Hazing

Hazing is associated with big, famous groups as part of a ritual to become a part of the group. They force new members to streak through a busy area or pull pranks, sometimes even purposely harming them. It's a barbaric practice that has no place in the society we live in. It's fairly unanimous that this harmful, embarrassing act is wrong and needs to be stopped. The only people who aren't opposed to it are those that are enjoying the high of their power trip. Hazing is a terrible thing and needs to be punished severely.
Hazing is a type of bullying. It's older students using their power to humiliate, harm and belittle those younger than them. This should be a huge deal in schools. They should be putting a stop to this before it even happens. Students should not be given the school's approval to make others feel scared or self-conscious. School is a time for students to learn about themselves. They should feel free to explore new clubs and sports. It should be a welcoming place where everyone has a chance. There should not be a fear of upperclassmen or other threats.
Schools should be punishing students partaking in this act as severely as they punish students for bullying, if not more. There should be a place for students to speak out about these issues and a listening ear ready to take action. Hazing can cause psychological issues for the victims and cause them to seclude themselves or not try new things. School administration can not allow a student to have to face these consequences. They deserve full support from the school and those that took part in the hazing should face suspensions from the activity, possible suspension from school and detentions. This is a huge problem that can’t be dismissed as part of a ritual.

Is Amazon becoming too powerful?

Amazon is worth more than $350 billion. It's run completely off of the internet and has very few original products and yet it's worth more than businesses with hundreds of stores and a large online catalog. Amazon sells almost everything. They have buttons that will automatically ship things to your house, they sell groceries, they can have things shipped to you that same day. The services they offer are unbeatable. They don't compare to anyone else. Amazon offers unmatchable services. Even if another company attempted the low prices and fast delivery of amazon  there is no way to match their reliability and prices. Many people do most of their holiday shopping there and much of their time buying other things. Amazon has complete control of a market it created itself. It’s become bigger than was once imaginable and become a staple part of American’s lives. The first place people look for something to buy is amazon. Amazon has a lot of power and every opportunity to abuse it.

Amazon has become this super company that is unmatchable in many different ways. It has complete control of anything it needs control over. It can drown certain brands and promote whatever products it needs to. There is no one to challenge them and they can do close to whatever they want. As the consumer, this isn’t sustainable. Our society puts us in a place where big companies will take advantage of this kind of control and power. Amazon can make big mistakes and still maintain their following because there is simply so much of it. If a large chunk of amazon’s buyers decided to drop the company, it would still have enough to support itself.

Amazon can make huge decisions that will make a huge impact on our society. If the company decides to change something important, the world will notice. The company has a large impact on our society. We have given them this power and we have little opportunity to take it back. At the moment, this convenience is helping the world find cheap, fast alternatives, but that can change in the blink of an eye.

Homework

To students, teachers exist only in their classroom. In some ways, this is true of teachers as well. A teacher only knows a student based on what they bring to a classroom, who they are in that room.  It does not really occur to a teacher what their life is outside of that environment. With this in mind, some teachers also forget that their class is not the only classroom students visit in a day. An hour of homework is not much, but multiply that by 7 classes and students now only have a half hour of free time before 10 o’clock. In my high school career, I rarely bring work home. I do it in study hall or finish it in class. My teachers think about me as a student and the other things I have to do in my life. They assign just enough material to learn the subject, rather than an assignment every night. I am very lucky. I know this is not true for everyone though.

I have heard horror stories from less understanding teachers. They think their class is the most important in the school and they are infamous for assigning homework every night religiously. There is math practice in class and at home or a writing assignment every few days. Teachers drown their students with information, hoping they will absorb some of it. This is not fair to those that have jobs or chores at home or independent studies. They can not indulge in the things that interest them or the thing they have to do.

There is no blanket answer. It is not accurate to say all teachers assign too much homework or teachers do not assign enough homework. Teachers design their class the way they want them to be. Some think more practice is better while others believe in quality rather than quantity. There is no easy answer because everyone is different. I my high school career I have felt comfortable handling the workload I receive, but I know people personally that have become lost in their classes and watched their grades drop as they couldn’t keep up with everything thrown at them.