The First Amendment of the United States of America gives us freedom of religion, speech, press, peaceable assembly, and the freedom to seek help from or complain about our government without fear of punishment. In honor of this freedom–which is both a tremendous privilege and a responsibility–we’re taking part in Blog Action Day on October 16, 2015.
Your blog is a public space where you can freely express your opinions about issues that matter to you.
For me, I’m worried about the overuse of toxic chemicals and the waste of water to maintain fairy tale green lawns. Did you know that 80% of all homes in the United States have grass lawns? The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that nearly 1/3 of all public water is used to water grass. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports that “homeowners use up to 10 times more chemical pesticides per acre on their lawns than farmers use on crops.” Wow! Most lawn care chemicals can find their way to our groundwater supply. Lawn chemicals are toxic–they kill. I worry about the health effects of these optional pesticides. The U.S. Geological Survey found that 96 percent of all fish tested in major rivers and streams contained pesticide residue. We need to rethink chemical lawn treatments.
What do you care about? What’s worrying you?
What would you change here at school if you could? How can we make Ashburn, Virginia, America, or the world a little bit better? In your opinion, what changes should our government make to improve your future? Speak up on Blog Action Day. How might you help homeless people or animals? Are you concerned about climate change? Or gun control? Or education? Or bullying? Do you want healthier lunches? Are sports too competitive?
Whatever it is, tell me in a quality comment below.
Then, use the internet to find 2-3 facts about your issue. Jot them down and bring to school tomorrow. Be sure to record the websites where you found the info.
Finally, visit another class and leave a comment based on their current post. Just click on the link below! I’m counting on you proofreading your comment carefully. Follow 6th grade writing expectations! Be sure to include our blog URL so the classes you visit can visit us, too! Here’s our class blog URL: https://kidblog.org/class/RombachRockstars/
CLICK HERE for complete list of class blogs in the Student Blogging Challenge (including ours).
Tomorrow, you’ll draft a blog post about what you care about. It’s time to raise your voice!
See you then! Mrs. Rombach
I think a lot of people are homeless and we should help them. In big cities like New York City, I see many poor people on the streets asking for money. I’ve seen many people just pass by, but when I see homeless people I feel bad and want to help. So go out there and help!!
Mrs. Rombach I completely agree with you, and I am am really worried about animal cruelty. So many species of animals are in danger because of it.
Dear mrs.Rombach
I want to change the amount of technology cause it could effect how and what we do with our technology and the later population.
I think a problem in the world is pollution. I think that everyone should carpool, take a bus or metro, or walk and bike if possible. If we don’t do anything, there could be big effects on the earth in the future.
I think a problem in the world is pollution. Everyone takes cars, buses, and metros places everyday. Of course, that’s okay, but we should carpool and bike or walk if possible to cut down on pollution. In the future, there could be BIG effects to the world because of pollution.
I think that what you said is very true. Some people take advantage of our water and use as much as they want, but it is not unlimited. We don’t have a lot of fresh water either, we only have about 2%. Taking care of our water is very important because if you pollute the water you will end up swimming in dirty water or have a bad time fishing because all the fish are dead. One thing that I am concerned about is the frequent killing of animals. Animals depend on other animals and we depend on them for food. If they are all dead we have no food. I hope that we can change this if we try!
I think that people who can’t afford nice clothes don’t have good lives. They need to spend every penny on like shelter, food, water… They could get hurt easier and get diseases because of not where clothing. If I could have one day of every month for people to donate yarn and sewing things that they don’t want and me and mom and my sister could sew things for people that don’t have clothing. Imagine all the people that could be happy… (UNFORTUNATELY CAN’T DO THIS!!!)
I am worried about the pollution that goes that in the water. This should be more minded. Pollution is very bad for us and our environment. Believe me that, our water supply is also polluted. There is still time for us to improve our environment.
I’m worried about animal abuse. Most cases of animal abuse are not reported!
I am worried about people getting bullied because people don’t deserve to be treated this way. Some people are even scared to come to school. School is a place where you should meet friends and have fun not to be scared of. Even though schools try to prevent it still happens! Bullying has to stop NOW!
The thing I am worried about is species extinction.It’s when a lot of animal species are killed, and they are close to dying out. For example, there is so much fish hunted/fished that there are barely enough fish left in the sea.And, the ocean levels are rising, so lots of fish can’t find enough plankton to eat.Lots of animals are going extinct because of humans like us. What else will we eat? Species extinction is something we should really worry about. You know, the mammoths went extinct because the humans back during the ice age ate all of them.If they had known the population was decreasing, they might have hunted less and conserved more of them.Next thing you know, humans might go extinct too!
I really think that people need to start thinking about ocean creatures and how people should stop taking them from their homes and putting them in places like Seaworld. This is definitely an act of animal cruelty and it must be dealt with soon.
I am worried about animal abuse and animal poaching. I am worried about animal abuse and poaching because I absolutely love animals and hurting and killing animals is wrong. We need to stop animal abuse!
I am worried about animal abuse.Did you know that over 115 million are killed in lab experiments worldwide each year? Also, people kill animals just for the fur and other parts? In China, people kill animals for their tusks. People are cruel to animals sometimes if they feel powerless or under control of others. People need to stop killing animals before they are all gone.
I found this information on: http://www.dosomething.com and http://www.yamkimahuman.org
I am worried about animal abuse and animal poaching. I am worried about animal abuse and poaching because I absolutely love animals and hurting and killing animals is wrong.
I think one problem in the world we have today is underestimating girls. People don’t understand that girls can do anything a boy can do. It can put someones self-confidence level way down.
Samay-
I think water usage in this country needs to improve. Especially on the West coast! Many people waste water on things that could be solved without water. Such as, keeping the tap on while you are brushing, or keeping the faucet on while your are applying soap to your hands. Water that is wasted could actually be used to give to people that don’t have water! If we take water from lakes and rivers, we won’t be able to have fish! They are already doing this in California! Do you want to live in a place with no fish? I wouldn’t!
What is important to me is the food here. I think we need to have better food choices, I guess there’s the chef salad but I like something that’s healthy and yummy at the same time.(Not saying salads are bad, other people might not eat them!)
I believe that animals should not be able to be experimented on because some animals are not protected from that which I think is a problem. For instance 95% of animals used foresting are not protected by the Federal Welfare Act. It is in humane to test animals when we know it might not be safe for them.
I think that people should pay more attetion about what’s around them. Everyone should help the homeless, yet people just walk right by them! You should help them and feel sorry for them! Who cares how they ended up like that? Either way, they’re homeless and they need help. I’ve been reading comments when people’s saying that that will teach them a lesson… um… NO! Help the homeless, wouldn’t you want people to help you if you were homeless?
Haley-
I love your big, emphathetic heart. Sadly, too many people use the internet to spew ignorant comments. You have a voice, so it’ll always be vital that you use it to promote positive change in the world. Raise your voice for homelessness and help educate the misinformed folks who believe homelessness teaches anyone a lesson. I’ll look forward to reading your post on Friday!
Mrs. Rombach 🙂
I am worried about homelessness people because there are tons of people around the world who don’t have homes and that is very sad. They don’t deserve to live like this and instead they should actually have homes to live in. I want to help those people who have no homes. It would have a huge impact if nobody was homeless.
You’re right, Nethra. Some people are forced out of their homes because of catastrophic events, like job loss, divorce, even hospitalization costs that one family can’t repay. No one wants to be homeless; we need to figure out how to provide shelter and food to all people when there are emergencies beyond their control. Raise your voice for homelessness!
Dear Mrs. Rombach,
I am worried about kids getting bullied just because they have problems or they are in different. It is unfair because everyone should be equal and not left behind. I think it’s very bad because I’ve been through bullying so I know how it feels to be left out and being called names.
Minahil-
Thank you for sharing this very real concern. I’m sorry you’ve experienced bullying, but I’m glad that you’re willing to speak out against it. Raise your voice against bullying!
Mrs. Rombach
http://mrsrombachreads.edublogs.org
Dear Mrs.Rombach,
I am most worried about the animal abuse throughout the states. They are being starved and killed for meat. Did you know that in China there is a festival that kills dogs for there heads?After all,it has now been stopped.What do you think about animal abuse?
From Laura
Laura-
I did not know about that particular festival, but I do know that most of the illegal poaching trade is sold into China. As I said in class, there would not be animal poaching if people weren’t willing to pay big dollars for animal parts. It makes me so very sad. Raise your voice against animal abuse!
I am worried about the homeless people living in the world. Nobody should be living in poverty. I think it would have a huge impact if it was a world wide project to help them.
Pravallika-
You’re right. In a world where so few have so much, it’s sad that so many have so little. It feels upside down, doesn’t it? The truth is, it is better to give than to receive. What do you think we could do to help the homeless in our area? What about teens who are homeless? Raise your voice against homelessness!
I think it would be a great to have a donation county wide to help those in need t must feel horrible being homeless when everyone else has a good life and complain about petty things when they should have empathy and lift them up. Also make them feel no different that they are homeless.
Wow! You’re blog told me lots of cool facts I never knew before like 96% of all fish tested in major rivers and streams contained pesticide residue! I never really thought about it, but now that you brought it to my awareness, I have to agree that it is a huge problem. I think climate change is a big issue, and hardly enough people recognize it for how big of an issue it really is, let alone believe it exists in the first place. I can’t wait to hear more!
Sean
You’re right, Sean. It’ll take voices like yours to encourage not only a change in attitude, but a change in the way we view our impact on the world we inhabit. Raise your voice about climate change!
I agree! People should definitely be more careful about the environment in general, although that’s not to say people don’t worry about it. I think that the arts, whether it be music, acting, singing, music, or painting, are downgraded in schools. I actually have a paper I wrote about this on Google Docs, I could share it with you (Mrs. Rombach) if you want. Also, do you think people will eventually stop using harmful chemicals?
I think taking care of our water is important. The Earth is made up of about 75% of water and even though that seems like a lot, when we pollute the water it pollutes a lot of water too. Also i would like to know how fast the chemicals go into our ground water supply from the soil, and if we can help the chemicals come out of the ground water supply?
My worry is people abusing animals and being unfair to animals. I’ve heard that people have been adopting less black dogs than any other dogs and that is sad to me.
Cecelia-
How might you use your blog to spread the word about adopting homeless or mistreated animals? Raise your voice to help stop animal abuse! We’ll post our blogs on Friday.
Mrs. Rombach
I think that people should help animals that are sick and homeless.
Zoe-
All animals depend on us…domestic animals depend on us for humane treatment, food, and shelter. Wild animals depend on us to protect their environment and safeguard their lives against poachers. Raise your voice on behalf of the creatures of the world that can’t speak for themselves. We’ll post our blogs on Friday…Blog Action Day!
–Mrs. Rombach