Walking and Using Phone is Risky - Essay Example

Topic - Response According to the article “Forget Gum. Walking and Using Phone Is Risky” by Matt, Ritchell, using cell phone while walking can have disastrous effect on a person. It has been noticed that a person engaged on phone while walking has a high chance to get hit by a vehicle, pole light or a cracked side walk. According to a study conducted, more than 1000 pedestrians visited emergency room in 2008 because they got distracted and tripped, fell or ran in to something. According to cognitive scientist, cell phone use while multi – tasking can have a negative impact on the awareness and cognitive processing of a person. I agree with the author because using phone while walking is dangerous as it distracts a person from external environment and causes accidents and even death. Many a times, people underestimate the negative consequences of using a cell phone while walking or driving. For instance, last week while I was walking along the side way, I saw a young man talking on the phone and crossing the road. In a second, I could here is scream as he was hit by a car and injured his leg. Here Matt Ritchell is right in focusing on multi – tasking while on phone as it is a very dangerous act. The use of cell- phone can have many adverse effect including legal penalties .It is seen that many times children use cell phone at schools which can get them punishment. Last month, one of my neighbor’s kid was thrown out of class due the use of cell phone during class hours. Even at work, excessive use of cell phone can result in harmful consequences. Few days back my friend’s brother was fired from work due to his excessive texting at work. In Conclusion the use of cell phone has legal consequences as it leads to penalties and loss of job In the article “Behavior: Imitation of Film: Heres Smoking at You, Kid” Nicholas Bakalar claims of the imitation of smoking behavior in children due to watching smoking in movies. Generally children have a high tendency to imitate, and smoking is the most easily imitated behavior from movies. According to a study conducted with 6522 children nationwide it was revealed that children exposed to smoking in movies had two and half times chance to start smoking. I agree with the author here as it is a proven fact that children exposed to smoking through movies have a high tendency to end up as smokers in future. It is usually observed that parents and government authorities ignore the effect of smoking in movies on young children. When last time I visited movies, I have noticed bunch of young children smoking outside the theatre.It could be that these children were regular visitor to movies and picked up smoking habit from the movies. The author is right in commenting that parental control has less effect than the movies on children. This smoking habit can also have a serious health problem in children. I have seen my neighbor who is 12 smoking and coughing at the same time. He was smoking from the backyard and I used to find his eyes red and irritated. This is a sign of unhealthiness as in this age children need well - balanced life style. I have noticed that children who smoke generally are poor performer in class too. In conclusion, smoking is a bad habit and movies makers must be prohibited from showing smoking scenes. The article “The Screen; Blackboard Jungle; Delinquency Shown in Powerful Film” written by Bosley Crowther explains about the adverse effect of the violent movie “Blackboard Jungle” on the school atmosphere and students. This movie depicts a school teacher and his hard struggle with a vicious circle of students who has criminal background. The movie projects terrorism and violent students who causes bloody encounters in the school campus. The author here attempts to point out that such crime filled atrocious movies can persuade the children to anti – social behavior and jeopardize the school environment. I totally agree with the author as, children get highly influenced by movie and mostly get attracted to crime and violence easily. Generally, movies have a great impact on young generation and children tend to absorb vices more easily than good deeds. I have seen that my cousin who is of 10 years normally enacts the visuals he has seen in cartoons. So it is the same effect movies like “Blackboard Jungle” has on school children. Such movies display illegal pattern of life to children as terrorism and gang violence. Here the author is claiming that many school students who are in gang violence could have picked such behavior from violence and crime filled movies. Crime and blood shedding movies alternatively has a dangerous impact on society. It is these students get influenced by crime movies acts as gangs who steal and stab the public. Students get initiated from movies and imitate it as a trend or fashion. Students who have more criminal tendencies fall easily prey to such movies. I know one of my class mates who is always restless and fighting because of his passion for crime based movies. In conclusion, it can be said that movies based on crime should not focus on school environment. In the article “How Not to Talk to Your Kids”, Po Bronson highlights on the dangers of praising on the overall performance of a growing child. A child praised for his smartness and intelligence usually has over confidence and tries less on abilities which he is weak at. According to the study conducted by psychologist Dweck, students who were praised for their effort performed well than the students who were praised as smart and intelligent. Students who were smart and well praised by people around them assume that they do not have to try anything harder to be perfect. I agree with the author because praising a child too much can spoil his motivation in sharpening those skills which he is weak at. Children who are continually praised at school and home usually are not an all round performer. They think they are innately intelligent and give less emphasis on other areas of education and activities. I have seen my brother, mostly praised by mother and father for his math skills. The result of this is that he is bad at science and sports. The author is true in saying that praising for excellence in one area can weaken the skill in other area. The praising also has a peril of ballooning the confidence and ego of a child. A child with an inflated ego is very hard to handle. He nurtures a belief that he cannot be outperformed by anyone and hence can insult other people around him. This is the case with my class mate who is the topper in class who is constantly praised by teachers. However, he is extremely a failure in sports, still carry a super – ego. In conclusion, it could be said that excessive praising is more harmful that no praising at all. Read More