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.