Earlier, I covered the topic of prison costs against education costs. I have returned to it to cover another topic related to it.
What are reasons that students may have a lack of interest in school?
There are many simple reasons and complicated reasons for this issue. I will give my full opinion on this question. Such factors could be:
-Struggling with social interaction- Having a hard time communicating with students, teachers, counselors can make things hard for them and give them unwanted stress.
-Depression- Possibly losing interest in school and many other things as well.
-Struggling academically in their studies- Finding difficulty in keeping up or doing well can stress them out demotivate them to continue.
-Learning disability- Unable to fully comprehend an aspect can also stress out students and demotivate.
-Peer pressure/Bullying- Fellow students making the school environment difficult for you to function in can lead to anxiety and not wanting to be in said environment.
-Family matters- Personal matters within the household can be stressing for the child. Not meeting parental standards of excellence, no support from family, or family troubles can create weight for that child to bear. That weight can carry into the classroom, creating a domino effect.
-Substance use and/or abuse- Possibly trying to cope with the trials and tribulations of life by using substances can tamper with the thought process.
-Significant others in their lives- There are times when relationships will cause students to turn their attention away from the book to their beau. They may become the center of their life.
-A simple lack of interest in school- Some students simply do not go together with school. It may just as easily not agree with them, and they just don't want to be there.
That is my take on this question. Now notice how at least half of these aspects given are related to anxiety or stress. You could conclude from this that the main reason some adolescents lack interest in schooling is stress and anxiety on them. They may find it difficult to cope with the vicissitudes of schooling and thus want nothing to do with it.
Have a different view of why kids lack interest in the classroom? I welcome any comments you may have, feedback, questions, the more the merrier. Until the next time, this is D. Politopolous on recess.
Monday, January 5, 2015
Journey into the World of Conservative Media- Minimum Wage Debate
D. Politopolous here again, reporting to you on yet another journey into conservative media. I took a look at segments regarding the minimum wage in America. What I got was a lot of the same or similar reactions from conservative correspondents for the most part.
To begin with, I noticed that with nearly every video I have viewed, they speak on the minimum wage being raised from $7.25 to $9-10 dollars an hour and how it will lead to an increase in unemployment and a resultant collapse in the economy. The same reaction is blowing this measure out of proportion by comparing raising the wage to $20, $50, several hundred, or even thousands of dollars. This is shown to be false here, as if you take a look at the minimum wages of the individual states, the states with wages above the national standard show a decrease in the unemployment rate for teens specifically from 16-19.
-California at about $9 an hour showed a decrease in teen unemployment by over 7% from 2011-2014. New Jersey at $8.38 showed a 7.5% decrease, and Washington State showed a 3% decrease at $9.47. New York as well showed a near 4% decrease in teen unemployment at $8.75 an hour.
-Pennsylvania however, one of the states that remains at the national standard of $7.25, showed an increase in teen unemployment at near 4% from 2011-2014. Alabama, also at $7.25, showed an increase of nearly 6% in unemployment. Oklahoma showed an increase of about 2% at $7.25, and
Now this seems to make compelling arguments does it not? However, one should look at all the numbers first before concluding. When looking at the remaining 21 states still at the national standard, the unemployment rate for teens increased from 2011-2014 for only four of these states: Alabama, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. Alaska saw no visible change at 0%. The remaining 17 states saw some level of decrease, with rates ranging from below 1% to near 14%. I find these findings to be inconclusive on this current matter, and thus I will look into it more on a future post.
Furthermore, one segment had raising the minimum wage to that standard will "magically" result in more prosperity among many Americans. Washington State is a prime example of why this cannot be true. The US still sets a minimum wage every few years manually, while Washington State pioneered increasing by inflation index. Washington's minimum wage is higher than the national average and unemployment is lower than the national average, yet the still have a high population below the poverty line. A wage of $9.47 is still a very low wage to try and survive off of, and many residents of Washington are still poor. Therefore, a slight raising of the wage, contrary to conservative belief, is not likely to bring any sufficient level of prosperity to citizens.
Now here is a little something that I did not expect. Bill O'Reilly of all people advocating for the raise of the minimum wage in this clip of a Fox News segment. If Bill O'Reilly is even on the side of raising the minimum wage, then there must be a compelling argument here to do so.
That is all for this post, as it is getting quite lengthy. I shall return again soon, as many questions here have yet to be answered and many aspects of this argument have yet to be covered. Until then this is D. Politopolous on recess.
To begin with, I noticed that with nearly every video I have viewed, they speak on the minimum wage being raised from $7.25 to $9-10 dollars an hour and how it will lead to an increase in unemployment and a resultant collapse in the economy. The same reaction is blowing this measure out of proportion by comparing raising the wage to $20, $50, several hundred, or even thousands of dollars. This is shown to be false here, as if you take a look at the minimum wages of the individual states, the states with wages above the national standard show a decrease in the unemployment rate for teens specifically from 16-19.
-California at about $9 an hour showed a decrease in teen unemployment by over 7% from 2011-2014. New Jersey at $8.38 showed a 7.5% decrease, and Washington State showed a 3% decrease at $9.47. New York as well showed a near 4% decrease in teen unemployment at $8.75 an hour.
-Pennsylvania however, one of the states that remains at the national standard of $7.25, showed an increase in teen unemployment at near 4% from 2011-2014. Alabama, also at $7.25, showed an increase of nearly 6% in unemployment. Oklahoma showed an increase of about 2% at $7.25, and
Now this seems to make compelling arguments does it not? However, one should look at all the numbers first before concluding. When looking at the remaining 21 states still at the national standard, the unemployment rate for teens increased from 2011-2014 for only four of these states: Alabama, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. Alaska saw no visible change at 0%. The remaining 17 states saw some level of decrease, with rates ranging from below 1% to near 14%. I find these findings to be inconclusive on this current matter, and thus I will look into it more on a future post.
Furthermore, one segment had raising the minimum wage to that standard will "magically" result in more prosperity among many Americans. Washington State is a prime example of why this cannot be true. The US still sets a minimum wage every few years manually, while Washington State pioneered increasing by inflation index. Washington's minimum wage is higher than the national average and unemployment is lower than the national average, yet the still have a high population below the poverty line. A wage of $9.47 is still a very low wage to try and survive off of, and many residents of Washington are still poor. Therefore, a slight raising of the wage, contrary to conservative belief, is not likely to bring any sufficient level of prosperity to citizens.
Now here is a little something that I did not expect. Bill O'Reilly of all people advocating for the raise of the minimum wage in this clip of a Fox News segment. If Bill O'Reilly is even on the side of raising the minimum wage, then there must be a compelling argument here to do so.
That is all for this post, as it is getting quite lengthy. I shall return again soon, as many questions here have yet to be answered and many aspects of this argument have yet to be covered. Until then this is D. Politopolous on recess.
Journey into the World of Conservative Media- ISIS
D. Politopolous here, reporting to you once again. Now any informed mind should understand that to argue any point to your maximum potential, one should take a look at both sides of the debate. That being said, I decided to take a journey into a world I seldom crossover into, and that world is the realm of conservative media. I searched several videos on the internet, and one of which I found on Youtube and decided to center around.
The first video I came across was of a Fox News Hannity segment, in which Fox News reporter Sean Hannity interviewed Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson on the issue of Islamic Extremists ISIS/ISIL and what should be done about their increase in momentum in the Middle East.
My first question regarding this interview is as follows:
My first question regarding this interview is as follows:
What in the wacky world was going through Hannity's mind when he decided to consult a bible thumping redneck on foreign policy to begin with? Why not consult someone who is actually well informed on the subject, like say a foreign policy expert or correspondent? A religious bigot such as Robertson is not someone whose advice should be looked upon when speaking of foreign affairs and policy, especially concerning the Middle East.
Onto the second question:
Why is it that Phil Robertson's solution to dealing with ISIS sounds almost resolute to ISIS's solution? In his own words he stated this:
"In this case, you'd either have to convert them.... which I think is uh.....would be next to impossible..... I'm not giving up on them, but I'm just saying either convert them or kill them. One or the other." -Phil Robertson
In layman's terms, Robertson is preaching "Join us or die". Speaking on a more sophisticated level, the best course of action is to combat religious extremism with more religious extremism.... sounds about right I guess. Now what exactly is ISIS's ultimatum to anyone not advocating for their cause? This would also be "Convert or die". A pious, bearded man whom utilizes religious scriptures to proclaim an ultimatum of "Assimilation or elimination". A large portion of Americans would undoubtedly point their fingers at an Islamic extremist if they were to read this description.
In short, Hannity looks to be in short supply of guests on his interview segment. That is all for now on my journey into conservative media. I'll tell you all about my next one soon. Until then, this is D. Politopolous on recess.
Onto the second question:
Why is it that Phil Robertson's solution to dealing with ISIS sounds almost resolute to ISIS's solution? In his own words he stated this:
"In this case, you'd either have to convert them.... which I think is uh.....would be next to impossible..... I'm not giving up on them, but I'm just saying either convert them or kill them. One or the other." -Phil Robertson
In layman's terms, Robertson is preaching "Join us or die". Speaking on a more sophisticated level, the best course of action is to combat religious extremism with more religious extremism.... sounds about right I guess. Now what exactly is ISIS's ultimatum to anyone not advocating for their cause? This would also be "Convert or die". A pious, bearded man whom utilizes religious scriptures to proclaim an ultimatum of "Assimilation or elimination". A large portion of Americans would undoubtedly point their fingers at an Islamic extremist if they were to read this description.
In short, Hannity looks to be in short supply of guests on his interview segment. That is all for now on my journey into conservative media. I'll tell you all about my next one soon. Until then, this is D. Politopolous on recess.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)