Our world and planet earth is deteriorating. Global warming and climate change are the processes causing us to heat up our earth due to human activities, we are the main contributor of this environmental catastrophe. Humans are increasingly influencing climate change by burning fossil fuels, cutting down rainforests and farming livestock are few of the hundreds of activities humans have created which in turn fuels the process of global warming. Global warming affects our oceans, our atmosphere, and our daily lives. Not only are we negatively affected by the effects today, but we fail to understand the significance our actions will have in 20 years.
So what are we doing? The main cause of this threat known as global warming is greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). We release these emissions in countless ways, driving cars, turning on our lights, as well as using our heaters. The usages of microplastics are another harmful human activity because the using of this product most often ends up in our oceans if not recycled properly. Even so the amount of Co2 emissions caused to create a single micro plastic is astounding. Microplastics include but are not limited to microbeads found in personal care products, plastic pellets, and sythethetic plastic fibers used in textiles. Micro plastics are any form of plastic less than 5 mm in length. One of the most common microplastics used by humans are; plastic straws.
Plastic straws, the product that kills. Every year 100 million marine animals die from plastic waste alone. 80% of the plastic we humans use end up in our oceans. 267 species are affected by this selfish manner. One in three leatherback turtles are found with plastic in themselves. The United states alone discards 500 million plastic straws a day, that’s 1.4 million plastic straws sent into our landfills and oceans everyday! Not only that but the production ratio of carbon emissions to plastic is a whopping 5:1.
Knowing this information you may feel inflicted, do you enjoy your beverage comfortably with a straw or let your teeth become numb from the lack of one.
“The alternative I represent with you today are metal straws. “
Metal straws are an alternative to this life threatening product. Like the product name they are straws made from metal, meaning they are reusable and eco friendly! A few benefits of using metal straws include their durability, safety, portability, reusability, and cost. Metal straws are an easy thing the average person can switch to and use, you don’t have to be a full time activist to help. You can simply carry around a stainless steel and aesthetically pleasing straw when you wish to enjoy your cool beverage of choice. Help save our ocean friends and be a part of the change. At the end of the day We need to change, We need you.
How have technological advancements affected Gen-Z?
You find yourself sitting in front of your TV after a long day at the office, your eyes staring at the screen set in front of you as you wait for the VCR to begin to ‘’time shift’’ the last episode of your favorite show you just happened to miss, by a mere hour. This is a scenario the majority of Baby boomers and 43% of the millennial generation would be able to reconcile. Cable Television and VCRs, these forms of entertainment/news may have been the platforms used for more than 50 years by mature generations, but a high number of generationZ have no knowledge of these terms.
DIGITAL NATIVES
Generation Z are known as the ‘’digital Natives’’ Because they grew up shaped by technology, and the internet is an integral aspect of their daily life. Generation Z didn’t grow up sitting at the kitchen table listening to a band playing on the radio, they grew up with a smart phone in their hands as they spent their days scrolling through social media such as Instagram. What does this mean and how has this shaped our young generation of humans and future adults to our society. Before we begin to discuss that why don’t we first explain to those who may not be aware what a VCR is, and what cable Tv is. (what’s even funnier is I have never even seen a VCR prior to my research. ha-ha. But the internet verified the info so …. lets just go with it!)
WHAT IS A VCR?
Cable Television, commonly abbreviated as CATV. The system of delivering TV programming through Via Radio frequencies. The more recent cable systems opted for light pulses and fiber optic cables. Cable TV broadcasts television, (otherwise known as terrestrial television) through over-the-air signal transmission with radio waves and communication satellites. This was the standard analog television seen in the 20th century. In 1968 6.4% of Americans had CATV. There was a 7.5% increase(0.48%) in 1978. By 1994 62.4% of Americans had CATV. Near the year 2000s cable systems had begun to upgrade into digital cables. These digital cables have higher HD videos, more channels, and have provided more services. Examples of what these cable/satellite, channels/cable advanced into, are some we see today including; HBO, cartoon net, nickelodeon, PBS, and fox sports television… you get the point? Verify this from the wikipedia article we linked earlier.
Some Questions To Note
How have these technological advancements affected our younger generation, more specifically generation Z. And What does this mean for our society as a whole and its future?
As we know Generation Z is the generation of digital natives that have grown up with the world revolving around technology which has ultimately shaped these young beings and their minds.
and here i go:
Technology has increased connectivity with the outer world as well as increased the rates for suicide and depression, and the way people (gen-z) view themselves. A few of the core characteristics we see in generation Z include political progressivism, a normalization in diversity, and as well as being pragmatic and financially minded. These technological developments have affected the amount of affection kids need from their parents, family mealtimes are being shared and spent over a screen rather than being talked to one another.
Generation Z is also known to be the generation with the most reported mental health problems. (will add quote later) All of this is connected to being born into the digital world. Growing up with the normalization that everyone has an iPhone, this advancement witnessed first hand for this is the first time in history . While the biggest issue generation Z has come into contact with is a global pandemic, this has only sequentially forced them deeper into the ocean of the internet.
To summarize all that has been discussed, The technological advancement of Cable TV and VCRs has impacted our youth both positively and negatively, it is still yet to be confirmed whether or not one side outweighs the other, the only way we will be able to see this plan through is to live it out. One day at a time lets keep learning and lets keep moving forward. 🙂
By Jerin Sharif February 27 2021 – Research Article for class | Did Mr. Mars Patel Make the right decision in going to mars?
Soaring high and above the stars with an unknown bionic ability in hopes to save your friends with a coarse start to your plan. Never did a middle school outcast believe he would lead himself to this point.
The disappearance of the Mars Patel podcast is a story of a group of 11 year olds trying to pinpoint the blame on the sudden disappearance of their friends. The more they questioned the deeper they fell into the contorted plan of a competent man going by the name Oliver Pruitt.
Mars Patel and his friends find themselves faced with two options in a deal with Mr. Pruitt about the astrological school, Pruitt Prep. Being consumed by guilt, Mars Patel makes a compromise with the powerful man to allow his friends a safe way out, leaving Mars to attend a hidden school that specializes in the supernatural procreated by none other than Oliver Pruit
Would you attend Pruitt Prep? Given the extreme opportunity I find myself undoubtedly answering yes. I acknowledge the vulnerability you could in fact put yourself in but I also take in the knowledge of a malignant power, attending a school that specializes in the supernatural, and the thrilling understanding between working in spite, or willingly working alongside a man with a school existing higher than some will ever tra
In the Mars Patel podcast The group of kids in search of their friends make their way onto an island that supposedly is where Pruitt Prep is known to exist. While on this island they realize they are experiencing a certain skill unique to them, become incredibly enhanced. Mars Patel was deemed the only one unable to experience or perceive his capability.
A few of the powers the kids experienced were, invincibility, mind reading, and advanced intelligence. They perceived these abilities through obstacles they dealt with while in search of this magical school. The idea of an ability unique to you in whatever way, suddenly becoming of your knowledge, is entrancing. Any form of supernatural ability ranging from physically traveling elsewhere to being able to manipulate others with only your mind, that enhancement to anyone, any human can give you so many advantages.
Imagine this, you wake up one morning to find yourself waking up 25 minutes late because you forgot to set your alarm. You will only be late because you take the subway to get to your place of business, so what do you do? Well let’s say you had an enhancement or ability and it was speed, because of this enrichment you are able to ‘’speed walk’’ to your destination with almost 30 minutes of extra sleep and no repercussions.
Even a simple intensification to your hearing lets say, could benefit you in plentiful ways. If I had suddenly woken up one day with an ability like one of the kids in the podcast, I could only hope that my endowment would be telekinesis. Telekinesis, the power to manipulate an object(s) with mind control and not physical power. I myself have intuited a habit of multitasking so i tend to do many or multiple things at once, think of it as you may whether you believe it’s a stressful and unhealthy habit or a productive skill, but we can agree that in my case it makes sense as to why telekinesis is quit winsome to me. At first I may have trouble like it’s typically displayed in movies or books, but training at pruitt prep could only strengthen my power abilities.
Considering pruitt prep is a tuition free private school that specializes specifically in the supernatural with two locations, one being on another literal planet, it would be quite a marveling experience attending there. The first location of pruitt prep is on the island the kids had discovered they each had an inhuman gift unique to them, excluding mars. It was only towards and at the end of the podcast they realized the school itself wasn’t a normal building. It was one that doubled as a rocket ship too, you guessed it the red planet of mars. Now if we were to assume what the schools community was like, it wouldn’t be too far of a guess to assume it would be highly competitive. A bunch of kids with abilities they know no one else has, could most likely inspire a level of cockiness in themselves.
Nonetheless you would be given the opportunity to travel to mars while also able to make some stable relationships with others that could understand you. I think of Pruitt prep as an academy/boarding/private school type of situation. With the option Mars had chosen he made the verdict to not see anyone outside of the people attending that school and working there. Meaning he would ultimately have to stay there overnight. Considering he’s attending a school formulated by an awfully powerful man, you could make the assumption that the overnight part wouldn’t be the worst living situation. Sharing a room of course may not be the most extravagant experience but it is a chance to create allies with others when in such a competitive environment. Because mars patels goal is to save his friend who is on the planet of mars, most likely she (his friend, aurora) has either found the weak spots of the school or has created a few allies herself with the same intentions as she and him. Mars and Aurora are the only two kids in the story that were a part of the group that discovered their powers but they themselves didn’t seem to have any. I think because we aren’t aware of either party’s ability it is specifically because there’s are extremely powerful, especially Marss ability considering he’s like a leader to the band of kids, he’ll only know if he goes to Pruitt prep. The only question Mars has yet to answer is; how will he go forward. Will he work for a man he used to call his hero? Or will he work against the most vengeful man in the world?
It would be quite understandable if Mars had concluded that working for Oliver pruitt would give him an extremely ambiguously alarming future. Not only is he an untrustworthy man but he has also created an illegal school on a wandering star that has been kept as a secret from the government on this podcast. He has taken kids from all over the world and has specifically taken them to attend his school. Do we know why he has taken these certain kids or what their lives are like in the school? No ,as far as our knowledge of this school expands, we are unaware of either answer to these questions. What we do know is all of these kids have been renamed missing ever since they were “recruited’’ by Mr. pruitt and have had all contact with their friends and family members cut off. There are many more questions with unknown answers as to why and where these kids are and what has happened to them. If mars Patel were to also go down the same path as them, there would be absolutely no way to measure whether he would be physically or mentally safe in this school. While knowing all of this we still don’t know what Oliver Pruitt’s goal and intentions are with this little 11 year old unless we decide to investigate it by accepting his grand invitation or in other words, Mars living up to his end of the deal and working alongside him. Although attending a school with a grandiose secret to almost all, if I were to share my thoughts as to what this indian American minor should do, I would say he should go to mars.
In my personal opinion on this situation and if I were in mars patel’s shoes I would almost indefinitely choose to work alongside our dear Mr Oliver pruitt. We know Oliver pruitt does not have the best history 1n being quite fair, but he did consistently keep his word every time he promised to do something. For references sake he frequently stated and I quote, “to the stars “as a way of telling us the school exists like he conveyed, above the stars. This unforgivingly powerful man has control over whoever he wishes due to his extreme wealth, making him that much more affaciuse in comparison to this compulsive decision making 11 year old. If Mars patel even tries to make an attempt to overthrow Oliver pruitt I will passionately conclude that he will in fact fail. Oliver Pruitt is displayed as a cruel and unforgiving character by the author and was perceived as the villain of this tail, but why must we see that as a bad thing? We see that villains are always the bad people in books, movies, or shows and almost always side with the other characters we perceive as heroes or, ‘’the good guys’’. When in fact villains are really just the characters that hold a side of the story no one made an effort to understand. For all we know This man’s intentions could be to simply give these kids an experience others won’t be able to have and make them the best version of themselves. Because we don’t know what Mr. pruitts goals really are, we musnt be so unforgiving and draw a picture in our minds that he is planning something harmful to others. To end my thought I would like to mention Mars patel has yet to be physically or mentally harmed while in Mr. Pruitts care, his best and the way I see it, the only option, is to work with this misconceived man.
The disappearance of the mars Patel podcast displays a number of teens that band together as a group of detectives and follow the trail of the as stated, wealthiest man in existence. Mars patel had made the selfless decision in a deal with Oliver pruitt and still has a strong goal left clear in his mind, Save his friend aurora. As discussed with the information above mars Patel did not make a mistake in accepting the invitation to attend pruitt prep and his decision has only opened up a door of opportunities necessary for this middle schooler if he wishes any chance in seeing his goal through. If Mars Patel goes to Pruitt prep he will be able to discover his superhuman ability. His power has an extremely high probability of being more influential than the ones recognized by his friends. Attending a school made by and for the wealthy is in fact a gift and something that should be much more appreciated by all of these teenagers. Lastly, I strongly stand by my argument that Oliver Pruitt should not have been seen as the bad guy of this story. He was misunderstood and wrongly interpreted. Putting aside all of this enlightenment, in all honesty Mars only chance of survival is to in fact work with the man he once saw as his own personal hero. Realistically he does not have even the slightest of a chance in single handedly going against this prestigious man. If he can put aside his personal doubting’s about this fellow, he will be able to give himself the best shot in saving Aurora. Mars Patel did not make a mistake.
