Black Students Being Penalized For "Ethic Hair"

Many of us have seen the videos on Facebook and Instagram of young,  black kids being forced off teams and hair being cut in front of large crowds. You might wonder, "Why is that?" Many schools have policies about hair and how it should be worn especially for sports. Experts say that policies do not take into account the diverse student body. Not only in color but in hair texture. 

Many recent cases have been caught on camera and have even made local and national news. Last year, high school senior DeAndre Arnold was told by school officials that he would not be able to graduate unless he cut his dreadlocks. Taking to social media, many celebrities were appalled by this and protested against the unjust behavior. 



School officials have the right to justify their policies by saying that rules are rules and regulations are regulations. Policies favor normal hair. Which is typically white hair that is easy to manipulate. But, for kids with ethnic hair how can they follow those same rules if their hair is not deemed normal?

Teachers and advocates believe that banning hairstyles and punishing those with ethnic hair is an attack on those specific kids' cultures. But, many school officials, administrators, and school boards maintain their rules aren't meant to be discriminatory. 




https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/08/us/black-hair-discrimination-schools-trnd/index.html

The Coronavirus and U.S. schools

As of March 5, 2020, there have been more than 550 confirmed cases of Covid-19. Anxious parents wonder, "What are they going to do about schools?" Millions of students in China, Iran, Iraq, and other countries have closed to try and prevent cases from spreading. 


As cases continue to rise in the United States, schools have started to close their doors.  A high school in  Snohomish County, Washington,  a boy tested positive for the coronavirus. The school decided to shut down until cleaning was done of the building.

Schools are preparing by keeping in contact with the state and county health departments. Health departments advise for students and teachers to avoid touching their eyes, nose, and mouth. Also, schools are continually wiping down doors and desks.



Many schools have a solution in place if school closures are mandatory. They have decided to bring the classrooms to their own bedrooms. Students will be given work and watch lectures from the comfort of their own homes. Thus, being able to continue their school work. Other schools suggest doing it the old school way by preparing instructional packets with a pencil and paper. 


https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/02/health/coronavirus-us-schools-preparation/index.html

Sleep and College Students

It is not unheard of that college students do not sleep enough. A study done by The University Health Center at The University of Georgia states, "On average, most college students get 6 - 6.9 hours of sleep per night, and the college years are notoriously sleep-deprived due to an overload of activities."

Research suggests that college-aged students should receive 6-10 hours of sleep every day. For most college students that amount of sleep is a long shot. Between a course load of 14-20 credit hours, various clubs, internships, jobs, and much more they feel like sleep is the last on their long to-do list. 


It has been said 1,000,000 times that lack of sleep can lead to many negative physical and phycological effects. UGA states that some of the negative effects of sleep deprivation such as:

• More illness, such as colds and flu, due to a lowered immune system
• Feeling more stressed out
• Increased weight gain and obesity
• Lower GPA and decreased academic performance

The University of Glasglow found that "Of 12,000 teenagers, recognized that getting them off their phones could be "especially challenging" because it was a time of growing independence when keeping in touch with friends was important."

Also, from self-experience, many teenagers and college-aged students have FOMO which is known as the Fear of Missing Out. They tend to stay on social media all hours of the night. "We recommend that young people stay off all screens for at least an hour before bed so their brains have time to wind down."

I believe that social media has a significant impact on sleep. Many teens spend countless amounts of time on social media with a mix of juggling so much such as classes and extracurricular activities. I believe that college-aged students should focus on the benefits of sleep. Without sleep, you are depriving your body and lastly your mind. 

Sources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-50140111

https://www.uhs.uga.edu/sleep

The Roaring Twenties and 2020

The 20's in America was a time of exponential growth. Economics was changing and growing. Women had started to develop rights, and the stock market was booming. 

In the 1920s women's rights started to evolve. At the time, women were now allowed to vote. Also, the way women dressed started to change. Women started to wear shorter dresses and sassy haircuts. Lastly, more women started to smoke....WOW!

But, what is interesting is that 100 years later, America still does some of the same things. History.com states, "People from coast to coast bought the same goods (thanks to nationwide advertising and the spread of chain stores), listened to the same music, did the same dances and even used the same slang." With the amount of technology, the same activities are still happening. 

With the craze of the social media world, America constantly wants to see what others are doing. Comedy sensation, Shiggy, made a viral dance to Drake's "In My Feelings". The world went crazy. Everyone started doing the "KEKE" dance. From news anchors to babies, to senior citizens - everyone started to do it. 

This can be tied to the 1920s due to the fact that when something was popular or "viral" everyone started to do it. White, Blacks and every other race started doing the Jitterbug, Tango, and Waltz. This was due to the dances being featured on TV, in clubs, and in other places. 

1920s and 2020 have a lot in common. Yes, technology and delivery were very different. But, Americans still love trends, good dances, and being apart of a consumer community. 

EOTO Com Tech Timeline

For the communications timeline, my group had the honor of talking about Instagram, the first cable TV, the first TV, Twitter, the first camera phone, and the first email. 

I had the task of doing some research on the first email. After doing some research, I found some amazing facts about how the first email was sent and who sent it. We have Ray Tomlinson to thank for initiating the incredible new era of communication that we now enjoy – he sent the first email in 1972. Tomlinson was working on as a personal side project to his commissioned work. An email was initially seen as a speedy way for ARPANET programmers and researchers to keep in touch – particularly targeted at those who can’t be relied on to answer their phones. Tomlinson decided to use the “@” symbol to separate the recipient’s name from their location – to indicate that the user was “at” some other host rather than being local. The format has stayed the same by using “user@host”.

Almost everyone has an email. At HPU, before you are even a student you are gifted with an email address with a High Point University domain. Essentially, email is a great form of communication with colleges and universities. Email has been so ingrained in our society that we send on average of 10+ emails a day. Furthermore, Google reports that there are over 1 billion active Gmail users a month. That is a TON of emails being sent.

The email has a ton of positive effects on efficiency and economics.

• Email is a free tool. Once you are online, there is no further expense that you need to spend on in order to send and receive messages.

• Email allows for easy referencing. Messages that have been sent and received can be stored, and searched through safely and easily

• Email is paperless, and therefore, beneficial for the planet. Not only can you reduce the costs of paper, but you are also actually reducing the damage paper usage does to the environment.

However, with every positive, there is a negative.

• Email lacks a personal touch. While some things are better off sent as written and typed messages, some things should be verbally relayed or written by hand in a note or letter.

• Email can cause misunderstandings. Because email does not include nonverbal communication, recipients may misinterpret the sender’s message.

• Emails should be kept short and brief. This is especially difficult if you are one to send messages that are too long.

After the conclusion of the group, the project is shedding light on the fact that communication is so intertwined.

Every form of communication is constantly evolving and helping the world in some way. There are many

forms of communication that we use every day that were not created 50 years ago. The most common pieces

of technology are computers, phones, email, and text messages. It is fair to say that there were predated forms

of those types of communication. In conclusion, I think it is excellent to understand how much communication

has evolved and it continues to evolve. We as the next generation, have the power to develop new forms of

communication that have the potential to change the world.

Sources:

https://www.alert-software.com/blog/the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-email

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/60at60/2015/8/1971-first-ever-email-392973?fb_comment_id=911794135560930_1810110339062634/

https://blog.shuttlecloud.com/the-most-popular-email-providers-in-the-u-s-a/

Communications Timeline

One group did a fantastic job talking about prior technology especially dealing with the

communications realm.

The printing press is the father of all modern technology such as writing books, newspaper,

tweets, and so on. The printing press was invented by  Johannes Gutenburg around 1440 in

Mainz, Germany. The Gutenberg Bible was the first book ever printed. This makes it the rarest book in

the world. Such bibles are located at the Library of Congress, The New York City Public Library, and in

Germany. 

The first computer for personal use was the MITS Altair computer, and it was $700.

This was the first computer for households. To search the web, it took almost a day to get the

information needed. Then, the Apple 1 was created and allowed for people to have all of the tools

needed in one instead of having to buy the parts separately. 

The first emoticon was invented by Dr. Scott Fulham. The emoticon was created with the type

but actual emojis are created with images. Back then, there were only two types of emoticons, and

that was the smiley face and the sad face.  Dr. Scott Fulham believed that if you were happy you sent

the :) and if you were sad you sent :(. 

I had a great time learning about the printing press, the first computer, and the emoji. I learned

something new and it was great information.