Article 5

Brittany Kenyon

5/17/13

Period D

Norton High School

The government overstepped their boundaries in this particular case. There are a couple instances in this case where the government did over step their boundaries and this includes invasion of privacy, the Patriot Act, and using a scapegoat of homeland security and terrorism. Also, they should have to prove that terrorism is involved when they are invading someone’s privacy. The Patriotic Act is when they try to strengthen America and use this law when terrorism is being involved in America. The government should have had to prove that terrorism was involved if they wanted to seize journalist’s records.

Article 4 Sleep Deprivation

Sleep Deprivation

            Sleep deprivation is an overall lack of the necessary amount of sleep. A person can be deprived of sleep by their own body and mind, insomnia, or actively deprived by another individual. Lately, studies have been showing that sleep deprivation has been becoming a bigger issue with teenagers but why? Maybe because teenagers go to school, work, and then try to find some time to do homework and make sure they pass school. I personally have noticed that I don’t get enough sleep lately and its mostly because of all the school work I've been getting on top of trying to find time to do other activities like finding a job, and getting my license.

 Every night for the past 5 months I have been getting so much more homework which causes me to miss out on my sleeping time. Studies show that teenagers should be getting up to 8 hours of sleep each night. I know for a fact that only a few teenagers get this much sleep a night and it shows in school. Students tend to be sleeping more in class and doze out more frequently. Due to the lack of sleep grades tend to slip and this puts more stress on a teenager. Sleep deprivation affects about 47 million adults in the United States. Overall, sleep deprivation is something that almost every person lives with and it’s a horrible thing. I for example, have a harder time getting up every morning now and going to bed earlier than 11:00 pm because of all the work that needs to be done during the day. 

Boston Marathon Massacre

       On Monday April 15th at 2:50 pm two bombs went off in Boston at the Boston Marathon turning the marathon into a bloody scene of destruction. Dahokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev were both the main suspects in the massacre; Dahokhar was taken into custody after shooting himself in the throat while Tamerlan is pronounced dead. As of right now over 100 people are living with injuries that they got during the marathon from the outbursts of the bombs. Many people lost limbs and a 8- year old boy lost his life.
        Blood stained pavement and glass were found along the Boston streets. The twin blasts were found 100 yards apart knocking people and runners off their feet. People with no limbs were being brought to the hospital for immediate care by police officials and emergency workers. Even though this was a horrible day that every American will remember it was a good outcome. Many people got injured, but everyone who was brought to hospitals survived.
        Police officials were told to look for the bombs which were found in backpacks and trashes.  25-30 people had to get amputations which is awful. When the suspects were in custody Boston was in relief. We have caught these horrible people and it is time to punish them. Should he go to jail or should he get the death penalty? In my personal opinion i feel he should go to prison for life. Dahokhar wanted to die and giving him the death penalty would be giving him exactly what he wants. I feel that he should be put in prison for the rest of his life where he can sit there and suffer. Considering he is only 19 years old he has a long life ahead of him and he took so many lives on Monday April 15th. He should not get off easy what so ever therefore he should go to prison for the rest of his life where he will get what he deserves.

Interview Assignment

            Mike Masala is a talented young man who has just recently started his rapping business again! Mike has come up with all new songs for his new mixtape. This mixtape will be online and in stores April 25th 2013. Mike just had a interview with Brittany Kenyon last week and answered multiple questions about his music and what inspires him most in life. He mentions how Biggie Smalls has inspired him greatly in his writing career. "Biggie Smalls died at a young age and he let me know how life is short and not live it by." Mikes inspiration was Biggie Smalls and he is the reason why Mike started rapping again. Mike first started rapping by listening to good rappers and picked up a pen and started "spitting rhymes". Now Mike is starting to write song lyrics and rap again! Why did he stop? He mentions how people were so judgemental during his rapping career which caused him to stop. Mike's new mixtape really shows his true feelings and emotions that he has felt within the past year. He is done with being judged and is ready to come out with more mixtapes and make a great career with what he loves to do!

Distractology 101

           Do you text and drive, or multi-task while driving? Distractology 101 is a crash course that had visited Norton High School last week to show new drivers how multi-tasking is very dangerous while driving. Being distracted while driving is a big issue that is arising these days. Many teenagers have gotten into accidents or even have gotten killed from texting and driving. This is why Distractology 101 was created. The Arbella Insurance Company knows how dangerous it is to be distracted while driving. They then decided to bring a driving simulator to schools and have students get distracted while driving.

            When I first got into the seat and buckled up my seat-belt (like you would normally do if you were driving) I was told to test drive the car and so I did. When I first started driving it was like driving normally on a road. You have to obey the rules of the road and see how you do. After getting use to the simulator I was told to put my cell phone on the dashboard and when I got to an intersection I was told to take my cell phone out and text my friend saying “I will not crash”. This was a 4 word text that I thought would be easy to text while driving. I was proven wrong and as soon as I got half way through the text I hit a person crossing the road.

            In real life I would have been in so much trouble for texting and driving and because I hit a person I would have gotten into more trouble. At the end of the course I learned how easy it was for me to get distracted while driving. This course honestly really proved to me how dangerous it could be out their on the road. I would definitely recommend the Distractology 101 tour to any driver, especially new drivers because they may not know the cautions of texting and driving as much as they should. 

Advice to all incoming freshman!

“The difference between school and life? In school, you’re taught a lesson and then given a test that teaches you a lesson.” Said Tom Bodett. An incoming freshman to a new high school is always stressful and you might not know where to go to get to classes, you might not know the teachers, and you really won’t know what to expect. My advice to an incoming freshman is to make sure that you are calm and open minded. When someone is calm it makes everything easier rather than being uptight. Also, be social! Making friends is always important in high school because you are stuck with the same people for four years. Keep in mind that being popular isn’t everything; you really should keep up with your grades first, then social life.

            My personal experience was during my freshman year I took high school as a joke, I didn’t do my homework and I never would study for a test or quiz. Ever since then I had to work twice as hard as everyone else to get my grades up to make sure that I graduate in 2013. There was a slight chance that I wouldn’t graduate and that scared me so bad that I took school 100% more seriously. I was involved in cheerleading, and the Norton High School dance team then I would go from school to dance team practice and then from there to cheerleading practice. After a couple months I realized that my grades were suffering from never having enough time for school work. When I realized that I was taking on way to much I quit the dance team and brought my grades up.

            Even though failing one class “isn’t so bad” it really is. It will lower your GPA which affects what college you’re legible to get into when you graduate high school. “I regret not doing my homework” said Chris Driscoll who is one of Norton High Schools students. Homework is a major factor into your grading and I suggest making sure you get it done! Also, as a senior I suggest that you do play a sport and get active when in high school. This is a faster way to meet people and get to know people better. Walking into a school where you meet new people before is always more mind setting. At least now, you know some people and they will help you get through high school.

            Senior year has been by far my favorite year in all of my high school experience. You have to work hard to get there and make sure that you are keeping up with school so you don’t have to stay back or even go to summer school. School seems realistically so easy but when you actually get to high school its so different than middle school. You may have to stay up until 1 am getting a paper done, or studying. I have personally done that quite a few times and it really has paid off now. Looking back I wish I could go back to my freshman year and change my attitude towards school and take it more seriously. All incoming freshman, good luck and make memories while in high school, looking back at it you will miss it! 

Getting to Know Me

My name is Brittany Kenyon and my blog is for my journalism class at Norton High School. My hobbies are cheering, and dancing and I am majoring in education. I am a senior at Norton High School and currently the captain of the cheer team. My motto in life is "Be yourself, because life's to short to be anybody else."