TAKING SIDES: Whose side are you on?

Unit

1. “Texting May Be Taking a Toll” w/ Multiple Choice2. “Rhino Rescue”3. “Paying It Forward” w/ Multiple Choice4. “A Closer Look” (Video Games) w/ Multiple Choice5. “Too Violent for Kids”6. “Are iPods Behind Rising Teen Hearing Loss”

Goals1. Building Comprehension in Non-Fiction Reading2. Analyzing Non-Fiction/ Author’s Purpose3. Applying Analysis with RACE Writing

OMG! I <3

English!

May 26, 2009

Texting May Be Taking a Toll By KATIE HAFNER, NYTIMES

They do it late at night when their parents are asleep. They do it in restaurants and while

crossing busy streets. They do it in the classroom with their hands behind their back. They do it

so much their thumbs hurt.

Spurred by the unlimited texting plans offered by carriers like AT&T Mobility and Verizon

Wireless, American teenagers sent and received an average of 2,272 text messages per month

in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the Nielsen Company — almost 80 messages a day,

more than double the average of a year earlier.

The phenomenon is beginning to worry physicians and psychologists, who say it is leading to

anxiety, distraction in school, falling grades, repetitive stress injury and sleep deprivation.

Dr. Martin Joffe, a pediatrician in Greenbrae, Calif., recently surveyed students at two local high

schools and said he found that many were routinely sending hundreds of texts every day.

“That’s one every few minutes,” he said. “Then you hear that these kids are responding to texts

late at night. That’s going to cause sleep issues in an age group that’s already plagued with sleep

issues.”

The rise in texting is too recent to have produced any conclusive data on health effects. But

Sherry Turkle, a psychologist who is director of the Initiative on Technology and Self at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology and who has studied texting among teenagers in the

Boston area for three years, said it might be causing a shift in the way adolescents develop.

“Among the jobs of adolescence are to separate from your parents, and to find the peace and

quiet to become the person you decide you want to be,” she said. “Texting hits directly at both

those jobs.”

Psychologists expect to see teenagers break free from their parents as they grow into

autonomous adults, Professor Turkle went on, “but if technology makes something like staying

in touch very, very easy, that’s harder to do; now you have adolescents who are texting their

mothers 15 times a day, asking things like, ‘Should I get the red shoes or the blue shoes?’ ”

As for peace and quiet, she said, “if something next to you is vibrating every couple of minutes,

it makes it very difficult to be in that state of mind.

Page 2

“If you’re being deluged by constant communication, the pressure to answer immediately is

quite high,” she added. “So if you’re in the middle of a thought, forget it.”

Michael Hausauer, a psychotherapist in Oakland, Calif., said teenagers had a “terrific interest in

knowing what’s going on in the lives of their peers, coupled with a terrific anxiety about being

out of the loop.” For that reason, he said, the rapid rise in texting has potential for great benefit

and great harm.

“Texting can be an enormous tool,” he said. “It offers companionship and the promise of

connectedness. At the same time, texting can make a youngster feel frightened and overly

exposed.”

Texting may also be taking a toll on teenagers’ thumbs. Annie Wagner, 15, a ninth-grade honor

student in Bethesda, Md., used to text on her tiny LG phone as fast as she typed on a regular

keyboard. A few months ago, she noticed a painful cramping in her thumbs. (Lately, she has

been using the iPhone she got for her 15th birthday, and she says texting is slower and less

painful.)

Peter W. Johnson, an associate professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at

the University of Washington, said it was too early to tell whether this kind of stress is

damaging. But he added,

“Based on our experiences with computer users, we know intensive repetitive use of the upper

extremities can lead to musculoskeletal disorders, so we have some reason to be concerned

that too much texting could lead to temporary or permanent damage to the thumbs.”

Annie said that although her school, like most, forbids cellphone use in class, with the LG phone

she could text by putting it under her coat or desk.

Her classmate Ari Kapner said, “You pretend you’re getting something out of your backpack.”

Teachers are often oblivious. “It’s a huge issue, and it’s rampant,” said Deborah Yager, a high

school chemistry teacher in Castro Valley, Calif. Ms. Yager recently gave an anonymous survey

to 50 of her students; most said they texted during class.

“I can’t tell when it’s happening, and there’s nothing we can do about it,” she said. “And I’m not

going to take the time every day to try to police it.”

Dr. Joffe says parents tend to be far less aware of texting than of, say, video game playing or

general computer use, and the unlimited plans often mean that parents stop paying attention to

Page 3

billing details. “I talk to parents in the office now,” he said. “I’m quizzing them, and no one is

thinking about this.”

Still, some parents are starting to take measures. Greg Hardesty, a reporter in Lake Forest,

Calif., said that late last year his 13-year-old daughter, Reina, racked up 14,528 texts in one

month. She would keep the phone on after going to bed, switching it to vibrate and waiting for

it to light up and signal an incoming message.

Mr. Hardesty wrote a column about Reina’s texting in his newspaper, The Orange County

Register, and in the flurry of attention that followed, her volume soared to about 24,000

messages. Finally, when her grades fell precipitously, her parents confiscated the phone.

Reina’s grades have since improved, and the phone is back in her hands, but her text messages

are limited to 5,000 per month — and none between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. on weekdays.

Yet she said there was an element of hypocrisy in all this: her mother, too, is hooked on the

cellphone she carries in her purse.

“She should understand a little better, because she’s always on her iPhone,” Reina said. “But

she’s all like, ‘Oh well, I don’t want you texting.’ ” (Her mother, Manako Ihaya, said she saw

Reina’s point.) Professor Turkle can sympathize. “Teens feel they are being punished for

behavior in which their parents indulge,” she said. And in what she calls a poignant twist,

teenagers still need their parents’ undivided attention.

“Even though they text 3,500 messages a week, when they walk out of their ballet lesson,

they’re upset to see their dad in the car on the BlackBerry,” she said. “The fantasy of every

adolescent is that the parent is there, waiting, expectant, completely there for them.”

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/26/health/26teen.html?pagewanted=print

Page 4

“Texting May Be Taking a Toll”Multiple Choice Questions

1. To whom is the author referring in the opening sentences when she writes: “They do it late night when their parents are asleep. The do it in restaurants and while crossing busy streets”?A. TeenagersB. AdultsC. All peopleD. None of the above

2. What is the correlation between texting plans offered by carriers and the amount of texting that occurs?A. Cost doesn’t matter; all teenagers send and receive many textsB. Unlimited texting plans have doubled the amount of texts sent and received.C. Plans with better call reception had fewer texts sentD. None of the above

3. According to the Nielsen Company, how many texts does the average American teenager sent and receive per month?A. 2,272B. 80C. 4,000D. None of the above

4. Doctors and psychologists attribute which of the following side effects to texting?A. AnxietyB. Falling school gradesC. Sleep deprivationD. All of the above

5. How does psychologist Sherry Turkle view the trend of teenagers texting their parents every fifteen minutes?A. It’s a positive trend because parents always know where their children areB. It’s a positive trend because teenagers trust their parents to help them make choicesC. It’s a negative trend because teenagers usually lie to their parents in texts.D. It’s a negative trend because teenagers need to break free of their parents.6. What is an antonym for autonomous as it is used in the following sentence: Psychologists expect to see teenagers break free from their parents as they grow into autonomous adults”?A. IndependentB. DependentC. MatureD. Immature

7. Which of the following sentences is the main idea in paragraph 2 on page 2?A. Texting may also be taking a toll on teenager’s thumbs.B. Annie Wagner used to text on her tiny LG phone as fast as she typed on a regular keyboard.C. A few months ago, she noticed a painful cramping in her thumbs.D. Lately, she has been using the iPhone she got for her 15th birthday.

8. What effect did having her phone confiscated have on Reina’s grades?A. Her grades became worseB. None; her grades stayed the sameC. Her grades improvedD. Her grades fluctuated

9. In which of the following ways are parents parts of the texting problem? A. They encourage their kids to text often.B. They set the example of using their cell phones too often.C. They buy accessories and expensive brands of phones for their kids.D. All of the above

10. What is most likely the author’s purpose in writing this article?A. To persuade teenagers to turn off their phones while they are in schoolB. To convince cell phone carriers that texting plans should only be for adultsC. To demonstrate that the high volume of texting is impacting teenagersD. To encourage school administrators to ban cell phones in the classroom

Page 5

Rhino Rescue Scientists airlift some rare rhinos to safety in Africa

November 17 , 2011, SCHOLASTICA veterinarian wakes up one of the sleeping rhinos. (WWF / Green Renaissance). The rhinos were moved from South Africa's Eastern Cape to Limpopo. (Jim McMahon)

It's been a tough time for rhinoceroses lately. Last week, the International Union for Conservation declared the western black rhino extinct in the wild. It was last seen in western Africa in 2006. Now, conservationists are going to extremes to make sure other rhinos don't meet the same fate.

Earlier this month, 19 south-central black rhinos in South Africa were airlifted by helicopter. They were dangled upside down by their ankles and taken to a nearby vehicle. The rhinos were then driven to an area nearly 1,000 miles away. Although this unusual scene might seem cruel, conservationists say it's the gentlest and quickest way to transport the animals. The "flying rhinos" were taken to a new home that conservationists say will keep the animals safe from hunters.

Though it's illegal to hunt most rhinos, many are still killed for their horns. The horns can sell for as much as $30,000 each. They are ground into powder and used in traditional Asian medicines. Some people believe that the horns are effective in treating pain, fevers, and even cancer. No medical evidence has proved these claims.

Black rhino populations began declining rapidly in the second half of the 1900s because of poaching (or illegal hunting). Habitat loss also threatens the animals. Much of their habitat was wiped out when people started building farms on the grasslands the animals once roamed. Until the 1960s, about 65,000 black rhinos lived throughout most of Africa. Today, fewer than 5,000 are left—most of them in zoos and wildlife reserves.

South Africa has the largest population of rhinos in the world. Poaching is an especially big problem in that country. So far this year, poachers have killed more than 340 rhinos there. Since 2003, the Black Rhino Expansion Project has been helping south-central black rhinos in South Africa. The group partners with landowners who set aside areas where rhinos can live and breed safely away from hunters. They relocate rhinos to these areas.

So far, the group has successfully relocated about 120 rhinos. Leaders of the expansion project say the south-central black rhinos have seen a boost in numbers. Conservationists hope that, with continued support, these rhinos can escape the unfortunate outcome of the western black rhino.

Source: http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3756723

Monday, Oct. 23, 2000, TIME

Cinema: Paying It ForwardBy CATHY BOOTH/LOS ANGELES

It all started 23 years ago. A young writer, Catherine Ryan Hyde, was driving home late one

night in a disreputable section of Los Angeles when her aging Datsun stalled and started

spewing smoke. She leaped out, away from danger, only to see two guys running at her with a

blanket. Visions of muggings danced in her head. As she now recalls, "It did not occur to me that

this was the good news."

Her car, it turns out, was on fire, burning along the throttle line. It could have exploded and

killed her. Instead, some Good Samaritan called the fire department, the two guys with the

blanket put out the blaze, and the Datsun was saved to drive another day. It took Hyde a while

to understand that she too had been saved. "I finally realized these two guys could have died,"

she says. "I could have died. I turned around to thank them--and they weren't there. For the

next few months, I walked around with this huge sense of regret. But without realizing it, that

planted the seed for the idea. If you can't pay it back, pay it forward."

Two decades later, Hyde has figured out how to "pay it forward" big time. This weekend (Oct.

20), her novel Pay It Forward becomes a major film starring Oscar winners Kevin Spacey and

Helen Hunt, as well as nominee Haley Joel Osment. Hyde's book, published early this year, is

just out in paperback. And across the U.S., kids and some adults are adopting the pay-it-forward

philosophy, performing random acts of kindness. "Grownups have a tendency to talk

themselves out of things, saying it will never work, but kids are fabulously optimistic," says

Hyde, who has watched the ideas roll into the payitforwardfoundation.com website. "I know

the book moved some people, and the movie will bring the idea to millions more. Does it have

the possibility of starting a social movement? We'll find out."

A pay-it-forward movement? What's that, some new pyramid scheme? We asked the authority--

Osment, 12, who has gone from seeing dead people in The Sixth Sense to playing Trevor, a

junior high student who helps people live. "It's a very cool story," Osment says. "Trevor's life is

pretty bad. He lives in a rough section of Las Vegas. His mom drinks. His life stinks. He meets a

teacher, Eugene. Most teachers just say, 'Class, open your books.' This one, he opens his heart.

Eugene has this project--to change the world--that spurs Trevor. And Trevor comes up with the

idea of paying it forward. Do something for three people. And they do it for three people. And

three becomes nine, and nine becomes 27, and so on, like a chain. I've done the math, and you

can reach millions, billions of people, all paying it forward. And pretty soon the world will be

changed. It's pretty profound, huh?"

Osment, now shooting Steven Spielberg's A.I., is a new old pro. "I read the script one night

before I went to bed and knew right away it was good, quality material," he says. "It left me

feeling empowered with this mission that maybe that sort of thing is possible."

A few adults got empowered too. Jonathan Treisman, the executive producer who optioned

Hyde's unpublished manuscript, says he was so moved by it ("I cried") that he rammed it

through the clogged Hollywood pipeline in a relatively swift 14 months. Mimi Leder (director of

Deep Impact as well as many episodes of ER) signed on after her daughter Hannah, 13, read the

manuscript and begged her to do it. "It's our youth who will change the world--always has

been," says Leder. "It was important to us that this movie be PG-13 so families could see it."

After Osment signed on to the project, the Oscar winners piled on. Spacey (American Beauty)

pulled in Helen Hunt (As Good As It Gets). Hunt is Arlene, Trevor's emotionally bruised mom;

Spacey is Eugene, the inspired teacher whose psyche is as scarred as his face. "It's an incredible

love story between two scarred people," says Spacey. "These two lost people find each other

and fall in love, with Arlene's son helping them along, in the cutest way possible. Sometimes

you read scripts and there's a soppy love story, or an uplifting movie-of-the-week feeling. But

this was unusual. By the end, it was shocking."

Hyde was on such a lucky streak. So this is where we tell you how disillusioned she was by the

moviemaking process. It's true that Reuben, the black one-eyed Vietnam vet in the book,

became the white burn victim Eugene in the movie (first choice Denzel Washington was busy);

that scriptwriter Leslie Dixon (Mrs. Doubtfire, The Thomas Crown Affair) fiddled with

characters; that Leder moved the setting from Atascadero, Calif., to Las Vegas. ("I thought the

land of lost hopes and lost dreams was the place for this movie," she says.) But Hyde shrugs off

the changes: "The heart of the story survived beautifully. I do think people are ready to see an

uplifting movie."

The timing of Pay It Forward's release is certainly serendipitous, given the current acrimony

between Washington and Hollywood over content. The folks behind the film are eager to do

their bit. J.P. ("Rick") Guerin, chairman of Tapestry Films, which produced the movie, helped

Hyde set up the nonprofit Pay It Forward Foundation to make sure the idea (which he calls a

"chain letter of kindness") survived beyond the theater. "Most movies leave you laughing or

happy or excited," he says, "but few send you out feeling like you want to do something.

Hollywood could use a few more movies like this."

The pay-it-forward notion has already spread. After meeting with Hyde last year, sixth-graders

at Hill Middle School in Novato, Calif., surged into action: helping elderly neighbors with

Christmas-tree lights, singing carols at convalescent homes and filming a video to explain the

concept. Two rival inner-city schools in New York City joined together to paint a huge mural

depicting their ideas. Even a few adults have caught the spirit. After reading the book, Doris

Eakes, 62, of North Carolina endowed four small colleges with a $4.2 million trust (expected to

grow into more than $20 million in her lifetime).

For Spacey, publicizing the movie became his way of giving thanks to the teacher who opened

his world to acting. Spacey's mentor, Robert Carrelli, says he "stole" Spacey from another high

school (in his senior year, no less) to get him into the drama program at Chatsworth High in

suburban Los Angeles. Under Carrelli, the young Spacey got involved not only in acting but also

in directing and set design with classmates Mare Winningham and Val Kilmer. (As a tribute to

another mentor, his great-uncle, English actor John Graham Spacey, Spacey dropped his last

name, Fowler.)

"We get different kinds of mentors," says Spacey. "Like angels, they're brought into our lives to

teach us something we didn't know or to help us see the world in some new way. Having those

experiences from 14 to 18 changed my life. Now I'm paying it forward." Besides his continuing

work with Camp Broadway, aimed at getting students to the theater, he is acting as host at a

benefit for retirees at the Motion Picture and TV Home in Calabasas, Calif., this month.

Paying it forward isn't so easy for most of us. Leder says she's still looking for her life-changing

good deed--although good box office for Pay It Forward would be a start. "I hope this movie

makes the world a better place. I hope it starts a human chain of goodness and kindness," she

says. "We sure need a good dose of it." And--this is something parents, teachers and

Congressmen can agree on--so does Hollywood.

Source: http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,998281,00.html

“Cinema: Paying It Forward” MC Questions

1. The author opens the article with an anecdote about one woman’s particular experience with being helped by strangers. The author most likely began this way in order to do which of the following?

a. Interest the audience to keep readingb. Warn against the danger of trusting

strangersc. Provide many facts about helpfulnessd. None of the above

2. In the following sentence: The timing of Pay It Forward’s release is certainly serendipitous” serendipitous is best defined as:

A. Poorly timedB. FortunateC. DangerousD. Unlucky

3. The author’s primary purpose is writing this article was to do which of the following?

A. Encourage people to “pay it forward”B. Give the biography of the author’s lifeC. Describe how a movie came into

existenceD. None of the above

4. Because he was so moved by the movie concept, executive producer Jonathan Treisman was able to accomplish what astounding feat in a very short period of time?

A. Write a novelB. Push a movie forward in HollywoodC. Fix a broken carD. None of the above

5. How was Hyde and her beliefs impacted by the movie-making process?

A. She decided that “paying it forward” is pointless

B. She felt that Hollywood destroyed the purpose of her film

C. She was content with the outcomeD. None of the above

6. As a result of Catherine Hyde beginning the non-profit Pay It Forward Foundation, which of the following activities occurred.A. 6th graders helped string Christmas lightsB. 6th graders sang carols at a home for elderlyC. 2 enemy schools joined to paint a muralD. All of the above

7. Read the following sentence, then choose the best definition for the word endowed. “After reading the book, Doris Eakes, of North Carolina endowed four small colleges with a 4.2 million trust.”A. GiftedB. LecturedC. VisitedD. None of the above

8. In paragraph 10, which of the following sentences is the main idea?A. The Pay It Forward notion has already spreadB. Sixth graders at Hill Middle School in Novato,

California, surged into actionC. Two rival inner-city schools in New York City

joined together to pain a huge mural depicting their ideas.

D. Even a few adults have caught the spirit.

9. Which of the following people played in the movie?

A. Haley Joel OsmentB. Catherine HydeC. Leslie DixonD. All of the above

10. If a student was interested in learning how he/she could “pay it forward” the best way to obtain more information would be to:A. Contact Catherine HydeB. Search the internet for the Paying It Forward

FoundationC. See the movieD. None of the above

A Closer Look: In a ‘highly polarized research field,’ scientists take sides over the games’ effects on children who play them.May 03, 2010, TIME |By Jill U Adams | Special to the Los Angeles Times

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed last week to hear a case on California's attempt to restrict sales of violent video games to minors. Both the California lawmakers who approved the law in 2005 and the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals judges who overturned the law in 2009 claimed that scientific research was on their side.

Lawmakers and judges aren't the only ones at odds over how to interpret research studies. Scientists who study media violence and its effects on children also are divided on what their results mean.

"It's a highly polarized research field," says Chris Ferguson, a psychology professor at Texas A&M International University in Laredo.

A number of studies have shown that watching a lot of violence on television or playing violent video games such as Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt produces aggressive tendencies in kids. Rowell Huesmann, a professor of communications and psychology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, says that the strength of the evidence is on par with data that say smoking cigarettes causes lung cancer.

Other researchers pooh-pooh such assertions and say that scientific findings have been decidedly mixed — with several studies finding no effects of violent video games on children and teens who play them.

In addition, such critics say, when effects are observed in studies, they have little or no relevance to psychological states that trigger violence in real-life situations.

"When scholars are making some of the claims that they make" — such as how consistent and strong the evidence is or that the size of effects can be compared to the link between smoking and lung cancer — "they are being deeply dishonest with the American public," Ferguson says.

Given these polarized opinions, it's not surprising that parents, especially those whose kids want to play the often violent video games their friends are playing, struggle to sort out what to do. Here's a closer look at whether playing violent video games is putting America's youth at risk.

American children spend plenty of time in front of screens, be it playing video games or watching television. One estimate says kids are playing video games for 13 hours each week, on average, and that more than 75% of teens who play report playing games rated M (for mature) by the Entertainment Software Rating Board, which often contain intense violence, blood and gore.

Research has shown that immediately after playing a violent video game, kids can have aggressive thoughts, angry feelings and physiological effects such as increased heart rate and blood pressure. In addition, studies that survey large populations of kids on their game-playing habits and measure aggressive personality traits or self-reported aggressive acts — physical fights, arguments with teachers — often find an association between games and aggression.

And yet, even when a strong correlation is found, researchers cannot say that playing violent video games causes such behavior. It could be that kids with aggressive tendencies gravitate toward playing the most violent games.

The most compelling studies are ones that track kids over a period of time. For instance, a 2008 study published in the journal Pediatrics followed 362 third-, fourth- and fifth-graders in the U.S. and 1,231 youths ages 12 to 18 in Japan over a single school year.

Early in the school year, kids were asked about what games they played and for how many hours. The more violent content they were exposed to, the more likely subjects were to report later in the year that they'd been in physical fights.

"Is that every kid? No, it's not every kid," says study co-author Douglas Gentile, a psychology professor at Iowa State University in Ames. But the trend was statistically significant for both boys and girls, he says, and other studies that have lasted two years have found similar effects.

These so-called longitudinal studies start, at least, to address the what-comes-first problem, because they measure game-playing first and assess aggressive behavior later. Still, the approach doesn't solve the problem completely.

For instance, it can miss factors that influence violent video game-playing and aggressive behavior — absent or abusive parents, perhaps.

It is also hard to assess the strength of any video game aggression effect because exposure to violent games varies so much. Gentile says violent video games account for about 4% of the differences among kids in terms of aggressive behavior. Some researchers think the number is higher — Huesmann puts it at more like 10%. Neither number seems very high, but then everyone agrees that aggression is a complex human behavior that is going to have multiple causes.

"Usually when people are violent there's a whole set of converging factors," Huesmann says. "No reputable researcher that I know is arguing that media violence or video-game violence is the most important factor." Other known factors more strongly linked to child aggression are a history of abuse, poverty, genetics and personality — and the risk climbs higher when several factors are present in combination.

Still, Huesmann adds, "what's really irritating is when people say it isn't a factor at all — because the evidence is so compelling."

Ferguson, meanwhile, puts the strength of the effect squarely at 0%. He says that people are inventing a crisis where there is none.

"As video games have become more violent and more sophisticated and the sales of video games have skyrocketed in the last few decades, youth violence has plummeted," he says, citing evidence compiled by various federal agencies.

Ferguson — who is not the only scientist critical of violent-video-game research but may be the most vocal — says some researchers cherry-pick data, measuring a lot of effects and analyzing only the ones that show a difference between kids who play violent video games and those who don't. Further, he says, some reviews of the scientific literature exclude studies that show no effect or, in a few cases, an opposite effect (i.e., that consumers of media violence showed less aggression). He published a detailed critique of these issues in the March issue of the journal Psychological Bulletin.

While researchers and legal types continue their row over violent video games, there are things parents can do, Gentile says.

Setting limits on the amounts of exposure is important, he says — the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that kids' exposure to screen time (meaning TV, video, computer and video games) be limited to one to two hours a day. And so, Gentile adds, is "setting limits on content, and talking to kids about what they're seeing and hearing.

"Challenge it and make kids think it through critically."

Source: health@latimes.com http://articles.latimes.com/print/2010/may/03/health/la-he-closer-20100503

“A Closer Look”

1. Most likely, what was the author’s purpose in beginning of the article with a reference to a US Supreme Court?A. To show that there are differing viewpoints

about the effect of playing violent video games

B. To give background on the United States Justice System

C. To prove that everyone believes that playing violent video games is dangerous

D. None of the above

2. Read the following sentence: “It’s a highly polarized research field.” Which of the following best defines polarized?A. Agreed uponB. Division of opinionC. UnimportantD. None of the above

3. For what reason does Rowell Huesmann most likely compare studies on the effects of violent video games to studies on the effects of smoking cigarettes?A. To show that, like smoking, playing violent

videos has NO effect on childrenB. To show that both smoking and playing

violent video games have a positive effectC. To show that the negative effects of playing

violent video games are as unquestionable as the negative effects of smoking

D. None of the above

4. According to one study, roughly how many kids report playing games rated M?A. More than 75%B. Less than 75%C. About 75%D. It hasn’t been studied

5. Research has shown that which of the following effects occurs immediately after playing a violent game?A. Aggressive thoughtsB. Angry feelingsC. Increased heart rateD. All of the above

6. Researchers continue to debate which of the following?A. Whether video games should have parental

ratingsB. Whether video games with M ratings should

be sold at children’s storesC. Whether playing violent video games causes

aggressive behaviorD. None of the above

7. Which studies are drawing the most attention?A. Longitudinal, those that track kids over a

period of timeB. Gender-based, those that look only at malesC. Age-based, those that look at children under

the age of 12D. None of the above

8. Even though there is much debate surrounding the topic of violent video games, everyone can agree on which of the following?A. Children should not be allowed to play games

rated MB. Aggression is a complex human behavior that

is going to have multiple causesC. It is okay to let children play violent video

games as long as an adult is in the roomD. None of the above

9. Read the following sentence: “some researchers cherry-pick data, measuring a lot of effects and analyzing only the ones that show a difference between kids who play violent video games and those who don’t.” Which best defines cherry-pick as it is used in the sentence?A. To choose without biasB. To select only that which proves one’s pointC. To disregard all researchD. None of the above

10. What is the purpose of the article?A. To convince parents to stop buying their

children violent video gamesB. To blame the video gaming industry for

making children violentC. To show that there are differing viewpoints

concerning the effects of violent video gamesD. To persuade children to stop playing all

video games

Monday, Sep. 27, 1993, TIME

Too Violent for Kids? By Philip Elmer-DeWitt.;John F. Dickerson/New York

Johnny Cage kills his victims with a bloody, decapitating

uppercut. Rayden favors electrocution. Kano will punch

through his opponent's chest and rip out a still-beating

heart. Sub-Zero likes to tear his foe's head off and hold it

up in victory, spinal cord twitching as it dangles from the neck.

Renegades from the Late Late Movie? No, these are characters from Mortal Kombat, America's

top-grossing arcade game last year and the focus of a growing debate about whether violence in

video games has finally gone too far. The issue came home for millions of parents and kids last

week when Acclaim brought out four new versions of Mortal Kombat designed to play on the

Sega and Nintendo systems found in some 50 million U.S. households.

To head off complaints, Nintendo chose to delete the digitized blood in its versions and replace

the so-called finishing moves with less realistic endings, although the final product is still pretty

brutal. Sega decided to use a warning label alerting parents that the game is not suitable for

children under 13, but few expect that to have the desired effect. Peggy Charren, founder of

Action for Children's Television, believes that the labels will actually make the game more

attractive to kids: "It's a warning to the children that tells them, 'This is what I want.' "

Mortal Kombat is not the first violent video game -- or even the worst. In Night Trap, a

controversial compact-disc game that plays on the Sega system, five scantily clad women are

stalked down by bloodthirsty vampires who like to drill holes in their victims' necks and hang

them on meat hooks. In both Night Trap and Mortal Kombat, live-action video technology

makes the violence that much more realistic.

Are games like these bad for kids? There are no definitive scientific studies, in part because it is

difficult to sort out the effects of the violent acts in video games from those of the mayhem seen

in movies, TV shows and city streets. According to Parker V. Page, president of the Children's

Television Resource and Education Center in San Francisco, preliminary research suggests that

such games make children "more aggressive or more tolerant of aggression." That jibes with

the experience of parents who will drag their kids away from a kick-boxing video game only to

watch them start kick-boxing with each other in the backyard.

University of Southern California professor Marsha Kinder, who is a member of several video-

game review panels, believes that the games are different ( from other media because they

actively engage children in violent acts: "It's worse than TV or a movie. It communicates the

message that the only way to be empowered is through violence." Enthusiasts counter that the

games serve as a harmless way to let off steam. As one video-store manager put it, "You had a

bad day, so you can go in there and rip a couple of heads off and feel better."

Of course, there are better ways to let off steam. As it is, American kids who have video-game

machines already play, on average, nearly 1.5 hours a day. For many parents, the problem is not

what their children are doing on their Nintendo systems, but what they are not doing while

locked in Mortal Kombat -- reading books, playing outdoors, making friends. When the

information highway comes to town, bringing with it a thousand new reasons to spend time in

front of a video screen, that may be a growing problem not just for the kids, but for all of us.

Source: http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,979298,00.html

Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2010, TIMEAre iPods Behind Rising Teen Hearing Loss?By Alice Park

That's what the latest analysis of national health data on adolescents shows. Between 1988-94 and 2005-06, the percentage of teens with hearing loss jumped by about a third, from 15% of 12-to-19-year-olds to 19.5%. And the reason may not be the ubiquitous earphones that snake from nearly every teen's ears during most hours of the day. (See pictures of a diverse group of American teens.)

A team headed by Dr. Josef Shargorodsky, an ear, nose and throat specialist at Channing Laboratory at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, drew raw numbers from data collected by the government's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, conducted over a six-year period in the 1990s and a two-year period more recently. Adjusting for factors such as age, race and exposure to infections that can damage delicate auditory nerves and affect hearing, they found just the kind of slow but significant rise in hearing loss that experts had been predicting in an era in which kids spend more time attached to earphones than ever before. But according to the survey, in which adolescents were asked about their exposure to loud noises, there was not a significant rise in this exposure in the two time periods. So music, say the authors, may not be the only thing that can be damaging kids ears. Diet and nutrition, as well as exposure to toxins, might be factors. Living in poverty is also associated with greater risk of hearing loss among youngsters, as children in lower-income families may not be getting adequate nutrition to support proper development of the auditory system. (See pictures of teen sensation Justin Bieber.)

It's this wealth of other possibilities which makes the investigators, who published their findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association, reluctant to blame listening devices for the problem. But whatever the causes, the hearing-loss trend is troubling. Difficulty in hearing among youngsters has been linked to slower language development, poorer performance in school and lower self-esteem. And because social skills are dependent on language, previous studies have found that even slight hearing loss in elementary and high school students can result in progressively lower scores on communication tests and greater anxiety.

Further research is needed to pinpoint the primary factors behind the rise in hearing loss, but while Shargorodsky is not ready to point the finger at iPods and their ilk, he's not exonerating them either. He notes that the adolescents in the surveys were asked only one question about their exposure to loud sounds, and that the question did not specifically mention earphones or other personal listening devices. Teens are notoriously inaccurate at reporting their exposure to potentially damaging decibels, he says, and may not even consider music piped in through earbuds as a source of danger. "We don't have a great grasp on noise exposure," Shargorodsky says. "But we hope to find better ways to ask the question and identify other factors that might be involved in the rise in hearing loss."

Source: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2011503,00.html

Non-Fiction Unit

TAKING SIDES: Whose side are you on?

You will choose 1 of the following to prove using the RACE writing strategy. As you read, be sure to find quotes to support your topic/stance.

Topic Choices:

Prove that…

1. Adults contribute to teens’ uses/misuses of technology.

2. Teens could be at risk for health problems because of technology.

3. Research is inconclusive about the effects of teens and technology.

Quotes that Prove – List your top 4 quotes!

You will eventually choose 2 for your RACE paragraph!

Article/Source

1.

2.

3.

4.

Name: _________________________________ Period: _____

Body ChecklistCheck off each as you write it on a separate sheet of paper.

Topic Sentence Clearly states the topic you will prove. (These are your key/tag words). 1 sentence

R1: Respond w/ 1st Example Starts with transition word (like “first,” “foremost,”) & comma Tells 1st specific example 1 sentence

A1: Add Scene Information “Specifically” or “For example”) followed by important information from the article that

explains the example (R1). Assume your audience has not read the article. “A” does NOT mention what is said in the quote. Reflects that you re-read the article again to write it! 2-3 well-developed, meaningful, fact-based sentences.

C1: Cite the Quote Includes the article name and speaker before the quote. Includes citation after the quote (article author’s last name and packet page number) Does NOT use multiple speakers / dialogue! (unless approved by me)

Ex. In the article “Texting May Be Taking a Toll,” Sherry Turkle, a psychologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, confirms, “Among the jobs of adolescence are to separate from your parents, and to find the peace and quiet to become the person you decide you want to be…Texting hits directly at both those jobs” (Hafner 2).

E1: Elaborate This often begins with a phrase like “This is significant because…” Tells how the quote proves your point (R1). Do not repeat what you already said. 1-2 (no more!) sentences

R2: Respond w/ 2nd Example Starts with transition word (like “second,” “furthermore,”) & comma Tells 2nd specific example 1 sentence

A2: Add Scene Information “Specifically” or “For example”) followed by important information from the article that

explains the example (R2). Assume your audience has not read the article. “A” does NOT mention what is said in the quote. Reflects that you re-read the article again to write it! 2-3 well-developed, meaningful, fact-based sentences.

C2: Cite the Quote (See C1 for example.) Includes the article name and speaker before the quote. Includes citation after the quote (article author’s last name and packet page number) Does NOT use multiple speakers / dialogue! (unless approved by me)

E2: Elaborate This often begins with a phrase like “This is significant because…” Tells how the quote proves your point (R2). Do not repeat what you already said. 1-2 (no more!) sentences

CLINCHER MAKES a POINT about the WHOLE body, not just 1 RACE! Shows you are thinking about the overall message you want to get across – suggestion,

prediction, or profound thought.