Miley Cyrus. *334*

Hannah Montana? Good Miley? Bad Miley? There are so many colorful conclusions over this woman. Now, this post will be very opinionated,  passionate, maybe even seem defensive. This is a subject I'm very personal about, no matter what anyone else thinks about it. I am quite aware of her evolution and the widely diverse assumptions over her behavior, attitude, etc. "There are countless "negative" characteristics", people just criticize her in everything she does.

She started out as a little girl playing Hannah Montana,  making the"best of both worlds." (Puns are the building blocks/fundamentals, just saying), as she grew during that she was attacked for every little thing she did. The turning point was her song "Can't be tamed", which was labeled "too proactive" for the public and the Disney Channel image (Which, I don't know if Disney has realized but almost every star gone through has been classified as "Out of control," yeah wait ago Disney, blame the "victims" {for lack of a better word}). Soon after she changed some more, her hair, her music, her attitude. Was it a bad idea?

Miley Cyrus grew. She changed her hair. She changed her style. She changed her music. She changed her philosophy. She grew. Yes, some changes were more drastic over others, but her best change was she decided not to care, that she was going to do her, and live her life for herself. Is that really do bad? Yes I don't agree with all her lyrics. But its a CHOICE to listen to her music. If you do not like her, THEN DO NOT LISTEN TO HER. (End of the f*cking story)

Anyway,  question on hand, is Miley Cyrus a role model?

Yes.
She embraced change and made herself a stronger, more beautiful (inside). She shut out the haters and put her faith in who she is. Which is very inspiring.

I'm not even going to argue no. Its pointless. Yes there are people that believe it. Well, I am not one. 

Social Media. *336*

Is social media destroying personal communication and interaction?

Technology has advanced. And advanced. And advanced. The world we know today is completely different from just a short 30 years ago. Short from even just 16 years.

Technology has made our world better and worse. Better in the fact that now we have advanced so much it has helped in schools and medicine and law. Even in religion on occasion.

At first it was the simple things, such as stop lights, radios, tv's, even electricity. All simple. But as our human race continues to grow we thrive on the idea of technology.

Started out simple with T.V.? The old dinosaur box huge picture broadcasters. Now it has become to the point we have 3D movie theaters in our living rooms.

That is just ONE example.

Does it really seem so bad though? Just tv? Does it really affect us that much? Tv enhanced everything. Social media has flooded through things like tv and radio and cellular devices.

The answer is yes.

Even though we do not realize it, technology has greatly changed how we interact among one another. How we speak. How we act. Even quite a bit of cyber bullying comes from it. And sexting. And people now have no communication skills. People have no learned to be personable people.

Especially the younger generations growing up with all these technologies and the conflicts arising with them.

Yes. Technology has helped us. But has it helped up more than it has hurt us?

SMART Lunch. *408*

In the last year, a new way of school has been introduced to us Kennedy Kids. Something we call SMART (Students Managing Academic Resources and Time) Lunch. The idea is that students and teachers have more time to teach and gain help, ending tutorials, private studies, and using the time wisely. It has it's pro's and con's like anything, however when you look at the bigger picture, is it helping or hurting us?
SMART lunch is designed to designate time for students to receive more help, for kids who have job, sports, or just no time after school. Which is a "smart" idea. I have heard from several peers about how, "Thank god, I can do my work during SMART lunch! I had no time last night!" So yes, SMART lunch is a decent idea in that aspect.

However, what about the details? The idea is that only junior's and senior's with no D's or F's can leave. Thats not what happens. Yes they guard the doors but if someone wants to get out; they find away. A lot of people believe that is unfair considering, years past, juniors and seniors got to leave no matter what.
Another downfall, teachers now use a weapon or insult, not okay. Teachers threaten you with, "Well you'd do better if you came to tutorials." HOWEVER, our lunch is supposed to be our break in the school day. A lot of kids are forced to go to tutorials every day, sometimes twice a day, and don't have time to eat.

What about the class meetings and seminars that they are now requiring students to attend? Most so you can graduate. That is outrageous. Especially because every time there is a class meeting, no one cares, and most information they tell us is the same thing they do every time. (SIDE NOTE: Why require all of us to go, why not let kids who are on the right track or don't care do there own thing? Freedom of choice? Apparently never. There will be a different blog for that however.)

There a quite a few more elements of SMART lunch that could be discussed, maybe I'll revisit in another blog. I hope my point was made though. I'm not going to flat out state how I feel, I am optimistic my tone came across in an affective way. Now, think to yourself about the benefits and disasters of SMART lunch.

Abortion. *522*

There are A LOT of different views when it comes to this topic. Abortion is the process of terminating a fetus. Some people believe that as soon as a sperm and an egg connect that it is a life, a baby (more specifically). But notice how I never stated "ALL people believe?" Some people think it is only a form of life, a baby, when said baby is brought to term and "given birth" to.

Should abortion be legal? When asked this question people don't think of every little aspect. Most people are very one-sided, and close-minded, even though when answering the question there are many variables that should be considered; such as reasons medical, rape, accident, and, age. There are so many different challenges that are faced but not examined.

Should abortion be legal? Why? What reasons are there for it to be legal? Look at rape, when girls/women are raped and it results in a pregnancy; should they responsible for the baby? Should they have to look at a child that came from one of the worst possible situations and be reminded constantly where the child came from. Should they also have to put their lives on hold for something they did not want nor can afford? This is also tied with medical. Rape causes issues with the reproductive organs sometimes which is not good for the "child". Also their are other medical issues, diabetes for example don't always have the nutritional value to bring a fetus to term and have the baby be healthy. A woman and a man are meant reproduce and keep the world going. Yes. However, should a woman be stuck in a place with no way out and a the rapist no responsibility in which he put his sperm in to create? Yet, studies show women who have an abortion are 45% more likely to commit suicide, and teenage girls who have had one or more abortions become 10x more likely to commit. Looking at it from the other side, is it really worth it?

Another reason to examine would be age. As I stated in the previous paragraph teenage girls have a 10x higher chance to commit suicide after abortion. Although a great possibility, what happens if a teenage girl does not get an abortion? She has a greater chance of being bullied, a 25% chance of having another baby within 24 months of the first one being born, a 50% higher chance of dropping out and not going to college, and a 46% higher chance of chronic depression; all because she had a baby as a teenager. Also only 26% of guys who get a girl pregnant actually stay around, raise the baby, and marry the women.

Now, those are only a few things to consider when answering if abortion should be legal or not. I am not saying whether I believe either way, but I feel people should keep an open mind and be cautious of other people.

Women should be able to make their own choices on abortion and whether the should be able to or not.

http://www.lifenews.com/2013/07/31/studies-show-higher-risk-of-suicide-for-women-following-an-abortion/

Cheerleading. *549*

Have you ever watched a cheer competition? Have you ever seen a cheer practice? Many people do not consider cheerleading a sport, but then do not realize the strength, dedication, and pain that goes in to making it look like the girls are just cute items in midriffs and skirts.
There are quite a few ways to get hurt performing in this sport. The minor injuries are things like spraining, rolling, fracturing, and even breaking your extremities. Also concussions are occur quite often. Moving up the scale, there are some more serious injuries such as, breaking your hips, skull fractures, cervical spine injuries, brain damage, and even death. It is pretty obvious that a lot of people who do not do cheerleading, that don't understand, hell, sometimes the girls doing breaking themselves question if putting their body through the pain is worth it.
But is cheerleading hurting girls more than just physically? It can go both ways. I will argue both sides even. When looking at the issue, people have to keep and open mind over it.
YES- I think cheer does hurt girls more than just physically, and not even just the girls in cheer. An example being that, if you look at movies and tv shows, they have set the bar of the stereo typical cheerleader. Stereo typical cheerleader being, dumb, rich, mean, unreachable beauty and popularity and many more ideas just like that, that is not true though. Yes, there are some girls like that, but that is just it that's SOME GIRLS, that is not ALL and that is not CHEERLEADER. Another example from personal experience would be myself. When I was in middle school, social media, and other girls made me believe those things. They also made me believe I wasn't good enough to be a cheerleader. Once again not true. While that did hurt, it made me better, which leads me into my next argument.
NO- Cheerleading is the type of sport that pushes you in every direction, whether it be physical, mental, your endurance level, your teamwork, even your leadership. Being a cheerleader is not about the show, it's about bettering yourself and keeping that spirit alive. Cheer does hurt you, but from that pain it makes you a better cheerleader AND a better person. Once again I will go back to a personal experience, cheer for me made me stay in school and do better in school, and that is true for a lot of girls, just like any sport. If your grades aren't good, you can't do your sport. Cheer is the one thing I am good at that keeps me going. Cheerleading is my life. The same is to say for most other cheerleaders out there.
It isn't just a sport. It is a lifestyle. It is a aspiration. It is a goal. As a cheerleader, you see other cheerleaders that push you more than yourself, or your coach. Other girls make you do it for the "Wow" and the "I can't believe you can pull that, teach me." Seeing others make you more dedicated to improve and aim high for that perfect toe-touch or hitting your extension. Cheerleading hurts for a little bit but the pay off, for girls like me, is more than most people would understand.