fbpx
Home Blog Page 310

What Are Your Hopes and Fears for President Trump’s Second Term?

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
What Are Your Hopes and Fears for President Trump’s Second Term?

In the news analysis piece “A Determined Trump Vows Not to Be Thwarted at Home or Abroad,” David E. Sanger, who has covered five American presidents, writes of the beginning of Mr. Trump’s second term:

In his 29-minute inaugural address, Mr. Trump wasted no time on lofty appeals to American ideals. Instead, he spoke with a tone of aggression intended to be heard by domestic and foreign audiences as a warning that America under a more experienced Donald Trump will not take no for an answer.

He will end an era in which the world exploited American generosity, he said, empowering an “External Revenue Service” to “tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.”

After falsely declaring that China controls the American-built Panama Canal, he vowed, “We’re taking it back.” He hailed a presidential predecessor: not Washington or Jefferson or Lincoln, but William McKinley, the tariff-loving 25th president, who engaged in the Spanish-American War, seized the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico and paved the way for that canal.

And in the best McKinley spirit, he reinvigorated the idea of an America that will “pursue our manifest destiny,” a rallying call of the 1890s. This time, though, he described that destiny as an American settlement on Mars — a declaration that brought a thumbs up from Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who founded SpaceX with that goal in mind, and who has barely left the president’s side since Election Day.

Mr. Trump’s burst of executive orders was intended to send the message that this time the chaotic disruption that marked his first term would be married to rapid and more disciplined execution.

He began essentially shutting down the southern border to migrants and signaled his intention to challenge the constitutional principle of birthright citizenship.

He was scrapping restrictions on drilling and exporting oil and gas and withdrawing from the Paris climate accord again. Even with parts of Los Angeles still burning, there was no talk of climate change.

Federal funding of gender transition care was out. Federal forms, his aides told reporters, would be set back to a previous era, and allow people to check only “male” or “female.”

To anyone who watched Mr. Trump struggle through his first term, this combination of the substantive and the performative, with the gestures to his base, seemed familiar. The big difference, his aides suggest, is that this time he knows how to get it done, substantively as well as symbolically.

The New York Times interviewed people about their hopes and fears as Mr. Trump returns to power.

Robin C. Campbell, 49, who owns a small retail store in Asheville, N.C., said, “I have issues with him as a man but I will say, as much as I don’t like the guy, I think he runs America like a business and that’s what it is.” The article continues:

She said she did not vote in 2024 “for the first time in my life” because of disappointment with the Biden administration’s handling of the economy and her dislike of Donald J. Trump. But she hopes Mr. Trump will improve the economy: “I really, really am hopeful,” she said, to see where her business’s “numbers are two years from now, four years from now.”

Rev. Carol Thomas Cissel, 62, said, “It feels harsher. It feels scary for my family for my friends.” She adds:

12 Java Code Challenges for Beginners

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
12 Java Code Challenges for Beginners

If you’re starting a career as a Front-End Developer, Full-Stack Developer, or Computer Scientist, then you’ve probably started learning Java. Maybe you’ve started with an online course, which is a great way to build a solid programming foundation. Once you’re familiar with the basics, try putting your Java skills to the test with some practical exercises to build on your knowledge.

One of the best features of Java is its flexibility. You may find that there are multiple ways to solve the same challenge. In fact, if you’re learning Java with a friend, try these challenges together and learn from each other by comparing your results.

If you get stuck, try thinking through the problem using pseudocode or a general description of the programming steps you’d use to solve the problem. Pseudocode is helpful because it lets you work through programming challenges without having to worry about the specific syntax of a programming language (you can worry about that later).

Below are 10 Java code challenges for beginners. The first five challenges are with strings, while the last five challenges involve numerical inputs. Let’s get started!

Learn something new for free

10 Java code challenges to practice your new skills

1. Word reversal

For this challenge, the input is a string of words, and the output should be the words in reverse but with the letters in the original order. For example, the string “Dog bites man” should output as “man bites Dog.”

After you’ve solved this challenge, try adding sentence capitalization and punctuation to your code. So, the string “Codecademy is the best!” should output as “Best the is Codecademy!”

2. Find the word

Starting with an input string of words, find the second-to-last word of the string. For example, an input of “I love Codecademy” should return “love.”

To make your program more challenging, allow for a second numerical input, n, that results in returning the nth word of a string. So, for the string “I can program in Java” and n = 3, the output should be the third word, “program.”

For a given input string, return a Boolean TRUE if the string starts with a given input word. So, for an input string of “hello world” and input word “hello,” the program should return TRUE.

For a more advanced word searcher, create a program that returns the number of times a word appears in an input string. For example, given an input word “new” and an input string “I’m the new newt,” the program should return a value of 2.

4. Anagrams

Two words are anagrams if they contain the same letters but in a different order. Here are a few examples of anagram pairs:

  • “listen” and “silent”
  • “binary” and “brainy”
  • “Paris” and “pairs”

For a given input of two strings, return a Boolean TRUE if the two strings are anagrams.

As an added challenge, for a given array of strings, return separate lists that group anagrams together. For example, the input {“tar,” “rat,” “art,” “meats,” “steam”}, the output should look something like {[“tar,” “rat,” “art”], [“meats,” “steam”]}.

5. Pangrams

A pangram is a sentence that contains all 26 letters of the English alphabet. One of the most well-known examples of a pangram is, “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” Create a pangram checker that returns a Boolean TRUE if an input string is a pangram and FALSE if it isn’t.

For an added pangram challenge, create a perfect pangram checker. A perfect pangram is a sentence that uses each letter of the alphabet only once, such as, “Mr. Jock, TV quiz Ph.D., bags few lynx.”

6. Number reversal

This one is a technical interview favorite. For a given input number, return the number in reverse. So, an input of 3956 should return 6593.

If you’re ready for a bigger challenge, reverse a decimal number. The decimal point should stay in the same place. So, the number 193.56 should output 653.91.

7. Armstrong numbers

An Armstrong number is a whole number that’s equal to the sum of its digits raised to the power of the total number of digits. For example, 153 is an Armstrong number because there are three digits, and 153 = 13 + 53 + 33. The four-digit number 8208 is also an Armstrong number, as 8208 = 84 + 24 + 04 + 84.

Create an Armstrong number checker that returns a Boolean TRUE if the input number is an Armstrong number. Hint: to extract each digit from a given number, try using the remainder/modulo operator.

If you’re looking for something a little more challenging, create an Armstrong number calculator that returns all Armstrong numbers between 0 and the input number.

8. Product maximizer

For a given input array of numbers, find the two that result in the largest product. The output should include the two numbers in the array along with their product.

As an extra challenge, use an input of two arrays of numbers and find two numbers — one from each input array — that results in the largest product.

9. Prime number checker

A prime number is any whole number greater than 1 whose only factors are 1 and itself. For example, 7 is a prime number because it’s only divisible by 1 and 7.

Create a function that returns TRUE if an input number is prime. The first few prime numbers are 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, and 19.

For a slightly harder challenge, create a prime number calculator that outputs all prime numbers between 2 and the input number.

10. Prime factorization

The prime factors of a number are all of the integers below that number that are divisible into the number as well as 1. For example, the prime factors of 12 are 1,2,3,4,6, and 12.

Create a prime factorization calculator that returns the prime factors of any number between 2 and 100. If you’re looking for a more advanced version of this challenge, use exercise 9 to create a prime factorization calculator for any number. Hint: think about using square roots to cut your work in half.

Advancing your career with Java

Along with being a fun, low-stress way to test your knowledge of a programming language, code challenges play an important role in helping you prepare for the interview process. If you’re pursuing a career where knowledge of Java is expected, then you’ll be asked to complete a Java-based coding test, as well as other questions related to Java. And, the best way to prepare for that test is to practice code challenges like these.  

To find more opportunities to practice, take a look at our other Java courses, including our popular Java for Programmers course.

Whether you’re looking to break into a new career, build your technical skills, or just code for fun, we’re here to help every step of the way. Check out our blog post about how to choose the best Codecademy plan for you to learn about our structured courses, professional certifications, interview prep resources, career services, and more.

What Do You Do to Stay Healthy?

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
What Do You Do to Stay Healthy?

It’s the start of the new year, a time when many recommit to healthy habits.

What are you doing that’s good for your health right now? Think about everything from your diet and exercise routine to the habits you have that take care of your mental health and well-being.

For instance, do you regularly stretch? Write in a journal? Eat a balanced diet? Make time for family and friends? Manage your screen time?

What health goals do you have for 2025? Is building healthier habits something you’d like to do in the new year?

In “35 Simple Health Tips Experts Swear By,” The Times Well desk asked experts to share one health trick, life hack, rule or reminder that they have learned through their work that they swear by. Here are a few of their tips:

When I find myself stuck in a pattern of negative thinking, I try not to complain for seven days. It retrains your brain to stop going down a negative path. I write “Don’t complain!” on a sticky note right by my bed so I see it when I wake up. — Dr. Kali D. Cyrus, psychiatrist and assistant professor at Johns Hopkins Medicine

Dark-chocolate-covered nuts (at least 70 percent cocoa) are almost a perfect food. They combine two remarkable nutrient-rich foods — nuts and cocoa — and are high in phenolics, minerals, healthy fats and fiber. — Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University

My second-grade teacher, Ms. Edson, told us: If something feels too hard to do, it just means that the first step isn’t small enough. So often when we’re struggling, we tell ourselves that it’s a sign that we’re broken or that something is our fault, and then we freeze. But when something is too hard in the moment, tell yourself Ms. Edson’s advice. — Becky Kennedy, clinical psychologist, parenting expert and founder of Good Inside

In the world we live in, usually the phone is the last thing we see and the first thing we see. It’s the bookend to our sleep, which is terrible. At night, I shut my phone down and meditate before I go to bed. In the morning, I meditate when I wake up — before looking at my phone. — Peter Economou, assistant professor of applied psychology at Rutgers University

“Stop, Breathe, Be” is a three-second brain reset to help manage anxiety in the moment. The instructions are in the name: Stop whatever you’re doing, take a brief pause. Take a deep breath in and out. Be grounded in the present moment. “Stop, Breathe, Be” gets you out of “What if?” thinking and back to what is, in the here and now. — Dr. Aditi Nerurkar, Harvard physician specializing in stress and burnout

I’m a big fan of making fancy ice cubes by freezing lemon or lime juice with chopped berries or pineapple and herbs. These little flavor-packed cubes turn plain water into a refreshing, luxurious treat — with added vitamin C. — Emily Haller, dietitian

During my workday, one of the most restorative things I can do is listen to a song I love between clients. If I listen to some Snoop Dogg, I’m going to feel a little recharged. It puts you in a different zone. I have a playlist that has gospel music and Megan Thee Stallion and all sorts of stuff. — Nedra Glover Tawwab, licensed clinical social worker

A couple of times a day, I consciously drop my shoulders, sigh and think to myself: “Let go.” — Sherry Cormier, psychologist and bereavement trauma expert

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.

Red Words

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
Red Words

What do you think this illustration is communicating? How does it relate to or comment on society or current events? Can you relate to it personally? What is your opinion of its message?

Tell us in the comments, and then read the related article to learn more.

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.

Find more Picture Prompts here.

Word of the Day: cognizant

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
Word of the Day: cognizant

The word cognizant has appeared in 133 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Oct. 29 in “Part-Time Farmers, Part-Time Rock Stars: A Chinese Band’s Unlikely Rise” by Vivian Wang, which is about Ba Nong, the frontman of the band Varihnaz, who worked as a graphic designer in a large city when he began to write songs:

At the same time, he was growing disaffected by his work designing insurance ads. He read “The Half Farmer, Half X Lifestyle,” a book by a Japanese environmentalist about getting by through sustainable agriculture mixed with passion projects. In 2012, he moved home.

… He also found new hobbies. Cognizant that his hometown traditions were endangered, he visited local museums to study traditional instruments. He collected nursery rhymes in the Zhuang language, which has faded as schools push standardized Mandarin, and published a book of his lyrics and poems.

Can you correctly use the word cognizant in a sentence?

Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.

If you want a better idea of how cognizant can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com. You can also visit this guide to learn how to use IPA symbols to show how different words are pronounced.

If you enjoy this daily challenge, try our vocabulary quizzes.

Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.

The Word of the Day is provided by Vocabulary.com. Learn more and see usage examples across a range of subjects in the Vocabulary.com Dictionary. See every Word of the Day in this column.

Is It OK to Be Messy?

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
Is It OK to Be Messy?

Are you messy or neat?

Is your bed perpetually unmade? Are your closets crowded with long-forgotten odds and ends? Is your floor difficult to navigate without stepping on dirty T-shirts and old toys? Are your book bag and notebook so cluttered that it’s impossible to find a homework assignment without an hourlong search?

If so, have you ever been judged or shamed for your messiness? Do you ever feel pressure to be more organized? Or are you OK with a little clutter?

In “My Home Is Messy, and I Don’t Feel Bad About It,” KC Davis, with photographs by Eli Durst, writes about the relief and joy that come from embracing her messiness:

I’m a therapist who writes about housekeeping hacks for messy people. When I post videos about my home — a place where clean laundry is tossed unfolded into baskets and a giant trash can on wheels rolls around my kitchen — the comment section explodes with admonitions that I am lazy. My private inbox, however, is different. People often tell me my embrace of mess is revolutionizing their lives.

“Are you saying that I’m not a horrible person and that I’m not just making excuses?”

“I just found you and I’m already crying in relief that I’m not the only one.”

The world is harsh toward messy people. I get it. Not that long ago I thought the home of a mature, successful woman was a bright and airy haven, à la HGTV’s famous interior designer Joanna Gaines, one with made beds and clear countertops. Homes where all the stuff is neatly packed away into artfully labeled containers, and where there are no piles or smudges.

My home has never looked like that. For years, it felt as if I failed the aesthetic litmus test for being grown-up and put together. But four years ago, I accepted something that freed me and brought unexpected joy: I am messy.

Messiness ought to be celebrated. Instead, it’s a problem to solve, a bad habit to rectify, something to apologize for profusely when a visitor walks in. At best, you might forgive yourself or joke about your defect — your character flaw, really, since our culture associates messiness with laziness.

The essay continues:

The parts of my brain that allow me to produce handmade Renaissance costumes are the same parts responsible for a dining room bursting with fabric scraps and sewing supplies. It’s time we admit that what makes us shine can’t be divorced from what makes us scattered.

Science agrees. For example, people who have A.D.H.D. are often messy because their brains’ executive functioning center — the area that controls time management, focus shifting, memory and prioritization — operates differently from a typical brain’s. This atypical functioning can also create a higher level of divergent thinking and creativity, according to some research.

The often-repeated claim that clutter is harmful to one’s productivity and creativity may be wrong, as well. A University of Minnesota study tested the creative output of students working in a messy office space versus those working in a tidy one by asking them to imagine they worked at a Ping-Pong ball factory and had to come up with new uses for Ping-Pong balls. Participants in the messy room not only generated the same number of ideas as their clean-room counterparts, their ideas were also rated as more creative by independent judges.

To be sure, we messy people need to be considerate of others and provide a safe and sanitary environment for ourselves and our families. The good news is you can create an enjoyable, functional life as a messy person without becoming a neat one by using methods that work with your brain, not against it.

Students, read the entire article and then tell us:

  • Are you a messy person? Or do you like to keep your home, your bedroom and your belongings neat, tidy and well organized? Describe your room and tell us whether you think it could use an organizational makeover or not.

  • Has being messy ever been an issue for you? How much effort do you put into keeping things neat? What strategies have you used that have been effective?

  • Ms. Davis writes that messiness is seen by our culture as a sign of laziness, a character flaw and a problem to be solved. Does that resonate with your own experiences? Have you ever been judged for being messy? Do you feel pressure to be more organized?

  • What do you think of Ms. Davis’s argument that messiness ought to be celebrated instead of shamed? What do you see as the benefits and downsides of being messy?

  • Is neatness overrated? Should we all embrace our messiness? How might your parents or teachers respond if you did?

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.

Find more Student Opinion questions here. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate these prompts into your classroom.

How Much Say Do You Have in What You Learn at School?

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
How Much Say Do You Have in What You Learn at School?

How much say do you have in what and how you learn at school?

For example, do you ever get to choose the books you read, the classes you take, the topics you study or the kinds of projects you do?

When you do have the opportunity for some control and choice over what you learn, what effect does that have on your interest and investment in it?

In the guest essay “Giving Kids Some Autonomy Has Surprising Results,” Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop, who wrote a book called “The Disengaged Teen: Helping Kids Learn Better, Feel Better, and Live Better,” present an argument for students’ being more involved in setting their own academic goals. The essay begins:

In a polarized nation, one point of agreement deserves more attention: Young adults say they feel woefully unprepared for life in the work force, and employers say they’re right.

In a survey by Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation of more than 4,000 members of Gen Z, 49 percent of respondents said they did not feel prepared for the future. Employers complain that young hires lack initiative, communication skills, problem-solving abilities and resilience.

There’s a reason the system isn’t serving people well, and it goes beyond the usual culprits of social media and Covid. Many recent graduates aren’t able to set targets, take initiative, figure things out and deal with setbacks — because in school and at home they were too rarely afforded any agency.

Giving kids agency doesn’t mean letting them do whatever they want. It doesn’t mean lowering expectations, turning education into entertainment or allowing children to choose their own adventure. It means requiring them to identify and pursue some of their own goals, helping them build strategies to reach those goals, assessing their progress and guiding them to course-correct when they fall short.

This approach works because it teaches kids strategies they’ll need to succeed in work and life — and keeps them invested, too. But a survey of over 66,000 young people that we conducted with the Brookings Institution and the education nonprofit Transcend showed that very few middle and high school students regularly have the opportunity to work this way. Only 33 percent of 10th graders report that they get to develop their own ideas in school. The result? In third grade, 74 percent of kids say they love school. By 10th grade, it’s 26 percent. School feels like prison, many teenagers told us over three years of research. The more time they spend in school, the less they feel like the author of their own lives, so why even try?

Johnmarshall Reeve, a professor at Australian Catholic University, has spent two decades studying what happens when kids are given some agency in school. In 35 randomized control trials in 18 countries, he and other researchers found that when students are allowed some opportunity to take their own initiative, they are more engaged in class and better able to master new skills, they have better grades and fewer problems with peers — and they are happier, too. The effect sizes were often between 0.7 and 0.9, a significant degree of impact.

Importantly, the teachers did not need to change the curriculum they taught or alter their disciplinary approach. They just applied a few new teaching practices in the course of their normal lesson. At the start of a lesson, instead of providing a step-by-step schedule and overview for the class period, as many good teachers do, they inquired about the kids’ own interest. They might say, “Today I’m going to tell you about the solar system. Before we start, is there anything about the solar system that you are particularly curious about or have a question about?” This simple step encourages kids to think about what they know, what they care about and what they want to know more about, rather than just settling in and tuning out.

Students, read the entire essay and then tell us:

  • In your own words, what do the authors mean when they say that students should have a degree of agency in their learning? What is agency? Can you give an example or two of how it applies at school? What about outside of school?

  • What are your thoughts on the argument that allowing students more input and autonomy in their education could make them more interested and invested in what they learn, as well as better prepare them for life and the work force?

  • How much say do you have in what and how you learn at school? Do you feel that you have the right amount of agency and autonomy, or do you sometimes wish you had more? Explain.

  • Have your teachers ever used the teaching techniques from the article — or similar ones — such as inviting you to set your own goals, allowing you to ask questions about a subject before diving in, or explaining why you’re learning what you’re learning? What exactly did these teachers do? What effect did their approach have on you?

  • The authors cite a statistic saying that nearly half of the more than 4,000 young people who were polled felt unprepared for the future. Does that seem accurate to you? Do you think your skills in learning, managing time, setting and reaching goals, communicating, problem-solving and being resilient are sufficient for happiness and success after high school? If so, which ones have been helpful? If not, which ones do you think would?

  • If you were a teacher, how would you make your classes engaging? What approaches would you borrow from your own educators, past and present? What new ideas do you have that could make learning more fun for students?

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.

Find more Student Opinion questions here. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate these prompts into your classroom.

Hug

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
Hug

Use your imagination to write the opening of a short story or poem inspired by this illustration, or describe a memory from your own life that this image makes you think of.

Tell us in the comments, and then read the related essay to learn more.

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.

Find more Picture Prompts here.

Word of the Day: jeremiad

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
Word of the Day: jeremiad

The word jeremiad has appeared in five articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Aug. 30 in the Opinion column “Why We Don’t Build Beautifully” by Ross Douthat:

Standing in the Roman Pantheon last spring, one of my daughters asked the kind of question that newspaper columnists are tempted to place in the mouths of our children when we’re hard up for a column hook: “Dad, why don’t people build things this beautiful anymore?

One of my fitfully followed parental rules is that when a kid asks about something that touches on the deep issues of our time, I don’t immediately launch into a jeremiad. Instead, my children are served a combination of here’s what your dad thinks and here’s what other people think, with a thumb on the scale for the paternal point of view but also a pedantic attempt to make sure they understand the whole debate. (Often they wander off before I’m done, for some reason.)

Can you correctly use the word jeremiad in a sentence?

Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.

If you want a better idea of how jeremiad can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com. You can also visit this guide to learn how to use IPA symbols to show how different words are pronounced.

If you enjoy this daily challenge, try our vocabulary quizzes.

Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.

The Word of the Day is provided by Vocabulary.com. Learn more and see usage examples across a range of subjects in the Vocabulary.com Dictionary. See every Word of the Day in this column.

What Teens Are Saying About Barring Children Under 16 From Social Media

By
onlinefreecourse
-
0
What Teens Are Saying About Barring Children Under 16 From Social Media

I really like Australia’s new law. I don’t have social media and even though it makes me feel like I’m left out of a lot of things, I’m grateful that my parents don’t allow me to have it. I see my other friends addicted to the phone and social media and throughout the years, I have realized that they are missing out on a lot that’s going on in the outside world …

I think that Australia’s new law is going to be very effective and I think that once the kids get the opportunity to have social media, they will be hesitant or realize that they are missing out on a lot more important events. A lot of my friends who have graduated from high school have started to delete some social media and they’ve told me that people aren’t using it as much. Maybe social media is just a thing that is mostly popular within the age group of 13-16, so Australia is trying to stop the social media addiction and make it so that people are more present and won’t end up having social media at all, even when they get to the age of legally being able to have it.

— Rita, Fountain Valley High School

I believe Australia’s law, on paper, is a good idea. But I don’t believe it will be effective. Technology has given young minds infinite access to the world, there will always be a way for a teen to simply lie about their age and over time new social media will continue to surface. In most cases this will leave the law irrelevant and useless. Social media has had an overwhelming negative effect on many people, but many teenage minds have become reliant on social media and can simply work around the law in order to find social media.

— Baylee, CA

I don’t think banning all kids under sixteen from social media is the answer. Take some families in China, for example — parents can be so strict they confiscate phones. But here’s the kicker: the stricter the parents, the more these kids turn into tech ninjas, plotting like secret agents to sneak a peek. Some even go full drama mode — stealing money just to buy a phone or hitting up internet cafes like they’re on an intelligence mission. Instead of an outright ban, maybe we should let teens use their phones in moderation — with some guidance.

— Amy, China

I think Australia’s new law has the right idea, but is too strict and simply the wrong way to handle the ever growing social media issues. By passing this law, Australia is restricting children from valuable media outlets that keep them up-to-date on news, what their friends are up to, and collaborative conversations with those around the world, like a friend or tutor. While I believe that media is harming the way young people think and perceive the world, I think this could have been handled differently. For instance, a governmental system that filters the media that enters the country could be implemented in order to protect the young minds of children, while still giving them access to all the knowledge they want to pursue.

— Michael, Nevada Union High School

1...309310311...1,264Page 310 of 1,264

Recent Posts