The School Day Should Be Shorter

By: Damian

 In Canada we have to go to school because it is the law. People that live in Canada might think that going to school is a pain in the butt because of the long hours, But we are lucky to go to school. The school day is currently 6 hours long. My school is an elementary school and starts after 9 am and ends after 3:00pm. I believe that the school day should be shorter because it would not interfere with your life at home, it would be easier on your body, and will allow kids time to participate in organized sports.

The first reason why the school day should be shorter so it would not interfere with your life at home. Well this is a big thing because if you have a lot of homework you might have to stay up late to finish it. If school ends late you will miss out on family bonding time. For example, if it was the weekend your teacher assigns you homework and you’re school ends late you will miss out on finishing your homework and your family bonding time. It also interferes with your chores or helping your mom with something. For example in life at home I have to help my mom around the house because my mom had a baby so I have to help my mom a lot. There for I think the school day should be shorter so you have time to do chores.

The second reason why the school day should be shorter is. It would be easier on your body because your body needs some rest at the end of the day.  But your body doesn’t only need rest throughout the day. Some of the ways your body can get tired in school is always sitting down, writing which makes your hand tired, and also running out side which doesn’t only make your body tired and can also bring your gym mark down. For example if you get lazy at school you will be lazy at home and not want to do your homework but just watch T.V. and lay on the couch.

There are many Canadian kids in sports today and according to the GSS in 1992 56% of kids played sports and in 2005 the number dropped to 51%.  The decline in kids playing sports could be because when you are at a hockey tournament or at any type of tournament, you will miss a lot of school.  With missing a lot of school, several things could happen.  For example, you could fall behind in your work, your marks could become lower and your brain may become weaker.  I feel that the school days should be shorter so that tournaments, games and practices can be started earlier in the day. This way, kids can be done with their practices and games earlier and they would be able to get their homework done earlier instead of being up late into the evening.  I play a high level sport which causes me to miss a lot of work.  But if school was done earlier, I could get my homework done before I go to a practice, a game or a tournament.

The school day should be shorter because it would not interfere with life at home, it would be easier on your body and kids have time to participate in sports. If you find yourself nodding or agreeing with the statements made above, join me and take action. Speak to your school’s principal or school board and make your voice heard.

Fueled Boats Are a Bad Way to Travel

By: Sydney

 Did you know that many people dislike fueled boats like cruise boats and others vessels. Do you like fueled boats?  Perhaps you like boats but you may not after you hear what they can do to you. These are some reasons why fueled boats are a bad way to travel: you may get sea sick, it is very expensive, and it pollutes the water.

Have you ever thought about the people on boats that start feeling sick and really dizzy? Have you ever wondered how you can tell if someone is getting sea sick so you can help them out? You can tell by seeing if they have a pale face or when they stand, look dizzy, and start to tip over. The person may look light headed, or even throw up. Despite your efforts to ignore the signs that tell you if you are seasick is really hard. If you don’t like the feeling of being seasick you can take Gravol.  But don’t take Gravol if you don’t need it or if your doctor says you can’t. This is the first reason why you should dislike fueled boats.

Have you ever traveled by boat and thought you were paying more than you should be paying.  Here is a payment people usually pay: $11,206 per 10 day cruise in Hawaii. Think about other people in the world who don’t have a lot of money. This would be 1 million dollars to them and all who are rich how this would be a tiny speck to them out of their money. Now this may be a lot of money for us to but not as much too some people. This is another reason why you should dislike fueled boats!

Did you know that over 1 million fish die every year?  This is caused by the pollution of the world and that is killing different creatures that need them to survive so fish and other creatures will go extinct for sure. The pollution is caused by the fuel, and smoke. If all the creatures in the world die except humans we would die because every creature needs each other to survive. If we keep over fishing and polluting the water and air every creature in the whole world would die including the humans. We are also creatures if not known but we are mammals so we are also important to are planet Earth. So get outside today and explore nature, but don’t forget to respect all the creatures of the wild. This is the last reason why you should dislike fueled boats.

Now remember all tips to help you save money, stay away for being seasick and to help protect the world today. Also don’t forget if you dislike fueled boats or decided to change your mind, you are not alone. Don’t forget to protect nature today. Some boats that would be better to use would be row boats and sail boats. Perhaps now you will make better choices on how you should get across the water without hurting nature.

Zoos Are Negative Places

       Did you know there are approximately 370 zoos across North America? When I think of animals, I feel that they should be treated with the same respect as us. Zoos put animals on display for people to look at them, take pictures, and sometimes hurt them. How would you like to be thrown in a cage and glared at all day? We as people get to live where we want, we get most, if not, all of our needs met, and we get to live and see our family. Since animals are like people they should receive the same things. I strongly believe that zoos are negative places. I think zoos are negative places because zoos restrict the animals movement, don’t provide what the animals need, and the animals are separated from their family.

First of all the animals are in a caged area. When the animals area in a cage they can’t roam free. That would be like someone locking you in your bedroom and you staying there for the rest of your life. I would not like that and I’m sure you wouldn’t like it either, so how do you think the animals like it? The cages that the animals are put into are about the size of my bedroom! That is really small. Do you really think that is enough space for an animal? That is like keeping a hippo in your bedroom! One time when I was at the zoo I saw an animal chewing on the cage. The material of the cage might not be healthy for the animal. It might contain chemicals that could hurt or kill the animals.

Unlike house pets, were all of the animals needs are provided, animals at zoos don’t get all of their needs met. When animals are first born in the wild, they have everything they need, but when they are transferred to a zoo everything is different. For example the food. In the wild the animal’s food is different than the food they feed the animals in zoos. In the wild they can eat as much food as they want, but in a zoo they are restricted to how much food and water they get. In a zoo you can only eat the foods the zoo keepers give you. However in the wild, animals can hunt for the different types of food they want to eat. In a zoo you cannot hunt at all.

Finally it is important to be with family. How upset would you be if you were taken away from your family? I would be extremely upset, so I feel for the animals in zoos. To be separated from your family would change the animal’s life forever. Sometimes there are baby animals at zoos that live without their family but just like us they need their family to protect them. Have you ever felt lonely? If you have you know how bad it fells. But imagine being lonely for your whole entire life. It would feel ten times worse. That is how most animals in zoos feel. Animals have feelings too and we need to respect that. Taking animals away from their families is not a good way to start.

Animals are like people and should be treated with the same respect as you and I. I personally believe that zoos are negative places because in zoos animals are in a caged area, don’t get all of their needs met, and are taken away from their families. If we don’t treat humans like this why do we treat animals like this? Keeping animals in zoos is cruel and mean. That is why I think zoos are negative places.

Bullying Must Stop

By: Briar

       Did you know that people are being bullied all over the world? It needs to stop   because it is hurtful, it  is no way to make friends, and it is not what God wants us to be like.

One of the reasons I feel bullying needs to stop is because it is hurtful to others. For example, name calling, threatening, and teasing others are all ways that people can be hurt with our words. Also, by punching, kicking, hitting, and pushing others, these are ways that people can be hurt by a bully. No one likes being hurt.

Bullying is no way to make friends. When you’re a bully, you might lose friends because people wouldn’t want to look at you or see you at all because you’re being mean. Who wants to be friends with a mean person? Not me! You want to make friends, not lose them.

Finally, as Catholics, God wants us to be a kind friend, not mean and scary. Bullying is threatening to God. Being mean to people is being mean to God. Bully’s behave like how the devil wants them to, not how God wants them to.

In conclusion, being  a bully is no way to be a friend ( ps ) walk Away form bullys. It must stop because it is hurtful , it’s not a great way to make or keep friends and it is not what god wants. If you see bulling happen stop them.

Kids Should Not Have Phones at a Young Age
By Kianna
Many people nowadays have a phone. According to the website www.qz.com, there are almost as many cell-phone subscriptions (6.8 billion) as there are people on this earth (seven billion) —According to the website www.consumerreports.org kids get their first phone between the ages of 8 and 12 which is quite young to get your own phone. When surveyed, most students (61%) say they want a phone. I strongly believe that kids should not have a phone at a young age because it is unhealthy, it can be dangerous, and it is a distraction.
The first reason kids should not have a phone at a young age is because it is unhealthy. They would not be able to do their homework. They will get in trouble by their parents. Then they would have to tell the teacher that they did not do their homework. They have to do it at home or they have to finish it at school during recess.
The second reason kids should not have a phone is it can be dangerous. For example, they could be talking behind people’s backs. Taking pictures of people and post it online. They can bully people and they cannot see it if they don’t have a phone or I pad and then they find out for their friend or they teacher.
The third reason kids should not have a phone is it can be a distraction. Kids could be late for school, class, dinner there mom and dad will be mad at them if they’re late. If you are texting and driving they could get a ticket then they will have to pay for the ticket.

      People don’t realize when they give a phone to a kid they might not be playing a game they could be texting someone, they could call someone they don’t know like their parents boss and they could get in trouble. That is why kids should not have a phone.

Children Should Not Have To Wear Uniforms To School

by: Dante

Have you ever gotten exited to wear a new pair of pants or a new shirt to school? Well I have, but I don’t think I ever would get excited if I had to wear a uniform to school every day. Children should not have to wear uniforms to school because first of all, we would all be the same, second, you would not get to wear your clothes a lot. Finally, you could stain, rip, or even lose your clothes which would be annoying because it does happen.

The first reason children should not have to wear uniforms to school is that we would all be the same. When God created us he wanted us to all be different but we won’t if we have to wear uniforms. Just imagine looking around you and everyone around you is wearing the same thing. It would be like a bunch of clones!Also some people show their personality by what they wear, but how will they be able to do that if they have to wear a uniform to school every school day?

The second reason that children should not have to wear uniforms to school is that we will not wear our clothes a lot because we will only wear them on 30% of the year. The other 70% of the year we will be wearing uniforms,which is a lot of the year. Also, if every child in every school in the world had to wear a uniform to school every day, kid’s clothing stores could go out of business because parents won’t buy their kids many clothes so the stores won’t get much money, and therefore they could go out of business.

The third reason that children should not have to wear uniforms to school is you could stain, rip or even lose your clothes, which could get you into trouble. This could stop you from being able to do things like sports at school because if you fall you could rip or stain your clothes. If that happens you would have to replace your uniform which would cost a lot of money and some families can’t afford it so what will they do then?Just think of how annoying that that would be wearing the same clothes every day of school.

So now you know what it would be like to wear uniform. Every single school day you would have to wear the same thing, you would be wearing the same clothes as everyone, you would have to worry about ruining your clothes every day and some people would have to worry about actually affording a uniform. Think about what you just read. Think about what it would be like if YOUR school had to wear uniforms. I think that children should NOT have to wear uniforms to school.

Science Needs to Avoid Dinosaur Resurrection

By: Braedan

Years ago, dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Now imagine stepping outside to find a bunch of raptors staring you down. Science is planning to bring prehistoric animals back from the dead. Did you know that? I thought it would’ve been cool before but contrary to popular belief it isn’t. My opinion is that they shouldn’t because they went extinct for a reason and if they were brought back they would affect the ecosystem and the project may become scientifically dangerous.

They went extinct for a reason, for example they are trying to bring back a wooly mammoth, but over 100 million years the planet has changed and there is no place left for it to live because there is disease or humans which affect the mammoth which forces it into extinction again. And then they keep trying to resurrect it but it never works, so they are basically spending thousands and millions of dollars on something that is pointless, rather than spending that money on other global issues like global warming or the thousands of species on the brink of extinction.

It would affect the ecosystem by making more species go extinct and have some overpopulate. For example things that normally eat cod or other fish now turn their diets to ancient fish, allowing the cod to overpopulate and whatever they eat to go nearly extinct or go extinct that messes up that ecosystem, which makes things like crab or lobster unavailable because all the cod had eaten them.

How it could be scientifically dangerous is by just the deaths from giant unaware dinosaurs. And what if bringing back dinosaurs meant that all the bacteria and bugs came back with them, there is also the problem of us walking around near giant, 20 foot wide, piles of dinosaur feces everywhere. Or the threat of a dinosaur military, now that could start a third world war.

So science, please hear me. I know what will happen and that no one wants it to. No one wants to be stepped on, no one wants to be eaten. And if you do decide my opinion is irrelevant, at least keep my thoughts in mind. And remember, no one wants to be around giant, man eating dinosaurs. Would you?

If you want to learn more about this topic go to http://www.nationalgeographic.com/deextinction/ for more.

What do you think about this topic? Do you agree? do you disagree?