Anyone say no?

If I don't have at least three "No, keep the personal stuff here," by the next time I write an article, the personal "This is how my month went" thing is gone.

But in adolescence (which scientists have defined as between the ages of 11 and 22), this circadian rhythm is off. The adolescent body naturally falls asleep around 11 PM or so, and wakes up much later in the day. Teenagers need around 9 1/4 hours of sleep each night. So, if they naturally fall asleep around 11, they'd naturally wake up around 8:30 AM.

First, less examine this circadian rhythm, shall we? The circadian rhythm is a group of neurons deep within the brain. This rhythm produces and secrete melatonin, the sleep hormone. When the body has less melatonin, the brain is awake and functioning. When there is more melatonin, the body begins to feel drowsy, begins to shut down, and sleep ensues.

The teenage body doesn't release these hormones until much later at night: and it's very important to honor their natural sleep schedule. As many people know, they teenage body is a mass of uncontrollable hormones. During the day, they are quite emotional. However, night is when all the good hormones are used; growth hormones. Also, when a student has to wake up using an alarm clock, they miss a crucial sleep stage known as REM (That is, Rapid Eye Movement.) Many of us know this stage as when we dream. REM occurs at increasing intervals nearly all night, but the most important stage is the longest one--about nine hours in. During REM sleep, the brain basically presses the "reset" btton. Chemicals in emotional centers are returned to default, and short-term memory banks of the day are cleared. According to sleep physiologist Mary Carskadon (and others), people who suffer from lack of REM become cranky, depressed, with impaired judgement and memory. They also have decreased reaction time, and teens with less REM have been shown to  score lower grades.

Some attempts have been made by schools across the United Stqtes to fix the problem by starting school late. Some schools in Minnesota did such, and reported higher grades and better attendance. Most schools, however, are more than reluctant to push back school start times.  Margarita Dubocovich, a neuropharmacist at Northwestern University in Evanston, says that schools should also consider scheduling important tests (like the PSAT, which are often secheduled in the morning,) for later in the afternoon.

So what can we do at home?

Letting the teen sleep in  only throws off the biological clock further.

Less caffeine at night is encouraged.

Short, afternoon naps are advocated for.

Earlier bedtimes accomplish nothing except to have the teen laying awake for longer.

Close to bedtime, make the teen's room cool, dark, and quiet.

Do the same thing every night before bed: this helps your body recgnize patterns.

Encourage school officials to consider a later start time.  

Overall, the situation may seem bleak. Estimates put the sleep deprivation as affecting 80-85% of teenagers. Others say that nearly 30% of teens suffer from deprivation-related sleep disorders (Sleep-Deprivation.com). With some changes to lifestyle, and some cooperation from schools and parents, teens can win the sleep-battle.

-Effect of Media on Teen Pre-marriage Sex

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- There was this one mom who drowned all her kids in a bath tub. A Psych analysis on her.

-Effect of Video Games on Violence

-The Roots of Discrimination

-Obediance and Conformity

I've also got somewhere over 10,000 hits now.

Thank you so much!

I love everyone that actively reads or comments on this blog =D

~HapHazard <3

But I do want one.  Why the change in heart? I want to have a gun while it's legal, that way if a criminal comes busting into my room I can defend myself.

Defend is the key word there. Just because I woulod have a gun does not make me a terrorist, as many left-wings would make you believe.

Many safe, law-abiding people have guns. Most of them never have to defend themselves with a gun. Most of them would never even think of pulling the trigger on someone. Yet the some members democratic party would like people to believe that those with guns are automatically crazy and bloodthirsty.

I personally would just like to say this is false. If you know me well, you know I apologize for everything. I accidently bump into a stranger in a crowded place: "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!" Now, take this into consideration when I ask this next question: Can you picture me actually wanting to shoot someone?

As I said earlier, a criminal is going to find a way to get a gun whether it's legal or not. It's part of what makes them a criminal. So really, what purpose do gun bans serve? If a criminal pulls a gun and starts shooting people, and no one has a gun to defend themselves, this criminal goes unhindered until the police show up... with guns, I might add. However, if one of the people at the shooting happens to have a concealed carry, they can quickly stop the criminal, saving the lives of potential victims.

Throughout Europe, most countries have gun bans. When there are shootings in Europe, there are usually many more casualties than when there are shootings here in America. Coincindence? No. Return to previous paragraph if you need assistance.

Think about this: College and high school campuses have some of the most famous shootings, correct? Now think about this: Most colleges and all highschools are aggainst carrying. In highschool, this is understandable as teenagers are, admittedly, reckless. But think about Columbine. If one of those teachers had a concealed carry, they easily could've disarmed the shooters before so many lives were taken and so many more wounded. Same case goes for the Virginia Tech shootings.

Are you getting the point?

Guns are not the bad guys here, and neither are the majority of people that carry guns! It's the criminals that carry them. And wouldn't you like knowing that you or someone around you might have a way of defense when a criminal pulls a gun on you? Gun bans are a trend right now. And soon, they'll be everywhere. But the criminals are still going to have guns.

Next time you hear about a public shooting in a gun-ban area (or any other area, for that fact), think: If someone in that area had a gun, couldn't the shooter have been stopped that much faster?

-HapHazard

 Barbie is pretty: Long blonde hair, a tiny waist, blue eyes, skinny legs, and (let's just say it) big breasts. She's also got a perfect life: She's popular, has tons of clothes and shoes, the "perfect" boyfriend (Ken), and whatever job she wants. Every little girl wishes they were her! When one tries comparing Barbie's proportions to that of a human being, "estimates have put the doll's life-size bust between 38 and 40 inches, her waist at 18-24 inches, and her height between five and a half and an outlandish more than seven feet, with a weight of 110 pounds." (MotherJones.com) Heck, even fairytales teach young girls that appearence matters more than anything else: Charming married Cinderella because she was the most beautiful maiden in all the land. The Prince from Snow White thought she was beautiful, so he kissed her and they got married. Prince Eric sees Ariel on the beach and is determined to find her again because "she's beautiful." That's the problem. Beauty isn't just determined by outward appearence!

 Once a girl begins maturing into a woman, she trades her Barbie for fashion magazines, which also represent pictures of the "ideal" woman. And guess what? The woman portrayed in magazines are tall, extremely thin, big breasted, attractive woman. The models are all rich, famous, and extremely popular. Once again, an average woman looks at this model and begins comparing herself.

 First Barbie, and then the Hollywood crowd; no wonder this world has so many woman who face eating disorders, underconfidence, and even self-mutilation! Neither of these are realistic pictures of what woman should be, and yet they are all pictures of what Hollywood tells us woman should be. According to MedicalNewsToday, 40% of models are estimated to have some sort of eating disorder.

Dr. Dee Dawson, of the Rhoades Farm child clinic for eating disorders, says that, "The age of children suffering eating disorders is definitely getting younger and younger; there is no doubt about that at all. It used to be rare to see girls here before they hit puberty but now they make up at least one third of the children treated here at any one time. The average age of onset used to be 16 but that age is steadily dropping." (Guardian). By the time a girl is 17, she has seen 250,000 media images or commercials telling her how to looks (JustMommies). A study by Dr. Anne Becker of Fiji reports that once TV was introduced, the number of eating disorder cases rose dramatically. (JustMommies). There are hundreds of pro-anorexia websites, some of which refer to anorexia as the Goddess, Ana. Every single commercial break, companies like Nutrisystem encourage weight loss and dieting! The media needs to stop telling us what to look like.

Ladies, you're beautiful. Even if you aren't Barbie.

http://operationbeautiful.com

THIS WILL BECOME A PERMANENT SIDELINK.

Apparently, it was part of some secret plan. Thanks to my amazing puppy dog face, though, he's spilled most of the secret. I'll letcha know how that goes later....

Anyways, we decided to form a band, a duet, just the two of us. After some discussion, we decided that we now form the country band YANKEE.

So, we've got a few songs written already. Apparently SEAL is writing one, but that's part of the surprise so I won't mention it yet. We've got the song "Remember Them," which is about the soldiers, we're thinking about doing a duet cover of the song "You Hold Me Together" by Dierks Bentley. I'm also working on one called "Rain Makes Me Think of You" and one called "Where You Are," which are both about missing that one special person. Aaand I'm debating turning one of my completed songs, "Bring Silver Tears," into the mix.

The problem with Bring Silver Tears is that it's not really a duet song. It's about divorce: the husband is never home (never specified why, but when I wrote the song I had "cheating" in mind.), and the wife gets sick of it and demands the truth. He doesn't tell her, and she knows that she can't go on like that. And the notes sung in the song are much higher and the lyrics are more feminine. It's not a song I can picture SEAL singing. Maybe playing backup guitar, but not definitely not singing. 0.0

So, does anyone have any ideas on what kind of songs I should write? Any inspiration or advice for me?

Anywhere that would be really good for posting music? Any ideas for getting good sound quality?

Okay, take a look at this story I posted September 2008:

Lessee, what happened?

Seriously, like, nothing.

Skate dumped me.

Big whoop.

OH WAIT I HAVE A REALLY  FUNNY STORY XDD

My friend ((insert his nickname here)) told Skate I wanted to get back together, and told me Skate wanted to hook up again like, two days after the breakup. So both of us was under the impression the other wanted back together! It actually almost worked until Skate admitted he didn't want back together. So now whenever I see ((same guy)) in the hallway I yell out "((guy)) YOU'RE A LIAR!"

Okay, now take my nameless guy friend and replace those blanks with his nickname:

SEAL.

That's right folks, my current boyfriend once tried getting me and my ex-boyfriend back together.

Drama, drama, drama! THAT'S one for the book of life's crazy plot twists.