Anonymous

A Room for Every Child - Anonymous

He comes home with lots of homework to finish. Oh no! He just realized that he also has volleyball practice today. What he needs is a quiet place to do his homework in a focused state. He knows that that is just a dream. “Wake up to reality” he tells himself. In this case, reality means sharing a room with a twin brother that goes to the same school as him and has the same homework. Having your own room is a must-have for every child. It provides independent space to fulfill your child's academic potential, creates a sense of privacy, and lets him or her mentally adjust for the future.

As a young middle-schooler, many children strive to do well in school. Homework plays a major part in the school curriculum. For many people, you do your best work in a quiet area without any distractions. In my case, distractions are the sound of some strange anime. This prevents me from doing my quality work while finishing my homework. Having a room of one's own provides space to learn and read (Gove). Extra space in a child's life means more room for inspiration. Remember, children are the leaders of our future. Having a room to work without any distractions aids academic development.

When children grow and begin to learn about privacy, they will begin to want some themselves. Getting dressed and undressed in front of other siblings is, well, awkward. This can also promote embarrassment and self consciousness. So, giving children a chance to change behind closed doors is essential (Hardy). Privacy also comes into play when your child wants alone time. After having a rough day, sometimes you just want to flop down and relax. I know that I’ve had lots of these days. However, I can’t do this because I share a room with another sibling. Some days when I’m feeling sad I want to cry, but I can’t because I feel too embarrassed. Privacy is key for growing adolescents.

Many claim that building an extra room for one of your children costs too much money. However, when children grow up they begin to argue, making you unhappy and stressed out. What is more important to you, the happiness of your family or spending a little too much money? So spending money and a little of your time to get your children their own rooms help you to destress too!

Every child deserves his or her own room. Rooms provide an individual sense of privacy, mental adjustment, and can help your child fulfill his or her academic potential. If each child gets his or her own room, then the next time your child comes home with lots of homework to finish, he or she can do it the comforting setting of his own room, ready to work.

This message is the property of Kamehameha Schools and any attachments are confidential to the intended recipient at the e-mail address to which it has been addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you may not copy, forward, disclose or use any part of this message or its attachments. If you received this transmission in error please notify the sender immediately by e-mail or contact Kamehameha Schools at webmaster@ksbe.edu and then delete this message from your system.

Anonymous

Stop Arguing!  

“It is easier to build strong children than it is to repair broken men,” said social reformer and founding father Frederick Douglass.  When people argue in front of their children that can break them. So don't argue. It causes kids stress , they become accustomed to arguing, and can become depressed or even hostile.

Why would you want to torment kids?  According to THE STEINHARDT SCHOOL OF CULTURE, EDUCATION, AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT "Arguing and fighting is psychologically stressful for the adults caught in conflict; this study demonstrates the costs of that conflict for children in the household as well.”(Exposure to Aggression Between Parents Can Interfere with a Child’s Ability to Regulate Emotions, Finds NYU Steinhardt Study).

Nobody wants to be depressed. By arguing in front of your children you can make your kids depressed and stressed, they have emotions too. As kids age the more their brain develops, but arguing can interrupt development.

“Children are like emotional Geiger counters” claims a professor at NYU. to summarize this, it means that children can sense when actions are poisonous to their health. They might even start to have a routine of hiding whenever their parents fight. They become accustomed to fighting and can end up living in fear.

Many might claim that they need to fight to make it well known that they are correct especially when they actually are. But really there is no excuse for arguing. Instead, just be the better man or woman and walk away from the situation . Doing this will improve your relationships and the environment your child is most comfortable with.

When you get older and you end up in a verbal disagreement with your partner practice the skills that I have said in paragraph 5 by just being the better man or woman. it can improve your overall life and possibly your health. So think of this the next time you're in a heated situation, maybe having a good industrious and smart child can start by not arguing.

Anonymous

Reducing Family Drama 

- Anonymous

“Being family is more determined by actions than by blood.” -unknown. With all the stress that we experience throughout 1 day, going home sounds like a great idea. But sometimes it's not, especially when your family is going through one of the most toxic types of stress, family drama. When you come home from a hard day who wants to come home to that? That's why people should make reducing stress in their lives a daily thing. After all, family drama can stress family members and can have bad effects on people's future and health. Family drama should be reduced.

Family drama can lead to stress. When family drama is reduced, it can mostly help with academic achievement, emotional health and create less behavioral problems. According to studies “Children raised in intact families have, on average, higher academic achievement, better emotional health, and fewer behavioral problems” (Benefits of Family for Children and Adults). De-stressing helps with many things too. It is something that we should include in some form of our daily lives.

It can also have bad effects on a person's future. According to the article “Family Well-Being” it says that being exposed to domestic violence and just violence in all can cause interference with early brain development and other things. It goes on to say, “This can interfere with early brain development, and can also lead to other negative short- and long-term consequences for children” (Family Well-Being). Drama, violence and abuse can even be considered as a form of “toxic stress” (Family Well-Being).

De-stressing has better effects on children and parents. According to research, negative effects on children from household drama includes “particularly the finding that parental conflicts can lead to children’s maladjustment, which in turn results in negative effects on social, cognitive, educational and psycho-biological functions” (Barthassat). Clearly, people who are stressed would obviously agree that de-stressing can have major benefits.

Some may argue that all families fight and it is normal to. However, family fights and drama don't need to be condemned, they just need to be reduced or have a solution. For example, if you have lots of fights with your sister, you don't need to stop fighting forever because it is normal to fight. It is just that you have to try and reduce the amount of fights you have. Also, it is actually very healthy to fight or let out your emotions. Reducing family drama or fights is more beneficial than you think.  

Stress reducing in your daily life is very beneficial and should be included in your day-to-day agenda. From talking with your family to even just having a day out counts. It has many benefits from better effects on children and parents, to academic achievements and less behavioral problems. It is evident that people should make reducing stress a part of their daily routines and schedules. Family drama is subject that we should focus more on fixing.

Alisha A.

Uniforms by Alisha A.

A student is transferring schools, she passes all of her tests and the try out day was amazing. The student is excited to go, when she realizes her family can't afford the cost of the uniforms. Uniforms should not be used everyday. To buy uniforms it costs money. So if you don't have enough money to buy the uniform, then you can't go to that school. What is the point of having uniforms? They don't reduce fights, they don't help kids fit in, they take away personal expression, and students don't even like uniforms. So what is the point of having them?

According to the US Supreme Court "It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech”(Marcoff). Uniforms are unconstitutional. Your clothes help define you, and uniforms make it so that you can't show who you are. Picking out your outfit gives you freedom, and if you don't have freedom then you cancel some of your constitutional rights.

Studies have shown that most students don’t like uniforms. According to one study done by The University of Nevada at Reno, 90% of middle school students oppose uniforms. According to researchers at Long Beach (CA) Unified School District, 69% of students said uniforms did not make them feel more connected with the school community. This means that some of the main reasons why people have schools uniforms don't even work. Not to mention that schools did not fix problems with fights or people not fitting in when uniforms were introduced (Viadero).

Uniforms don't benefit students. In fact uniforms may even be associated with a small effect on achievement in reading and an overall grade drop in school. Uniforms do not help people to make friends because they don't build self-esteem, which may be why people donʻt make friends other than the ones they already know. Having students wear uniforms can cause other versions of personal expression that may not be positive (Armstrong). For example, inappropriate clothing or hairstyles on the weekends may become a problem because when kids don't get to choose their clothes, then they miss out on learning to make choices everyday about what is appropriate and inappropriate.

Some think that uniforms help to curb violence and keep students feeling safe. A study done by the Long Beach (CA) unified school district says that 81%of students say that uniforms did not reduce fights, and 71% of students said they did not feel like they fit in more,  69% of students said that they did not feel more connected or feel safer in their community. So who better to believe than the people it's happening to?

If studies show that uniforms don't help the majority of students, then what is the point of having them? It's okay to have uniforms sometimes, but not everyday. Having free dress means being able to show personality and be comfortable while you learn. Uniforms should not be used everyday.

Anonymous

Stop Being -Anonymous

There is a class going on, while the teacher is teaching, a student is being rude to the teacher. Then everyone around the person starts raging and are now also being rude to each other. Being rude can cause people around you to act rude,  become mad, and think about negative thoughts. That's why people should stop being rude to each other for no reason and control their tempers better.

Why be rude when you can be happy and not: mad, cranky, and stressed out about something (Torkelson)? Studies show that when you are rude, it is a sign that you are either mad or stressed out about something that occurred or happened. Also, it can affect the people around you in many horrible ways that you don't want to happen.

Rudeness does not just affect people around you, it can also affect you in many different ways. It can make you struggle or fail at things in life (Asmus). And it makes you feel sad or mad. Also, it can affect whether you are able to make or keep friends if you are being rude to people, then they will not want to be around you.

Being rude can cause all kinds of drama that leads to worse things that you do not want to happen, like: fights, cyberbullying or just bullying, and more (Foulk). For example a kid is being rude to this younger kid and the younger kid's friends show up. After the discussion the younger kid's friends find the other kid that was rude to the younger kid and beat him up when no one is looking.

Some people might claim that they are only rude when they are mad or angry. 

However, there are ways to solve this problem. Instead of being rude, you can take a 

walk to calm yourself or go somewhere where there is no one and it is quiet. So 

people should stop being rude it is as easy as 1...2...3 to calm yourself when you are 

mad or angry.

Kamailah Q.

Kamailah Q.

Families Need More Bonding Time

You just came home and you are so excited. You got an A+ on a project. At dinner, you are so happy to share the news. You start talking when you realize no one is listening. They are all on their phones. This scenario is common. Families need more bonding time. Kids might feel left out, parents can’t hear about their children’s social life, and too much time on electronics is bad for your health.

First of all, kids might feel left out. Especially when they are the only people in the house without an electronic. This can lead to sadness and loneliness. Kids might also have bad grades because they feel like they don’t belong. Children will be academically successful when families increase their bonding time with each other (A Wise Investment).

Secondly, parents won’t know about their children's social life. Children may be okay with that. On the other hand, parents might be worried or even scared. Some children might be getting bullied and are too afraid to talk about it. There will be more emotional bonding when you spend time with your family (A Wise Investment).

Lastly, too much time on electronics is bad for your health. It doesn’t only affect you mentally, you can get physical problems. Too much time on electronics is bad for your eyes. Most of the time when you are outdoors, with your friends or family, you are being active. If you aren’t active, you’ll gain weight. Also, bonding makes people less frustrated (Miranda).

Some people, especially teen age children, claim that they don’t want their parents to know about their social life. However, if they are doing something that they don’t want their parents to know about, most likely it isn’t pono. Some people might be getting bullied or teased and are too afraid to tell a teacher. If they tell their parents, they might feel safer.

Although some people just want to be alone in their rooms with their phones or televisions, it isn’t so bad to go out and have some quality time with family instead. Children won’t always feel left out, parents can know more about their children’s life, and people will be more healthy. Every family should make some time in their schedule to have some quality bonding time together.

Matthew N.

Family Time

Matthew N

“Children are the keys to Paradise” - Eric Hoffer.  According to "5 reasons why family time rocks", families who share everyday activities together as well as share vacations or daily excursions as a group form strong, emotional ties. Additionally, a study published in the journal, Family Relations, found that families who enjoy group activities together share a stronger emotional bond as well as an ability to adapt well to situations as a family. So, share your favorite hobbies, sports, books, movies or other favorite activities and build strong family ties for life.

“A happy family is but an earlier heaven.”- George Bernard. Studies have shown that eating meals together helps reinforce communication. They say to choose a few nights during the week when you expect everyone to gather around the dinner table. Don't allow cell phones or other electronics that can interfere with them and dinner (Whitner).

“The family is one of nature's masterpieces.”-George Santayana. Sometimes your family dosen't want anything to do with family bonding time. But there are some ways you can spend time in a fun way. Like playing outside, playing a board game, hiking, camping, and maybe planting a garden. When you play board games try to pick one that has teams. For hiking try to have a little race. For gardening try to pick out roles (Hoyt).

Some think that people don't have enough time to spend with their family, but what about the weekends? You might say, I have to work or some other excuse. But you can find some time to bond with your family, like during dinner or before bed. Spending time with your family isn't as hard as you think it is.

In other words, people should spend more time with their families. Find some time to communicate and make a plan. Try to aim for at least 2 hours a day so that you can at least have a bond with someone.