The Danger of Plastic in the Ocean

                   By: Olivia Marino                        

Have you ever wondered how many pounds of plastic are thrown into the ocean each year? Have you ever taken a second to think about all the dangers sea animals are in and the suffering they endure because of pollution?  If plastic continues to be thrown into the ocean the number of sea animals will slowly begin to decrease.

            Plastic is one of the most treacherous threats to the marine environment. Plastic ingestion kills around one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals each year. Marine animals generally eat microplastics because of their minuscule size. Plastic contains toxic chemicals, which can escalate the chance of disease and affect reproduction. Also, the fate of many sea animals is suffocation, starvation, or drowning due to ingesting, or getting tangled up in plastic. Studies found that half of the sea turtles around the world have ingested plastic due to thinking the plastic was food. This is an immense problem!

Oxygen levels in the ocean are negatively affected by plastic. This is detrimental to the marine life. There is a toxic substance in plastic called Bisphenol A. This substance does not get diluted in water, and the debris left from it uses oxygen. As oxygen levels descend, it abominably affects the survival of marine mammals, including whales, dolphins and penguins. Shores and beaches are also overwhelmed with plastic. Plastic on shores become effortless threats to seabirds that get caught up in the choke-hold of plastic. It has been stated that the number of marine animals getting entangled in plastic debris and ingesting it has increased by 40% in recent years.

Sea creatures are at a substantial risk of dying from their habitats being infested by plastic. Plastic is a tremendous and dreadful scare to the marine life. Fortunately, there are many organizations that are fighting to help reduce plastic pollution in the oceans. Oceana, The Surfrider Foundation and the Bahamas Plastic Movement are just a few organizations that are working to help eliminate plastic pollution. Eliminating plastic would establish beneficial effects for our world.

The Danger of Plastic in the Ocean

By: Olivia Marino                        

Have you ever wondered how many pounds of plastic are thrown into the ocean each year? Have you ever taken a second to think about all the dangers sea animals are in and the suffering they endure because of pollution?  If plastic continues to be thrown into the ocean the number of sea animals will slowly begin to decrease.

            Plastic is one of the most treacherous threats to the marine environment. Plastic ingestion kills around one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals each year. Marine animals generally eat microplastics because of their minuscule size. Plastic contains toxic chemicals, which can escalate the chance of disease and affect reproduction. Also, the fate of many sea animals is suffocation, starvation, or drowning due to ingesting, or getting tangled up in plastic. Studies found that half of the sea turtles around the world have ingested plastic due to thinking the plastic was food. This is an immense problem!

Oxygen levels in the ocean are negatively affected by plastic. This is detrimental to the marine life. There is a toxic substance in plastic called Bisphenol A. This substance does not get diluted in water, and the debris left from it uses oxygen. As oxygen levels descend, it abominably affects the survival of marine mammals, including whales, dolphins and penguins. Shores and beaches are also overwhelmed with plastic. Plastic on shores become effortless threats to seabirds that get caught up in the choke-hold of plastic. It has been stated that the number of marine animals getting entangled in plastic debris and ingesting it has increased by 40% in recent years.

Sea creatures are at a substantial risk of dying from their habitats being infested by plastic. Plastic is a tremendous and dreadful scare to the marine life. Fortunately, there are many organizations that are fighting to help reduce plastic pollution in the oceans. Oceana, The Surfrider Foundation and the Bahamas Plastic Movement are just a few organizations that are working to help eliminate plastic pollution. Eliminating plastic would establish beneficial effects for our world.

Screen Illusions

By: Lauren Lamme

Have you ever heard a parent say, “Turn your screen off because it is bad for your eyes,” and most of the time you don’t listen because they’re parents? You should start listening to them though. Those “30 minutes” you say you spend on electronics do add up to those five to eight hours teens usually spend on devices.

You may be thinking, Why is this person writing about this? I have been playing videogames all day long and nothing has happened.  So far, nothing has happened. There are many symptoms to the computer vision syndrome, and this is caused by looking at a screen for long periods of time. These symptoms you might be familiar with: strained and dry eyes, blurred vision and headaches. This is worse for kids because they don’t have the discipline to limit themselves from screen time, they are mostly just playing games, and it’s not for school or work. Being on screens is an addiction, and there are some things to prove it. On average, people check their phones eight BILLION times per day! Also, thirty percent of adults spend nine hours on electronics per day. Lastly, kids ages 8-18 spend more than seven hours on electronics per day. There are reasons your parents say not to be on screens for too long, and it’s for your health.

Why screens disturb your perception is because there is a special light in the screen called blue light. Blue light is not bad for you, but if you get an overdose of it or too less of it the blue light is bad for your health. You already get natural blue light from the sun, and the blue light “decides” whether or not you need to go to sleep. Blue light is naturally in the sun, so when the sun goes down, your body says, “It’s time to go to bed!” because the blue light is not there anymore, but guess what happens when you get up to check your social media on your phone? You don’t feel drowsy anymore because your body sees the blue light. Then your body thinks the sun is still up, so you stay awake. Also, if you have constant exposure to blue light, your retinal cells will be damaged and can make long term vision problems. Your retina is something in your eye that processes light and color that we are able to see everyday. Ways you can help make blue light not as harmful are you can set limits on screen times and take breaks from the screen every ten minutes. Also, you can get glasses or new glasses lenses for screens that helps block the blue light in the screen.

Screens are becoming a bigger and bigger problem, and soon electronics will take over our lives good or bad. People need to wake up and realize this problem. Screens can affect our bodies in a good or bad way, but we just need to figure out how to use them correctly, set limits for ourselves, and work harder to reach the goal.

Juul Isn’t Cool

By: Trivika Komatireddy

         

Imagine hanging out with your friends and suddenly seeing them pull out vape pens, asking you if you want to try. Would you do it? Do you think it’s cool, fun, or maybe even harmless? If you’re like the majority of teens, you may not realise that vaping is a risky issue today. Between the abundant flavors and sleek look, many people get caught up in it, and even worse, think that it’s harmless! But they couldn’t be more mistaken, because vaping is toxic for the body. It has cancer-causing chemicals and numerous other negative consequences, and several young people are damaging their well-being by trying it. The number of people that vape continues to grow while we keep thinking that it’s okay.

          The number of kids that vape has gone up a lot in the past few years. Five hundred thousand middle schoolers vaped in 2016. Thirty-seven percent of high schoolers have tried vaping before. And if that’s not bad enough, almost twenty-one percent of kids have vaped recently! Now compare that to the eleven percent last year. Most of these kids don’t even realise that vaping isn’t good for you, and that you can get addicted to it. Currently, over one-third of high school seniors say that they use vaping products. The number of kids that vape is increasing rapidly, and we really need to do something about it. Numerous studies show that if a teenager uses vaping products now, they will end trying regular tobacco cigarettes. Studies also show one out of five eighth graders that use tobacco cigarettes started with vaping. We need to take action and realise vaping is bad for us.

The way vape pens look often lead teens and kids to think that vaping is cool and fun. The contemporary look lures students into thinking vaping is okay. They are often marketed in a way that targets the youth by introducing a large variety of flavors. Almost one-third of kids who vape say that they tried it because of all the flavors that are available, such as mint, candy, fruit, and chocolate. Packaging on vapes does little to show all of the negative impacts. The covering says only five percent is nicotine, which leads students to think that the remaining ninety-five is just water. They don’t realise how harmful it really is. Twenty-five percent of teens who vape say that it’s just flavoring. The modern look, colorful and animated wrappers, and the flavors make vaping very appealing for kids.

Many kids don’t even realise what they are doing when they vape. They often don’t realise that vaping liquid contains nicotine and other harmful chemicals. The majority of teens thinks that vaping is okay just because it’s better than regular cigarettes. It’s not just flavoring; it’s destructive to your health. Although vaping may not be as bad as smoking regular cigarettes, it’s definitely not good for you. Vaping “juice” can contain nicotine, diacetyl, and formaldehyde. Nicotine can escalate your blood pressure and boost your adrenaline, making you more prone to heart attacks. Nicotine also makes vaping very addicting, and enduring the agonizing withdrawal symptoms, the symptoms you feel after not vaping for a while, is difficult.  It can also affect your brain, attention, and memory. Diacetyl is a familiar harmful chemical that can give you diseases, such as popcorn lung. Formaldehyde, a chemical commonly used in building materials, can be found in some brands of vapes! Exposing yourself to chemicals that we don’t fully know the long term effects of is dangerous.

Vaping is clearly very dangerous, risky, and can lead to horrible consequences.  Don’t let marketing and packaging lure you into a trap. The flavors and modern look might seem okay at first glance but can seriously harm your health. We need to realise that vaping is a big issue currently, and then take the steps we need to prevent teens and kids from getting addicted. Vaping is not cool and definitely not fun if you know the long term effects of it. Let’s wake up and save today’s youth from addiction.

Too Much Screen Time

By: Troy Hayes

Have you ever wondered how much screen time can affect you? One opinion I have about screen time is that you should have limited time on the screen.

          Too much screen time can affect a lot of things in a vast way. Here are some things it can affect. It can affect your sleep, how you act, and how you do on academic testing. The light from a screen can lead to insomnia.

Children allocate eight to 17 hours on a screen and a minimum of 7.5 hours on Social Media. In 2016, too much technology increased your child’s health problems.

But not just children do these things; adults do too. Adults usually spend at least 11 hours on screen time! But in 2015, children felt unimportant when their parents had too much screen time at meals and fun time.

Here are some suggestions that can help you and your children or child prevent these things from happening.   You can have a family night once a week, (technology free)! You can have no digital devices during family meals, no screen time in the car, and have no screens allowed in bedrooms.

I think too much screen time affects people’s lives. If you give up technology, I promise that you will discover new things off the screen.

Not Enough Ocean

By Rachel Drozdyk

          Have you littered before? You might think it doesn't have any effect.  It does. An effect that involves harming the animals, humans, Earth, and especially the oceans!

         The oceans take up 70% of the earth's surface. This means we should be keeping good care of them. Right? Nope, in fact we are doing the exact opposite of that. Humans dump around 1.4 billion pounds of garbage into the ocean every year. Sources of pollution are sewage, industrial waste, and oil spills. The biggest source is from something called nonpoint source pollution. Nonpoint source pollution is caused by runoff. Millions of motor vehicle engines drop small proportions of oil every day on places like parking lots and roads. A large portion  of it makes its way to the oceans, causing them to be polluted.

           Have you ever heard of the Pacific Trash Vortex? It is a large patch of plastic and garbage that floats in the Pacific Ocean. This vortex is claimed to be 700,000 square kilometers, which is about the size of Texas. This is a big problem, especially for the marine life. The United Nations Ocean Conference estimated that in the year 2050 there will be less fish and more plastic. It is also said that long-lasting plastics end up in the stomach of a marine animals.

Humans must take caution because ocean pollution can affect us. The ocean is 70% of the oxygen. It is also 97% of the world's water supply. Chemicals enter the oceans, but not just any chemicals, toxic chemicals. Chemicals like cadmium, mercury, tin, copper, selenium, arsenic, nickel, zinc, and lead. These toxic chemicals can be a potential threat for us humans; they cause diseases and allergies.

Ocean pollution doesn't just affect humans. It also affects marine life. It is said that more than 100,00 sea mammals are killed every year. Birds and fish must be weary of the oil because it can cover birds feathers and fish gills. Oil can cause irritation to the skin and eyes. It can also cause problems for the lung and liver. Pollution can even cause marine animals’ reproductive system to fail.

Ocean pollution is a very dangerous problem that needs to be fixed.  It does nothing but harm and kill.  If we take action, problems will be solved. So next time, think twice about littering, and save the oceans.

          

Save the Youth  
By: Ryan DeSacia

There have been 193 deaths and 355 injuries in America related to school shootings from 1990 to the present. That is a very alarming statistic. There needs to be changes made to make schools safer across America. Kids and teachers need to feel and be safer at school. Parents should not have to worry about their child not coming home from school.           

           One immense problem is the lack of care for people who have mental health issues.  Signs of depression, antisocial traits, anger issues, blaming others for problems and being bullied repeatedly are signs of mental illness. 59% of the public mass school shootings the shooter had mental issues or had exhibited signs of mental concern previous to the shooting.   There needs to be more funding and resources put into schools to expand the current programs and create new ones. Increasing the training about mental health for the staff who works in the school community could aid in coping strategies for solving problems. Children spend a minimum of six hours at school on the weekdays. That is a vast majority of the child’s time spent at school. Research shows that children are more likely to reach out for help if it is offered at school. We should increase the amount of school counselors and psychologists in school communities. This would grant more time with a counselor for each student.        

There are 393 million guns owned by civilians in the U.S.A. There are only 326 million people living in America. That’s a gun for every man, woman and child in America. There are more guns than people. Guns are too accessible to citizens, and there is an urgency for stricter gun laws. One problem is we do not have uniform or standard laws for the country with regards to background checks when purchasing guns from an unlicensed dealer. Background checks on the unlicensed would assist in preventing guns ending up in the hands of individuals who should not obtain them. When background checks need further information to be taken, the FBI and ATF only have three business days until the dealer can sell the person a gun automatically. One big argument about keeping guns is that people hunt with them. One survey went out in Pennsylvania to 4,000 hunters, and the results show that hunters do not want semi-automatic guns; most of the guns that people kill people with in the school shootings are semi-automatic guns.    

We as a nation need to make adjustments to our gun control laws and help people who are suffering from mental health problems to get us out of this crisis we are in.  The government has an obligation to protect children while they are at school.