My Comments

1. Get of your phone-Mikella's Blog 
2. Slightly Offended-The Pencil Inc
3. Would You Pay-In The Eyes Of Bliss
4. Do You Feel Safe?-The Real Mind Of Fiona
5. TV is Dying!! Or is it?-Hannah Banana's blog
6.TV is Dying!!.. Or is it?-WhosJane

The Government Is Probably Spying On You With It Anyways

Electronics are perhaps the most used tools, but also the greatest distraction. It is obvious that the arrival of phones and social media have changed the world we live in and they way we interact with each other. Back when I didn't have a cell phone, which was not that long ago, I would CALL my best friend on our home phones, and we would talk for hours without a care in the world (that also happened to be before Mary Ward, so let's face it, I wouldn't be able to do that nowadays because: UNITS).  Then that got replaced with Skype, and aside from the occasional Skype calls during Minecraft marathons, it was now much simpler to simply use the message feature. And now, when I want to contact a friend or family member, I just text them. 

This definitely caused some loss of face-to-face contact (or more like voice-to-voice) but I actually find that being able to text my friends has infinitely strengthened our bond, and I have more people to talk to than ever before. Back when I had no phone or social media, I saw my friends less, or at least the same, as I do now. I still feel the need to meet up and do fun things in person, and  it's way easier to organize something like that now. 

That said, I still think it is important to limit our use of technology, because too much of anything is gonna end up hurting us. 

Here is a song called 'Get Off Your Phone Song'. Though it is a comedic piece, it accurately pinpoints society's dependence on those little devices (which are getting increasingly big, actually) and raises some good points on why we should not be afraid to give our phones a break.
  

Though phones do pose a big distraction in the classroom, I think that they provide amazing opportunities, and make our learning experience so much better and immersive, especially in Mary Ward, which is something that wasn't possible in previous generations of learning. That is why I think school administrators shouldn't limit the ability for students to use phones during class, because although that might stop them from distracting students when they should be learning, there is no way to limit phones in a way that does not take away some of the in-class benefits. I guess the only thing to do is to trust students to limit their own use of technology! And quoting a verse from the song:

"Get off the phone now, it's gonna be okay, there's no need to be afraid. It doesn't love you, it's gonna die one day, the government's probably spying on you with it anyways"...

A Space For Violence and Closing It

Though supposedly safe spaces, there is a lot of violence that can occur within a school community. There are many factors that contribute to such acts of violence, but schools should really focus their resources on prevention rather than just the actions and consequences taken after something happens. 

There are undoubtedly many students struggling with various issues, and a lot of these students may feel that they are alone with these struggles. I think that there should be more, and easily accessed services available for these students to help cope with what they are dealing with. In my elementary school there was not even a single guidance counselor, and in Mary Ward, although a guidance office exists, it is difficult, and often even stressful to use, with all the confusion about appointments, and your counselor not being there. 

If someone is being bullied at Mary Ward, the services available are mildly unclear and seem difficult or stressful to get to. Talking to a teacher is one option, and going to guidance is another. However, Mary Ward is rather successful at being a safe and friendly environment, which shows that Mary Ward deals with such issues considerably better. Perhaps this is because students are too busy with units to have time for any negative or violent behavior...

There needs to be a service that targets each and every individual student, perhaps a scheduled counselling appointment for all students. Students who are doing fine could simply come to the scheduled appointment, maybe once a year, and students who would need more could be given extra sessions. While not foolproof, this plan could lessen some of the violence in schools, as students would not feel quite as alone or struggling and would not be lead to commit some extreme act quite as often, closing the wide space that can be filled with violence a little bit, resulting in a safer school environment. 

Celebrity Misadventures

People have a strange tendency for worshiping people who are considered 'famous', which is quite illogical considering that they are just people, and often times worse people then the so called 'regular' people, using their fan-granted immunity to commit some rather dastardly deeds. And fans are willing to overlook this because- frankly, I really don't know why people are so forgiving to celebrities, when if their neighbour or somebody else would do something like that, they would likely look down on them and consider it a disgrace. I think it has something to do with the worshiping factor. 

Clearly, celebrities should be treated like any other person, and the same laws should absolutely apply to them. When celebrities commit a crime or something else that is normally frowned upon, they should get the same punishment as anyone else, no immunity, or being overlooked. 

Celebrities should not be given special treatment, bad behavior is bad behavior, and celebrities are certainly not gods as some would like to believe, so they shouldn't be treated like ones and be allowed to skip on the consequences that other people would have to endure. They have the freedom to make the bad decisions they might make, so if they do, they have to pay up. No ifs, ands or buts. 

The Pinocchio-net

People love the internet. It is an amazing resource, full of information about anything you might need to know, and even things you didn't even know you needed to know. Unfortunately, you never really know if what you are seeing can be believed, there is no growing nose on the internet that shows you if the page you are viewing is a lie or not. This can lead to a lot of misinformation, as people tend to trust the internet blindly. I cannot say that I am completely clear of believing lies on the internet, either. Nearly everyone has at some point fallen victim to the fallacies on the internet, which can be quite a big problem. I think that it is important to be cautious when reading anything on the internet, and before going to blindly spread all of your newly found information to unsuspecting people who have no reason not to believe you, I would recommend further researching it, whatever it may be. 

Nothing's Free...

  Ahh... YouTube Red. The topic of much discussion, much controversy, and a whole new way of watching videos- ad free! Like most people, I don't like ads. I tend to spam the 'skip ad' button, and get very frustrated if ads stop me from watching videos or playing games, or when they stop working and I have to refresh or restart whatever I'm doing. It is particularly annoying when the ad plays just fine, but the video I'm watching fails to play! Yet, I don't hate ads as much as some people do, resorting to ad-blockers that stop hard working YouTube creators from receiving the revenue they deserve. I sometimes watch ads, for entertainment. It sounds strange, but some adds can be quite amusing, informative, or even idea-giving! 

  I quite like YouTube for its unique concept and how it's 'free' to use. Considering that and me might wanting to occasionally watch some ads, you probably won't see me getting YouTube Red anytime soon or not soon, (until I get rich, perhaps), but the fact that it is not available in Canada only enforces that. 

  That said, I have nothing against YouTube Red. For those who want to get it, I don't see why not. From a video creator's perspective, YouTube Red gives creators a chance to earn more revenue for what they do, which is great. One thing I noticed with the introduction of this, however, is that there has been a very significant decrease in skip-able ads. It's fine to ignore the button for a little while if the commercial is something interesting, but if I'm forced to watch an ad from start to finish, I hate it. Therefore, I wouldn't worry about the advertisers, they will do just fine, considering all the places that ads can be placed, and especially this new development. 

  Truth is, though, we can't really expect anything to be free, and whether it's money, or time, we will have to pay something for everything. And so whatever option we choose, there will be drawbacks, so the best thing to do is to just accept it.

Move over, TV

  Growing up in a world where Saturday Morning Cartoons were very much a thing, I hold a certain nostalgia to that big static-y box that provided me with Backyardigans and anything else that I might have happened to crave. I remember waiting in front of the clock for 4:00 PM to hit so I could indulge myself in 30 blissful minutes of Arthur, nothing more important in that moment than an anthropomorphic aardvark (seriously, it was an amazing show filled with really entertaining and not just educating plots with references to things that only older audiences would understand). 

  Then the record button came around, and sitting around watching any random show while waiting for favourite shows to come on became useless, finally exposed for the absolute waste of time that it was (I mean, studies have proven that just randomly flipping through channels and watching random shows doesn't actually even make you happy). Aside from certain shows that I watch only after I can skip through all the commercials, I just stopped using the TV. Why? Actually, it was because I found some hobbies to invest my time into. But that is besides the point. Then I discovered YouTube. It was free, unlimited, entertaining, and most importantly wait-free (except when Minecraft series episodes ran out, but there were always others to find). TV is just too limiting, too time-wasting and just not satisfying. 

  The way I see it, TV is reaching its natural, inevitable end. That said, I don't think it will be gone completely. There are things about watching television that something like YouTube can't replace, like the sitting down with your family to watch those favourite shows. Just like radio was limited to music stations with a few news shows in between, TV will have to move over to make room for the new innovations that have come around. So even though I foresee a lot of changes in how most people get their video entertainment, there are still going to be people who watch TV, and so we won't be seeing its complete demise any time soon.