Yes... I spent another weekend at home... It's not because I miss my mum or dad or brother or anybody else... What I missed was soccer... Yes, I'm ashamed... But at least I'm honest ;)
Again, the weekend wasn't too relaxing... I had to prepare my presentation, translate a text for my second language and did a lot of research for my superinteresting, thrilling essay about George B. Shaw.
I also did a little research on why so many people like jogging. Eleven o'clock, I'm walking around sleepily, whom do I meet? My uncle, jogging. Two o'clock, I'm awake, whom do I meet? My cousin, jogging. So I started wondering whether I'm a bit strange, went home, got my beautiful, new, pink running shoes and got started. Everything was ok and I started to think about liking jogging. But then it started to rain. I was in the middle of the wood, no chance to escape, so I more or less sprinted home. This had the effect that my knee hurt, I was completely wet and my new shoes were no longer pink... Will I go jogging again? Probably not. Or maybe I will if I have another traumatic experience like the one I had last friday. I'm sitting on a bench, thinking of nothing bad, watching a soccer game with my brother. A little boy, maximum 6 years old, comes over and asks my brother whether the girl next to him was his sister. My brother said yes, and the little pest replied "Well, my sister is more beautiful than yours is because my sister isn't FAT."
A very very cute boy, isn't he? I guess that's what happens if you let a six year old run arround on the soccer pitch without looking after him...
But a friend of mine reassured me by saying that REAL men don't like skinny women ;)
Well, I guess that was it for my reporting on the last weekend... I just wanted to write a bit (since I know I'm quite weak at that) and wanted to tell you what mean, little boys are out there waiting...
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
See how informal and casual Americans really are!
We've all heard a lot about American casuality and informaltiy, haven't we? We've heard that they love to use first names soon after having met a person, that they feel uncomfortable with the titles Mr. and Ms., and we've heard that American casuality can also be seen in the way US citizens dress. In Mr. Kohls' text about the 13 values it says that in America you're very likely to meet people dressed in blue jeans if you go to a symphony performance. But some Americans seem to feel that this is not casual enough ;)
See what happened in Nürnberg, Germany. A 41 year old American wandered through the pedestrian area of the city. You wonder what's strange about that? Well, he was naked. Of course, people felt annoyed by that and called the police who told the man to put his clothes on (he had them with him in a bag) and then took him to a police station for an interrogation. The permissive man claimed he didn't know that this was illegal in Germany and that he just wanted to know what it feels like to walk through a town naked.
Police tested him for drugs and alcohol, both tests were negative.
The tourist had to pay a fine and will now be sued because of indecent behavior.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
The End of Chinglish
Have you any idea what a disabled elevator is? Or a racist park? A door that may not be used in peace time? A deformed man toilet?
No? Great. This means that your English is much better than those of many Chinese. The expressions I mentioned above are not made up, they are used in China. Or, were used, because all of them will be changed due to the Olympic games.
So, let us solve the mistery: a disabled elevator, of course, is an elevator for disabled people.
A deformed man toilet is a toilet for disabled people.
A door that may not be used in peace time is................................. an emergency exit. Great, isn't it?
And the racist park will be renamed into Park of Ethnic Minorities, which will erase a lot of misconceptions...
Culture Shock
Today, I had another look at the first progress test, in order to get some kind of idea what today's questions will be like, or maybe Charmed-like, a vision of the future...
But nothing happend, bad luck Birgit!
But at least I thought about the Culture Shock topic again, remembered an article I once read and here you are, the five stages of Culture Shock!
The first stage is called Honeymoon. You arrive in a new country, everything is new and you are very excited about everything.
Soon after that stage of enthusiasm follows stage two: Rejection. You get used to things and realize that you will have to live and work in this place from now on. You recognize many differences to your home country and they really start annoying you. Troubles add up and you develop hostility towards your host country.
This leads to the third step called Regression: You start to withdraw, start to avoid the local people, and as a consequence, they’ll start avoiding you as well.
After that, things start to get easier again, in a stage called Acceptance: You realise that no way of living is better or worse, but that they are just different, and you start to develop affection for your new home.
Subsequently, you enter the stage of Re-entry. You realise that you have to go home again. And returning isn’t easy either because things change, there is also some kind of re-entry shock.
In the end, the author concludes that you can’t prevent culture-shock from happening, but that you can shorten the process by realizing that you neither have to reject your own, nor the new culture.
But nothing happend, bad luck Birgit!
But at least I thought about the Culture Shock topic again, remembered an article I once read and here you are, the five stages of Culture Shock!
The first stage is called Honeymoon. You arrive in a new country, everything is new and you are very excited about everything.
Soon after that stage of enthusiasm follows stage two: Rejection. You get used to things and realize that you will have to live and work in this place from now on. You recognize many differences to your home country and they really start annoying you. Troubles add up and you develop hostility towards your host country.
This leads to the third step called Regression: You start to withdraw, start to avoid the local people, and as a consequence, they’ll start avoiding you as well.
After that, things start to get easier again, in a stage called Acceptance: You realise that no way of living is better or worse, but that they are just different, and you start to develop affection for your new home.
Subsequently, you enter the stage of Re-entry. You realise that you have to go home again. And returning isn’t easy either because things change, there is also some kind of re-entry shock.
In the end, the author concludes that you can’t prevent culture-shock from happening, but that you can shorten the process by realizing that you neither have to reject your own, nor the new culture.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
The hassle of learning new words...
At the moment (just like all my fellow students) I am having a hard time sitting down and memorizing the JWI glossary.
My main problem when it comes to new words is my weaker self, this mean inner voice that keeps asking me: Will you ever hear these words again? Will you ever use them?
And the answer simply is yes. Whenever I read Under the Tuscan Sun (which I'll soon be finished with), I come across a word from the glossary. This really helps me memorizing them, the more sentences with the word I read, the easier I make the word mine. The thing is: I have to see the word in context, and I have to hear it. Finding sentences is as easy as pie thanks to the many monolingual dictionaries that offer an explanation plus a sentence in which it is used.
But hearing it... My way of learning new words is repeating the explanation and the sample sentence again and again. This has the effect that my flatmates are sometimes very concerned about my mental health when I'm alone in my room, repeating the same thing again and again. But it works, and they think I'm crazy anyway, so there's really nothing to lose for me....
My main problem when it comes to new words is my weaker self, this mean inner voice that keeps asking me: Will you ever hear these words again? Will you ever use them?
And the answer simply is yes. Whenever I read Under the Tuscan Sun (which I'll soon be finished with), I come across a word from the glossary. This really helps me memorizing them, the more sentences with the word I read, the easier I make the word mine. The thing is: I have to see the word in context, and I have to hear it. Finding sentences is as easy as pie thanks to the many monolingual dictionaries that offer an explanation plus a sentence in which it is used.
But hearing it... My way of learning new words is repeating the explanation and the sample sentence again and again. This has the effect that my flatmates are sometimes very concerned about my mental health when I'm alone in my room, repeating the same thing again and again. But it works, and they think I'm crazy anyway, so there's really nothing to lose for me....
Friday, May 18, 2007
JWI Chapter 8 Summary
Since there is no summary of chapter 8 available in our Yahoo group, I decided to write one.
In Chapter 8, it's the first day of school for the Monagan kids. At first, DM is very relieved because he realises that because of school uniforms, there won't be any battles in the morning over what to wear.
But of course, he starts to worry. Will the kids be able to cope with Ireland's academic strictness, religiosity and the fierce attention to basics? He had looked at nine different schools before he chose to send his boys to the Christian Brothers College, a very prestigious private school.
DM describes the first day of school in Ireland as a "bizarre testament to the creativity of the Celtic spirit". Parents hand-deliver their children to school and cause a complete chaos on the streets by parking their cars everywhere because they want to embrace their offspring a last time. But unlike America, the people here don't get nervous or agressive because of the traffic jam that blocks the entire city, and for DM, this is a sign that Ireland has not tossed aside its implacable patience and forbearance.
When Jamie and David enter the school, they are in a way shocked. They expect one of those welcoming first-day-of-school-speeches (which is very common in America), but all they hear is a whistle which more or less tells the parents to leave now. Harris looks like he doesn't want to stay, and Jamie is a bit angry with DM because he chose that school.
Laura's first day at school is a lot less worrying. Laura immediately makes friends with a girl from England and doesn't even look back at her parents. This time, it doesn't need a whistle to make the two of them go away, they realise that their little girl is no longer their little girl.
There is also a lot of culture in this chapter. DM points out some differences between the Irish and the American School system.
Furthermore, one can learn a bit about the conflict between the Catholics and the Protestants in Ireland.
In Chapter 8, it's the first day of school for the Monagan kids. At first, DM is very relieved because he realises that because of school uniforms, there won't be any battles in the morning over what to wear.
But of course, he starts to worry. Will the kids be able to cope with Ireland's academic strictness, religiosity and the fierce attention to basics? He had looked at nine different schools before he chose to send his boys to the Christian Brothers College, a very prestigious private school.
DM describes the first day of school in Ireland as a "bizarre testament to the creativity of the Celtic spirit". Parents hand-deliver their children to school and cause a complete chaos on the streets by parking their cars everywhere because they want to embrace their offspring a last time. But unlike America, the people here don't get nervous or agressive because of the traffic jam that blocks the entire city, and for DM, this is a sign that Ireland has not tossed aside its implacable patience and forbearance.
When Jamie and David enter the school, they are in a way shocked. They expect one of those welcoming first-day-of-school-speeches (which is very common in America), but all they hear is a whistle which more or less tells the parents to leave now. Harris looks like he doesn't want to stay, and Jamie is a bit angry with DM because he chose that school.
Laura's first day at school is a lot less worrying. Laura immediately makes friends with a girl from England and doesn't even look back at her parents. This time, it doesn't need a whistle to make the two of them go away, they realise that their little girl is no longer their little girl.
There is also a lot of culture in this chapter. DM points out some differences between the Irish and the American School system.
Furthermore, one can learn a bit about the conflict between the Catholics and the Protestants in Ireland.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
The Globalization of English
On the weekend, I read a long but interesting article about the adavance of English and the effects it has on the language itself. I summed it up to hand it in, and I thought to myself: Why not put it in the blog? Why do the work twice? ;)
So here you are :)
At the moment, a global revolution is taking place in which more people than ever are learning English. This is because it has become the planet’s language for commerce, technology and also empowerment.
According to a recent report from the British Council, two billion people will be studying English and three billion people will speak it in ten years. Linguistically speaking, it is a totally new world. At the moment, there are more non-native speakers of English than there are native speakers; the ratio is 3:1. For the first time, there is a language that is being spoken by more people as a second language than as a first. In Asia, there are 350 million English-users, and this number equals the added-up populations of the USA, Great Britain and Canada. There are more Chinese children studying English than there are Britons. All these new English-speakers are not only using the language, they are also shaping it. The terms Japlish (mixture of Japanese and English) and Hinglish (mixture of Hindi and English) refer to new varieties of English that came into being all over the world. In South-Africa, many blacks have adopted their own version of English including many indigenous words.
Of course, all languages are work in progress but the globalization of English is a process the world has never seen before, a change whose effects we can only imagine. Experts talk about a future tri-English world in which speakers of English will speak a local dialect at home, a national variety at work, school or university and some kind of international Standard English to talk to foreigners. Since among the millions of English-speakers around the world there are relatively few native speakers, it is likely that students won’t learn Standard English but will be encouraged to embrace their own local versions. This can already be seen now: International pilots pronounce the number three as tree in radio dispatches, since tree is more widely comprehensible. It is very likely that in future, teachers will not only not correct pronunciation mistakes, but also mistakes like she look and a book who.
As a consequence of English’s advance, governments all over the world are pushing the language. Although many countries are not very fond of the it (i.e. France), they have realised that English, along with computers and mass migration, is the turbine engine of globalization. It is the language of business. If you want to have a good, well-paid job, you have to have a good command of the English language. That’s why English language schools are packed with men and women in their mid-twenties eager to learn English. Additionally, learners of English are getting younger and younger. Last year, schools in big Chinese cities began offering English in the third grade rather than middle school, and many parents send their preschoolers to English courses. Because of the English boom, schools are becoming more and more creative. Last year, South Korea built an English village on a small island with a fake bank and airport. There, students must conduct all transactions in English. The aim of this camp is to train capable global citizens who can promote South Korea all over the world.
Since English has become so important, it is no longer only a language. English is a business, and the traditional custodians earn a lot of money with “their” language. There is an amazing demand for English native speakers, and because demand exceeds offer, China and the Middle East turn to India for English teachers. English is being advertised like a product. Just like with every other product, there are more and less serious suppliers, and price and quality can vary.
But no matter where you learn it, and how much you pay for it: You have to learn it if you want to keep up.
And we do, since we knew all that before ;)
So here you are :)
At the moment, a global revolution is taking place in which more people than ever are learning English. This is because it has become the planet’s language for commerce, technology and also empowerment.
According to a recent report from the British Council, two billion people will be studying English and three billion people will speak it in ten years. Linguistically speaking, it is a totally new world. At the moment, there are more non-native speakers of English than there are native speakers; the ratio is 3:1. For the first time, there is a language that is being spoken by more people as a second language than as a first. In Asia, there are 350 million English-users, and this number equals the added-up populations of the USA, Great Britain and Canada. There are more Chinese children studying English than there are Britons. All these new English-speakers are not only using the language, they are also shaping it. The terms Japlish (mixture of Japanese and English) and Hinglish (mixture of Hindi and English) refer to new varieties of English that came into being all over the world. In South-Africa, many blacks have adopted their own version of English including many indigenous words.
Of course, all languages are work in progress but the globalization of English is a process the world has never seen before, a change whose effects we can only imagine. Experts talk about a future tri-English world in which speakers of English will speak a local dialect at home, a national variety at work, school or university and some kind of international Standard English to talk to foreigners. Since among the millions of English-speakers around the world there are relatively few native speakers, it is likely that students won’t learn Standard English but will be encouraged to embrace their own local versions. This can already be seen now: International pilots pronounce the number three as tree in radio dispatches, since tree is more widely comprehensible. It is very likely that in future, teachers will not only not correct pronunciation mistakes, but also mistakes like she look and a book who.
As a consequence of English’s advance, governments all over the world are pushing the language. Although many countries are not very fond of the it (i.e. France), they have realised that English, along with computers and mass migration, is the turbine engine of globalization. It is the language of business. If you want to have a good, well-paid job, you have to have a good command of the English language. That’s why English language schools are packed with men and women in their mid-twenties eager to learn English. Additionally, learners of English are getting younger and younger. Last year, schools in big Chinese cities began offering English in the third grade rather than middle school, and many parents send their preschoolers to English courses. Because of the English boom, schools are becoming more and more creative. Last year, South Korea built an English village on a small island with a fake bank and airport. There, students must conduct all transactions in English. The aim of this camp is to train capable global citizens who can promote South Korea all over the world.
Since English has become so important, it is no longer only a language. English is a business, and the traditional custodians earn a lot of money with “their” language. There is an amazing demand for English native speakers, and because demand exceeds offer, China and the Middle East turn to India for English teachers. English is being advertised like a product. Just like with every other product, there are more and less serious suppliers, and price and quality can vary.
But no matter where you learn it, and how much you pay for it: You have to learn it if you want to keep up.
And we do, since we knew all that before ;)
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Two approaches to illegal immigration
Saturday, rain, nothing on the TV, so why not use the time and do some reading? I started with Under the Tuscan Sun, and I like it better with every page. What I like most is the fact that I don't have to have a dictionary next to me all the time, which happened to be the case when reading JWI. BUT: I fell asleep... Frances Mayes' talking about the Italian siesta led to my personal siesta...
So when I woke up, face on the book, book and face crinkled, I decided to try something else. Next stop: Here on Earth. I listened to a radio show about language and class which was really interesting, and at first, I wanted to write about it in my blog. But since there are a lot of dialects to listen to, it wouldn't have made sense, so just listen to it yourself. But I have to warn you, you might get jealous. One of Jean Feraca's guest is able to speak 26 ( in words: twenty-six) languages fluently!!!!!!
The second program I listened to was called "Why the world loves soccer and we don't". But to my disappointment, Jean Feraca wasn't able to solve this mistery...
So I decided to turn to reading again, I read a few articles, and I want to tell you about one I found quite interesting. A Newsweek article titled
Two approaches to illegal immigration
In the article, 2 communties and two ways of facing the influx of illegal immigrants.
In suburban New York, everything is done to get rid of them. Suffolk County Police have orders to 
bear down on illegal workers by targeting their employers with traffic fines (no, this is NOT a joke). A Suffolk County Executive is of the opinion that all labor laws have to be enforced, but since this is not enough (in his eyes), new laws will be introduced as well. One of these new laws will require employers with county business to prove all workers are legal. Workers who are there illegaly will be arrested immediately, and federal officers will be stationed there to deport arrested illegal aliens.
bear down on illegal workers by targeting their employers with traffic fines (no, this is NOT a joke). A Suffolk County Executive is of the opinion that all labor laws have to be enforced, but since this is not enough (in his eyes), new laws will be introduced as well. One of these new laws will require employers with county business to prove all workers are legal. Workers who are there illegaly will be arrested immediately, and federal officers will be stationed there to deport arrested illegal aliens. New Haven, Connecticut, does just the opposite. The City Hall sponsors tax filing centers where no questions are asked concerning who is there legally. Many say that New Haven is becoming a so called sanctuary city because it wants to help undocumented residents get city services or bank accounts by introducing a municipal ID card. The mayor of the city says that it is important to engage everyone who lives in the community positively, that "New Haven's goal is to be a safe, civil place where people are able to fulfill their ambitions".
I don't want to comment on this since this is a very diverse topic and this issue is definitely a hard one for politics all over the world.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
A long weekend at home :)
What actually sounds relaxing, unwinding and restorative was just the opposite.
On Thursday, it was my brother's birthday meaning that the whole family was united and got on my nerves. Luckily, I arrived from Graz at four o'clock so I didn't have to be with them too long. On Friday, he had a birthday party with all his pubescent friends, which, for me, wasn't very enjoyable either since I had to wash the dishes, make sure that they have enough to drink and try to prevent them from doing something stupid
(believe me, these boys know how to be a pain in the neck... The boy on the picture is my brother, and although he looks cute, he really IS NOT).
But I got the chance to eat lots and lots of my favourite cake which happens to be my brother's favourite cake as well, so there was a positive thing as well...
On Saturday, of course, I went to see the KAC's game. Another bad day for my nerves since we lost... There I also met my former football coach who is from Scotland and had a little chat with him. I also had the chance to talk to a friend of my fathers who is from Great Britain and now lives in Austria.
So you see, football is no waste of time: I can practice my English there :)
And considering the nationality of most of our players, I could also practice my Croatian, but somehow I prefer speaking to them in German and let them struggle with the language ;) Lazy, lazy Birgit...
On Monday I met the coaches of the team from Bolton who will arrive on Pentecost. Together we planned what to do with the boys when they won't be on the soccerpitch. Along with them, there was a guy from Liverpool, and believe me: I couldn't understand a word of what he was saying. This accent is terrible! So instead of me translating, it was me who needed a translator. But after some translating I realised that it was better for me not to understand the Liverpudlian, since his ideas were really strange and his expectations couldn't have been met anyway.
So you see, speaking didn't get a raw deal.
Of course, I also continued reading Under the Tusan Sun, and I'm not sure whether I like it or not. I hate her pagelong descriptions of how she cleans walls and frees them from ivy... But still, I catch myself drifting apart into daydreams of a beautiful house in the heart of Italy... Somehow this book catches me...
And one thing is definitely true: I like it much, much, much, much, much, much better than JWI. But I guess I would like any book better...
On Thursday, it was my brother's birthday meaning that the whole family was united and got on my nerves. Luckily, I arrived from Graz at four o'clock so I didn't have to be with them too long. On Friday, he had a birthday party with all his pubescent friends, which, for me, wasn't very enjoyable either since I had to wash the dishes, make sure that they have enough to drink and try to prevent them from doing something stupid
(believe me, these boys know how to be a pain in the neck... The boy on the picture is my brother, and although he looks cute, he really IS NOT).But I got the chance to eat lots and lots of my favourite cake which happens to be my brother's favourite cake as well, so there was a positive thing as well...
On Saturday, of course, I went to see the KAC's game. Another bad day for my nerves since we lost... There I also met my former football coach who is from Scotland and had a little chat with him. I also had the chance to talk to a friend of my fathers who is from Great Britain and now lives in Austria.
So you see, football is no waste of time: I can practice my English there :)
And considering the nationality of most of our players, I could also practice my Croatian, but somehow I prefer speaking to them in German and let them struggle with the language ;) Lazy, lazy Birgit...
On Monday I met the coaches of the team from Bolton who will arrive on Pentecost. Together we planned what to do with the boys when they won't be on the soccerpitch. Along with them, there was a guy from Liverpool, and believe me: I couldn't understand a word of what he was saying. This accent is terrible! So instead of me translating, it was me who needed a translator. But after some translating I realised that it was better for me not to understand the Liverpudlian, since his ideas were really strange and his expectations couldn't have been met anyway.
So you see, speaking didn't get a raw deal.
Of course, I also continued reading Under the Tusan Sun, and I'm not sure whether I like it or not. I hate her pagelong descriptions of how she cleans walls and frees them from ivy... But still, I catch myself drifting apart into daydreams of a beautiful house in the heart of Italy... Somehow this book catches me...
And one thing is definitely true: I like it much, much, much, much, much, much better than JWI. But I guess I would like any book better...
Should schools conduct random drug tests?
Last week the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy announced that it will be holding four meetings to decide whether there will be random student drug testing in public middle and high-schools. This program has already been introduced in nearly 1000 schools and requires students to do a drug-test if they wish to participate in competitive extracurricular activities like athletics.
Schools have been doing it voluntarily since the 1990’s, but when the Supreme Court stepped in it became more formalized. Once grants from the Department of Education were available, guidelines were developed.
How then does the whole procedure work?
First, a child is chosen at random and asked to go to the nurse’s office where it has to deposit a urine sample. This sample is then tested for cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy and steroids. If students test positive, the school will remove them from their extracurricular activities for the rest of the year, and sometimes even for the rest of their school career. Some schools provide counselling, but this always depends on the school’s financial situation.
Of course, opinions on this topic differ.
Proponents like to talk about one statistic in particular. The U.S. military has been doing such tests for 20 years, and the results are phenomenal. In the beginning, 27% of the tested were positive, and in the course of less than a decade there has been a steep decline. Now, only 1.5 % of the tested are positive, and this number has been steady for years.
Opponents are not sure about the moral correctness of applying a military program to school children. Soldiers are very different from high-school students and therefore should also be treated differently. Critics back up their argument with a statistic as well. Researchers compared 94 000 students in 900 schools with and without drug-testing programs. The result? There was no difference in drug-abuse among students from the two sets of schools.
Another argument against such programs is the message that is being delivered to the young people. Shouldn’t we believe them when they tell us that they don’t do drugs rather than test them? Many have concerns that testing can weaken the relationships, widen the generation-gap, hinder open communication and stop students from participating in extracurricular activities. This last point is especially problematic, since these activities help students to feel integrated and connected.
Finally, there is the question of privacy. Does random drug-testing violate the student’s rights to privacy? In this case, the proponents are the ones with the stronger argument. Of course, privacy is very important for adolescents. But if children are doing something illegal that can harm them, the more important value has be to protect them.
And that’s what opponents and proponents agree on.
Schools have been doing it voluntarily since the 1990’s, but when the Supreme Court stepped in it became more formalized. Once grants from the Department of Education were available, guidelines were developed.
How then does the whole procedure work?
First, a child is chosen at random and asked to go to the nurse’s office where it has to deposit a urine sample. This sample is then tested for cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy and steroids. If students test positive, the school will remove them from their extracurricular activities for the rest of the year, and sometimes even for the rest of their school career. Some schools provide counselling, but this always depends on the school’s financial situation.
Of course, opinions on this topic differ.
Proponents like to talk about one statistic in particular. The U.S. military has been doing such tests for 20 years, and the results are phenomenal. In the beginning, 27% of the tested were positive, and in the course of less than a decade there has been a steep decline. Now, only 1.5 % of the tested are positive, and this number has been steady for years.
Opponents are not sure about the moral correctness of applying a military program to school children. Soldiers are very different from high-school students and therefore should also be treated differently. Critics back up their argument with a statistic as well. Researchers compared 94 000 students in 900 schools with and without drug-testing programs. The result? There was no difference in drug-abuse among students from the two sets of schools.
Another argument against such programs is the message that is being delivered to the young people. Shouldn’t we believe them when they tell us that they don’t do drugs rather than test them? Many have concerns that testing can weaken the relationships, widen the generation-gap, hinder open communication and stop students from participating in extracurricular activities. This last point is especially problematic, since these activities help students to feel integrated and connected.
Finally, there is the question of privacy. Does random drug-testing violate the student’s rights to privacy? In this case, the proponents are the ones with the stronger argument. Of course, privacy is very important for adolescents. But if children are doing something illegal that can harm them, the more important value has be to protect them.
And that’s what opponents and proponents agree on.
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