The Dangers Of Speeding                                                               Matt Whittington

Speeding while driving is easily one of the most dangerous things a driver can do while behind the wheel. The chances of even a strong driver getting into an accident are high when they do not follow the speed limits listed on roads. Many people use being late for work or class as an excuse to drive fast, but it is not worth it to the risk of injury, or death to themselves, and the other innocent drivers on the road. According to a study by WWW.NHTSA.GOV, speeding is a factor in 33% of all car crashes. This averages out to have about 13,000 lives loss every single year in the United States alone. Sometimes it does not seem like a big deal to speed because your in a rush, or if but fighting the temptation could be a life saver. Also it is good to keep in mind that a speeding ticket will add points to your license, and could result in its suspension. However if you have a junior operators license one single ticket can have you lose your license for 180 days. These facts alone should be enough to keep drivers in line, but sometimes they simply do not.

Speeding, while very dangerous, is also very costly to the violator, and also to society. Also according to, WWW.NHTSA.GOV, in the United States it costs society a whopping 76,000 dollars for every single minute you gain by speeding. If you think that this is a lot, then you will be shocked to learn that speeding related car accidents costs society in the United States in excess of 40,000,000 dollars annually. Drivers should also keep in mind that according to WWW.FUELECONOMY.GOV, it costs drivers an extra $0.24 every gallon of gas for every 5 miles per hour you travel over 60 miles per hour. Driving past the posted speed limits can result out of pocket costs as a ticket can cost anywhere from $150 to over $1,000.

Speeding is the third leading contributor to traffic collisions, according to WWW.NSC.ORG. Speeding is behind impaired driving, and distracted driving, which sometimes can end up going hand in hand with each other. Doing any one of these is extremely dangerous, and it should go without saying that they absolutely under no circumstances should be combined because the result is nearly a guaranteed accident waiting to happen. Speeding may at times seem necessary, but it is not important enough to cause the death of another innocent person or yourself.

                                                                                                                        Matt Whittington

                                         Do Kids Get Too Much Screen Time?

            Kids today have far too many hours with all types of electronic devices. The internet is a very useful tool for studying, completing homework, and finding valuable information. However it is also a fantastic way to waste valuable time away. For instance, Twitter, and Facebook are used for hours a day alone by some teens, even during school on their smartphones. This combined with television, also can disrupt sleep as kids are up late at night with technology. I agree with the pediatrics group that said to limit screen time to two hours a day because it would help kids in a variety of ways.

         In a Boston Baseball magazine, an article called, How To Use The Boston Baseball Scorecard, had an estimated reading age was 10 years old. Utilizing Fry's readability formula, a random one hundred word excerpt had only 124 syllables, with seven sentences. Plotting this on the Fry Graph For Estimating Reading Ages, I was able to find that the average reading age was ten. Also, this magazine in particular has a ratio of pages with ads to ad-free pages, of 43:25. This is astonishing because 43 of the pages have ads, while only 25 are ad free. This clearly shows that this magazine is geared towards making money more than providing the reader with an interesting story. This might also explain why the magazine has an average reading age of only 10. At my table, I had the magazine with the lowest reading age, while all four of the other kids had an estimated reading age of 15. This means that this magazine is open to a younger audience while the other magazines contain a far more complex vocabulary. A an average reader of this magazine may be about 10 to 15 years old male, interested in baseball, with any reading level that enjoys Boston sports.

Matt Whittington

Journalism F

The actual cost of public schools

        Are students at public high schools paying too much money for things such as: athletic user fees, prom tickets, lunches, parking fees, transportation fees, or class dues? Many students, and parents agree. While a public education is supposedly free, hidden costs can put thousands of hard earned dollars right down the drain. Another good example of this is the numerous school supplies required for schoolwork, such as graphing calculators which normally sell at about one hundred dollars. Through numerous sources, and data, it is pretty safe to say that students do indeed pay too much money for high school.

        Many students at Norton High School also believe that they are required to pay too much money for school. When asked how they felt about the fees that came with attending the school in a survey, 14 of them said that they pay too much money. The other three went as far as saying that the amount of money they pay is downright outrageous. Not a single student out of the 17 said it was a fair amount, or chose little to none.

        These concealed prices also plague high schools around the nation, not just in Norton. In an article from www.usnews.com, the Krause family dishes out thousands for their child, “Confronted with the option to pay $1,500 a year for a school bus to come, the Krause family decided to drive their daughter both ways each day instead—a cost of about $150 a week, Krause estimates.” This is just one example with the high cost for transportation to and from school on a daily basis. Other high schools are also finding new ways to get money, “At high schools in several states, it can cost more than $200 just to walk in the door, thanks to registration fees, technology fees and unspecified "instructional fees." This was found from an article on http://online.wsj.com.

        It is obvious that many schools around the nation are in desperate need of funding, but does that make it okay to make students pay secret, hidden fees? One civil liberties group does not think so in an article from http://www.nytimes.com, “Now a civil liberties group is suing California over those proliferating fees, arguing that the state has failed to protect the right to a free public education.” This California group actually believes that these fees are not only unjust, but unconstitutional. School fees have been slowly rising from year to year as school administrators learn that they can get away with these fees, but it will be interesting to see if the government cracks down on unconstitutional fees.

                           Proposed Researched Question

                                                                                                                                         Matt Whittington

                     How do the students at Norton High School feel about all of the fees they are expected to pay, such as: athletic user fees, class dues, or the parking fee?

                                                                                         Matt Whittington
                                                                         F Journalism
                                        Mixed Methods
The research from the Alantic article utilized mixed methods. The author, Karl Greenfeld, did all of his daughters homework for a week. One example of quantitative data he collected is when he started an e-mail chain, “That night, in an e-mail chain started by the class parent to seek chaperones for a field trip, I removed the teacher’s name, changed the subject line, and then asked the other parents in the class whether their children found the homework load onerous.” He recorded data from others, therefore this is quantitative. One example of qualitative data Karl recorded is when he did his daughters homework. "Tonight we have 12 more algebra equations," says Karl, and "45 more pages of Angela’s Ashes, and a Humanities project." This was a personal experience because he physically did it himself, and is therefore qualitative data. Another example of qualitative data is when he has to read his daughters book. "I sneak in and grab her copy of Angela’s Ashes and catch up on my reading, getting all the way to page 120." Says Karl. He had to actually read the book, and that is why this is another form of qualitative data. Karl Greenfeld utilized qualitative, and quantitative data, or mixed methods.

Matt Whittington  

Period:F

             The Man, The Myth, The Legend: Austin Cheda

Austin Cheda is a senior who attends Norton High School. For 

sports, Austin is a basketball player with a younger brother, and a 

cat named Lily. Austin claims that he is a fan of The Dark Knight 

films: "my favorite movies are from The Dark Knight  trilogy." 

Austin is a fan of many bands, and artists, but does not have a 

favorite. He states, "There is too many to pick." When Austin 

states, "no, no I have never killed a man" he claims he is not a 

murderer. "The last meal I ever get to eat before I die will have to 

be lasagna," says Cheda, "I love lasagna." Austin is an awesome 

guy, and seems like a cool guy to hang out with.