5) Explore what you already know. Access Leading Issue summaries ("Topic Overview" or "At Issue" Pages) and Timeline (under Research Tools) from the SIRS Leading Issue you have chosen. In 3-5 sentences, summarize the background and historical information of the Leading Issue you selected. Include main controversies, key figures, important organizations, and key events.

Briefly list what you know about your topic already. Consider the following:

1) Surprising facts or statistics

- 42% of all teenagers have been bullied while online. 

- 77% of all students have admitted of being bullied in some type of way. 
- 9 out of 10 gay or lesbian teens are reported bullied. 

2) the extent of the problem

-This problem is very serious because many teens are being bullied and many situations have lead to teenagers committing suicide. 

3) important people or institutions involved
- teenagers are the main priority in these scenarios and are the ones that are mainly involved.

4) key schools of thought
- teachers are a good way of stopping bullying because you can always go to them for advice and they are well educated so they should know what to say to you if you go to them for help.

5) common misconceptions
- All bullies were bullied themselves at one point. 
- All bullies bully others because it makes them feel better. 
6) observations you've made

- I have observed that most bullies are bullying others because they are afraid of getting bullied themselves. 

7) important trends
- twenty percent of children between the ages of two through seventeen were bullied last year.

8) major controversies
- bullying clubs
- laws against bullying 

4a) Make a final decision about your logical argument research topic. What is it? Questions to ask yourself:

What have we been studying in class this year?
- in class this year we have studied how to identify a URL, and identify how to know if a website is fake or not.
Which subjects appeal to me?
- i enjoy learning about History and also some science classes.
What are people writing about?
- Other people are writing about serious cases as well such as child sexual abuse.
What's most interesting to me? 
- i love to play basketball with my friends and family.
Can I find information about that?
- You can always find information about basketball.
4b) Why are you most interested in the topic of argument selected?
Bullying is a serious topic that i would like to write about and discuss because it is a new topic and it should be addressed in order to be stopped. 

CRITICAL THINKING AND ANALYSIS

Critical Thinking & Analysis

1. Why do you think the teenage pregnancy rate in the U.S. is higher than in many other industrialized nations?
   - I believe that teenage pregnancy is more known in America because there are shows based off of teenage pregnancy and the american society is known to be more crazy and more open which affects younger people.
2. What role should abstinence education play as part of a general strategy to prevent teen pregnancy?
   - Abstinence education should play A major role because students go to school everyday and by learning about this early can have teens think twice before engaging in sexual contact.
3. What role should access to contraceptives play as part of a general strategy to prevent teen pregnancy?
   - Contraceptives should be a good way to prevent pregnancy but then again if someone is on birth control then they will most likely engage in sexual contact because they know they are safe.
4. Using evidence from articles you have read, describe the role of politics in determining which teen pregnancy prevention strategy is advocated?
   - based on articles that i read there is not much of a role in polotics about this. They all say that it is bad but nothing is done about it.
   
   

   Critical Thinking & Analysis

   1. Do you think there should be a cap imposed on the salaries of professional athletes? Why or why not?
      - Yes because too much money is being spent on players. 
   2. Should athletes be allowed to earn additional money through endorsement deals? Explain.
      - Yes because athletes are being asked to expose a companies products so they should get paid.
   3. What reasons could someone give for justifying the high salaries of some athletes?
      - They are the best players so they deserve to get paid more.
   4. Should an athlete’s salary be based on his/her performance on the playing field? Explain.
      - Yes because if they are winning championships then they deserve to get paid.
      
      

      Critical Thinking & Analysis

   1. Should states adopt stricter penalties for drivers who refuse to take a BAC test? Why or why not?
      - Yes because this can help save lives of people. 
   2. Should laws be enacted that require ignition-interlock devices for all convicted drunk drivers, including first-time offenders? Why or why not?
      - Yes because you can make sure those people arent doing this again. 
   3. Do you think DUI checkpoints should be used more often and in more places? Explain.
   4. Describe other measures you think could be implemented to reduce drunk driving.
      
      

      Critical Thinking & Analysis

      1. Is organic food worth the extra cost?
         - organic food is worth the extra cost because it is healthier and it can stop a person from growing fatter and they can love a healthier lifestyle 
      2. Should public schools offer organic foods?
         - Yes they should be offered in public schools because since America is trying to avoid obesity they should start in young public schools.
      3. Is organic food better for the planet?
         - It shouldnt count because it is not processed therefore there is no difference if food is regular or organic
      4. How should organic food be labeled?
         - There should be an organic section for all of the organic foods.
         

         Critical Thinking & Analysis

         1. Do you think schools are doing enough to stop bullying? Explain your answer.
            - there isnt enough being done in schools because there is still bullying in schools and many cases of it. 
         2. How should bullies be punished?
            - Depending on how severe the bullying comes to there should be serious consequences. 
         3. What should schools do to help students who are the victims of bullies?
            - Schools should punish the bullies and have the students go to counciling to make sure they will not try to do something rash and harmful. 
         4. What are the reasons that students bully other students? How can this behavior be changed?
            - Students bully others to fit in and not to get bullied themselves. this behavior can be changed by a severe punishment.

Writing Prompt #5 

What cases can be made for against your topic. 

3) Potential research topics
Choose five topics that you think are potential research topics for your paper and briefly (in 2 to 5 sentences) explain why these topics are of interest to you.



1) Teenage Pregnancy interests me because there ar many teenagers that become pregnant in todays society and it is a shame to see television shows about them. Also, i dont understand why there are so many pregnant girls when we have many advanced ways to prevent this from happening. 

2) Sports interest me because i love sports and i am an athletic person. Basketball is my favorite sport and i love learning about sports. 

3) Drunk Driving interests me because it is an important topic that should be covered. Also, there are many incidents that occur and i always wanted to know usually what happens to a person who is caught drunk driving. 

4) Bullying is a very important topic in my belief. There are way too many cases of bullying and it is very hard to see something like that happen in front of you. Also, i would really like to make change in some way and try to prevent bullying from occurring in my community. 

5) Organic Food is a topic that interets me because i feel that there are many problems with obesity in our society and organic food would be better for everyone. Also, adding organic foods into our school systems can help with child obesity. 

4) Prewriting Question
What cases can be made for or against X? 

Teenage Pregnancy- A case that can be made against teenage pregnancy is that a young lady cannot support herself and a baby. This is what often leads to making the decision of an abortion. A case for teenage pregnancy  can be that it is the persons choice so it should not matter if they want a baby or not. 
Sports- A case that can be made for sports is that sports are a good way to entertain people and have some excitement in our society. An argument against sports can be that people who are professional make more money than someone who goes to school and that isnt fair because the people who go to school have more work in life. 
Drunk Driving- Drunk driving is a serious problem all over the world. I dont believe anyone is for drunk driving therefore i will not make a claim for drunk driving. Everyone is probably against drunk driving because it is a serious crime that leads to many people getting hurt and families being destroyed. Drunk driving is a serious case that has to be addressed. 
bullying-  bullying is a serious problem in America. Many cases can be made against it including, it is mental, physical, and emotional abuse towards another human being with rights and privilege that everyone should have hat are the same. No one should be considered to be different and treated in a different manner because of something that makes that person stand out. 
Organic Food- There can be many claims for and against organic foods. People may be against organic food because of how expensive the food is. Many people are for it because it is healthy and it helps our society with our obesity problem. 

2) What "ticks you off"?

Make a list of four or five things that "tick you off." Explain why. (Choose significant things that others might experience as well. For instance, your little brother might tick you off, but there is little chance that this annoyance will yield a possible paper topic). It is possible that one of these annoyances can be transformed into an interesting, engaging, and researchable project.

1) I get ticked off when people do things that annoy me and they know what i get bothered by and then they do it anyways. This bothers me because i dont want people bothering me. 

2) I hate when i pour myself a bowl of cereal and there is no milk. I was looking forward to that cereal :(

3) When my girlfriend asks me the most oblivious questions. such as........ Is a professional soccer player good at kickball????? OBVIOUSLY!!

4) I hate when people ask me a question that they answer right after they ask it. What is the point of asking the question if you're going to answer it. 

5) I hate when my friends tell me to be some where at a specific time but im there at that time and they come 20 minutes late. Why are you late if you made the plans. 

6) I hate when im hungry and all i see are food advertisements or food commercials. 

7) I hate when a hamburger looks bigger on Tv and is twice less than the actual size. 

8) I hate when i get slapped. i HATE GETTING SLAPPED. 

Extra Credit Assignment

1. What did wiki software allow Web users to do that the Mosaic browser did not?                                   - Users could not create Web pages that they wanted to make.
2. What do blogs and wikis have in common?                                                                                                 -In both you are able to edit and modify web Pages. 
3. What problem did a young Jimmy Wales find with the World Book Encyclopedia?                                - Wales realized that there were so many things missing within the Encyclopedia.                                                                                                                                                              
4. How was Jimmy Wales inspired by the World Book Encyclopedia to create Wikipedia?                       - He tired an idea that reflected his childhood for the love of the Encyclopedia book. 
5. How have encyclopedias inspired you in your own life?                                                                            - Encyclopedias have inspired me to learn about the life that i live everyday because you can find out so many things in an encyclopedia. 
6. Why did Nupedia fail?                                                                                                                                     - after a year it only had 150 articles making it useless as an encyclopedia guide which is how it fell. 
7. How did wiki software change the ideas behind Nupedia?                                                                         - it combined two ideas to create an innovation that would be successful for everyone to use.
8. What is “crowdsourcing?”                                                                                                                             - crowdsourcing is obtaining needed services and ideas from an online community rather than a traditional employee or supplier. 
9. What do you think about the concept of “any fool in the world” being able to write articles for Wikipedia?                                                                                                                                                        - i think that it is true. because of how technology has shaped our world, anyone can basically create something on the web.
10. Do agree with the idea that “total idiots” could edit Wikipedia and of that being a good thing? Explain.                                                                                                                                                             - i disagree with this. If someone is not very good with information then they should not be editing Wikipedia because the wrong information will be provided for learners. 
11. Why do you think Wikipedia grew so fast and became so popular in such a short amount of time?    - i believe this happened because many people started to use this to help them learn and because a lot of money was put in to making sure that this is the first website that pops up. 
12. Do you believe Sanger’s elitist attitude was a good thing or a bad thing for Wikipedia?                        - By having an elitist attitude, Sanger threatened the company because this could have caused tension and people could not have agreed with what he thought should be done. 
13. What did you learn from the anecdote about the Wikipedia article on Einstein going to Albania for a passport in 1935?                                                                                                                                            - Einstein went to Albania to so King Koz could get him a visa into the U.S to evade the Nazis.
14. Explain this quote from the article: “I can’t imagine who could have written such detailed guidelines other than a bunch of people working together...It’s common in Wikipedia that we’ll come to a solution that’s really well thought out because so many minds have had a crack at improving it.”                                                                                                                                                   - This quote is trying to say that more people working on a task is better than an individual doing it because more ideas can be spread and it would be easier to create whatever the people decide to make. 
15. The author of the article states that Wikipedia “grew organically.” What does he mean by that?         - The author means that Wikipedia grew naturally. They did not advertise or try to become popular, they just became that way. 
16. How has Wikipedia “been the greatest collaborative knowledge project in history?”                            - Wikipedia has been this because Wikipedia offers so much information on certain topics that were not accessible before and this is special because it makes learning easier and it improves knowledge. 
17. Based on your own opinion and experience with Wikipedia, do you agree with the above statement or disagree with it? Explain.                                                                                                      - i agree because you can look up anything and Wikipedia will always have a great long article and provide you with a big sum of detail about your topic. 
18. What does the author mean by “wiki-crack?”                                                                                              - A wiki crack is the rush of dopamine in the brain that makes a smart edit automatically in a Wiki article. 
19. Based on the article, do you believe Wikipedia is a reliable source of information?                                - i believe it is a reliable source because you find so much information with Wikipedia that helps you. 
20. Do you believe its possible for a 16-year-old from New Jersey to write “insightful” Wikipedia articles?                                                                                                                                                            - Yes, because age does not matter in my opinion. This 16 year old boy can be very knowledgeable and use information from other websites to make the Wiki page seem filled with knowledge. 
21. How do you feel about basing your own research on something a 16-year-old wrote on Wikipedia?                                                                                                                                                     - it makes me hesitant but at the same time you never know how smart this 16 year old is and where he gets his information from. 
22. What does Jimmy Wales mean by this mission statement: “Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge?”                                  - He is saying imagine if every person was able to consume knowledge and not need websites such as Wikipedia because we would be knowing everything. 
23. Do you agree or disagree with this mission statement?                                                                             - I disagree because then there would be no purpose of having an internet and websites that provided info. 
24. Do you think Wikipedia has succeeded in its mission?                                                                              - i think Wikipedia has succeeded in its mission because they are known around the world and everyone uses Wikipedia as a source. 
25. Do you agree or disagree that ordinary people, people without degrees, can “be part of the process of creating and distributing knowledge?”                                                                                    - i agree because people can be very smart but too lazy and they can use information that they have gathered from other websites. 
26. Based on your reading of the article, would you yourself use Wikipedia for your academic research?                                                                                                                                                         - I would use Wikipedia for simple information. If i wanted specific info i would use Google Scholars. 
27. Would you yourself like to write and/or edit Wikipedia articles in order to be “a part of the process of creating and distributing knowledge?” Why or why not?                                                                      - i would not write a Wiki article. I feel that i would not do a very good job and i would copy information from other sources.