The effects of screen time

 

Kids are voluntarily making themselves tired and dysfunctional during the day due to their late night ventures on devices containing blue light. Adolescent children are putting their mental and physical health at risk when choosing to be on there phones for hours at a time. A wavelength called blue light is slowly damaging the eyes of those using devices at night leading to life long effects. Getting them to learn self control and turn it off, is a needed lesson that should be taught when getting handed a device, and a problem that we should fix promptly.

Blue light is hidden in the sun, digital screens (TVs, computers, laptops, smartphones and tablets. tablets), electronic devices, and fluorescent and LED lighting. All though blue light can be good for you, it can become harmful after a large amount of use.Fiona Mcmillan states that, “At night, it can suppress the secretion of melatonin and wreak havoc on our circadian rhythms, and recent studies have shown that extended exposure to blue light can damage the retina” (How blue light can damage cells in your eyes). In other words, the author explains that blue light can forcefully put an end to the process by which substances are produced and discharged from a cell, gland, or organ of a hormone concerned with regulating the reproductive cycle. It also damages our sleeping cycle, and our retina which is in charge of receiving light that the lens has focused on, converting the light into neural signals, and sending signals to our brain for visual recognition. The more time we spend on our device the more at risk we become to receiving these consequences. Some people don’t know they are at risk until it is too late to fix.

Teenagers are very well know for their transition faze. Dealing with mood swings, new environments, and becoming an adult can be one of the most frustrating parts to growing up, but the question arises if they can control how dramatic and frustrating this time can be. The more time we spend on devices, the more we are in danger of putting our normal emotions at risk. Curious, I asked my classmates (ages 14-15) how many hours they spent on there device past 9 o’clock last night (a school night), then asked what time they woke up in the morning to see if they received the expected amount of sleep, and if they hadn’t, why?  Out of a class of 22 the maximum amount of time spent on there device was 4 hours and the minimum was 10 minutes. The total average amount came out to be 2.8 hours. If we assumed they went directly to sleep after turning off there device, they would have fallen asleep at 11:48 pm. The average wake up time from the next morning (with a minimum of 4 am and maximum of 7:30 am) was 5:56 am. The average amount of sleep my class gets is 5 hours and 8 minutes. This is 4 hours and 22 minutes under how much sleep a teenager should get each night. Zarin

Bored high school student falling asleep on her desk during class

Rahmen stated, “However, the more time I spent online — to socialize, not study — the less sleep I received, and the worse I felt” ( “Fellow teenagers, now is the time for us to limit our screen time” ). Kids come into school tired and not fully functional. This leads to a domino effect of consequences such as falling asleep in class and missing a homework assignment or study guide for a test, stress. There’s also the anxiety that comes with it when your grade responds poorly. Many may say that not all students fall into these categories of effects, but they fail to realize that there are different extremes these effects can have. Alaska sleep clinic states that, “While you sleep, your brain is hard at work solidifying memories and what you’ve learned from the day. Sleep also allows your brain the time to remove waste products from your brain cells so you can think and not feel foggy the next day” (Julia Higginson). You or others might not be able to tell your lack of ability, but your body does. You start becoming lazy and things become harder to comprehend than they seemed before.

The choice to pick up a device is a struggle we seem to have created out of curiosity. People blindly walk by one another with their heads down and buried into a screen. We have failed to set expectations to the gift of technology. The world of no question unanswered is at our fingertips, and we abuse this power on ourselves. Control on screen time is necessary in order to have our next generation walk down the street with their head up, shoulders back, eyes and ears wide open, awake, and strong brains to brew new ideas.

 

Romeo and Juliet Act III

In act three Shakespeare deals a great hand of death into the play. It is sad to say that Tybalt, the cousin of Juliet, and Mercutio, the friend of Romeo, were the ones facing the unfair play of cards. Pure heartbreak was spread across the room as we watched and read Mercutio being stabbed to his death by Tybalt.

The reason behind his death was faulted by Romeo. He had sneaked into the Capulet’s masked party the previous day causing a rise out of the family hosting the party. Tybalt , who was furious, went to look for him and unload his anger onto him. I didn’t fully understand the hatred that Tybalt was putting toward Romeo at this moment. Romeo had nothing against the Capulet’s, and did not destruct the party in any way. So was Tybalt just being childish?

As Mercutio died I felt sorry for him. He wanted to make the people around him laugh until the very end. I find it fascinating that no one suspected that he was hurt, and Tybalt not saying anything about hurting Mercutio. You would think Mercutio would show some sort of pain like a scream or shout, but he was silent all the way to his death.

Tybalt is to blame for the fight and Mercutios death. He had no control in his temper when in search for Romeo. How could he have flashed his anger upon another? No one should feel the need to kill someone over a disagreement with another person! The emotion in this book is extreme. I understand the romance fantasy between Romeo and Juliet, but can’t come to terms with this death. As much as this book brings joy to others, and as brilliant the words are layed out, I find this story poorly told.

I am studying the works of Romeo in this play threw the eyes of family. Romeo and Juliet were married and in turn is now considered a family. Romeo speaks to Juliet saying, “Dry sorrow drinks our blood.” He says this during their departure emphasizing that they are unlucky with sadness. He is just married and fate seems to only push them away. As it always should be when it comes to star crossed lovers. If more lives are like this why do we not hear of them in reality? This book is made up, but people fall in love with this play because of the masked reality captured by Shakespeare. I’m surprised not to have seen a higher status book based off a real “Romeo and Juliet love” story.

Zeffirelli’s version of Act III captures the best image. It lets the reader relate the old language to old sets, clothing, and acting. I feel as those you can not portray the true meaning behind Romeo and Juliet without relating it back to the century it was based on.

 

Here’s a link to Mercutio and Tybalts fight scene

 

Romeo and Juliet #1

My first impression of the play was confusion. Other then the language and the use of it throughout the text, I found myself confused about how Romeo was speaking so fondly about another love. Rosaline came as a surprise to me because no one had mentioned her when describing the book. No one explained a previous love that had left Romeo heartbroken. I was led to believe Juliet was his first love. My initial impression of Romeo and Juliet’s life was naivety from the depths of a first love.

I was confused as to how quickly they progressed in the play as a couple. I wonder if Romeo fell in love with her looks then was greeted by her personality. If so, how long was Romeo in love with just her looks. I’ll never know because the book is just the book itself. Love can’t be defined so it’s hard to claim why there love was so strong, and I guess that’s what is troubling me.

I was asked to study the role of Romeo and what I’ve collected is he has a soft personality. He doesn’t come off as a harsh presence because he was always in love with someone. The love he gave to others made him reflect a more gentle personality. Romeo has spoken of love since his first appearance, “Ne’er saw her match since first the world begun.” This line Romeo speaks and reflects on his love at first sight moment. He looks as her and sees light as if he’s never seen light before.

“I’ll go along, no such sight to be shown, But to rejoice in splendor of mine own.” (1.2.107, 108). This line was spoken before Romeo met Juliet there for the words before he had love at first sight. He agrees to go to the party to enjoy himself and move on from his breakup. These words were spoken with sadness.

My questions for this novel are what is the purpose to using the most powerful word, love, to say  you’ll love someone forever when you might move on from them, and loose that love? How do you know your true love is your true love?

Link to love and death quotes…

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/death-and-love

In the Zeffirelli version of Romeo and Juliet it was placed in a time period where people were dressed in there normal formal clothing  to attend a masquerade ball. There was what is looked as old music nowadays playing the background as well. The people that were showcased were very proper and well rounded. Juliet did not express her emotions as a well respected lady would in that time period

In Luhrmann’s version of Romeo and Juliet, the time period was placed in more a modern time. People dressed up in costumes so represent different characters. Some of these characters were people that may have existed in the same time period as Zeffirelli’s version of Romeo and Juliet. The music that played while they were dancing was in a more present tune. Juliet had a childish and free personality that wasn’t expressed in the other version.

 

Here’s Zeffirelli ball scene ad Luhrmanns

 

Acting Impulsively

Like every Friday after school I waited by the elevator near the auditorium. I arrived at 2:32, and began my wait for my ride to my next destination. She appeared around the orange lockers 7 minutes late as always with a apologetic grin across her face. I assured her the wait wasn’t long and we made our way out the building and to the parking lot. We began our surfaced small talk as we settled our selves into her car. Click. Click. My seat belt is riding up against my neck, but told myself not to mind it because the car ride wasn’t long. We watched the road ahead of us trying to distract ourselves from the awkward silence. She turned on the radio, and began to fidget with the heating system that was far below the dashboard. We discussed our love for music, and the unpleasant weather. I let myself sway side to side as we travel down a windy road. There’s awkward silence once more. She tries to fiddle with the heating system, and becomes frustrated. The road becomes straight so she brings her head down to look at what she has been fidgeting with. The second she looks down the car begins to speed up. The cars resting at a bus stop far ahead of us began to get closer… and closer. The car got faster… and faster. Im looking at her and back to the car in front, to her, the car in front. I ask myself if she’ll look up. I could only see what was happening. No one else in that moment knew what was about to happen, but I did, so I shouted, “Ms. Lara! Look up!” She sprung up, looked at me and asks, “what?” Only a moment passed before I felt myself in slow motion. The sounds of music fell silent, the feeling of my body felt like air, and the worry in Ms. Lara’s eyes faded away. Just for a moment. Every moment afterwards was filled with pain. I sat there looking at the car pushed up against me wondering why the airbags didn’t go off. They always said the airbags would go off, but they didn’t. They didn’t. So I sat there questioning why I was in pain. Why did my neck hurt? Why does my chest feel sunken? Why is there glass on my lap? Why is Ms. Lara crying? Why.. why didn’t I say look up sooner?

Anthem

Anthem was a book that brought great confusion into my mind. It spoke of equality, but as being a women myself, I felt almost attacked. My views on Equality must be very different from the authors standpoint. The Golden Girl, of the main characters in the novel, worked as what was described to be a farmer.  Her role in the novel was to provide food and make infants when she were to come of age.

The men were described to be the brains and brawn.  The main character, Equality, a man, seemed to be the hero, as most known stories seem to play out. He discovered a new form of light and wanted to show it to his brothers.

After showing his discovery he ran away… and not long after the Golden Girl appeared once again the novel. She ran after him. After a long travel by foot they arrived along a house on the side of the mountain. When searching threw the house the couple came upon a mirror. The Golden One spent hours looking at her reflection while the man, Equality, read books.

I choose to believe this is all a coincidence that the book played out this way. Putting all of these things aside, it makes for a captivating story, and broadened my mindset on curiosity.

Here’s video about the discoveries of curiosity today…

https://tedxbeaconstreet.com/videos/curiosity-driven-learning/

Equality the Hero?

Equality makes his way threw out the book working on his own, and using his mind to set free and make new discoveries. Although he gets the gift of curiosity to fight the battles… he didn’t seem to fight any. He ran away!

Equality is given a gift and does not choose to face his biggest fear which is to face the councilmen and prove to them the importance of his discovery. When things were going south he ran as far away as he could leaving everything behind. “Then we ran”(Anthem), spoken by Equalities point of view.

He built a life on his own and did not go back to face the monsters of the novel once again and claim a victory. Instead he shut the captives out and used his gift for his own good leaving everyone else to suffer but himself and his family and friends. “Here, on this mountain, I and my sons and my chosen friends shall build our new land and our fort“(Anthem), spoken by Equality himself.

The Call to Adventure

It is hard to tell a story on how you’ve lived when your life has just begun. I can try to make myself sound heroic as other stories may sound, but I cannot tell my version of a greatest achievement when it will be teased to the point where it is no longer my own, just to gain your somewhat attention.

Anthem has brought me on this train of thought…

I could not see myself acting as Equality did. I feel as if he did not truly fight for what he believed in. If I was given the chance to create and present an amazing invention to the world, I would work and push until I gain at least one persons attention.

Fighting for what I believe in will always be apart of me. Your thoughts and passions describe the person you are. It is silly to let yourself believe that your own self can be chipped away because others have a broader idea on how to use their own. Although my life has been short lived… I like to believe it was not short in living. Feeling low reminds me to raise my chin high and walk with purpose.

Here’s a video on The Hero’s Journey… 🙂

Blog Feedback Reflection

I got some feedback on the previous 4 blogs I posted to help my profile look more sophisticated and up to speed. My feedback was very useful and helped me catch things I couldn’t catch on my own. I went back and fixed what I caught a day or two before I got the written down feedback, so when I saw that they saw similar mistakes that I found, I was pleased. I added pictures and more links so my readers can find more recourses to get more information.

 

 

Blog Post #1

I have begun to read a book called The Uglies, written by Scott Westerfeld. This book caught my attention because it was a book that my sister had suggested to me when she was my age. I was not a big reader then so reading a 406 page book with my full comprehension was not quite my forte, but as I got older I have been given opportunities to engage into some powerful novels that have changed the way I view reading.

I took this book up as a challenge. I am usually a slow reader, not because I can’t read at a more normal speed, but because I find myself more captured when I slow my pace and truly take in what I’m reading.

After reading the first few pages I have made predictions on how this book will turn out. Being that this girl is 15, and she’s about to become a pretty in a few months, I predict she will do something that will affect her life as a pretty. I have come to this conclusion based on how fast the book has made her life story go and the length of the novel.

Tally, who is considered an ugly, misses her best friend, Peris. She lives in a place of darkness and sadness, but the reason she truly feels alone is due to the loss of her best friend, Peris. He turned 16, and became a pretty before her, so distance was put in between them. She missed him so much, that she was determined to see him. She made the decision to break one of the biggest rules in the uglies handbook, cross the river to the pretties.

When she got to the other side she started to run threw the streets. She disguised herself then went into a building where there seemed to be a party. She went up the stairs and recognized a face similar to Perises.

She looked for a cut on his hand that they considered there forever bond in friendship, but couldn’t find it. The next part was very interesting to me because the book goes into detail about Perises eyes and that is how she knew that that pretty was her best friend. I have always believed that the eyes are the most revealing part of the soul, so when the author used this as the leading factor for Tally finding Peris I felt a bond with the character.

If you would like to listen to chapter one here’s a link!

Blog Post #2

Reading the next set of pages in the book The Uglies, written by Scott Westerfeld, transformed me into a new environment. When Tally finally recognized peris, she was so happy and filled with excitement because the longing to be with him once again was finally over for just a moment. I say just a moment because Peris seemed to be much less excited to see Tally and more disappointed or even embarrassed.

Peris dismissed Tally instantly telling her that he doesn’t want to see her until she’s a pretty. To me this was heartbreaking. Imagining myself in this position made me really think about what she must be feeling. If someone to such importance in my life dismissed me away based on my appearance knowing I had no control of it, would make me feel small and beaten. As Peris told her how to disappear back to Uglyville I thought about how the bond in their friendship was proven to based on the days of disparity, the days of being an ugly.

Tally made her way back to Uglyville threw the fire escape leaving behind her a decent amount of disaster behind her. She was almost caught escaping, and if she was caught she would have been risking the chance of ever seeing Peris again.

Her rough landing led her to find a new friend, Shay. Shay also traveled to the Prettyland around the same time she did and escaped the same time she did. They found each other both scared of being caught, so they began to bond over there rebellious experience. They begin their journeys together and have bagun a strong friendship built off of their curiosity.

I wonder If these two girls will do something even more daring then traveling to Prettyland. Why would they want to risk the chance of being pretty and seeing their friends everyday if they only have a short amount of time to be one themselves.

Traveling to Prettyland was not very smart. They both got hurt by the urge of adventure. My question is will it happen again?

Blog Post #3

I am so happy to see the friendship between Tally and Shay grow. Shay introduced Tally to the hoverboard. The technology described in the book was finally revealed to the reader as the technology of the future.

Toward the end of the reading I had done today tally described that they were taught as children about a world of imperfections, different colored skin, and wars based of simple humanity. She said that people didn’t believe that these things could be true, due to how bad it sounds. This struck me with deep thought.

I began to think about how our world is truly a spireling cloud of nonsense. We focus on what we want for ourselves and shut out the rest as a union. This book explains a world of beauty and growth earning a place of happiness and equality.

Although this place in the book seems… well… perfect, It made me think about how people were categorized into two groups. The Uglies and the Pretties. “This is just as bad as racism. Isn’t it?” I thought to myself. Your categorizing right from wrong based on appearance, and being judged on whether your one or the other.

Shay asked Tally if she had ever traveled outside of Uglyville. Not on a field trip, but alone… in the dark. Tally begins to see some sort of restrain or grudge aout pretties as if Shay doesn’t want to become one…

Blog #4

Tally and Shay went on a new adventure. I, the reader, was taken to a new place in the book. The author took us to a place outside of Prettytown and Uglyville, they took us to The Rusty Ruins.

The author had tried to explain this new place very familiar to the world we live in as of now. They described a life when people used to burn trees to clear land, burn oil for power and heat, or setting the atmosphere on fire with their weapons.

This part of the book almost shamed me to be living the life that I am because I know these things are bad for the world we live in, but am also aware that we do not do nearly enough to fix this behavior.

As the author took a dark turn into the book it brought a light to it by explaining one of the very common known joys here on earth, the roller coaster.

Shay showed Tally her secret discovery. Tally was confused as to why Shay had told her to bring her hoverboard with them if the Rusty Ruins was not built for this type of technology, but when Shay reveiled her surprise the complaining stoped and the fun began.

Tally rode the roller coaster and viewed the world at a much higher level, She never knew that the pace that she grew up viewing as a land of the wild, crazy, and unfortunate, could have so many good things about it.

She was very curious as to how Shay knew about the ruins and had several questions, and Tally was never short to answer.

Here’s a link to the background for the book!

https://theugliesblog.weebly.com/

The Journey Begins

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton