Sophia Elahi RPC Blog

Nowadays, we use the internet for practically everything.  In this day and age, it is a necessity.  The internet makes it easy to look for things you need, which also means it is easy to reach inappropriate websites.  Which brings me to the question, should we allow the government to restrict content on the internet?

Personally, I do not like the idea of letting government block certain content on the Internet.  I feel that it gives them too much control over my computer.  Yes, it may be a good idea to block inappropriate websites, places that can make your computer susceptible to hacking, and whatever the ‘dark web’ is, but I also believe that if we let the government do that they may also block other websites that are not a threat to anyone except themselves. 

If we do not want the government to help us keep our computers safe we must be very careful about what websites we go to and what we expose ourselves to.  There is always the easy option of filtering out certain content so you will not accidently come across something traumatising or harmful.

The US Constitution was created to “ form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”  Each amendment was added for a reason and should be honoured today, including the 2^nd amendment.

The 2^nd amendment states that “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”  The amendment was created because at the time it was written (December 1791) the threat of tyranny in Britain still existed.  The founding fathers wanted to assure the citizens of America that they would not be overthrown by the government.  In the amendment itself it says “being necessary to the security of a free state” which means that it is a necessity to allow citizens to own assault weaponry to remain a free state.

I think the answer to this topic is pretty easy.  The amendment itself states that in order to remain a free state citizens must be allowed to own weaponry.  Therefore, yes, the 2^nd amendment should give citizens the right to own assault weaponry.

Should students be allowed to listen to their own music on headphones while studying in class?  Or should they have to settle for the music the teacher plays?

I think that students should be allowed to listen to their own music while they are studying in class, but they should not be allowed to use their phones for music.  Before you get mad at me, just listen to my reasoning.

As someone who used to go to school before homeschooling, the music the teachers play to keep us ‘calm and concentrated’ makes me sleepy.  Honestly, it makes me yawn and feel tired, which is not helping my concentration.  I focus better while listening to musical theatre or rock or something that is not considered calming music.  I know that there are others like me, which is why I think students should be allowed to listen to their own music.

But students should not be listening to their music on their phones.  While an MP3 player (which is basically obsolete nowadays), has no other functions besides playing music, phones has your messaging apps, social media, and Netflix.  I consider myself to be a hardworking student, but if I see that my friends are messaging I will be very tempted to join their conversation, even if I am in the middle of my schoolwork.

If there is some kind of electronic device that is like an MP3 player, students should definitely be allowed to use those to listen to music.  But if they are listening on their phones, be prepared for uncompleted assignments.

When celebrities break the law, should they face stricter penalties or should they face less severe penalties?

Personally, I think that it is not fair to give celebrities harsher penalties.  They are still human and deserve to be treated like any normal citizen.  Some may argue that celebrities are influencing people and because of that they should have stricter penalties.  But I think that it is not fair to blame celebrities for their fans’ decisions.

I also believe that celebrities should not be allowed to have lesser penalties.  Like I said, they are still humans and deserve to be treated like any other citizen.  Giving them less harsh punishments just because they have a large fan base is not fair or just.  It is also sending a bad message to the public.  It is basically saying that if you have a lot of money and followers you can break the law and not face a harsh punishment.

As you can hopefully see, celebrities should be treated like any normal citizen.  Celebrities are still humans.  They should not face harsher punishments because of their fan base.  With that being said, they should not face diluted punishments because of their ‘status.’

For this topic I honestly do not have an opinion, which is why I say ‘why not?’  Silent prayers may be beneficial for the players and the people in the stadium.  The players may feel worried about getting hurt, and of course stressed bout the game.  Saying a silent prayer may calm their nerves and help their performance on the field.  Silent prayers can also be beneficial for the audience, specifically the player’s family.  The player’s family may feel better and less worried about the player on the field.  People in the front row and baseball games may also need to say their prayers.

For this lesson my writing assignment is to write three paragraphs on the topic of “Should Student’s Textbooks Be Replaced by Notebook Computers?”

Textbooks are pretty heavy. One text book can “weigh anywhere between two to six pounds (with books increasing by weight the higher the grade).”[i]  Imagine having five of those in your bag plus your notebooks and other things you might need during the school day.  This would make your bag really heavy.  But if textbooks were replaced by notebook computers, most of the weight would be lifted.  Nowadays, notebook computers are thin and light, which is the exact opposite of the thick six pound textbook. 

There is also a problem that is not completely directed at textbooks, but is still a problem.  Sloppy handwriting.  Let’s say you are trying to take all of your notes before dinner.  You rush through the process and step away for dinner.  When you come back your handwriting is so sloppy that it is hard for you to read what you wrote an hour before.  This has happened to me many times, but if this is not a problem that applies to you, you can skip this paragraph.  With notebook computers not only will sloppy handwriting not be a problem, you can also take notes faster.  You can copy and paste your notes from your online textbook to your word document.  Or, you can buy a stylist and write notes on your computer, which will then be converted into a neat font.  Not only is this super cool, it saves you money (on notebooks) and time.

Now imagine you go on a short vacation (not likely at the moment because of Covid, but just imagine with me), but you have to study.  If you bring all of your textbooks you cannot save enough room in your suitcase for all of your super trendy clothes and whatever souvenirs you want to bring back.  Maybe, you have enough room for everything.  But on the way back, will your suitcase meet the required weight restrictions?  Now imagine having a notebook computer.  You do not need to worry about how much space you have and the weight of your suitcase.  All you have to do is slip your computer and its charger into a pocket in your suitcase and you can pack the rest of your things in.  You may want to bubble wrap the computer though, for safety.

[i] “Textbook Industry Statistics and Infograph. TextbookLand.com. Web. Retrieved 15 March 2021. http://www.textbookland.com/textbook-industry.php#:~:text=Textbooks%2C%20at%20an%20average%2C%20weigh,weight%20the%20higher%20the%20grade).

Do you think homeschooling is the right way to teach a child?  Many people think that keeping your child in school may be bad because they will not develop social skills.  But is that necessarily true?

For this essay I will use RPC and my situation as an example.

I think that homeschooling is extremely beneficial to the student.  In the RPC curriculum, it is basically self-taught after 3^rd grade.  This gives the child a sense of responsibility at a young age.  It also promotes independence in the child.

Another great thing about homeschooling is that you do not have to follow anybody.  “Nothing is set in stone,” as my Dad always tells me.  When you are homeschooling you can control what subjects you want to learn.  For example, Science is not my best subject and it bores me, but I do have an interest in coding.  Now I am doing Coding in lieu of Science.

Also, when you homeschool you do not need to worry about bullies, mean teachers, or toxic friends.  For me, I really love that.  As you get older school becomes more of a breeding ground for drama instead of education.

There are a lot more things I could list about homeschooling that is great, like how the student can go at their own pace, as well as how homeschooling is less expensive than regular school.

One of my favorite things about the RPC curriculum is that they have chat forums so I can talk to other kids doing the same courses as me.  I will admit, sometimes homeschooling gets a little lonely.

Of course, some parents have the concern of their child not developing social skills.  For me, I was always in some type of extracurricular activities, letting me socialize with other kids and develop my social skills.  You can also try to find a homeschooling community in your area.  In Singapore (the country I live in), there is quite a big homeschooling community.

As you can see, there are quite a few pros to homeschooling your child and not many cons.  Of course, homeschooling is not for everyone, so if none of the things I listed sound appealing that is fine.  Regular schools exist for a reason.

Thanks for reading!

Imagine walking around your city and always having Wi-Fi.  Sounds pretty nice, right?

Of course, having free Wi-Fi all the time is great!  You don’t have to use your precious data.  But if you have public Wi-Fi available to everyone, obviously, everyone will use it, making the connection quite slow.  There is also the concern of security, if the Wi-Fi is safe to make bank transactions and such.  It will also be quite costly for the city, maybe making taxes go up so the government can continue to provide public Wi-Fi.

As you can see, having free public Wi-Fi is not such a good idea.  You would be better off sticking to your data plan.