Proposal for Legislators

Posted on April 30, 2020 by davidbdale

Legal Hallucinogenic Use

This is the proposal you will make to lawmakers to convince them that you have a practical plan for a legal business to safely guide customers through an hallucinogenic mushroom trip.

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Proposal for MedProfs—KillerBeanForever

Posted on April 30, 2020 by davidbdale

Safely Delivering Hallucinogens

This is the proposal you will make to medical professionals to convince them that you have a practical plan for a commercial operation that will safely guide customers through an hallucinogenic mushroom trip.

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Causal Argument Revised-Alyse816

Posted on April 29, 2020 by alyse816

Knowing When to Stop

In today’s world I think it is safe to say that sports are a big part of many people’s lives. Those people can range from 6 years old to 100 years old. According to Biber, from “ProQuest,” in “Overuse Injuries in Youth Sports: Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Sports?” he says  “Approximately 45 million children 6 to 18 years participate in some form of organized athletics.”  And of those 45 million children and teens that play, 3 million of them will face some type of injury. In “Prevention of Sports Injuries,” by Albert C. Hergenroeder, from “AAP News & Journals Gateway,” he says “There are ∼3 million annual injuries incurred during sports participation among children and adolescents in the United States, with injury defined as one that causes time lost from sports participation.” The number of injuries from youth sports today is only rising due to the physical demand from the game. As the children get older the level of difficulty increases and so does the risk for injuries. It has been said in “Sports Injuries Statistics,” from Stanford Children Health, by National SAFE KIDS Campaign and the American Academy of Pediatrics that “Sports-related injury severity increases with age.”

Growing up many children, starting around the age 6, are introduced to the idea of playing sports. At a young age that sounds very exciting to most kids, and the excitement only increases as they get older. As they grow through playing these sports so does their love and passion.This is when the sport starts to get dangerous because their willingness to do whatever it takes to win starts to rise. As their love grows so do the number of more serious injuries. The most serious injury that a lot of younger children, even some pre-teens face is growth plate injuries. Growth plate injuries are very serious for young children because they can cause growth disturbance which can cause many problems in the future. In the article “Long-term health outcomes of youth sports injuries,” from “BMJ Journals,” by N. Maffulli, she says “ In a previous systematic review on the frequency and characteristics of sports-related growth plate injuries affecting children and youth, we found that 38.3% of acute cases were sport related and among these 14.9% were associated with growth disturbance.” Growth disturbance is what leads to a lot of long term problems that adults who played sports at a younger age may face. When people think of growth disturbance they think of height, but that is often just a small factor. Growth disturbance often means bones, joints, and muscles, which is what helps our body perform the natural functions that are needed.

 Along with growth disturbance injuries, the other most common injury is overuse injuries. As said in “Overuse Injuries in Youth Sports: Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Sports?” from “ProQuest,” by Biber, “Nearly half of all injuries evaluated in pediatric sports medicine are associated with overuse…Overuse injuries are chronic injuries that occur with repetitive stress on the musculoskeletal system over the course of time without allowing adequate recovery” Overuse injuries are subtle and usually occur overtime, making them more challenging to treat, if treatable at all. They also usually come with longer lasting symptoms that could last years after happening. People usually get these injuries from not listening to their bodies when they get injured and just keep pushing. According to the article “What Happens If You Keep Playing Sports When You’re Injured?,” from Teens Health from Nemours, Sarah Gibson says “ playing through a sports injury can cause damage that keeps you on the bench longer. Playing through an injury may even end your sports career entirely.” 

When we are young our bodies have the ability to heal faster, and makeup for the damage that we tend to put ourselves through. The phrase “the fountain of youth,” is not just a phrase but is often right. Doctors will often say to patients when they are young coming in with an injury or sickness that age is on their side. I’ve also heard doctors say it is better to get the injuries out of the way when you are a child because as you get older they might become harder to overcome. But what about the injuries that never seem to heal and only get worse when you are older. These injuries are the ones suffered from overuse injuries, and growth disturbances. This is why it is so important to listen to your body. If listening to your body means not playing sports then that might be a price you have to pay. Why pay the price of not being able to pick up your grandchild, do gardening outside your house, or playing with your dog, because these are the simple things that those common injuries can burden adults, and elderly people if faced with them. 

In conclusion, playing sports is a part of life, a way of life, and a passion to some people. The playing of sports has been around for many years and will go on to be played for many more. Along with that comes the inevitable injuries. It is not to say that the injuries aren’t going to happen when playing sports but if they can be stopped from not playing them then that is a matter that all children and teens should have to take when the healthiness of your future is on the line. These overuse injuries that cause growth disturbances seriously affect how many people grow to live their lives and one shouldn’t have to live it any decreased kind of way just from playing sports as a child.

Refrences

Hergenroeder, A. C. (1998, June 1).Prevention of Sports Injuries. Retrieved April 29, 2020

Biber, Rachel, MD; Gregory, Andrew (2010, May). Overuse Injuries in Youth Sports: Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Sports?’. Retrieved April 28, 2020

default –Stanford Children’s Health. (n.d.). Retrieved April 5, 2020

Gibson, S. R. (Ed.). (2014, June). What Happens If You Keep Playing Sports When You’re Injured? (for Teens)– Nemours KidsHealth. Retrieved April 5, 2020

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Research-Alyse816

Posted on April 29, 2020 by alyse816

Honey, Please Don’t Play Sports

For many years now I have questioned the effects that sports have on the human body, not just when you are playing them but also the effects they cause as your body gets older as well. Most people believe that playing sports, especially more than one, as you grow up is a good idea, and in fact at the time, it might be. But it also might not be. You can see how this might be counterintuitive. To say that children playing sports is a bad idea due to bad long term effects on your body might sound absurd, and unrealistic, but in fact that is just my point. As kids grow up around the elementary school age and start playing little league and pre-recreational sports we don’t really think about the minor injuries that they may face because they are young and will heal fast. It is said that our body heals fast when we are young and though this may be true, our bodies can’t stay young forever and eventually things that happened to us when we were younger will catch up to us as we get older. The injuries that these children, preteens, and teenagers face can be quite serious, and in fact life changing when thought about in the long term. The consequences your body will have to endure as you grow old are not worth all those years of injuries and beatings to your body. Although there are upsides to participating in sports and other physical after school activities, the problems from injuries could offset the upsides dramatically. According to “Long-term health outcomes of youth sports injuries,” from “BMJ Journals,” Dr. N Maffulli says “Injuries can counter the beneficial effects of sports participation at a young age if a child or adolescent is unable to continue to participate because of residual effects of injury.”

First off, I would like to address the reason why many athletes play sports, and that is to stay in shape and stay healthy. Many people’s definitions and opinions on being in shape and healthy are very different. If you were to ask a random stranger on the street what their definition of being healthy and in shape while playing sports is that would be a totally different answer from an orthopedic sports doctor. And not only that but it would also be very different depending on the person’s body you are talking about. Everyone’s body is different, especially when it comes to being active and fit, this is why certain people are prone to more injuries than others. By definition to be healthy means a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. If you are playing multiple sports and beating down your body is that really staying healthy? Also these different sports require different functions from your body. When an athlete is playing one sport you might be focusing on one part of the body and once you go onto another that may wear down a different part. Thi can have a snowball effect until your whole body is affected.

Sports are first introduced to children around the age of 6, this is when little league and pre recreational sports start. I can remember growing up and playing recreational basketball in the 6 & 7th grade. I liked it and wanted to win but I didn’t really understand what it meant to be on a team or to have the fight to win with your team until I got into high school. At a young age playing sports and being an “athlete” sounds very exciting to many kids, and the excitement only increases as they get older. As they grow through playing these sports so does their love and passion. Children don’t really don’t know what it means to win until they get into middle school and high school, they start to find love for their team and teammates. This is when the sport starts to get dangerous because their willingness to do whatever it takes to win starts to rise, leaving them vulnerable on the field, court, etc. Oftentimes kids will go to the lengths of hurting others or the willingness to get injured themselves if that’s what it takes to win, which might be being aggressive towards others or pushing your body to its highest limit, until it breaks. As their love grows so do the number of more serious injuries. Like Grant L Jones from Ohio State University, says in “Pediatric overuse injuries increase due to year round, one sport training,” ‘In most cases, our sources noted that excessive practice most likely leads to injury rather than perfection.” The excessiveness to be better is when we start to see the overuse of our body, which leads to being more prone to injury. 

At this point you may be wondering how many children actually get injured playing sports. Well according to Biber, from “ProQuest,” in “Overuse Injuries in Youth Sports: Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Sports?” he says  “Approximately 45 million children 6 to 18 years participate in some form of organized athletics.” And of those 45 million children and teens that play, 3 million of them will face some type of injury. In “Prevention of Sports Injuries,” by Albert C. Hergenroeder, from “AAP News & Journals Gateway,” he says “There are ∼3 million annual injuries incurred during sports participation among children and adolescents in the United States, with injury defined as one that causes time lost from sports participation.” This number unfortunately is only increasing. When you take time to think about how many children that is, it becomes clear that that is an extremely high unsafe amount.

 As the children get older the level of difficulty increases and so does the risk for injuries. It has been said in “Sports Injuries Statistics,” from Stanford Children Health, by National SAFE KIDS Campaign and the American Academy of Pediatrics that “Sports-related injury severity increases with age.” There is also another factor as to why injury rates go up as the child gets older and that is the number of sports the child is participating in. If children are constantly pushing themselves to be the best in their seasonal sport which impacts our body, what effect does playing multiple sports have on us? In the University of Vermont study, “Single Sport or Multi-Sport Athlete? Pros and cons,” author James Slauterbeck says that “multiple sport athletes often get injured if they participate in too many sports at one time.” He also goes on to say that “Overuse injuries can often occur because the body cannot rest as it is always practicing or playing a game.” These overuse injuries are what we have to watch out for the most in young athletes, as they are the ones that can do the most damage.

Overuse injuries are one of the most common injuries other than growth plate injuries that are seen in athletes. It has been said in “Overuse Injuries in Youth Sports: Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Sports?” from “ProQuest,” by Biber, “Nearly half of all injuries evaluated in pediatric sports medicine are associated with overuse…Overuse injuries are chronic injuries that occur with repetitive stress on the musculoskeletal system over the course of time without allowing adequate recovery.” The key word there is chronic, meaning that it is recurring or it persists for a long time. Overuse injuries are subtle and usually occur overtime, making them more challenging to treat, if treatable at all. They also usually come with longer lasting symptoms that could last years after it initially happened. Athletes usually get these injuries from not listening to their bodies when they get injured and continue to keep playing. According to the article “What Happens If You Keep Playing Sports When You’re Injured?,” from Teens Health from Nemours, Sarah Gibson says “Playing through a sports injury can cause damage that keeps you on the bench longer. Playing through an injury may even end your sports career entirely.” Unfortunately I experienced this first hand.

I was a 2 sport, 3 season athlete in high school and I remember how rigorous playing sports was on my body. In the article “Preventing sports injuries: opportunities for intervention in youth athletics,” from “Science Direct,” Nancy L. Weaver says “Estimates are that one-third of high school athletes will sustain an injury during a sports season serious enough to result in time lost from participation,” and unfortunately I was one. When you think about one child out of every 3 athletes getting hurt badly enough to not be able to participate in sports that is a very scary number. Sports seasons in high school tend to only have 2 weeks rest time in between them. So that meant that other than sundays, holidays, and the occasional days off my body really never caught a break. So it isn’t very hard to see why I was getting hurt so much. I also was accident prone which didn’t help in my favor. When I think back to all 4 years of high school I can count on both hands twice how many times I went to the hospital, orthopedic doctor, and was put in a cast or boot because I was just always getting injured. 

But aside from being accident prone, I also found myself running into countless injuries that were totally uncontact related. One being the day I was running my usual warm up and I felt my back pop. Now, you would think this would stop me from going on and I would take concern to what happened, but I didn’t. Just like I didn’t try to help myself, neither do many other athletes that don’t want their sports career to end. This is when overuse injuries start to occur. I didn’t say anything to my coach or trainer when I first started to feel pain because I knew that my career could possibly be over. All the hard work and dedication I put in to just have it taken away from me in an instant. This mentality is very common today with young athletes, especially those who want to have a future in sports. But what they don’t realize is that there will be no future if you don’t say anything as well.

The other very common injury that is also the most serious, is growth plate fractures or breaks which lead to growth disturbance. In the article “Long-term health outcomes of youth sports injuries,” from “BMJ Journals,” by N. Maffulli, she says “ In a previous systematic review on the frequency and characteristics of sports-related growth plate injuries affecting children and youth, we found that 38.3% of acute cases were sport related and among these 14.9% were associated with growth disturbance.” Growth plate injuries typically affect the younger athletes but there is still a possibility it will affect older athletes too. In “Apophyseal injuries in children’s and youth sports,” from the “British Medical Bulletin,” Umile Giuseppe Longo says “Up to 40% of all injuries in adolescents happen while practicing sports. These injuries are difficult to avoid and are unique to the pre-pubescent-adolescent population because the apophyses are secondary growth centres that open up at about age 9 and are not fully closed until upwards of Age 22.” 40% of injuries that happen to adolescents happen while practicing sports. That is almost 50% of injuries that children face, happening while in sports. That is a lot considering that that is only adolescents. Think about how many more occur to those that are older, it could be more than half of the population being observed. Growth disturbance is what leads to a lot of long term problems that adults who played sports at a younger age may face. When people think of growth disturbance they think of height, but that is often just a small factor. Growth disturbance often means bones, joints, and muscles, which is what helps our body perform the natural functions that are needed. Nicola Mafulli also goes on to say that “Disturbed physeal growth as a result of injury can result in length discrepancy, angular deformity, or altered joint mechanics, and may cause significant long-term disability.” These injuries alter the way you live your life forever. 

The complications that young athletes face from these injuries might be acute and offset at the time but as they get older they could continue to worsen. As mentioned earlier when children and teens get hurt our body usually has a fast response to try to heal it and in the less serious injuries that works. But as we get older and our body starts to wither down and the same injuries seem to be worse. In the article “High School Sports Injuries,” from “OrthoInfo,” it goes to say “High school sports injuries can cause problems that require surgery as an adult, and may lead to arthritis later in life.” Arthritis is only one of the big consequences many elderly people face. Arthritis is from the wear and tear caused on our body. Other than surgery many adults have to get injections or shots to help with the pain. The repercussions that many face are really not worth it.

When we are young our bodies have the ability to heal faster, and makeup for the damage that we tend to put ourselves through. The phrase “the fountain of youth,” is not just a phrase but is often right. Doctors will often say to patients when they are young coming in with an injury or sickness that age is on their side. I’ve also heard doctors say it is better to get the injuries out of the way when you are a child because as you get older they might become harder to overcome. Doctors say this because they know the older the body gets, the harder for it to heal itself. But what about the injuries that never seem to heal and only get worse when you are older. These injuries are the ones suffered from overuse injuries, and growth disturbances. This is why it is so important to listen to your body. 

One example that I use that many people know about is the injury that Kevin Ware suffered from. Kevin Ware was an extremely talented basketball player for the University of Louisville at the time. It was during a very important game in the NCAA Tournament, when he landed from taking a normal shot, that he takes everyday, that his tibia snapped causing it to protrude out of his leg. Yes, his bone broke in half and cut through the skin on national tv. This was later found out to be a result of not taking care of his shin splints, which lead to stress fractures. Shin splints are more of a common injury that runners get but are possible for any sport. If left untreated they will cause the shin bone to start producing little fractures, that after a while can turn into big fractures like you see in Kevin Wares’ case. As you can see if listening to your body means not playing sports, or giving it a break then that might be a price you have to pay. If you are unable to participate at all, or even able to give 100% of your ability then what is the point of playing sports.

Although we have this idea that participating in afterschool activities, and sports from preteens to adults is a good way to stay in shape, be healthy, and show off our talents, it can have long lasting effects on our life to come. Yes, if you have a natural born talent for something and you enjoy it you should definitely continue it, but if you feel that your body is starting to take a toll, and you are starting to become prone to more injuries than it might be time to take a break. Us humans have to realize that we only get one body and there’s only so many ways and things we can fix before it’s permanently damaged. And it only takes one incident for that to happen. The everyday things that we take for granted might not be possible for those affected. Things like being able to pick up your grandchild, do gardening outside your house, or playing with your dog will be much harder or even impossible if you are disabled or suffer from muscle damage. 

In conclusion, playing sports is a part of life, a way of life, and a passion to some people. The playing of sports has been around for many years and will go on to be played for many more. But along with that comes the inevitable injuries. It is not to say that all children should stop playing sports, because some are lucky enough to get through them unharmed. But if it takes a child or teen to stop playing to save their future health and well being then that is a matter they are going to have to take.These overuse injuries that cause growth disturbances seriously affect how many people grow to live their lives and one shouldn’t have to live it any decreased kind of way just from playing sports as a child. Many children are unaware of these risks that come with these injuries. I think if athletes are more educated on the outcomes they might have more of a willingness to speak up about what their body is going through. The understanding of the serious repercussions might be enough to get some to quit while they still have a chance to live a more healthy future. I know that the love for playing sports is intense because I once had it when I was able to play sports. But unfortunately I had to quit due to a lifetime lasting injury that wasn’t addressed at the proper time. But that doesn’t have to be the case for you. So honey I am asking you please don’t play sports. 

References

Maffulli, N., Longo, G., & Denaro, V. (2010, January 1).Long-term health outcomes of youth sports injuries. Retrieved April 14, 2020

Mafulli, N. (2015, March 13).Sports Injuries in Young Athletes: Long-Term Outcome and Prevention Strategies. Retrieved April 14, 2020

Umile Giuseppe Longo , Mauro Ciuffreda, Joel Locher, Nicola Maffulli, and Vincenzo Denaro (2016).Apophyseal injuries in children’s and youth sports.Retrieved April 14, 2020

Weaver, N. L., Marshall, S. W., & Miller, M. D. (2001, November 30). Preventing sports injuries: opportunities for intervention in youth athletics. Retrieved April 14, 2020

default –Stanford Children’s Health. (n.d.). Retrieved April 5, 2020

Gibson, S. R. (Ed.). (2014, June). What Happens If You Keep Playing Sports When You’re Injured? (for Teens)– Nemours KidsHealth. Retrieved April 5, 2020

Slauterbeck, J. (2018, June 27). Kids’ Sports: Pros and Cons. Retrieved March 10, 2020

Jones, G. L. (2014, July 1). Pediatric overuse injuries increase due to year round, one sport training. Retrieved March 10, 2020

High School Sports Injuries– OrthoInfo – AAOS. (2012, August). Retrieved April 29, 2020

Hergenroeder, A. C. (1998, June 1).Prevention of Sports Injuries. Retrieved April 29, 2020

Biber, Rachel, MD; Gregory, Andrew (2010, May). Overuse Injuries in Youth Sports: Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Sports?’. Retrieved April 28, 2020

High School Sports Injuries– OrthoInfo – AAOS. (2012, August). Retrieved April 29, 2020

Hergenroeder, A. C. (1998, June 1).Prevention of Sports Injuries. Retrieved April 29, 2020

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Reflective – ShaquilleOatmeal

Posted on April 29, 2020 by shaquilleoatmeal2250

Core Value 1. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

Throughout the course of the semester I have asked for feedback on multiple occasions from my professor and received more than expected. It’s always good receiving feedback, but it’s better receiving with examples and clarity. I’ve never been a great writer, so whenever I can get some social feedback it’s always great. It gives me an outsider view on my own writing since I often get to points where I confuse myself and the reader with what I’m trying to say. In my first hypothesis post, I received feedback from j6128 saying I should be more specific on my topic. I took advantage of their comment and worked hard on my thesis which I believe turned out to be pretty good compared to what it was initially. It was less wordy, more specific, and more understanding. 

A way I used discovery and exploration this semester was pretty much just doing all my work for the semester. The whole semester was a work up to the final paper in which we needed over 10 sources to conduct info from. I ended up using 13 sources, but directly quoting 10 in my final paper. It took me lots of time and research to find the majority of those sources and to retrieve the exact information I was looking for.

Core Value 2. My work demonstrates that I read critically, and that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities. 

The way I used core value 2 throughout the semester was by the works of one of our portfolio pieces, my bibliography. When working on my bibliography I had to read each article I chose to use and explain them shortly, but detailed. I had to fit a whole article’s worth of information into a short paragraph explaining the topic. I then had to explain exactly how I used the information for my final paper in which I could only do it by understanding what I’m referring to. By reading these articles multiple times and retrieving information, I was understanding my argument better and better. If I didn’t understand what I was reading or the article position then I wouldn’t be able to make up my bibliography. 

Core Value 3. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

In my rebuttal essay I had specific refutes towards certain audiences. For example, when I talked about the refute that if students and/or parents can’t afford these lunches they won’t be able to eat them. The audience here is those people that are unable to afford a school lunch and I used information to refute those arguments with the idea that school lunch programs provide plans and support to the students in need. This is a specific audience based refute right here and I understood that because I didn’t say it was for every student, but rather for those in financial crisis. By understanding the audience in which the refute was coming from I could determine exactly how to counter it with the research I have done.

Core Value 4: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

Our goal all semester was to come out at the end with a hard argument and proper support. I believe that from what I’ve been taught that most of my sources are good for the most part. I followed articles sources at the bottom of their pages back to original sources to the best of my ability. I also learned how to properly incorporate in-text citations the way my professor told me to. An example from my causal essay, In the “School Nutrition and Meal Cost Findings” summary, the USDA says, “Virtually all daily lunch menus met the daily quantity requirement for milk. Nearly all daily lunch menus met the daily quantity requirements for fruits (95 percent) and meats/meat alternates (91 percent). Roughly 8 in 10 daily lunch menus met the daily quantity requirements for vegetables and grains (81 and 80 percent, respectively).” shows exactly how an in-text cited one of my sources. Being able to cite your sources quickly and easily makes your writing go by much quicker with more confidence.

Core Value 5. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

Throughout the semester, like said before, we have been building up our argument slowly for oru final paper. Every couple of weeks we were required to find a couple sources for each small argument which would eventually lead to lots of sources for one big argument. When finding these sources I respected the original info holder by applying my in-text citations and references at the end. For my final research paper I included all of the directly quoted sources at the bottom of the paper, so that the reader can properly reach the initial source of information and read further if wanting to. Providing access to main sources will avoid any misdirection or plagiarism in my writing. Lastly, it also would give access to the main ideas if the reader wants more clarity or information.

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Bibliography 2 – ShaquilleOatmeal

Posted on April 29, 2020 by shaquilleoatmeal2250
  1. Farris, A. R. (n.d.). Nutritional Comparison of Packed and School Lunches in Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Children Following the Implementation of the 2012–2013 National School Lunch Program Standards.

Background: This study focuses on the nutritional quality of home packed lunches compared to school lunches. Of the results collected it shows that components like energy, fat, saturated fat, sugar, vitamin C, and iron were significantly higher whereas protein, sodium, fiber, vitamin A, and calcium were significantly lower for packed lunches than in school lunches.

How Its Used: This article will help me prove the reasoning behind school lunches being more nutritionally valuable to students than home packed lunches. I used it to demonstrate the categories of nutrition in which school lunches out perform the home packed. 

  1. USDA. (2017, November). The National School Lunch Program.

Background: This fact sheet details what exactly the National School Lunch Program does  and how it supports students in need of assistance with lunch. It provides a baseline to how the NSLP works and who it can benefit. It also adds statistics to how much it has increased in the past decades.

How Its Used: This fact will be crucial in my rebuttal aspect as it introduces possibilities for students that aren’t under the best financial circumstances. The fact sheet will show readers how the NSLP is beneficial to those in need and I will use it as a strong backbone for the argument of students not being able to afford the school lunches. 

  1. Home-made packed lunches slip through nutrition net. (2010). Nursing Standard (through 2013), 24(25), 16.

Background: This article focuses on the lack of nutritional standards inside of home packed lunches. Researchers studied multiple students from multiple schools to determine if the food brought from home could match the ones from school. This came to a result in which only 1.1 percent of home lunches met the requirements for school lunches.

How Its Used: This article will tremendously help my argument that school lunches are way more nutritional than home packed lunches in many ways. Showing the reader that school lunches are overall much more balanced and healthier then almost 99% of home lunches provides a strong standing point. 

  1. Comparison of Nutrient Content and Cost of Home-Packed Lunches to Reimbursable School Lunch Nutrient Standards and Prices. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2020, from https://schoolnutrition.org/5–News-and-Publications/4–The-Journal-of-Child-Nutrition-and-Management/Fall-2009/Volume-33,-Issue-2,-Fall-2009—Johnson;-Bednar;-Kwon;-Gustof/

Background: This study focuses on the comparison of both home packed and school lunches and their nutrients. Of the schools tested on the study researchers found home packed lunches contained fewer vitamins, minerals, calories, fiber and more sodium than needed. The study provides sample tests to how they received this data and what exactly the home packed lunches are overfilled with and lacking of and why the NSLP lunches are better for students everyday.

How It’s Used: I did not use this article in my research paper. I used it as extra information for my argument and used it to understand school lunches more statistically.

  1. Au, L. E. (n.d.). Eating School Lunch Is Associated with Higher Diet Quality among Elementary School Students. Retrieved April 27, 2020

Background: This article focuses on a study of fourth and fifth graders in which they tested the healthy eating index scores of lots of students and compared them when they ate school lunches vs home packed lunches. The study was conducted from 43 different schools and multiple students from each. They found that the healthy eating index of students who ate lunch from school had an overall higher mean and deviation which meant their diets were much better.

How It’s Used: This article will help me prove that the diets and health of students is truly being affected by these lunches even though they are only 1 meal of the day and 5 times a week. These meals can have a huge impact on students’ diets and health in which you can tell from there healthy eating index scores. Having higher eating index scores for students will make the readers want to personally or have their kids eat school lunches more.

  1. Wilder Research. (2014, January). Nutrition and Students’ Academic Performance.

Background: This research paper done by wilder focuses on the performance of students who ate the different lunches. They discovered that student academic performance is indirectly affected by the nutrition of students. When students ate poorly they were more susceptible to illness and getting headaches while at school. These headaches and illnesses end up resulting in absences for students and disturbances to their grades. 

How It’s Used: This research paper provides me with the indirect impact not all students and parents know about. The impact on their academics and well being is one not understood by every person and they may not think that they could be doing better academically, but they could. Understanding that you’re overall safer when eating a school lunch in more ways than just nutrition wise can very much alter the opinions of the readers.

  1. Ralston, Treen, & Coleman-Jensen. (2017, June). Children’s Food Security and USDA Child Nutrition Programs.

Background: This USDA study focuses on students overall stability outside of school unlike the other studies. The study came to show that 16.6 percent of families with children in them are food insecure. 

How It’s Used:  This article helps show that category of students who don’t get the daily needs they should be from food. 16.6 percent doesn’t seem like a huge number, but that’s about 1 in every 6 households being food insecure. With school lunches packing with good calories it helps students achieve their daily goals while also not overeating or eating too much. These families without the income to support their whole family will most likely meet the requirements for free or reduced lunch so that these students living in food insecure homes can still be healthy and well.

  1. Graves, G. (2019, June 25). Getting a Better School Lunch.

Background: This article focuses on the adding of multiple healthy ideas for cafeterias. Margaret Brown who thrives for healthy foods and ideas for schools give the idea for salad bars as they are huge hits for students. The goal of this article is to give overall support to schools for what they should do for the wellness of students because they have already been proven to work. 

How It’s Used: This article helps my argument by showing what school lunch programs are continuing to do for the best of their students. Incorporating salad bars in cafeterias is perfect for students since they can choose whatever they want to customize it, but still are choosing a healthy option.

  1. Mathematica Policy Research . (2019, April). School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study Summary of Findings.

Background: This article focuses on the studies of the NSLP and the amount of meals presented that meet the requirements. Practically all lunches require a fruit, meat and most contain a vegetable and grain. All required a diary in which milk is usually applied for every student’s lunch.

How It’s Used: This article helps my argument in the way of showing all the requirements for the school lunches. Since most of the meals for lunches have high percentages for meeting these requirements it shows the effectiveness of these meals on student nutrition. When more than 80% of school menus reach the standards for the NSLP it shows how effective the program is on the school lunch programs and that’s not including the ones that reach most of the standards of NSLP.

  1. Cuninggim, P. (2014, May 6). The Impact of Nutrition on Learning and Behavior.

Background: This article focuses on the impact of nutrition on behavior and learning. The ingredients in lots of the snacks and foods students love to pack make it harder for the brain to perform at its best. In the article they incorporate findings from the book Teaching With the Brain in Mind and shows the nutrients that help with focus and behavior. 

How It’s Used: This article helps my argument because when these nutrients are the main factor affecting your brain when it comes to behavior and learning and these school lunches focus on adding these nutrients then that means they play a huge role in your behavior and learning. Thinking about nutrition being a major role in your learning you wouldn’t think about a huge comparison, but this article could be my backup for how it is. 

  1. Anderson, M. L., Gallagher, J., & Ritchie, E. R. (2017, May 3). How the quality of school lunch affects students’ academic performance.

Background: The article focuses on the increase of student testing grades when the school is paired in a healthy contract with a school lunch company. Students, on average, received .03 to .04 standard deviations higher which is a great improvement.

How It’s Used: I did not use this article in my final paper. I used it as an extra source for evidence of the increase of students’ academics.

  1.  School Meals Are Healthier After Major Nutrition Reforms. (n.d.).

Background: This article focuses on the increased scores of school lunches on the healthy eating index. Scores are much higher compared to where they were before 2010. Students who had bought school lunches were way more likely to consume milk, vegetables, and/or fruits at lunch than kids with lunches from home.

How It’s Used: I did not use this article for my final paper. I used it as extra knowledge of how school lunches benefit students.

  1. Action For Healthy Kids. (2020, April 20). How Does School Lunch Work?

Background: This article focuses on the basis of how the NSLP works. This provides the overall idea of the NSLP and their different requirements by age difference. Kindergarteners are aimed to be given around 500-600 calories per lunch up to high schoolers when they recieve around 700-800 calories. 

How It’s Used: This article will help me show how the NSLP accommodates students of different ages. By having different accommodations for each age group it would be good for a counter acting point when someone argues that all ages don’t need the same nutrients and same amounts of foods. 

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Research paper- Dancestar10

Posted on April 28, 2020 by dancestar10

Music Therapy can Help Mental Illness Patients

Many people use music as a form of distraction.It’s something many people listen to because it makes them feel happy or because they relate to what the artist is saying . It helps them forget their problems and helps relieve some of their stress. It is a great way to relax your mind and body. This is why some therapists use music as a way to help mentally Ill people to cope with their problems. This is known as music therapy. Music therapy is the use of musical intervention to improve clients’ lives. This is used because it has been proven that music helps some people cope better than other medication but there are still people who believe that prescription drugs and other medications are better used for mentally ill people but I believe that music therapy is a better way because there is a less risk during music therapy then taking prescription drugs. Some believe that music might be a bad idea because it might affect their memory . 

Memory is a big part of music. Music is vocal and instrumental sounds combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion. Some research has shown that certain music can trigger memories that you have forgotten or buried in the back of your mind. For example if you associate a memory with a type of music a couple years later if you hear the same type of music it will trigger that memory again. This article has stated “ that in musicians, compared with non-musicians, there is more gray matter in the part of the frontal cortex known to accommodate neural networks that are involved in several important working memory processes” (Jancke, L. (2008) Music memory, and emotion. Journal of Biology ). This may explain why it is easier for musicians to remember things (especially music) easier and faster than non-musicians. Due to the fact that music might trigger memory some people are worried that Music therapy is not a good way to help mental ill people and trauma patients cope . They are afraid that the music they might listen to may trigger the memory of the trauma that causes them to be in the mindset that they are in currently. Some mentally ill patients that have depression, anxiety, or personality disorders are in that certain state of mental illness because of a major trauma like a death of a family member, abuse, or an traumatic event they saw. There might be a chance that Music therapy would trigger that memory of the terrible event rather than help them cope better which can lead the patient to be in a worse state then they already are. This fear is very understandable , nobody wants to put their family through remembering a traumatic experience again. This is a major risk for some people but I still believe they should use music therapy as a way to cope because memory is a delicate thing . A memory can be triggered by anything like a word,a person, or an object. I think people who suffer from mental illness take that risk everyday in their day to day lives. So would music therapy really be much more of a risk ?

Music therapy is a way to help cope with mental illness but there are other ways . For example there is regular therapy , or prescription drugs like antidepressants. Personally I think that using prescription drugs is much more of a risk to mentally ill people than music therapy. Many things can happen when taking prescription drugs like overdosing, drug abuse, addiction, and insomnia. It has shown that medication does help people cope but it can take a big toll on you physically. Mentally ill people are people who are constantly sad, who feel like they don’t have much to live for , and are tirelessly fighting a battle in their own mind everyday. If prescription drugs are the only thing they feel like can help them feel happy they might become addicted to it which is going to be another thing they would have to fight against. If they do become addicted there is a high chance that they might overdose which can lead to death. Music therapy does not have those risks . It’s a safe way to cope and talk about your problems without physical risks. I also think that prescription drugs force you not to deal with your mental problems properly. They make you believe that you are happy and feeling better for a few hours and then you have to take the medication again until it becomes your new normal. These medications sometimes make people feel nothing at all, you are neither sad nor happy which is not good at all . Even though no one likes doing it , it’s good to show your emotions . These prescriptions are just pushing your emotions down and pretending they don’t exist  which can have a bad effect on your mental state. It’s like bottling your emotions. I think that’s why doctors prescribe these medications because most of society believes that if you push your problems far away eventually it will go away which is terrible . 

Society needs to acknowledge the facts that they can’t  just give people medications and expect people’s problems to go away which is why I think music therapy is a great use and a good coping mechanism that people should acknowledge more. Music helps you acknowledge what is going on inside of your mental state. Helps you figure out why your mind is working against you and helps you figure out how to cope with it in a proper way . They use many methods like writings songs , listening to music.  Writing song lyrics can help mental ill patients learn how to express their emotions and what they are feeling through words . This a technique that most people use, especially musicians. Musicians tend to write what they are truly feeling through their songs because it’s their own way of expressing it.This is why music therapists use these methods because it’s easier for some people to do rather than talking to a person. People with mental illness tend to not talk about what they are truly feeling or about their illness because they don’t want anyone to pity them so they keep everything they are truly feeling inside so instead of talking to somebody else they can write down their emotions down without having to feel like they’re being pitied by other people or having people tell them that what they are going through isn’t bad or important. Listening to music is another way they help patients. Listening to music helps you relate to the lyrics and to other people. It helps mentally ill people acknowledge the fact that they are not alone and acknowledge that there are people willing to help them deal with their problems. Also music tends to boost up your mood because it sends serotonin to your brain which is a mood booster. Many people tend to use music as a mood booster even in the old days . The example I like to use are slaves . Slaves used to use music as a way to boost their moods, help describe what they were feeling, and distract them from the fact that they were enslaved and away from home. Singing these songs used to remind them of their home country. This was one of the many things that got them through the harsh conditions and labor they were in.  This is why music  is very important in many cultures. To them music is freedom , freedom to express yourself in a comfortable way and to express your feeling the way you wanted. Another type of music therapy is Neurologic Music therapy . This type of therapy uses music as a way to study and treat the brain. Since music can affect multiple parts of the brain it can help build new connections in the brain and improve brain functions which can help people live a more functional life. This type of music therapy is a perfect opportunity to help study the brains of mentally ill patients much better and a great way to study the effects that music has on their brains and how it can be beneficial for them and help them live a normal life without having to fight a mental battle everyday with their own mind. This is completely different from regular music therapy because regular music therapy focuses on patients’ needs through listening and writing music but neurologic focus on the rhythms effect on the brain and brain only. 

All these benefits of both types of Music therapy have really convinced me that music is very useful and beneficial. Music is an art form. It is vocal or instrumental sounds combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion. It has many different styles like Chinese, Haitian, K-Pop, Spanish, African. Music has been around for thousands of years . Back in the ancient times music was used for rituals or festivals , and religious vents and for worshiping ceremonies. In ancient times music was only used for very important events. Nowadays everyone listens to music at any time they want. When they’re happy people might listen to music because it puts them in an even better mood. When someone is sad they might listen to happy music to lift up their spirits or might listen to sad music because it relates better to what they are feeling . We use music for many things like parties, weddings, we use it  while we’re cleaning, or even when we are doing homework. As I have said before it’s a form of distraction , it’s a mood affector, it even motivates you . That’s why a lot of people listen to music while cleaning or working out . You feel the emotions of the type of music you are listening to. That’s why some people call music “ emotions as sounds”. Have you ever been watching a show and a sad scene comes up and you hear sad music and it  makes it ten times sadder than it would originally be because you truly feel the music or an action scene and you hear hype music and you suddenly feel pumped up . That is why I think music therapy is such a great concept.

Personally for me music is a great way to express my feelings. Since I am not great at expressing how I feel (like most people in my generation) or a person who likes talking about feelings and emotions I used music as my way of communication. For me the beat and rhythms is usually what I listen to but when I want to express how I am feeling I usually listen to the lyrics which makes me feel more related to the artist. It makes me open up more and makes me feel like I am not alone and that I am not the only one who feels the way I do . Music is very important to me because it makes me very happy which is why I listen to music a lot and mostly everyday. For Example, while writing this I’ve been listening to music and it has made me happier and more motivated to write this essay than I would originally would be. That’s what music therapy  is doing. It’s helping mentally ill patients open up more and talk about their emotions. To express how their illness is truly making them feel without having to worry about being judged. It helps feel like they are not alone and that they are not suffering alone, that there are people who can relate to them.

Mental illness is a big problem in our society. Millions of people suffer from it everyday, primarily young teens and  young adults since their minds are not fully developed and everything hits them harder than adults. Mental illness are health conditions involving changes in emotion, thinking or behavior. It isn’t something you can easily detect because it’s very easy to hide. You can hang out with your friend and they seem very happy but in reality they might be going through so much like major depression or severe anxiety. Many people tend to keep it hidden, especially teenagers in my generations. Most of us learn to put on a hard shell to protect against the cruel world and to deceive people that we are strong and that nothing affects but in reality a lot of things affect us . When we do show emotions some people tell us that we are being childish which is why most of us don’t like talking about our emotions. It is a mental battle that you have to fight everyday. Sadly, sometimes not everyone is able to fight and win that battle. Right now there is no definite cure, you just have to endure years of psychiatric therapy to help you cope or deal with years of taking many different drugs that your doctor tells you will help you feel better. I know that Music  therapy is not a definite cure but  to me it is the safest way.  There are no physical risks that it can have on you , or any side effects and they won’t have to endure the pain that happens in some psychiatric facilities like shock therapy . Yes , there is the risk of triggering a bad memory but doesn’t everything have risks to it . Many researchers take risks everyday trying new ways and experiments on mental patients in order to understand the mental state of a person. 

Music therapy is very important, it is very sad that it is not more widely known as a coping mechanism for mentally ill patients.This is a very important form of coping method because its has many benefits and because I know many people who face depression and anxiety and this might be a way to educate people about music therapy. I want more people to know about this because I want the people that I know who are suffering to have a safe way to deal with their disorders. I want to help them .I don’t want them to have to suffer through the pain of taking many medications or having to spend large amounts of money to go through psychiatric therapy that might not help them at all. Music therapy doesn’t only have mental health benefits  but it also has a lot of physical health benefits . For example lower blood pressure,relax muscle pain and help memory loss in Alzheimer and dementia patients. I think we should really consider using Music therapy as a primary form of coping before deciding that mentally ill person should go to a psychiatric facility. It might benefit a person a lot more rather than locking them up with other mentally ill patients and shoving prescription drugs down their throats . 

In conclusion, mental health is a problem that has to be dealt with. Music therapy provides a great way to deal with it. It has way too many benefits for it not be a good good way of coping. It’s where people can learn to express their emotions and have people help you cope through your mental problems. It’s better than using different types of medications that might harm you and have side effects. It’s a safe way to improve your mood. Music makes you feel many emotions, even some emotions that you can not put into words. It’s something that everyone enjoys and loves and it has been proven that music helps you alot and affects you in many great ways .There might be some risks but everything has risks. It’s also a great way to study mental illness since when do know about it and why so many people deal with it. They can study the effects it has on the mind of a person with mental illness. Many people suffer from mental disorders everyday. There is no cure yet but there are many ways to cope with it but most of those ways are not physically and mentally safe which is why i want people to consider Music therapy first.Music might be the best way to help people with mental illness cope with their mental disorder. Hopefully while researchers who are currently studying and researching music and its effects on us and our brain finds a way that music can help deal with mental illness indefinitely. Even more though I hope that they find a cure to help mental illness go away forever so nobody ever has to deal with fighting against their own minds every hour of everyday.

References:

Jancke, L. (2008) Music memory, and emotion. Journal of Biology https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2776393/

Neurological Music Therapy.Neurologic Music therapy Services of Arizona https://www.nmtsa.org/what-is-nmt

 

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Research- Samtheman1448

Posted on April 28, 2020 by samtheman1448

The Perfect NFL Schedule

The NFL is finally changing its 16 game regular season format for the 2021-22 season. The recent CBA states that the league will expand to 17 regular season games and will only play three of the original four preseason games. This is a step in the right direction. But not completely. The NFL needs to think about now expanding that 17 to 18 some day to have an equal amount of home and away games, and to move on from the previous 16 game schedule. Also, two preseason games seems about right, not three. This provides another week of meaningful football and fans, organizations and players will all benefit from it. Getting rid of meaningless games and adding meaningful games causes more interesting games that matter, and more money for teams and players. The NFL should also strongly consider adding another bye week for each team. So in total, two preseason games, 18 regular season games and two bye weeks would make the perfect NFL schedule.

Playing in the NFL is a lot different than playing in the other top American sport leagues such as the MLB, NHL, and NBA. The NHL and NBA for example, have 82 regular season games and the MLB has 162. Take those numbers and compare them to the NFL’s current 16 game schedule and you would think that it is much harder for the other athletes because of the amount of games they play. Well players in the NFL will argue that they play in the toughest league. Football, especially pro football, is a brutal sport. Teams are faced with more injuries as the season progresses. NFL teams only play once a week throughout the whole season so teams have enough time to rest up before their next game. The schedule has always been simple and easy to follow. Each team would play 16 games, 8 home and 8 away, with one bye week for each team. Now however, the NFL is adding a 17th game like I have previously mentioned. This now makes teams play an odd number of games which is unfair. Now there will be some teams in the league that will be forced to play nine away games and only eight home games. It would make perfect sense for the NFL to then move to 18 games so that there are nine home games and nine away games.

Home field advantage is a real thing in professional sports. From the article “Is playing at home really an advantage?” the author, Kevin L. Burke says, “In a 2010 paper, University of Rochester social psychologist Jeremy P. Jamieson, who did a meta-analysis of studies on both team sports and individual contests such as golf, tennis and boxing going back more than six decades, calculated that those who are competing at home tend to win slightly more 60 percent of the time.” If home teams are winning more than the away teams, my question is, how is it fair for some teams to be playing 9 home games and only 8 away games. In all the sports leagues that I have ever watched and participated in, there has always been an even number of games. This is why there should be an 18 game regular season instead of 17. Having 18 games will assure that each team will play 9 home and away games. This is a more fair schedule for the league to consider. Also, removing one of the preseason games and adding another bye week for each team is also a good idea.

The Houston Texans starting running back going into the 2019 season was supposed to be Lamar Miller. His season was ended before it could even start when he tore his ACL in the 3rd game of the preseason. In 2016, the Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback, Tony Romo, was hit hard on his lower back early in the third preseason game and did not return to the field until week 17. Nobody wants to see players get hurt in games that simply do not really mean anything. The NFL should now consider shortening the preseason to 2 games and add another bye week in the regular season. Some players will tell you that 16 games is already enough. That is only with one bye week. Add another bye week to the schedule and players will have another week to rest their bodies. From the article “How NFL players spend their bye week” the author, Matt Bowen says, “The first thing most players look for when the NFL schedule comes out is the bye week. The opponents? The prime-time games? That stuff can wait. Man tell us when we get a break. One thing to realize: NFL players are not robots and the grind of the season is real, so guys cherish their time away.” With the addition of another bye week, players have another opportunity to stay healthy and spend time with their families and friends. I think most players would be in agreement with me in saying there would be nothing but positive outcomes by adding another week off.

Each year, at around the end of the summer, football fans are far more than ready to begin watching their favorite teams and favorite players take the field. Fantasy drafts begin, team projections for the season start to get released, and players/coaches are finally ready to move on from all the offseason training camps and workouts. It is football season. One thing, however, that also takes place during the end of the summer for the NFL is the preseason. Many fans seem to not care about the preseason because these games are meaningless. Fans would rather buy tickets and go to the games that actually have an effect on their teams post season dreams, they do not want to tune into the games where the starters do not make an appearance. Instead of playing all four of the current NFL’s preseason schedule games, it should be reduced to just two. The regular season should start in late August when the third and fourth preseason games take place. This would allow the regular season to be expanded to 18 games instead of the current 16. The season would also end at around the first week of February, which is currently where it ends now. This is a much better schedule for everyone involved. The NFL has already announced that starting in the 2021 season, there will be 17 regular season games and three preseason games. This is the right step in perfecting the schedule, but not quite perfect just yet.

The current regular season schedule is laid out so that each team plays every team in their division twice, every team in a specific division in their own conference, every team in a specific division in the opposite conference, and then two teams in the same conference that finished in the same spot in their specific division. That is how a 16 game conference is made for each new NFL regular season. For my proposal of an 18 game schedule, the schedules current format remains the same except the 2 extra games that are played will be a random team in your conference and a random team outside of your conference. The way these games can be set up is the same way games are set up in college football. Teams would be able to reach out to one another and the league office to set up these two new games. One home game and one away game to equal nine each for the regular season.

People may think that playing 18 games for certain players may cause more injuries and no one wants to see a players career be ended early due to injuries. Jerry Jones, who is the owner, president and general manager of the wealthiest sports team in the entire world, The Dallas Cowboys, has said he believes an 18 game schedule would actually reduce the amount of injuries. Jones, when talking about the possibility of an 18 game schedule, has stated, “I think, candidly, it’s probably physically better for players than it is to have the longer preseason, the longer practicing. Our studies show that we actually have a ramped-up injury situation with players during preseason as opposed to the injury factor in the regular season.” Jones also believes that reducing the preseason games to just two games is also a much better idea than to have four. Jones has stated, “My solution is real simple, cut back on preseason games. Have one at each team’s home, play a couple of them and then add two games to the regular season. That’s a better equity or a better way of players using what they bring to the table, their talents, their skills, their professional time in pro sports. That’ll give them a bigger pay day that is fair. The other thing it does is it certainly gives our fans what we all think they deserve and that is a competitive game.” It seems Jerry Jones thinks a lot like myself. All of the points he makes are very similar to the ones I have in mind such as making the season longer, shortening the preseason, focusing on players health, players receiving more pay for the extra games, and giving the loyal NFL fans what they want, which is more football.

Another proposal that the league has offered is that if the season expands to 18 games, then players can only play in 16 of them at most. This then eliminates any higher chance of players getting more injured in an 18 game season because they can only play up to 16 of them. This creates a more strategical approach for coaches. Would coaches want to bench their best players against weaker opposition? Would coaches want to play all their star players in the first 16 games so that they can potentially clinch a play off spot and not have to worry about the tough and cold December games? This is a longer NFL season with a huge twist that is creative and fun. This proposal also benefits players more than hurts them. Jenna West of Sports illustrated writes, “Owners are enticed by the idea of a longer season considering the more revenue it would create. An analysis done by the NFL Players Association found that up to $2.5 Billion in additional annual revenue could be generated with two more games. That would add $15 million to each team’s salary cap and give players more money.” Players will be getting paid more money to play in the same amount of games. More games causes a longer regular season and shortened preseason which gives fans more games to look forward to considering the regular season games actually mean something. The idea of players only being able to play in 16 of the 18 games also causes coaches to focus on another aspect of strategically setting up their team for success. If a team that plays with less starters were to beat a team that had a lot more of their starters in causes excitement and an underdog vibe that fans love to see in sports, especially in football.

There are some people out there that believe expanding the NFL season is not a good idea and that it puts the players health at risk because more games on the body equals a higher chance in sustaining an injury. That point makes sense, more physical football games means more wear and tear on the body. Out of the four big American sport leagues, an NFL career is the shortest in length simply because some guys’ bodies in the league become too injury prone to the fast and furious play style that the NFL provides. However, the NFL is already planned to move to 17 games starting in 2021 and looks to possibly advance to 18 in the near future. There have been many proposals thrown in the mix for how an 18 game season would work. It seems that the most likely and most popular idea that is currently spreading throughout the league is that an 18 game season will take place, but players will only be allowed to participate in a maximum amount of 16 games. Also, this plan includes reducing the preseason games from four to two which means that is even less football than in previous years. If there are less meaningless games and the same amount of meaningful games for the players to participate in, that means there is not any way this 18 game plan will result in more injuries than before. More football games will also most likely mean that there will be an increase in roster size. There is currently a 46-man game day roster limit that has been implemented for a few seasons now and that number would have to change if the seasons become longer. Larger rosters also means more fun as well for the fans of the league to watch and see. Some teams may stack their offensive lines with more players to rotate in and out of games to keep the players from getting tired. Other teams could potentially acquire an abundance of edge rushers for the same reason. there are many different possibilities that teams can take and it would be interesting to see what teams did with their rosters.

More regular season football games also give worse teams in the beginning of the season a better chance to make a late playoff push. This is beneficial to the entire league because since there are more games added on to the season, teams have more of a reason to continue to try in the season after having a potential losing streak. In the current NFL, if teams start to lose 4-5 games in a row, it seems like the season is completely over and that it is time to start tanking for the earliest possible draft pick. This can now change, with the two extra games offering more potential to still push late in the season with the addition of a 7th playoff spot in each conference that the NFL is adding, starting in the 2020 season.

An 18 game schedule would most certainly make more money for the league as well. This means that players will get paid more money for having to take part in a longer season. Players will definitely benefit from getting paid more. Who doesn’t want to get paid more? There really isn’t any extra tasks they are asked to take part in when they still would be playing in only 16 games and two less preseason games. On top of all that, the other great idea for an 18 game season is to add another bye week. This would officially mean players are getting another whole week vacation away from the brutal game to rest their bodies. Telling these professional athletes that they will be paid more money, play the same amount of games and have more time off during the season sounds like a slam dunk of an idea that not many will oppose.

There are fans out there that will say they don’t see any problem with the current 16 game schedule and a part of me agrees with them. It is the only NFL schedule that I have known in my life time and there really is not much wrong with it. However, like previously stated, the NFL Players Association has already officially agreed that the league is expanding to a 17 game season starting in 2021. The 17 game season does not come off the tongue nicely for anyone. An odd number of games? this eliminates the complete fairness of an even number of games when it comes to home and away games. Now, some teams (most likely half the teams) in the league will be forced to play an extra away game. the other teams will have an extra home game and traveling to play opponents in professional sports is not easy and there is definitely an advantage for the home team. Even in sports for the NFL, the home team usually always given at least a three point advantage over the visiting team because of how home field advantage works. This is why the league should move on from the 17 game season that will be implemented starting next year to an 18 game season to balance the schedule evenly.

In conclusion, it makes perfect sense for the league to move on to 18 games after the 17 game season takes place. All the other American leagues have an even number of games for their teams to play. Instead of moving back to the 16 game format we should move on with life and focus on the idea of an 18 game season. Players and fans will both benefit from 18 game season, and all Americans favorite thing to watch on Sunday’s with their family and friends expands to even more games, which means more of watching your favorite teams and players play in what is the most popular professional sport in the country, The National Football League.

References

Is playing at home really an advantage? Research says… (2016, January 21). https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/nfl-conference-championship-games-home-field-advantage-records-panthers-bronocos-mlb-nba-nhl/1xio6320kqfb51q28da09zdlyl

A break from the grind: How NFL players spend their bye week (2016, November 11). https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/18013606/how-nfl-players-spend-their-bye-week

Jerry Jones Says Players Would Benefit Physically From 18-Game Schedule (2018, August 28). https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/08/28/jerry-jones-18-game-schedule-safer-players

Report: NFL Owners Suggested 18-Game Schedule With 16-Game Limit for Players (2019, July 12). https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/07/12/nfl-18-game-schedule-suggestion-player-limit

How NFL is Set, if Needed, to Shake Up its Schedule (2020, April 27). https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2020/04/27/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/NFL-schedule.aspx

Is it really a good idea for the NFL to add two more playoff teams? (2020, February 22). https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2020/2/22/21148479/is-it-really-a-good-idea-for-the-nfl-to-add-two-more-playoff-teams

NFL 2019: Here’s why the proposed 18-game schedule with a 16-game limit could actually work. (2019, July 17). https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-2019-heres-why-the-proposed-18-game-schedule-with-a-16-game-limit-could-actually-work/

NFL 18-game schedule: Examining Scheduling and Bye Week Logistics. (2018) https://bleacherreport.com/articles/444538-nfl-18-game-schedule-examining-scheduling-and-bye-week-logistics

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Research – Rose

Posted on April 28, 2020 by rose1029

Challenges Create Extraordinary Individuals

An individual’s upbringing is a substantial part of their lives. Everyone one is raised differently. Not even siblings share the same experiences through growing or standards their parents put them through. One question that comes up through the centuries of raising children is what exactly is the best way to raise one’s child. There will never be an agreement between parents on what that is. The definition of an ideal upbringing is interchanging between families, and continues to change with time. What many people believe however; is that they themselves haven’t experienced the ideal upbringing. If you were to ask them, they would come up with something that their parents may have done that has affected them negatively. This is because most people have a pre-existing idea of what a childhood should entail. 

In many minds when thinking about an ideal upbringing the classic picket fence idea comes up . The picket fence idea concept is an iconic status in the United States. It symbolizes an ideal middle-class suburban life, including a family with 2-3 children and a dog, a big house and an overall peaceful lifestyle. The husband has a good job that pays well so the wife can stay home and take care of the kids. And the children are free to pursue the things they want including sports, music, anything that they show interest in. “But the symbolism of the white picket fence was inescapable, and it slid into popular culture as a visual shorthand for the good life.” Michael Dolan shows the influences of this idea in his article, How Did the White Picket Fence Become a Symbol of the Suburbs? in the Smithsonian Magazine. This may be what defines a good life, but not an ideal upbringing. There are many factors that go into the white picket fence idea that agree with the claims of Julie Noonan, author of “What makes a good childhood” for the publisher, Berry Street Childhood Institute Knowledge to Action, such as having children feel valued and respected for who they are. “A good childhood is characterised by stable, responsive, caring relationships in families and in the community. Children thrive in nurturing environments that encourage them to explore and engage safely with the world around them, and support them to fulfil their potential.” This is what pops up when “perfect childhood definition” is googled, and most people would agree that these factors would create the groundwork of a stable upbringing. 

There are several outside factors that affect families, and the raising of one’s child. The pressures families feel when trying to afford housing and their everyday expenses are two factors mentioned in which the child has little control over. What should be discussed more is that if the child’s basic needs are being met, then there could be certain alterations made to better that child in the long-run. This idea is addressed in Julia Noonan’s chapter on Childhood Wellbeing: Good Childhood Domains, “For all children to survive, they need to have the very basic material resources in place – food, water and shelter. This is a known fact, but in order for children to thrive, they need much more than the basics.” Many families have a lifestyle that is more or less like the white picket fence fantasy, but they fail to realize the potential they are giving their children as well as the potential life lessons they could be teaching them. Most parents have the natural instinct of wanting to give their children everything they never had when they grew up, and this continues on through each generation. What some may not realize is that by attempting to give their children everything they could ever want or need, can cause them more damage than benefit them. As Julie Noonan would describe it as one of her main factors to her chapters, “Childhood wellbeing is not just about the immediate lives of children, but also the long-term outcomes.” What some parents fail to realize is that their children’s upbringing is a very brief, but very critical time in their lives where they must develop skills in order to better be prepared once they enter the real world. 

Ultimately it all depends on what that particular family values and what life lessons they want to pass on to their children. There are families that value education above everything else, others may view becoming a contributing member to society as the most important thing their child can do, and some believe that kids just need a chance to be kids. “The changing nature of how we have defined and understood ‘childhood’ over many centuries’ highlights that it is not a constant but an ever-shifting construct” as Julia Noonan perfectly states on page 14 in her book.  There are many different opinions on how to raise one’s children and it continues to change through the years as economical factors fluctuate and people’s morals change. Even though there are some things that can be universally agreed upon, the concept of an ideal upbringing will never be agreed on and will continue to change throughout families and time. Yet, what can be altered throughout all childhoods is what parents value and what they find vital to pass onto their children. 

Family values have gone through radical changes through generations and have resulted in different family dynamics.  A quote from an article called How Parent-Child Relations Have Changed from Psychology Today reads “At the same time, parents have grown far more sensitive to the risks that their children face, both physical and psychological.” The author, Dr. Steven Mintz, goes on to tell the readers about the drastic changes the average childhood is like in today’s day and age. He compares it to parent techniques in the 50’s, where there was a clear establishment of who the authority figures were within a family. Many families today lean towards more of a friend or acquaintance relationship once their children reach a certain age. The idea of respect also plays a factor on this as well. Children should have a respect for their parents and a trust that they know what is best for them. There is nothing wrong with having a close relationship with their child, in the sense that if they needed anything, the parents would be the first people they go to for guidance. Establishing trust needs to be within the groundwork of every upbringing. 

In order to gain a sense of self accomplishment, the child must be put through a challenge and work their way to the end goal. Something as simple as doing chores can give the child a sense of responsibility and a feeling of success once the task is completed. Julie Lythcott-Haims talks about this concept in her 2015 Ted Talk, titled “How To Raise Successful Kids – without over-parenting.” She dives into the idea of modern day parenting and how constantly being there and supporting your child can actually be detrimental for them in the long-run. “and so, with our overhelp, our over protection and over direction and hand-holding, we deprive our kids of the chance to build self-efficacy.” With the constant praise children receive from parents the child may begin to think, “What if someday, I won’t have someone there to praise me for my hard work, then what?” They begin to create a dependency on the constant encouragement their parents give them. “Self efficacy is built when one sees that one’s own actions lead to outcomes.” By developing this skill early on, it will benefit the child in their future carriers, relationship, and life over all. 

Why would parents even consider putting their children through hardships in order to teach them a lesson? Why not just try to teach them though communicating with them? These are all valid questions; however, some lessons cannot just be taught through lecture. Even though some children may be considered visual or auditory learners, it takes real life experiences to better prepare a child for real life. Dr. Steven Joseph in his article How to See Challenges as Opportunities writes, “By avoiding challenges, we don’t have the opportunities to learn about ourselves.” His piece in Psychology Today, expresses how important it is to get out of one’s comfort zone, in order to continue learning. With nothing to keep pushing us to do better, we would cease to grow as individuals. “To lead an authentic life, we need to take on new challenges that stretch us and give us more opportunities to be ourselves.” Self growth is an essential skill everyone needs. One cannot gain this skill if they are sheltered from anything that may challenge them. In order to continue growing through life, the desire to be better needs to be something that is engraved into an individual’s being and can be trained through real life experiences. 

Much like stamina conditioning in sports teams, coaches have players run or sprint 3 miles a day at practice, so when put into the game it is much easier to tolerate the demanded running. This is essentially creating a skill that can be used later on. In addition to this, having the mind and body go through a difficult task makes it easier to accomplish when forced to do something similar in the future. The idea that needs to be imprinted in every individual’s mind is that when put into a difficult situation unexpectedly, the immediate thought that comes to mind would be “Hey, I’ve gotten through more challenging times, I can get through this.” This type of thinking gives the child a sense of independence and confidence in themselves. 

Being able to learn everything you need in order to get though life is an impossible task. One can never be fully prepared for what life may bring them in the future, no matter how hard they try to be. Parents are the people responsible for raising their children in a way where they’ll be able to leave the nest and be on their own eventually; however, with customs and values drastically changing in recent years, parents have begun to stray away from the focus of teaching their children life lessons. Rather, they focus on creating a more lenient environment for their children to try new things and make their own decisions.

Some life-like situations are more likely to occur than others. For example getting a flat tire or simply being overwhelmed with daily tasks. Most difficult situations can be easy to get through if you’ve already had similar experiences. The underlining challenge this concept brings is how exactly can this be achieved? Creating hardships for a child to go through isn’t a logical thing to do. Rather, guiding them to the better outcome is what needs to be implemented. Giving them their own set of responsibilities and observing how they work with those. Something as simple as pushing them to try a sport or activity and showing them that one must make the first step to try something to see if they enjoy it and if they don’t then there should be no pressure to. Having them cook their own meal for the family once a week can create major benefits in the future, and also reassure the parents that their child is able to properly feed themselves if they’re not there. Doing these small tasks can make a child’s future everyday life effortless rather than a struggle. 

Small challenges are easy for a parent to allow their children to face. What becomes difficult for a parent to do is allowing their children to face dangers alone.  Even though there are many more dangers that come in many different forms in today’s world, one will never learn how to face these dangers if they’ve been sheltered from them their entire lives. Being an overbearing parent can be detrimental to the development of a child and their future. As Dr.Steven Mintz would phrase it, “If it has become harder for some children to cut the umbilical cord and establish an independent identity, and if it has become more difficult for some parents to let go and grant their kids a fully autonomous life, for most, the ongoing bond between child and parent proves to be a crucial source of meaning and personal happiness.” The most important matter to consider goes without saying, it is vital for a child to feel loved and secure within their family. The relationship between a parent and their child is a compelling force.

Giving a child more challenges than they already may face may seem like a far fetched idea at first, but it is actually simpler than it seems.  “What possible benefit is there in a tumultuous childhood?” as asked in the article, Surprising Benefits for Those Who Had Tough Childhoods in Psychology Today. The author, Megan Hustad, raises a valid question, which most readers would ask the same thing when introduced to this idea. She goes on to describe the not so apparent benefits of having a problematic childhood. Such as having almost a 6th sense when they walk into a room due to their experiences they had growing up. What can be seen in individuals who have experienced troublesome childhoods is a set of skills not everyone is able to acquire. 

Take for example, celebrities and athletes who had to work their way up from nothing in order to get to where they are today compared to the children of celebrities who have already had a head start to their careers just by being born. There is something different about them, a more humble attitude on things. No matter how much they gain, their attitude and persona continue to be unpretentious. Oprah Winfrey, whose childhood was full of moving from family member to family member all in small apartments sharing rooms, and at one point facing sexual abuse from family members. Through these many hardships, she still managed to become one of the most successful talk show hosts, television producers, etc. She shares her success with her followers and people who need it most through gifts and donations. And in recent news she donated $10 million to the coronavirus relief.  

This can be seen in every line of work, not only celebrities. Successful business men and women, many of whom started out with nothing to their names persevered  and climbed the economies ladder. What all of these different groups of individuals have in common is that they have all had to figure out how to do things on their own, without the help from their parents or anyone else. This one simple idea is what defines them and is what needs to be implemented throughout every child’s upbringing. The real challenge is determining what specific steps need to be done to do this the correct way. 

It goes to show that not all people who’ve had a challenging upbringing become amazing people, parents who commit crime and have substance abuse tend to have children who grow up doing the same. “First, the broken family creates conditions to predispose children to criminal activities” says Effects of Family Structure on Crime a collection of data created by Marripedia a social science encyclopedia. They go on to talk about several different statistical evidence such as individuals who have been charged by police and then separating them by family structure and religious practice to name one. “The scholarly evidence suggests that at the heart of the explosion of crime in America is the loss of the capacity of fathers and mothers to be responsible in caring for the children they bring into the world.” The years children spend with their parents or guardians are what decides what type of person they’ll be, but those who work to be their own person and detach from their parents, learn lessons along the way that few have the chance to. 

This idea of an “extraordinary individual” is even depicted in the media, the main character who doesn’t use fancy training techniques and often comes from a single parent home, defying all odds, and against the one who has had everything they could have ever needed given to them. Classic movies like the Karate Kid, Daniel who is from a single parent home and no background in martial arts defies all odds and competes against his bully in a tournament. He not only wins the match, but he gains the respect of his enemy, which turns out is what he needed all along. What sounds like one of the cheesiest story lines is what inspired many other storylines to come. A hero figure, from humble beginnings, takes matters into their own hands to get what they want and persevere. The types of movies are inspiring and for most viewers and makes them want to be better people. 

So why don’t we do this in real life? Unfortunately the desire to want to be successful is not naturally in all of us. An individual needs to decide that they want to become better, and in order for that to happen parents must inspire them to do so. What many immediately think when this topic is brought up is that we as a society can’t drastically alter the way we raise kids. Especially if the thing that we’re changing is making a child’s upbringing inherently more difficult.

Each parent is involved in a vital point in their child’s lives and ultimately are what shape their children into the adults they later become. There needs to be a sense of dignity in wanting to prepare your children for life’s unexpected challenges. The hard to swallow reality is that parents are not always going to be there for their children and life is unpredictable. Preparing a child for what may come their way, can reassure the parents that their children will know what to do when life throws things their way. The best thing that can be given to a child, is the ability to make it on their own and become successful independently.

To fully apprehend this concept you must be open for new ideas, including ones that challenge your beliefs. It is only natural for parents to want the best for their child, and give them everything they could ever want in life. However what you want in life and what you need to survive and to succeed are two drastically different things. By giving your child a set of skills they can use to survive on their own can be one of the greatest gifts of all. Children need to want to survive on their own and become successful as their own person. Individuals who want to get out of the life they are currently living to strive for something that is better, this is what makes an extraordinary individual. 

References 

Noonan, Julie “What Makes a Good Childhood?” Berry Street Victoria Inc. Childhood Institute, Knowledge to Action, 2017

Lythcott-Haims, Julie “How to raise successful kids without overparenting.” TED Talks Live. 15 Nov

Dr.Mintz, Steven “How Parent-Child Relations Have Changed” Psychology Today. 7 Apr. 2015

Dr.Joseph, Stephen “How to See Challenges as Opportunities” Psychology Today. 5 Nov. 2016

Dr.Fagan, Pat “Effects of Family Structure on Crime” Marripedia

Hustand, Megan “Surprising Benefits for Those Who Had Tough Childhoods” Psychology Today. 7 Mar. 2017. Reviewed 17 Oct. 2019

Dolan, Michael“How Did the White Picket Fence Become a Symbol of the Suburbs” Apr. 2019

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Rebuttal Argument-Samtheman1448

Posted on April 28, 2020 by samtheman1448

Longer seasons means better seasons

There are some people out there that believe expanding the NFL season is not a good idea and that it puts the players health at risk because more games on the body equals a higher chance in sustaining an injury. That point makes sense, more physical football games means more wear and tear on the body. Out of the four big American sport leagues, an NFL career is the shortest in length simply because some guys’ bodies in the league become too injury prone to the fast and furious play style that the NFL provides. However, the NFL is already planned to move to 17 games starting in 2021 and looks to possibly advance to 18 in the near future. There have been many proposals thrown in the mix for how an 18 game season would work. It seems that the most likely and most popular idea that is currently spreading throughout the league is that an 18 game season will take place, but players will only be allowed to participate in a maximum amount of 16 games. Also, this plan includes reducing the preseason games from four to two which means that is even less football than in previous years. If there are less meaningless games and the same amount of meaningful games for the players to participate in, that means there is not any way this 18 game plan will result in more injuries than before. More football games will also most likely mean that there will be an increase in roster size. There is currently a 46-man game day roster limit that has been implemented for a few seasons now and that number would have to change if the seasons become longer. Larger rosters also means more fun as well for the fans of the league to watch and see. Some teams may stack their offensive lines with more players to rotate in and out of games to keep the players from getting tired. Other teams could potentially acquire an abundance of edge rushers for the same reason. there are many different possibilities that teams can take and it would be interesting to see what teams did with their rosters.

More regular season football games also give worse teams in the beginning of the season a better chance to make a late playoff push. This is beneficial to the entire league because since there are more games added on to the season, teams have more of a reason to continue to try in the season after having a potential losing streak. In the current NFL, if teams start to lose 4-5 games in a row, it seems like the season is completely over and that it is time to start tanking for the earliest possible draft pick. This can now change, with the two extra games offering more potential to still push late in the season with the addition of a 7th playoff spot in each conference that the NFL is adding, starting in the 2020 season.

An 18 game schedule would most certainly make more money for the league as well. This means that players will get paid more money for having to take part in a longer season. Players will definitely benefit from getting paid more. Who doesn’t want to get paid more? There really isn’t any extra tasks they are asked to take part in when they still would be playing in only 16 games and two less preseason games. On top of all that, the other great idea for an 18 game season is to add another bye week. This would officially mean players are getting another whole week vacation away from the brutal game to rest their bodies. Telling these professional athletes that they will be paid more money, play the same amount of games and have more time off during the season sounds like a slam dunk of an idea that not many will oppose.

There are fans out there that will say they don’t see any problem with the current 16 game schedule and a part of me agrees with them. It is the only NFL schedule that I have known in my life time and there really is not much wrong with it. However, like previously stated, the NFL Players Association has already officially agreed that the league is expanding to a 17 game season starting in 2021. The 17 game season does not come off the tongue nicely for anyone. An odd number of games? this eliminates the complete fairness of an even number of games when it comes to home and away games. Now, some teams (most likely half the teams) in the league will be forced to play an extra away game. the other teams will have an extra home game and traveling to play opponents in professional sports is not easy and there is definitely an advantage for the home team. Even in sports for the NFL, the home team usually always given at least a three point advantage over the visiting team because of how home field advantage works. This is why the league should move on from the 17 game season that will be implemented starting next year to an 18 game season to balance the schedule evenly.

In conclusion, it makes perfect sense for the league to move on to 18 games after the 17 game season takes place. All the other American leagues have an even number of games for their teams to play. Instead of moving back to the 16 game format we should move on with life and focus on the idea of an 18 game season. Players and fans will both benefit from 18 game season, and all Americans favorite thing to watch on Sunday’s with their family and friends expands to even more games, which means more of watching your favorite teams and players play in what is the most popular professional sport in the country, The National Football League.

References

Is it really a good idea for the NFL to add two more playoff teams? (2020, February 22). Retrieved from: https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2020/2/22/21148479/is-it-really-a-good-idea-for-the-nfl-to-add-two-more-playoff-teams

NFL 2019: Here’s why the proposed 18-game schedule with a 16-game limit could actually work. (2019, July 17). Retrieved from: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-2019-heres-why-the-proposed-18-game-schedule-with-a-16-game-limit-could-actually-work/

NFL 18-game schedule: Examining Scheduling and Bye Week Logistics. (2018) Retrieved from: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/444538-nfl-18-game-schedule-examining-scheduling-and-bye-week-logistics

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