhealthy food like fast food and junk food because that can lower their chances of being overweight. As a result, eating healthy and doing a certain amount of time of physical activities are needed.

(1)Gordon, Serena. “Bullies Target Obese Kids.” US News. U.S.News & World Report, 3 May 2010. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.

(2) “Obesity and Overweight–Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health.” Obesity and Overweight–Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.

An opinion by Carrie Shek