Extra Credit Lord of the Flies Blog

William Golding in his novel Lord of the Flies demonstrates that people are inherently evil. The boys try to create their own society but it soon falls apart and they slowly become more and more savage. In the end they have even killed some of their own. Without society or adults to keep them in check they turn to their animalistic instincts and leave all reason behind them. Basically meaning that society is the only thing that keeps people civilized.I however disagree.

I believe that when we are born we are born a blank canvas ready to be splatted and colored by someone else. Babies do not know the difference between good and evil. They are not able to comprehend what is morally "good" and what is not. The people around them and the society that they live in are what "colors" them. Our world is filled with sin. There is murder, corruption, jealousy, hate, selfishness and much much more and it has had a large impact on our world today. All these negative attributes lead us to make bad choices as we grow. Because we are so surrounded by evil it makes us all fairly evil ourselves. We are not born this way, we are made this way by everything that surrounds us.

Education News

I think it is a little extreme that Tacoma schools are shutting down because of their poor test scores. I personally don't feel that the state exams we are forced to take are really the best measure of intelligence. Test scores can be lower than the student's real intelligence level due to stress and anxiety about tests like the WASL and now the HISPE. For our school passing these tests is a graduation requirement which just puts more pressure on the students to do well. A better way of judging the quality of a school would be over all grades. Chances are if the majority of the students at a school have good grades and/or are passing their classes then the teachers are doing something right. I do not agree with the schools that are shutting down and moving their students elsewhere. These students have grown up together and throwing them into a new environment where they have to start all over again probably isn't going to be beneficial to learning. Also wouldn't shutting down a school do more damage than good? Because if you are completely shutting a school down then not only are you taking students out of their comfort zone but you are taking teachers down to. And the job market is not good right now...it is very hard to find a new job. Plus wouldn't putting these students at a new school over load classes? And not to long ago teachers went on strike to reduce the size of classes. We don't want to go through that again.
I also know that if we shut down OHS I would be devastated. I have been in the Olympia School District my whole life. I have never been a new student. I have friends here. My best friend has been my best friend for 11 years. And there would be a possibility that we would be split up. But I also would not be happy if they let half our staff go. I personally like most of the teachers here...but others I have to admit I would not be so sad to see go. And I think that could be said for every school...so before anything rash is done...consider the consequences

click here to see an article on other school closures http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/16/AR2010011602687.html

Hmmm...Technology

When it comes to the heated debate on whether or not technology rules our life in a positive or negative way I don't know who to side with. On one hand our generation has become myspace-a\twitter-facebook adicts who are constantly on their cell phones texting away, while on the other hand technology has allowed to come great distances in the fields of medicine and science. We are now very close to having those futuristic items featured in comic books, items such as designer babies and the super computer. I do think that some people take it to far. Really no one has to be instant messaged or texted at all hours of the day...or at least everyday...i suppose it depends on their mood. I would also say that its quite nice to be able to research something on google rather than half heartily search through a 1,000 paged text book for a couple of sentences on the subject. i also enjoy being able to text...i would rather be able to talk to someone face to face but its not always possible. If I had the opportunity I would go out more and hang out with my friends more. Unfortunately I'm not able to do that so I settle for either texting or emailing. Technology is fine in small amounts but don't let it take over your entire life.