Rafi Whittum
11/16/16
Have you ever had to miss recess because you weren’t behaving well in class? Did you think it was fair? I think it’s not fair for kids to miss recess as a punishment for bad behavior. In this essay I will prove that losing recess does not help improve kids’ behavior and that other types of consequences work better.
If teachers take away recess, students’ behavior will just get worse. For example, one time a kid named Shalev was jumping around and yelling in the middle of class. Some of the kids in class started laughing at him. The teacher said he had to stay in from recess and do extra work. After missing recess, Shalev continued to act out in class. Another time, a different kid in class would just sit there and not do any of his work. The teacher said since he wasn’t doing any of his work he would have to stay inside for recess. Once he got recess taken away, he stopped paying attention in class and continued to not do his work.
Instead of taking away recess, teachers should penalize kids in other ways because it works better. For example, there was a kid named Samuel who had to do his work during snack outside of the classroom and he wasn’t allowed to talk to any of his friends. After being penalized like this, Samuel didn’t talk in the middle of class as much as before. Another time I was talking to a classmate and wasn’t able to get my work done in class. The teacher made me take it home for homework. After that, I didn’t talk as much to my friends in class because I new that I would just get into more trouble.
Kids should never miss recess. I’ve given you some examples to show you that when teachers take away recess, kids just act worse. Also, there are other better punishments for kids who misbehave. It should be a school rule that kids need to have recess every day.
Ella Kent
11/16/16
Do you ever feel like homework is a waste of time? Well I do! Kids shouldn’t get homework! I’m going to tell you some reasons why kids shouldn’t have homework. It’s hard for some kids to find time to do homework, there are no teachers at our houses to help us, and homework can be really tiring.
Now…. back to my first point. It’s hard for some kids to find time to do their homework. For example, one time I got really annoyed because I had so much homework and I had to leave for gymnastics at 4:15 so I had to try and get my work done in school. Another time I had so much homework but I couldn’t finish it before gymnastics so I had to be late to gymnastics.
Another good reason why we shouldn’t have to do homework is that there are no teachers at our house so they can’t help us if we have questions. A while ago, I was working on Hebrew homework and there was a typo in one of the questions and I did not know what the question was supposed to say. I was confused but nobody could help me. My parents weren’t home and there aren’t any teachers at my house. My brother was home but he was working on something else. So I couldn’t do my homework. Also, once last year I had Hebrew homework that I did not understand. My teacher only answered emails between certain hours but I had to do my homework before those hours because I had gymnastics. I could not do it on my own so I wound up having to do the homework with the teacher the next day.
We also shouldn’t have homework because it makes us really tired because we have so much. Once when I was working on a shark tank investors project for math, I was on the phone with my partner until 9:30 working on our assignment. Also Hamorah Leah told me how she used to have to stay up really late doing her homework and then the next day at school she was really tired. I don’t want that to happen to me.
There are a lot of reasons why kids shouldn’t get homework. Not having time, not having teacher help, and being tired are just a few reasons. If you’re a kid, please think about what I’ve said and talk to grown ups about this and if you’re a teacher, please consider making this a rule. THANK YOU!!!!!!
Dafna Novick
11/16/16
Have you ever wanted to go to an amusement park but it was very expensive? Your parents say no because of costs? The park wants way more money than they need from you? Well, I’m with you. I feel that way too. I think that amusement parks should be free for children ages 1-13. I will explain to you that expensive parks cause kids to get upset, parks are too expensive and parks would get money when kids visit even if kids got in for free.
One reason amusement parks should be free is kids get upset when their parents say no about going to the park. One example is when I want to go to Six Flags, my parents say no because it is too much money and then I get upset. Another example is if my family is spending a day as a family. My parents want to do other things like mini golf, which makes the day even more expensive, so then we definitely can’t go to Six Flags.
An amusement park will get really expensive when you have more than one kid. An example is that admission for one kid costs $51.99 at Six Flags. Admission for adults is $61.99. For my family of three kids and two parents all together, it will cost $280 at Six Flags! Also at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida, admission for one person is $99! It’s not even cheaper for children. For my whole family to go to Busch Gardens, it would cost $495 with tax! That’s a lot of money just for a day at an amusement park.
Kids usually come with an adult to an amusement park, so if a kid’s admission was free the park would still get money from the adult. An example for that is if my two sisters and I go to Busch Gardens in Tampa, FL for free, the park would still get $198 from my two parents! Even if my family went with one parent, the park would still get $99!
In my opinion, amusement park admission should be free for kids ages 1-13. If you’ve ever gotten upset when your parents say no to going to the park because it’s too much money, I’ve you covered. I have showed you in this essay that this issue is causing kids to get upset, parks already make a lot of money, and they will make money even if kids get in for free. I think someone should change this issue, so I will try.
Zach Missle
11/16/16
Do you think that taking Hebrew class should optional? Most people at my school think Hebrew class should be optional, including me. Once I explain to you how some kids aren’t interested in taking Hebrew, the homework can be challenging, and there could be other academic options, you will see why I think taking Hebrew class should be optional.
Some kids aren’t interested in taking Hebrew. For example, my sister who is in second grade at MWJDS, gets upset when she has to do her Hebrew homework. It causes fights between her and my mom because my sister says that she just wants to do work for other classes, not Hebrew. Also sometimes at lunch I talk with my friends and when Hebrew class comes up, everyone sighs which shows that they aren’t really interested in that class.
Hebrew homework is particularly challenging. Some kids don’t have time to do their Hebrew homework because of their other out-of-school activities. Also I don’t always have time to do my other homework because I have to work on my Hebrew homework. I get afraid that if I focus too much on my Hebrew homework then I won’t have time to do my other work and then my grades will be bad. Also sometimes I get Hebrew homework that I need help with. Usually if I had trouble with work in school, I am able to just ask the teacher for help. At home, I can ask my parents, but my parents can’t help me with the parts that I have trouble with in Hebrew because they don’t speak Hebrew fluently. So then things become very confusing and stressful.
If we don’t have to take Hebrew class, then we could do something else with that time, but something that is still academic. For example, I wish that we could have more science time, so maybe that can be one of the choices. Also, I like to do research on stuff so maybe another choice could be to choose something that you want to study and learn about it. We could make a poster or presentation on what we researched.
Kids shouldn’t have to take Hebrew class. Now that you know that some kids aren’t interested in taking Hebrew class, the homework can be problematic, and we can make better use of that time, I hope that you now understand why taking Hebrew class should be optional. Next I’m going to take a survey on this issue and see what other people think about this and if they agree or not.
Gabrielle Casey
11/16/16
Have you ever felt like your parents should not get into you and your siblings’ fights? I feel that way. I’m going to tell you about how kids get angrier when parents get involved, parents getting involved doesn’t stop the fights, and kids learn to solve problems themselves when parents don’t get involved in fights.
Parents getting involved in kids’ fights makes kids get more angry. For example, once I was practicing my drums and my brother Bryce said, “Can you not play the same beat over and over?” My mom overheard us and said, “She can play what she wants to play.” I got mad that my mom got involved because I could have handled it myself. Bryce was in a bad mood for the rest of the night. Another example of parents getting involved making kids more angry is when my sister bites me and it hurts. My dad gets involved and he usually yells at my sister. My sister and I get mad because he makes it a bigger deal and doesn’t have to say anything because we can handle it ourselves.
Parents getting involved doesn’t stop the fights. For example, Bryce and I always fight even after my mom or dad get involved. Bryce gets in a bad mood after they get involved, he takes it out on everybody else and it’s never a good night. Another example is when my sister and Bryce fight. My dad usually gets involved. Then my sister sometimes walks away and doesn’t finish the fight so it never gets solved.
When parents don’t get involved, kids learn to solve problems themselves. For example, once when Bryce and I were watching TV, I wanted to watch Disney Channel but Bryce wanted to watch Animal Planet. I said, “How about when there is a commercial on your show we can switch to my show?” He said, “Fine. “Another example is that once in Maine, Bryce was tending the fire but I wanted to tend the fire. I said, “Can I do it today and you can do it next time?” He said,“ Fine.”
Parents’ getting into their kids’ fights is something I think should not happen. Now you know why parents getting involved in kids’ fights makes kids angrier, parents getting involved doesn’t stop the fights and when parents don’t get involved, kids learn to solve their own problems. So if this happens or is happening to you like it happens to me, you should talk to your parents!
Zev Praver-Lipton
11/16/16
Americans, don’t you think soccer should be called football in the United States, just like everywhere else? But then what are we going to call American football? What about handball? Well, I’ll assume you’re nodding. I’m with you. Today I will tell you why soccer should be called football and football should be called handball everywhere. I will explain to you the three M’s: Mixing, Majority, and Making sense.
One reason I think that soccer should be called football everywhere is because people get them mixed up. For example, when I went to England to visit my cousins, they said to get out the football. So I got out the football. But when I got back, my cousin told me that he meant the soccer ball so I had to go back. Another way people get mixed up is when Americans watch sports on TV and the game is in another country. Sometimes the reporter says “football.” American viewers don’t know if it means soccer or American football.
Because of Americans mixing up football and American football, I think that the sport should be called one thing everywhere. I think that it should be called football because the majority of the world calls it football, so less people would have to change. On Reference.com it says, “It is called football in most of the world, including all of Central and South America, the Middle East and most of Europe, Africa and Asia.” When I’m watching the *Revolution, I hear this: “And the ball bounces off the crossbar and straight to the face of *Alan Gordon! But he heads it into the net! What a great forward. And the *Revolution is in the lead. Wow! This is the best soccer game I have ever seen.” But when I’m not, I hear this: “The ball is shot. And it’s a save by *Romero. And *Rooney is running up the box wide open! And he is passed to. He runs up the touchline with 50 seconds left, crosses into the box, 5 seconds left on the clock, 4, 3, 2, 1, game ov – and boots it in! Victory for *Manchester United! That was a very close football game.”
Soccer should be called football and American football should be called handball because it makes sense. Soccer players don’t normally play with socks during games. And you play football mostly with your hands. Other people agree. For example, on primermagazine.com it says,”Why is a sport that predominantly has nothing to do with the foot (the measurements aren’t even in feet) called ‘football’?”
So what did we learn today? We learned why soccer should be called football and American football should be called handball everywhere. We learned about the three M’s. They are Mixing, Majority, and Making sense. Mixing is Americans mixing up the two sports when traveling and watching TV. Majority is the majority of the world calls soccer football. And last but not least, it does not make sense to call American football what it’s called. You barely use your feet to touch the ball! Well I guess we’re done, bye!