As a writer I have grown in some aspects over this semester. I have learned what to do and what not to do; for example waiting till the last minute to write something is definitely something I will no longer do. Previously I struggled a lot with writing all around. I did not like writing, I felt like I was terrible at it, and I felt like I did not know enough to form a lengthy paper. I do not struggle with starting essays like I use to and I feel much more confident in my work. I still struggle writing some papers, especially much longer papers but I have gotten better at it. I remember writing my first paper for this semester and I beat myself up over it because I thought it was just the worst essay ever. I also remember edited another paper and seeing where I repeated myself three different times. I have always been the person to use too many words when I write and also repeat myself over and over. But as this semester has gone on I have gotten much better at catching myself when I start to repeat what I might have already said.
The biggest thing I have learned thus far, though, is that perfection starts with imperfection. Instead of worrying over how bad a draft is, work on improving it to make it the best that it can be. While I know my work is not grade A material, I do know that I have got better and with practice and time I will continue to get better.
In my prior experiences in writing I did not retain much to be totally honest. I was not being taught the way I should have been and I also was not writing tremendously, nor did I care to write. I was use to doing my own thing in writing and just making the paper what I wanted it to be. I have also never really had an English teacher prior to my college classes. My teacher last semester was really good and super sweet, but I walked away from the class feeling like I wrote a lot and learned nothing. Which some students may be okay with, but I came to college to learn and to stretch my thinking to a new level. With this class I feel like I have accomplished both of those things.
My goal at the start of this semester was to just get through the class and mass amounts of writing. I tried to prepare myself to be writing all the time. But the writing was not at all what I thought it was going to be. While there was an amount of writing to be done in this course, I did enjoy every part of it. I liked the topics we wrote on and the discussions we had in class. The discussions, more than anything, helped me prepare for a reading response, so I loved that. I liked learning more about writing and stretching my thoughts to get the best response.
My goals now have obviously changed though, since we are coming to the end of the semester. I hope to actually take more writing classes. I enjoyed it, even though I may not be the best at it. But I feel like I made a lot of progress with something I enjoy doing again. I also plan to take a professional writing course, due my major being business. I hope that it will help me, because as you know I struggle a lot with sounding more professional when I write. So I guess you could say my new overall goal is to just write more and to continue to get better at it.
Homeschooling vs. Traditional School
Through years of being homeschooled, I have always been asked “Why? Why did your parents decide this? Is something wrong? Why do you not like a public school?” There have always been a series of questions that have been thrown out and some even being quick to judge and label someone as the “typical homeschooler”. I have also been called a series of names such as sheltered, awkward, dumb, and antisocial because of the label that comes with being homeschooled. There are many who have not taken the time to look into homeschooling and see what it is actually about. Instead they just assume that the stereotypical homeschooler is what all homeschoolers are like. I chose this topic because it is something that is important to me personally, and I also feel it is important to help others better understand the different aspects of homeschooling. This topic is also debatable and there are those who do have strong opinions about homeschooling and whether it is right or wrong. I will also be discussing how formal home education has grown tremendously and possible reasons as to why. I also plan to compare home education to public/private school education and discuss how homeschooling might be beneficial to overall education.
After being homeschooled for ten years, I have seen many different positive and negative aspects of homeschooling. While the first two years I was enrolled in a traditional private school, the price became too much for a family with four children. Being homeschooled for so long, I have witnessed first hand my very own school grow tremendously over the years. According to “School Choice”, “In the last 20 years, formal home education has grown tremendously.”(School Choice). I think as the prices of private schools continue to go up, as will the numbers of families who choose to homeschool. It was later stated in their article, “Prior to this, in the 1900’s, as public school education was on the rise, the number of people home schooling dropped.”(School Choice).
Homeschooling was, at one point, for children with some kind of special needs or for a student who struggled to learn in traditional school settings. Over the years, though, homeschooling has become an alternative option for many. I would like to think that many people look into homeschooling, but with the stereotypical comments about being homeschooled I’m not entirely sure of that. I stated that it is an alternative for many people, but in certain areas there are more strict requirements. In Alabama pretty much anyone can be homeschooled as long as you register under an umbrella school, like Evangel and EFCA, a church or a cover school. Although in other states such as “School Choice” stated, “In some states, parents are not entirely free to homeschool their children, unless one parent is a certified teacher,”(School Choice). In the state of Alabama if you are not under the “Church School Option” you have to a private tutor and they must be certified. Even with this roadblock out there for some, homeschooling has still grown quite a bit.
It has been a common joke through my years of being homeschooled that we are not the smartest or that we just were not cut out for regular school. That, of course, is not always the case, and for most families I have talked to, it is more so that homeschooling is a better fit. Lisa Nielsen stated in her article “In school learning is standardized to what someone else says is best, but home learning is customized to what the child and parent feel is best.” I have found this to be a common answer as to why someone might homeschool along with financial reasons, as stated earlier. Parents like to know what is being taught to their children, because after all it is your child. With homeschooling you have a say so in what your child is and is not taught both academically and religiously. Religion is also another reason why a family might school. Katherine Burgess stated, “According to the federally funded National Center for Education Statistics, the share of parents who cited “religious or moral instruction” as their primary motivation for home schooling has dropped from 36 percent in 2007 to just 21 percent during the 2011-12 school year.” (Burgess). Though the numbers for religion being the motivation to homeschool have dropped, this has still commonly been an answer for many families. Parents want to protect their children, which they are right to do so. But if your main reason for homeschooling is because you want to keep your child from evil in the schools and in the world, I think it is wrong. It is okay to protect your child, but you cannot protect them from the world no matter how hard you try. When you choose to homeschool you are already, to an extent, sheltering your child. For instance, I am aware of the evil in the world, but due to the fact that I was homeschooled I was not faced with the constant temptation to do drugs or get drunk on the weekends with my buddies. In a traditional school these are some things that you can be faced with. While this was not the reason behind my parents choosing to homeschool me, I have met parents whose motives to homeschool were because of that.
With the lighthearted homeschool jokes, many have voiced why they think homeschooling is wrong. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I think many over look what homeschooling is really like, voice their opinion, and then dismiss it all together. There are many who are not willing to look into what homeschooling is actually like, nor are they willing to do their research on the subject. If more were interested and looked into home schooling you find it is not at all like what many assume it to be.
Sylvia Biu, who is an example of this, wrote in her article, “Besides the issue of academics, there is another glaring downside for children: the socialization factor,”(Biu). While you are not in a classroom at all times, with homeschooling we have many different way to socialize with others who are homeschooled. We not only have sports and other activities, but we have Learning Institute for Teams (LIFT) classes. LIFT is actually a lot like college classes, when you compare the two. You would enroll to take a certain class and have that class two times a week. When you meet in the classroom, the teacher would give you your assignments and deadlines, and you would not go back till the following class date. With the different sports and classes you need a large group of homeschoolers to pull together to make these activities happen, which is why homeschooling is so widely known in our region and is also why it is quite popular. We had a large number of students who homeschooled through my old high school and they were very active in these classes and sports. By contrast, Biu later stated, “A classroom setting for children has many advantages. In school, children are more likely to be challenged and encouraged by other students’ curiosity, and they sometimes benefit from the attention of an array of school staff,” (Biu). While I do very much agree that a traditional classroom does have its advantages, it should also be made known that being home schooled has its advantages as well. You are more secluded and for myself I found it easier to focus on my work and get everything done in a timely manner. I also found it easier to learn something that I may have struggled with. In a classroom the teacher cannot always slow down to explain in detail to a student who doesn’t understand. But if I had trouble with a certain subject I could easily ask and receive help that very moment. In a classroom, you also have different distractions, but being in your own home you are limited to being distracted. Biu followed up her statement with, “Schools provide structure and teaching beyond book learning, such as behaviors and following orders, procedures, instructions, as well as participatory activities such as playing in the band, gymnastics, team sports, etc,” (Biu). While I do think traditional schools provide a lot of structure, I also believe that homeschooling has structure too. I think there are many people who have this concept that homeschoolers sleep all day long and have no form of structure or plans for the days ahead, which is actually entirely untrue. In order to participate in sports and keep up with LIFT classes, we were required to stay on top of all of our school assignments and maintain a C average in all of your classes. This, in turn, meant sometimes getting ahead in your studies so you could play in the following game. There was a lot of planning ahead and working ahead in your studies when it came to being homeschooled. If you happened to fall behind in a class or slip up on your grades, you were immediately put on academic probation, which prevented you from participating in any sports till your grade was pulled up. You also have to not only follow the guidelines the school provides, but the guidelines your parents might enforce. While I did not have to wake up near as early as a student who went to a traditional school, I did have to be up by a certain time. Because I played sports as well, we had away games that were during the day. If I also had a sports game that day and could not do my school work that I had been assigned for the day, I would have to work on my school over the weekend to stay caught up. We also did not take little holidays off, only major holidays and if we ever got behind in school we could easily do our school through the summer, which I have done before. This does sound like a lot and at times this rule felt to be too strict but it did give us guidelines and rules to follow, which is something many people think we do not have.
Throughout my research on homeschooling I found articles stating on average home educators score better on tests than those who might attend a public or private school. Julia Lawrence wrote, “Homeschooling statistics show that those who are independently educated typically score between the 65th and 89th percentile on such exams, while those attending traditional schools average on the 50th percentile,” (Lawrence). While this is a wonderful thing, I do not look at this as traditional schools not doing their job. As a student who went to a private school as a child, I do think that a private school can be great for your child, if you can afford it. But with homeschooling, nine out of ten times the parent is the one educating their child, unless they have a tutor. Even with a tutor you are one and one which is more personable than a teacher trying to teach thirty students all at one time. Obviously as a parent you care much more for your child than a teacher would. You are concerned for them and will always care for them the best you can not only physically, but also academically. I think that is why you might see a difference in such tests scores. If homeschooled a parent also knows how that child learns best. For myself, my parents knew I learned the best by reading straight from the book or visually seeing it. For the first year my mom would try to teach me verbally and I was not retaining as much information. But when I was given the book I could easily recite back everything I read about. This is also an advantage with homeschooling.
Not only do you see a difference in test scores, but you might also see a difference socially. Many people are under the impression that all homeschoolers are antisocial and keep to themselves a lot. While there might be some students who are like that, the other students I was homeschooled with or met were indeed very social. Though you might run across the socially awkward homeschooler, I do think it would depend on how they were homeschooled and how they are personally. If they are naturally a shy person, then clearly they won’t have a full on conversation with a stranger. But if they are more outgoing you would see that in their actions.
In states where homeschooling is not as big you might find more students who are not as social due to the small number of home-educated students in that area. But in a place like Alabama, where there are vast majorities of people are homeschooled, you would find that they are a lot like students who attend a traditional school. This is, I think, is due to the number of students and families involved. The more families there are the more likely you can bring in other activities such as sports and LIFT classes. You have the opportunity to pull together and use different recourses. But if you were in a place where not many are homeschooled you would have trouble funding such activities and if that homeschool group does not have much to offer to outsiders looking to be homeschooled, you might see that their home school system does not grow as it does in a place like Montgomery.
Kenneth Anthony wrote in his book, “Milton and Rose D. Friedman envisioned a true revolution in American education. Their ideal was simple but powerful: give every parent the power and freedom to choose their children’s education.” This was a very important statement to me. I think parents should have the power and freedom to choose their children’s education, but I also think parents should have the knowledge to choose their child’s education. If you are financially stable and you cannot afford a private school, you should not be just limited to public schools. You should be given the knowledge and information to make the right decision for your family and your child. Do not let the thought of homeschooling be intimidating. If my parents had not of been encouraged to look into homeschooling, I probably would have never found Evangel Family Christian Academy. I think I was very blessed to be homeschooled and if I could go back and choose, I would without a doubt choose to be homeschooled again.
Works Cited
Anthony, Kenneth Vance. “Educational Counter Culture: Motivations, Instructional Approaches, Curriculum Choices, and Challenges of Home School Families.” Online Submission (2009). ERIC. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.
Burgess, Kathrine. “Fewer Home-school Families Cite Religion as Their Main Motivation – Religion News Service.” Religion News Service. N.p., 30 Oct. 2013. Web. 05 May 2014.
Chen, Grace. “10 Major Challenges Facing Public Schools | PublicSchoolReview.com.” Public School Review. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 May 2014.
DiPerna, Paul, and Choice Friedman Foundation for Educational. 2012 Abcs Of School
Lawrence, Julia. “Homeschooling Ranks Growing Nationwide.” Education News Number of Homeschoolers Growing Nationwide Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
“School Choice.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 04 May 2014. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.
“Homeschooling in the United States.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 May 2014. Web. 05 May 2014.
Choice: Rising Tide. n.p.: Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, 2012. ERIC. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.
Homeschooling 101
(1) While I plan to speak in moderation about my personal experiences in homeschool, I also plan to relate the pros and cons of homeschooling while answering a few questions such as; Is homeschooling a valid option for people seeking an alternative to public school education? How is homeschooling beneficial to a student, to our education systems, and to a parent? How has the percentage of homeschooling increased over the last few years and why? These are just a few questions I plan to touch on, but I am not limited to just these questions alone. As my paper continues to grow, I am sure my argument will increase as will the questions.
(2) This topic is not only an informational topic in homeschooling and other ways of educating your children, but I find it important in numerous ways. One of those ways being: As the quality of public school education decreases and the cost of private school education increases, an increasingly number of parents are looking for alternative ways for their children to receive quality education.
(3) While doing some research on my topic I have read how in the “last 20 years, formal home education has grown tremendously over the years. Prior to this, in the 1900’s, as public school education was on the rise, the number of people home schooling dropped. Also in some states, parents are not entirely free to home school their children, unless one parent is a certified teacher.” (Wikipedia). In another article I found online written by Julia Lawrence, she wrote about the success level of formal home education verses public school education. She stated, “Homeschooling statistics show that those who are independently educated typically score between the 65th and 89th percentile on such exams, while those attending traditional schools average on the 50th percentile.” (Lawrence). I found this extremely interesting and a point that homeschooling can be successful and can be for anyone looking of alternative options.
(4) This is the start of my thesis, but will probably change as I continue my research and as my paper grows:
Through the years of being homeschooled I have always been asked “Why? Why did your parents decide this? Is something wrong? Why do you not like a public school?” There have always been a series of questions that have been thrown out and some even being quick to judge and label someone as the “typical homeschooler”. I chose this topic because it is something that is important to me personally and I also feel it is important to help others better under the different aspects of homeschooling. While this is some of what I will be discussing in my paper, I will so be discussing how formal home education has grown tremendously and why it has grown. I also plan to compare home education to public/private school education and discuss how home schooling might be beneficial to your education.
(5) Homeschooling can be for anyone and everyone. There are many who think homeschooling is for those with special needs or those who just do not learn well in a school environment. Through the years of being homeschooled I have had a lot of people voice why they think homeschooling is wrong and tend to question why a parent might pull their child out of a school to home school them. There are many ways homeschooling is beneficial to a student and statistics have even shown that, in test-taking, homeschool kids have consistently out-perform public school kids. Homeschooling has grown tremendously and it is particularly bigger in our region. There are many families looking to save money and, I think, with the prices of traditional school going up, homeschooling will only get bigger and bigger.
Works Cited
“School Choice.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 04 May 2014. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.
DiPerna, Paul, and Choice Friedman Foundation for Educational. 2012 Abcs Of School
Choice: Rising Tide. n.p.: Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, 2012. ERIC. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.
Anthony, Kenneth Vance. “Educational Counter Culture: Motivations, Instructional Approaches, Curriculum Choices, and Challenges of Home School Families.” Online Submission (2009). ERIC. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.
Lawrence, Julia. “Homeschooling Ranks Growing Nationwide.” Education News Number of Homeschoolers Growing Nationwide Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
Annotated Bibliography
DiPerna, Paul, and Choice Friedman Foundation for Educational. 2012 Abcs Of School Choice: Rising Tide. n.p.: Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, 2012. ERIC. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.
This book analyzes not only the multiple choices we have in choosing an education system, for students K-12th grade, but it is also informative on the fact that all education systems are on the rise. There are many people working to grow our education system and give parents the choice and knowledge to choose the right school for their child.
The books main focus point is for private and public school systems. I do not plan to use all parts of this book, but there are some key points I found interesting and an important aspect to my paper, while also providing a bit of an argumentative side to what I am discussing: Home schooling.
It was stated in the book, “Milton and Rose D. Friedman envisioned a true revolution in American education. Their ideal was simple but powerful: give every parent the power and freedom to choose their children’s education.” I find this extremely important and a great use to my paper, as I will be discussing different education options. There are pros and cons to every education system and choosing the right one is obviously important to someone as a parent and important to the child. My idea is to provide more information on public, private, and home schooling, while also providing an inside look on different education systems.
Anthony, Kenneth Vance. “Educational Counter Culture: Motivations, Instructional Approaches, Curriculum Choices, and Challenges of Home School Families.” Online Submission (2009). ERIC. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.
This article discusses the day-to-day activities for home schooling families, which helps others to better understand the instructional approaches, different curriculum decisions, and challenges within and outside of the home. There are four themes that were addressed in this article, those being: the motivations, operations, resources, and challenges.
This article is in important part to my paper because it talks about different challenges that I also faced when home schooling. It helps to provide the inside look that I am looking for, instead of just going off of my own personal experience. While I do plan on using my personal experiences, when home schooling and attending a private school, I also wanted a source that would help emphasis this and also not come of as being a bias opinion. It is much more than just pulling your child out of a “regular” school; there are reasons behind as to why parents might do this. This article does a great job of doing that while also providing pros and cons to home schooling, which is something I planned to write on.
Reading Response: Connected But Alone
Sherry Turkle explained how she felt about technology over the past years. She talked about how far technology has come and despite the comments she made about communicating over our phones or social site, She explained how even a text from her daughter wishing her good luck was something that excited her and made her happy, as it would for anyone else with a loved one. Our phones are now so advanced, that we really don’t have a need for face to face interaction. Before smart phones texting was not as big as it is now and if you wanted to talk to someone you would call there house phone or wait till you saw him or her. For me as a child, I spent many nights writing letters to my friends who lived in different states. It was something that took time and even more time for them to send a letter back. Now we have all our friends and anyone in our social circle in the palm of our hands and in a matter of seconds you can be having conversations with them. Even when meeting up and hanging out with your friends, we still have a tendency to text people who are not there. It is like you are taking yourself to another world and out of any conversation you might not want to have.
Now, is this good for us? At times it can be wonderful to send a quick text or email to someone and it is also extremely convenient, but when it becomes our main way of communicating to the point were we have very limited face to face interaction then we have a problem. Texts and emails are awesome, but you don’t get the facial expressions or the same comfort in talking to someone face to face. Sadly though, texting, emails, and social sites are slowly becomes the way we communicate with others. Personally, I hope I’m never like that. I would like to think I would always put myself out there to have face-to-face interaction, even with someone I might not know very well. But I’m also very aware that I do some of the same things we discussed in class. I think in order to change our way of doing things is to understand that it is a good thing, but too much of a good thing can be bad.
Midterm Essay
I have always felt that I have never been a great writer. Throughout high school I was not required to do excessive amounts of writing, so most of my writing back round was formed the first semester of my freshman year in college. Though I know about writing in high school, it was something I never had to practice. Through my junior year in high school, I did find out I enjoyed writing fictional stories. Minus the handful of essays I wrote my last year of high school, writing my own fictional stories was how I began to enjoy writing. Once I began college that was when I began writing many more formal essays.
Once I started my first semester of college I always felt nervous about writing because I felt like I didn’t know enough to know what I was doing. I would worry and writing quickly became something I no longer liked. After countless breakdowns and going to multiple adults and my professor, I finally began to feel more comfortable in my writing. I felt like I could better express myself through papers and it did not sound like a jumbled mess. Slowly, but surely, I found out that writing essays was not as difficult as I thought it was, as long as I put forth the time needed to complete assignments. Writing became something I enjoyed doing again.
While writing still does not always come easy to me, it has gotten easier along the way. With the help of patient professors and others willing to help me with assignments, I have been able to grow as a reader and have gotten significantly better at writing. My first goals for the remainder of the semester is something small and that is, do not wait till the last minute to write your essay. This goal sounds small, but it is something I have done countless times, which, almost, always result in a lower grade due to the lack of effort. I know if I want to get the grades I want, I need to apply myself more and be willing to work on a paper till I feel it is good enough; which means giving myself more time to work on it. I also know I need to work on my placement of commas and sentence fragments. Those are some small things, but it is something I should know how to do. Though we do not always think that we will be writing essays for the rest of our lives, I think we end up writing more than we think. So why not work on our struggles and fix out mistakes before going out in the big world.
When I decided my major I never thought I would have to do much writing until I sat down and thought about my entire plan for my career. After finishing college and receiving a degree in business, my plan is to go to cosmetology school. My ultimate goal after all of this time spent in school, is to own my own hair salon. While I am not one hundred percent sure if cosmetology school will work out, I do know I want to be a business woman and have my own business one day, whatever that may be. When i think of work in the business field I do not think of having to write essays on a daily basis, but I do know that there will be some writing I will be required to do for my career choice. Most of my writing will most likely be in e-mail form, but it is still important to know how to write and sound professional while doing so. Even in what you might consider a small writing task, in the business world or in any job for that matter, you need to sound professional in order to do that job properly.
Oversharing on the Internet
The Internet is a great thing. It is anything and everything you might need at the tip of your finger. It is no longer something that is just on your computer, but now on your phones. You can see what is going on in your friends lives, just by clicking a small square app that took seconds to download. While most of us have some kind of social site and attempt to keep up with all of our friends, we all know someone that posts everything about themselves and their day.They do not care to hold back any information and you cannot help but sit back and say, “Why? I did not need to know that.” Over sharing on the Internet has become the norm for some people, but not all. It is now to the point when disturbing topics are discussed or posted, it does not affect us the way it would if that person was telling us face to face. You read it and continue scrolling.
In Steven Johnson’s article about over sharing on the web, he talks about a friend of his openly talking about his diagnosis after finding out he had prostate cancer. While prostate cancer is a terrible, personally, it is not something I would openly talk about to just anybody. That information is fine to talk about within the family, but I would not suggest blogging about it. Clearly, Jeff Jarvis felt differently so he created a blog dedicated to his journey while battling his cancer. There are, of course, some pros to sharing tragic news like this with the world; but also some cons. In the paper I will talk in depth about Johnson’s article while also supplying information about over sharing on the web from another source.
We now live in a society where social media or any form of digital technology is the thing. We’ve become so use to hearing about most things over the Internet, that personal and over-shared information no longer affects us, the way it might have before. Technology is big and face-to-face interaction isn’t as big as it once was. It is no longer a necessity to meet someone for coffee because you can now call, text, video call, and even interact with each other over social sites such as Facebook. With all this it is become almost normal to post our personal lives on the internet to let all of our friend know, at one time, what is going on in our world; even personal things.
That was also the case with Jeff Jarvis when he got the results of his diagnosis. While what happened to him was awful and it is something he wanted to talk about, I wouldn’t have gone as far as posting everything in a blog, but that was Jeff’s decision after all. Steven Johnson’s article continues talking about Jarvis’ blog where he states, “Within days of his initial post, he had hundreds of comments on his blog, many of them simply wishing him well, but many offering specific advice from personal experience: what to expect in the immediate aftermath of the surgery, tips for dealing with the inconveniences of the recovery process.”(Johnson) That is of course a great thing when you go public about something personal. He had himself a support system all because he went public about his cancer battle and some of those supporters giving him advice and tips for what was to come. He, at times, gave little information but sometimes went as far as talking about the adult diapers he had to wear after opting to remove his prostate.
I do think there are some pros with sharing something so personal, like Jeff’s case. While I see there to be much more pros than cons, there are still some cons with blogging about something so personal, especially when you give details. It is just not something everybody is going to want to hear about nor read about and some people might even be disturbed with such information. You run the risk of people making negative comments due to your openness about your personal life, but if that’s something that doesn’t bother you, then go ahead.
In an article I found it showed five different ways to help avoid over sharing on Facebook, which included changing your privacy setting and picking and choosing who can see what you post. While this article is helpful for Facebook users, those were a few key points that can be helpful with and social site, not just Facebook. It also goes without saying; you can pick and choose who is your friend on any social site. Another way to avoid over sharing is to not post anything you would not want your mother reading. Though you can make your settings as private as you want them, you still need to be cautious of that fact that you are still posting things on the Internet, which is definitely not private place.
Amy Guth stated in her article “Social Media and Over Sharing”, “ We all have that one friend, who, despite perhaps being a lovely human being in real life, just cannot seem to stop sharing entirely too much information online.” In the Facebook world you befriend anyone and everyone you may have come in contact with and if that is the case with you, you run the risk of running into someone who loves to over share or you might be the one putting out too much information for all of your friends to read about. While it is nice to have all these friends and catch up with them without having to drive miles to talk face to face, not all of your friends want to know every detail about your life. Facebook and the Internet in general is not a diary, it is a social site so you do not have to post everything. If you want to post what is new in your life or any, good or bad, news that you may be dealing with; then the Internet is a wonderful way to get it out there to people who are close to you and strangers, but I suggest sparing everyone the details.
While Jeff’s case was a little different than the average person, him sharing this information in his blog, he ended up, for the most part, having a lot of supporters. With that being said, people still need to know that with sharing personal information on a social site or any form of internet it could come back to bite you.
Works Cited
International Business, Times. “5 of Best Ways to Avoid Over-Sharing on Facebook.” International Business Times 02 Sept. 2013: Regional Business News. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
Johnson, Steven. “Web Privacy: In Praise of Oversharing.” Time. Time Inc., 20 May 2010. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
Internet Privacy: It Doesn’t Exist
Helen Popkin wrote an article about Kimberly Hester denying giving her employers her Facebook password after posting a photo that was mildly inappropriate. Ashley Payne was also pressured to resign after posting a photo on Facebook while she was holding alcohol and using profanity. Hester stated that she has the right to her privacy. I completely agree with that; she does have a right to her privacy. But it’s slightly arrogant on her part to actually think that Facebook is private. When you post something on the Internet, it’s not private and anyone can see it. With that in mind I think it was the teachers jobs to remain professional even on Facebook.
Payne was warned that if she posted anything inappropriate on Facebook that it would be handled accordingly. In Payne’s case I don’t agree with her being fired. I actually think it was wrong and handled at an extreme. She was holding alcohol, and is of age, and also used the ‘B’ word. I don’t see where she did anything wrong, because that’s honestly what some people do weekly. It wasn’t illegal and she shouldn’t have been pressured to quit for doing so. If a parent was so concerned, the principle could have asked her politely to take the image down and to be more aware of the things she posts on the Internet.
In Hester’s case the image she posted was inappropriate and, in her case, I can see why it was fit to suspend her from her job, but I think it was also inappropriate and unprofessional for her employer to request a password to view her Facebook. While Facebook is a public social site, them asking for her password was an invasion of privacy and completely unnecessary.
While both cases where very similar, but both were also very different. One case being more mild than the other, but both losing their jobs because of what they posted on their Facebook. The arrogant part that falls of both of these young women is that they assumed that their Facebook is their private life. Facebook isn’t a diary, so once you post your private life on there, it is immediately in the eyes of the public.
Multitasking: Is It Good or Bad?
After reading what Leo Widrich had to say about multitasking, I do agree with most of what he said. I understand it can’t be good for you’re brain and its also stressful to stay on top of multiple things at once. I don’t think multitasking is something you should always be doing to keep yourself busy, but I’m also the same person that sits down to watch television with a phone in one hand and a snack in the other. I just don’t see that big of a problem with it and it doesn’t bother me. I understand the points he made, and I also agree with some of them, but I’m not bothered if I’m reading twitter and watching television at the same time.
Our world and the people around us are always on the go. If you sit back and look at everything, it’s all fast pace so I think multitasking has become the norm for our society. Just get it all done at once and you’re good, but that’s not enough. Everybody is always doing something. Everyone feels that NEED to be doing not just one thing, but multiple things.
I did enjoy reading Widrich’s article, but avoiding multitasking is easier said than done. I also don’t think people would be willing to change unless they make a conscious effort to do so. Which I just don’t see that happening consider that most of the time, when we are multitasking, we don’t even realize we’re doing it. In order to change your habits of multitasking; you need to be aware of the multiple activities you’re doing and have a desire to change those habits.
Plagiarism: Just Don’t Do It
In Jim Sleeper’s article, he writes about Time magazine writer, Fareed Zakaria, taking New Yorker writer, Jill Lepore’s work from a previous article and attempting to pass it as his own work. While he was caught in the act of plagiarism and, yes, he did make a public apology to Jill Lepore, Fareed Zakaria was only suspended from his job for a month. Jim Sleeper stresses that plagiarism is bad and Yale University trustee, Fareed Zakaria, received little to no punishment from his jobs with CNN and Time magazine. Besides the slap on the hand he received, nothing else was done by Yale University to reinforce their strict rules on plagiarism that they expect their students to follow.
While I read different articles by various authors on this topic, I couldn’t help but agree with what most of these people said, especially what Jim Sleeper spoke of in his article. He wrote not only of the incidence where Fareed Zakaria did take another writer’s work, but he also wrote about Fareed Zakaria and how he is a trustee of Yale. He pointed this out because Sleeper himself attended Yale at one point, leading me to believe that this was something he took more personally. He looked deeper into it because there was a lot that was over looked during this whole incidence and because Sleeper attended Yale, he was held to these high standards. He felt that more should have been done to Zakaria, especially since this was not a small act of plagiarism. It was also suspected that this was not his first time taking another writers words or ideas. After publicly apologizing, nothing else was done to Zakaria for plagiarizing. Jim Sleeper said in his article, students attending Yale would be kicked out if they plagiarized like Fareed Zakaria did, therefore he should be held to the same standards.
While many schools probably follow the same guidelines as Yale when it comes to plagiarism, I can only speak on knowing where Auburn University of Montgomery and my past high school stands on this kind of offense. The punishment for plagiarism is, usually, to be determined by the extent of what you plagiarized. It can be as small as getting an F in that class or as big as being kicked out of the school entirely. This offense will be listed on your transcript and file and it could also prevent you from completing your degree. I was homeschooled throughout high school so the policy on plagiarism was a little different. I attended Evangel Family Christian Academy, also known as EFCA. The punishment for plagiarism was suspension from participating in any sports you were involved in, along with a phone call to your parents about what had taken place. It was also something that then was taken to the administrator and you could be kicked out of school at this point.
I say all these to emphasis that plagiarism is not something that is taken lightly in our society and it is also something that students can avoid, though some choose not to avoid it. Zakaria took another writers work, which was also someone else’s idea. That was an article that another writer put time and hard work into and he stole it. It’s his job as a writer to be creative and come up with an article for Time magazine to post. It is something that is taken very seriously and for students, it can change the outcome of your future. There are so many risks you take if you do decide to plagiarize. You could get kicked out of school and it is something that could stick with you for the rest of your life. You may have trouble getting into another school to complete your college degree, which would, of course, have an effect on your future job. Plagiarism isn’t a joke and should continue to be taken seriously. If plagiarism wasn’t taken seriously in our society we would have a lot of writers that wouldn’t have a jobs, because people could just copy and paste whatever they needed, and we would never know where an article originated from. In the case of Zakaria’s plagiarism, his offence was not taken as seriously as it should have been taken. Though I’m not sure what other approaches they could have taken with punishing him, but it was as though he walked away from it and very little was done. Yale should have done something to punish him if they want their students and employees to follow their rules and guidelines. For something that schools take very seriously, Zakaria got away with it and was given minimal punishment. Maybe it was because he is in the public’s eye and they didn’t want to make it bigger than it already was or maybe Yale didn’t want to get involved; who knows the reason behind his light punishment. One thing I do not like is, if it is going to be treated so seriously and schools are going to handle it as such, it should be treated the same in all places, especially for someone writing articles for publication.
Zakaria had one job and that was to give an expert opinion and write an article for Time magazine. He not only failed to do that job successfully, but he single handedly stole work from an other writer, made Time magazine look bad, and also made Yale look bad. Not to mention for those who had a high respect for him as a writer, they probably didn’t look at him the same way. Zakaria was suspended for a short time from both of his jobs and he did what he could to repair the damage of his mistake after being caught. After publicly apologizing to Jill Lepore for stealing her work, Yale should have and could have done a better job at holding him accountable for his wrong doings instead of looking over it as if nothing happened. If they are a school that won’t tolerate such acts from students, then they definitely should not being tolerating it from a trustee of Yale.
While plagiarism is wrong, it should be taken just as seriously in the work force as it is taken for students in college. It should not matter if you are a student or an employee, in the public’s eyes or not, you should always be held accountable for your actions.
Works cited
Sleeper, Jim. “Fareed Zakaria’s Plagiarism: Even Worse Than It Looks.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 10 Aug. 2012. Web. 27 Jan. 2014.
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