Top 10 Most Notable Happenings of the Decade

As we enter into a new decade, take time to reflect on the events of the past decade and its happenings. List your Top 10 Most Notable Happenings of this past decade and explain why you feel each one has made a tremendous impact on society.

Toddlers and Tiaras

One of TLC's top rated reality shows is called Toddlers and Tiaras.
Why are we as a society so fascinated with this phenomenon?
Child beauty pageants: Are they positive or poisonous?
Is this considered exploitation?
Do beauty pageants negatively affect children or is it merely all in good fun?
Explain your answers.

Generation Me

Your generation has been often been called "Generation Me." Does your generation have a sense of material entitlement? Read the following article from Newsweek and reflect on the author's discussion of narcissism. Do you agree/disagree? Explain why. Please offer a detailed response.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/194640

The Power of Words

In today's society, many people often speak without thinking about how their words can affect others. Explain whether or not using religious, gay, or racial slurs is ever acceptable. How do we determine if using these words crosses the line and becomes offensive? Why are there so many people who still believe their freedom of speech is more important than being sensitive to others in terms of their ethnicity, race, religion, or sexuality?

Helicopter Parenting

Please read and respond to the following Time magazine article with an in-depth response. Do not skim the article, but read the entire piece and refer to specific information in your response.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1940395,00.html

Newsworthy

Search local or national news websites for a news story worthy of discussing with the class.
Post the link so your classmates can view these stories.
Give a synopsis of the article, reflect your views on what makes this article newsworthy and discuss its impact in terms of larger societal issues.

Supersize Me

After viewing Morgan Spurlock's compelling documentary Supersize Me, how has your view of the fast food industry changed? Explain the persuasive techniques that Morgan Spurlock utilizes in his film to persuade his audience of the risks of eating fast food. How was the film educational in terms of the political machine affecting legislation, education, etc.? What are the solutions to the problems presented in this film? Be specific with your reaction and responses.

School Violence

Read the editorial below and respond to its message.

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/printDS/310928

In today's world, is school violence a symptom or a by-product of a society "gone wild?"
Does today's society celebrate incivility and disrespect?
How can schools combat this growing problem if their authority is constantly being challenged with lawsuits, etc.?
What role do parents, television, films, video games, etc. have on the behavior of young children?
Persuade me of your stance on this topic with specific references to the problems and the solutions as seen through your eyes.

The Bystander Effect

Under the "bystander effect," experts say that the larger the number of people involved in a situation, the less will get done. This phrase was coined in the 1960's
after people witnessed a young woman being brutally killed and stood by and did nothing about it.
Should people who witness a crime be forced to report it to law enforcement?
Should law enforcement charge people with a crime who stand by and do nothing?
Do people who take video footage, verbally encourage assailants, watchers of a crime, or people who walk away without getting involved all have the same responsibility and accountability?
Please respond to the full story below with direct reference to my questions.
Offer a persuasive argument in a detailed response.

Please read the article below , as well as the full story on www.cnn.com.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/28/california.gang.rape.bystander/index.html

Persuade Me!

Choose an issue of significance that you feel passionate about and persuade "your peers" (using pathos, ethos, or logos) with a strong, specific argument. Please offer facts to back up your opinion.

Money Changes Everything

When every dollar counts, parents are having to say no…when all they've ever said is yes. Has your outlook/habits with regards to money changed in this country's economic decline?
In this troubling economic time, is it important for parents to discuss their finances with their children? Should children know how much money their parents make?
How has the recent decline in the economy affected your outlook on your future?
job prospects?

Technology

How has the advance in technology become a burden in today's society?
Is it truly helping or hurting us as a society?
Should people be allowed to text message freely at school? at work?
Explain your position.

Your "Dream" Future

If you could choose anything....."skies the limit".....for your future career path, what would you choose? Explain the potential obstacles that might stand in your way of attaining this "dream." How does your "dream" differ from your current path? If so, why?

Mind Your Manners

Recently, President Obama weighed in and encouraged civility. Lately, we are bombarded by sound bytes and images of notable people throwing civility out the window (ie. Kanye West, Rep. Joe Wilson, and Serena Williams). Is the line becoming blurred in terms of proper behavior and etiquette in society? Why are we seeing such a surge of rude behavior today?

Social Networking Dangers

Do colleges have the right to look at the social-networking sites of applicants? Why or why not? How careful are you about what you post on Facebook, Myspace or Twitter?

See Wall Street Journal Article below
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122170459104151023.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Goals & Objectives

What are your goals and objectives for this class? Explain your expectations of this course.

High School Last Will & Testament

It has been a pleasure getting to know you all this semester. I wish you all nothing but success in your future endeavors and hope to hear about your accomplishments along your new journey. Carpe Diem!!!

: ) Mrs. Sundberg

Please respond to the following prompts in your final blog for this class.

1. Things you learned along the way
2. Regrets
3. Fondest memories
4. Words of wisdom/advice to leave your fellow underclassmen

Work Ethic

Is hard work and any sense of a "work ethic" dead in today's society? Read the article below and reflect with a well-thought out response.



Work Ethic 2.0: Attention Control
By Mike Elgan
December 29, 2008


The industrial revolution didn't arise out of nowhere, and it didn't arise everywhere. It was made possible by the emergence of a set of personal values that came to be known as the "work ethic."

The idea behind this -- inconceivable 400 years ago -- is that hard work is good for its own sake. Hard work makes you a better person. With hard work, our parents told us, we could grow up to become anything. Work hard, and we could get good grades, elite-school acceptance and scholarships. We could invent things, launch businesses and change the world. "Genius," Thomas Edison told us, "is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration."

This industrial-age work ethic has its variants, including the "Protestant work ethic," the "American work ethic," and the "Asian work ethic" to name a few. The success or failure of regions, nations and subcultures has been massively influenced by the degree to which populations embrace the value of hard work. And that's why the idea is hammered into kids in school, and lauded and rewarded in the workplace.

When the "information age" started replacing the "industrial age," hard work seemed more important than ever. Until the 1980s, to use a computer was to program it. Silicon Valley corporate culture, from tiny startups to the massive Googleplex, emphasizes long hours and feverish work.

But since the turn of the new millennium, the nature of work has evolved to the point where hard work is becoming less important to a successful work ethic than another, more useful value: attention.

The New Work Ethic

Columnist David Brooks, commenting in the Dec. 16th New York Times about Malcolm Gladwell's latest book called "Outliers," made a statement as profound as it was accurate: "Control of attention is the ultimate individual power," he wrote. "People who can do that are not prisoners of the stimuli around them."

But why is that truer now than ten or twenty years ago? Why will it be truer still ten or twenty years from now? As I wrote in May, Internet distractions evolve to become ever more "distracting" all the time -- like a virus. Distractions now "seek you out."

Distractions mask the toll they take on productivity. Everyone finishes up their work days exhausted, but how much of that exhaustion is from real work, how much from the mental effort of fighting off distractions and how much from the indulgence of distractions?

Pundits like me are constantly talking about Facebook, Twitter, blogs and humor sites, not to mention old standbys like e-mail and IM. One gets the impression that we should be "following" these things all day long, and many do. So when does the work get done? When do entrepreneurs start and manage their businesses? When do writers write that novel? When do IT professionals keep the trains running on time? When does anyone do anything?

The need for "attention," rather than "hard work," as the centerpiece of the new work ethic has arisen along with the rise of distractions carried on the wings of Internet protocol. In one generation, we've gone from a total separation of "work" from "non-work" to one in which both work and play are always sitting right in front of us.

Now, we find ourselves with absolutely nothing standing between us and a universe of distractions -- nothing except our own abilities to control attention. Porn, gambling, funny videos, flirting, socializing, playing games, shopping -- it's all literally one click away. Making matters worse, indulging these distractions looks just like work. And it's easy to work and play at the same time -- and call it work. These new, increasingly compelling distractions get piled on to older ones -- office pop-ins, e-mail, IM, text messages, meetings and others.

Kids now grow up with the whole range of distractions, from big-screen TVs to video games to cell phones to PCs in their rooms. They're addicted to screens before they even start high school. Their attention spans have been whittled down to seconds, and their expectations for constant amusement are highly developed.

In a world in which entire industries bet their businesses on gaining access to our attention, which value leads to better personal success: hard work or the ability to control attention?

A person who works six hours a day but with total focus has an enormous advantage over a 12-hour-per-day workaholic who's "multi-tasking" all day, answering every phone call, constantly checking Facebook and Twitter, and indulging every interruption.

It's time we upgraded our work ethic for the age we're living in, not our grandparents' age. Hard work is still a virtue, but now takes a distant second place to the new determinant of success or failure in the age of Internet distractions: Control of attention.

Hard work is dead. Are you paying attention?

In addition to writing for Datamation, where this column first appeared, Mike Elgan is a technology writer and former editor of Windows magazine. He can be reached at mike.elgan+datamation@gmail.com or his blog: http://therawfeed.com.