What Baby will You Have-- Gucci, Prada, or Dior?

Sure, we've all heard about the 1% products: designer handbags, designer shades, designer jewelry, and those designer shoes. But what about a designer baby? According to the Embryo Project, a designer baby is a baby genetically engineered in vitro for specially selected traits, like gender and abilities. "In vitro", in Latin, is literally "in glass", which means that for designer babies, their fertilization occurs in a test tube- once their traits have been determined. The term was coined in the early 2000's, and in 2004 got an entry in the Oxford Dictionary. I strongly believe for an infinite number of reasons, that families should not opt for a designer baby.

A legal change is needed now more than ever. The root of the problem is when parents get to choose exactly what they want in their children, no problems, nothing they don't want, just perfect little China dolls they call their family. Designer parents can choose everything - including eye color, hair color, academic ability, strength; you name it. According to actionbioscience.org, a long term problem of designing babies lies in societies in which one gender or other important characteristic is favored over the other. In countries such as China and India where boys are favored over girls, this technology could be used so that every set of parents that wants a baby boy will get one. However, that is not evolutionarily favorable. If a generation of only boys were to be made, the human race would be eradicated. Not only this, we are increasing the gap between rich and impoverished. Like those designer jeans, designer babies cost some cash. Therefore, either you're rich and perfect, or your poor with "undesirable" traits. This will significantly reduce your chances at a higher education, career, and beyond. And why? Because your parents didn't have the money to make you a Barbie Doll.

Let me back you up on the numbers: According to healthline.com, having a perfect child can cost you from $50,000 to $120,000 which is almost 3 times what the average U.S. family makes in an entire year. This goes to further prove my point on how the rich would lead a much better life than the poor. The New York University School of Medicine states that in a survey of 1,000 people who sought genetic counseling, 10% of respondents said they would want genetic testing for athletic ability, while another 10% voted for improved height, 13% backed the approach to select for superior intelligence, and another 13% wanted to choose their children's gender. Altogether, this is already almost half of the population who want to alter their kids' true potential talent into what they believe is best for them without even giving them a chance to breathe - literally.

Imagine what this would look like in 25 years, if we allowed designer babies. You have always been a hard worker, ever since you were born, all through freshman year of high school. You never gave up, turned on your homework on time, were a pleasure to have in class. Your 1st semester grade comes in...a C. You figure out that all of the scores have been scaled by percentile, so all of the designer babies set up for academic success have the Ivy's lining up, but you just lost your chance. Not to worry, basketball tryouts are after school, you can probably get a scholarship for your real talent, right? Think again. The kids who are coded to be Michael Jordan's beat you in every single layup, even though you are trying so much harder than them. You somehow make it to the workforce and decide to get a job. Unfortunately, your designer baby friends are there too. You have a 10% chance of cancer, eyeglasses, and stage fright. Your designer babies have none, so consider yourself unemployed. So you basically lost your entire life because your parents didn't have $75,000 lying around 20 years ago. See what I mean? Our gap would be unthinkable. America prides itself on equal opportunities, so there is absolutely no reason to go ahead with designer babies.

We need to make a change now before it gets worse. We try to teach kids that you have to accept yourself the way you are and you were born that way for a reason. That reason should not be because your Bill Gates parents designed you that way! The cost is sky-high so only the rich can afford, and ruins many normal people's chances at life itself. Join me now in stopping this outrage, and feel proud for who you really are, not who your parents want you to be. Don't let us determine our talent, but let our talent determine us.

The War on Bullying

You thought you were strong, you thought that you could handle the battle. Each bullet you had was courage, each spear good will. You thought you would win, leave victorious, walk out with a smile; but you never know how large a war was until you count the losses.

Bullying has become an undeniable issue the world needs to combat more than ever, yet we still believe that is a nonexistent struggle. The preliminary fires are shot; the name-calling, the teasing, the pointing and laughing. Your breastplate of bravery takes the shock, and you march on, feeling a little shaken, but still with a goal. The other side recruits more people who you thought were on yours, and as you look around, the ones you thought would stand up for you have left. The harsh words pierce through your armor, biting and nipping at you, until it extrapolates into a full scale battle-- them against you. No one is on your side now, and your armor of justice has been stripped off. Your helmet of knowledge is shot down, affecting your ability to think. You've lost your bullets and spears now, and you're standing defenseless, almost planning your death day. You feel weak and numb, and call for help, but your pleas go unheard. The people you thought you could trust-- parents, mentors, teachers, wave it off and silently cheer the other side on. Each picture, text, kick, punch, pitches in to your demise. You shrivel up under the heat of oppression, and the bullets keep firing. You didn't do anything wrong, yet what did you do to deserve this? You see the blood flowing out now, flooding the battlefield you thought was a safe place to be. You've bended and you're reaching your breaking point now, and every day you go back to fight this constant struggle. How can you fight a war you know you're going to lose? You drag on for months, trying not to let it consume you, but it does. The final blow pierces your heart and you collapse. No one seems to notice.

According to a 2014 UCLA Study on Psychology, over 75% of teens in the US alone have experienced some type of bullying at school. Since when has a safe learning environment turned into a place of hatred and fear? These teens are fighting a battle they never signed up for, they are the victims of their own war every day. Bully victims are between 4 to 9 times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims, Yale University states. And to go further, a quarter of a million  kids stay home from school every day from fear of bullying. Ceasefire attempts never set foot, and the weapons are relentless. The battle gear we want our future generations to have-- justice, goodwill, knowledge, and courage, have been snatched from these victims and yet we blame them for taking it seriously. But for how long can we ignore this war?

These innocent people need our help, and they need it now, America. Denial or ignorance only worsens the issue at hand, and we can't afford it at this point. These teens had successful lives ahead of them-- future Steve Jobs and Hillary Clintons. They cut their lives short when the war wouldn't end, and when their own weapons of respect and dignity were taken from them. For far too long, the numbers have been escalating, and we are sitting here shrugging it off and telling people to get over it. Light the way for those in the dark, speak up for those who have been silenced, and fight the war for those who feel like they've lost.

Pass the Potato Chips, Please

Potato chips, candy bars, ice cream and more. The first things you think of when you hear junk food. For the purposes of our debate, however, allow me to define junk food as food that has comparably low nutritional value, and a public school as a school that is funded by a local government. The debate should focus on the presence of junk food in public schools through forms of vending machines, lunches, etc. and not on the marketing aspect of it. The debate is not about limiting or placing restrictions on these foods, but an absolute banning of it. Junk foods have been on the debating table for ages now, and it is high time that we come to our senses and keep these foods in public schools.

First of all, schools should mirror the real world, and teach a student important skills like decision-making. According to NBC News, over half of the parents who sent their children to public schools felt that it was not preparing them for reality. It is inevitable for people to make choices regarding food and health in the future outside of school, and we need to provide a similar environment for kids in schools. To be clear, I am not particularly endorsing junk food, rather, I am supporting freedom of choice. Similar to how students make elective choices with parental influence, there is every reason for it to be the same for food selections. According to Gallup.com, which has conducting  several surveys on this topic states, "Americans broadly support the proposed regulations that would not ban school junk food sales outright, but would somehow limit the number that fail to meet federal nutritional guidelines." It should be crystal clear now that having junk food in schools is a must to teach future generations the value of their decisions.

Moreover, healthy food is considerably more expensive than junk food. According to a 2014 study by Cambridge University, "Eating health costs more than three times as much as consuming unhealthy food, and the price gap in widening." And while some may believe that the majority can afford this, I will reassure you that this is not the case.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, "In 2013, the official poverty rate was 14.5%, or about 45 million Americans." And out of these 45 million Americans that went to school, all of them attended a public school in lieu of a private school, the National Center of Education observed. They also found out that over 70% of impoverished Americans attending a public school bought their lunches from the school. When we simply get rid of all junk food, we are directly making it harder for impoverished families to afford expensive and healthy meals. For a student coming from a struggling family, the cost will triple, making it not worth the precious money, and they are left with no other alternative but to not buy the food on a regular basis. To go further, The Food Effect stated that hunger will result in a significant decrease in academic performance. We cannot ignore these numbers and the direct effect they will have on many Americans.

Not only this, junk food profits help out many public schools, who are in need of all the money they can get, and banning junk food could have serious ramifications. For the Southern Berkshire Regional Schools, junk food is no longer sold. However, the School Committee is reconsidering this decision. For the district, junk food had produced an average profit margin of 70%, 50% more than the margin on healthy foods. According to Southern Berkshire Regional, the number of meals served per day has dropped almost 100 meals a day, after the ban. Their deficit has doubled and would require an increase in the lunch price, and a reduction in cafeteria staffing. For example, sodas make a lot of cash for public school. In 2005, according Pediatrics Digest, nearly half of all public elementary schools and about 80 percent of public middle and high schools operated under pouring rights contracts, which meant they had an exclusive contract with a soda company. A Rockford, Illinois describes their contract with Coca-Cola: "Under the existing 10-year contract, Coca-Cola has paid the district $4 million upfront and an additional $350,000 a year to sell its beverages in schools. The annual payments have funded field trips, gym uniforms, SMART Boards and other frills that individual school budgets may not otherwise have afforded." These sales have allowed schools to refine their programs, which would have been impossible without junk food.

In conclusion, it has become a must to keep junk food in public schools. Countless studies and polls have proven that keeping food selections varied teaches future generations important decision-making skills which they will need for the real world. Additionally, many Americans cannot afford an expensive and healthy lifestyle, and in order to get any food at all, they resort to junk food. Lastly, junk food sales can actually help schools in need of the extra cash. From the above evidence, it is obvious that the incontrovertible arguments for junk food will outweigh any from the opposition. It's very simple: A lack of junk food in schools lacks validity.

Society

Society

The ones who tell us that we're not good enough

Need to be tougher

Try harder

Be smarter

Society

The ones who show us cropped

and photoshopped ads

And tell us

Hey

Why can't you be like that?

Society

The ones who tell us to be skinny

But not anorexic

Funny

But not a comedian

Smart

But not a nerd

A leader

But not bossy

Society

The ones who say look at this

Be like her

They say to model ourselves after "the one"

But who is"the one?"

Can't you be "the one?"

Society

The ones who force girls to starve herself another day

The ones who force boys to take another pill and pray

The ones who force a girl to start dieting at the age of 8

The ones who force a boy to just suck it up take the bait

Society

The silent killer

After it's own people

We shrug it off

Even though the problem has become too big to ignore

Society

The ones who don't give us guidelines

Or lifelines

Rather they throw us into their game

Without telling us the instructions

Society

The ones who whisper every moment of the day

Ugly

Fat

Dumb

Poor

Jabbing at us these words

That we were unfamiliar with before

We are sitting here

Waiting for the change to happen

But the 5 people that have committed suicide because of society's undying glare

since the time I started speaking

Until now

Couldn't wait any longer

They broke

Erupted

Collapsed

All we ever wanted was to be

Accepted

Loved

Embraced for our differences

In our own homes

A right that should have never been denied

But it's been declined for too long

But now

Society

It's time to take charge

Because who makes up society?

We do

Set new rules

Change up the old

And tell our people

that you are beautiful in every way

And don't let society tell you any different

Because what society fails to realize is that we're all

Equal

Not identical