The Cold War

The Cold War started right after WWII in 1947 and lasted all the way until 1991. It wasn’t an actual physical war, it only contained the threats of nuclear war between countries.

The main causes of the Cold War were: both countries had nuclear weapons and threatened each other, Truman disliked Stalin and his communism, while Stalin disliked Truman and his capitalism, etc.

The Cold War had significant effects on society. Primarily, it ended communism, and Russia’s military spending was cut quickly.

Mic Drop

Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity has become one of the biggest health concerns in America. There have always been children that were overweight. Today, however, being overweight as a child can provoke many problems to occur later in his/her life. Childhood obesity is a concerning issue due to the fact that it affects a child’s learning negatively, he/she may get teased or bullied by peers, and he/she is more prone to other health concerns, such as diabetes, in the future.

On the contrary, others may say that childhood is not as big of an issue as it seems. In her online article Childhood Obesity in the Gale Virtual Reference Library; Nadine Pazder writes, “Historically, chubby babies and toddlers were more likely to survive infections and contagious diseases, and overweight children and family members were often signs of affluence and financial security in a community. Thus, in some cultures, overweight was a valued body type.” Children were able to fight infections better if they were chubby because they were able to maintain a warmer body temperature than the smaller children. However, this didn’t mean that it was healthy or hygienic to be overweight as a child.

Being overweight as a child will in fact hinder learning performance. According to an article written by Amanda Gardner that was published by CNN, “The latest such study, published this week in the journal Child Development, followed 6,250 children from kindergarten through fifth grade and found that those who were obese throughout that period scored lower on math tests than non-obese children.” This is because, as said by Robert Siegel in the article, “Obesity affects virtually every organ system in the body, including the brain. It’s an inflammatory state, and that may have effects on the developing mind.” It is proven that obesity doesn’t affect a child’s intelligence, but it will affect their performance negatively.

Another concern for parents of overweight children is that their child may get teased or bullied about his/her size. According to her article on the website Obesity Action, JoAnn Stevelos writes, “The statistics of bullying are upsetting. In a recent national survey of overweight sixth graders, 24 percent of the boys and 30 percent of the girls experienced daily teasing, bullying, or rejection because of their size. The number doubles for overweight high school students, with 58 percent of boys and 63 percent of girls experiencing daily teasing, bullying, or rejection because of their size.” This could connect to why many overweight children do not perform as well in school as their peers; the bullying may distract them, alter their mentality, and lower their self- esteem.

The final concern for parents of overweight children is that their child may be prone to health issues, such as Type 2 Diabetes, in the future. For many years, Type 2 Diabetes was thought to be an adults-only condition. It was once called adult-onset diabetes. However, the health condition is now becoming more common in children. According to an article published from Healthline, Kimberly Holland and Kathryn Watson write, “Being overweight is closely tied to the development of Type 2 Diabetes. Overweight children have an increased likelihood of insulin resistance. As the body struggles to regulate insulin, high blood sugar leads to a number of potential serious health problems.” Diabetes can lead to death if not treated or left unnoticed.

As shown, being overweight as a child can become a serious issue if it gets out of hand, as proven by multiple articles. Childhood can cause health concerns, it can sabotage school performance, and it can lower self-esteem. To prevent the risk of becoming overweight, children should eat healthier, exercise for at least one hour a day, and get more high-quality sleep.

Works Cited

“Type 2 Diabetes in Children: Symptoms, Risk Factors, Treatment, & More.” Healthline,  Healthline Media, http://www.healthline.com/health/type-2-diabetes-children#prevention.

JoAnn Stevelos, “Obesity Action”  https://www.obesityaction.org/community/article-library/bullying-bullycide-and-childhood-obesi

ty/ Accessed 23 May 2019.

Nadine Pazder, “Childhood Obesity” Gale Virtual Reference Library, http://go.galegroup.com/ Accessed 23 May 2019.

Gardner, Amanda. “Does Obesity Affect School Performance?” CNN, Cable News Network, 14 June 2012, http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/14/health/obesity-affect-school-performance/index.html.

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Mic Drop Brainstorm

Earlier in the year, I had written a blog post called “Open Mic”, where if I were to have the attention of the world for a certain amount of time, what would I talk about? I chose the topic of world poverty, and how it is such an overlooked issue globally. Now, as the school year is coming to a close, I am going to do a follow up project called “Mic Drop” where the objective is to go deeper into the subject we chose, or we have the option to choose something else.

I am going to choose the topic of childhood obesity, as I feel that it is something that shouldn’t be a national issue in the US.

Interwar and World War II

After WWI, there was a period of time in between before WWII, and this time period, in a way, ignited the flame to begin WWII.

WWII was six years long, and it started when Germany did not follow the Treaty of Non-Aggression and invaded Poland in August 1939 under the Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler.

WWII ended after the United States bombed Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Japan then surrendered on September 2nd, 1945.

World War I

World War I was a four year long war, and it all started in 1914 when Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by a member of the Black Hand, a secret terrorist group from Serbia.

War on the Eastern Front was different from war on the Western Front in WWI. The Western Front was mostly characterized by trench warfare, and the Eastern Front was much larger, and didn’t use trench warfare.

World War I had stopped when Germany surrendered from on November 11th, 1918. The war officially ended on June 28th, 1919 when Germany and the Allied Nations signed the Treaty of Versailles.

Latin American Revolutions Reflection

Throughout this unit, I learned that this was pretty much about all of the Latin American countries in the New World fighting for their independence against their mother countries in the Old World. Big figures within this time period were people such as Miguel Hidalgo and Simon Bolivar, who led several Latin American countries to their independence.

French Revolution and Napoleon Reflection

In this unit, I learned about the French Revolution, as said in the title. The French Revolution was a ten year period, from 1789 to 1799. The people of France started this revolution for reasons such as: they were tired of living under an absolute monarch; the people of the lower class, or the 3rd Estate, were tired of being taxed while the more rich people weren’t, etc. The start of the French Revolution began on July 14th, 1789, when the people of France stormed the Bastille. After 10 years, the revolution came to an official end when military leader, Napoleon Bonaparte, overthrew the government and established a French Consulate.

Age of Absolutism and English Revolution Reflection

I learned that the Age of Absolutism was pretty much a time period of when several European monarchs, such as Louis XIV, were very successful in gaining wealth and the power.

The English Revolution was mostly about the people/Parliament rebelling against the king(s) who weren’t absolute monarchs, like Charles I who was executed. This eventually led to the English Civil War which lasted from 1642-1651 with Oliver Cromwell leading Parliament’s military forces.

Midterm Reflection

Halfway through this term, I actually really like the way this class is set up. With the way we do notes, the blog posts, how we do classwork/homework, how we have the q-sheets that help us study for tests, etc. It really helps me learn a lot easier, and there’s really isn’t anything that I would change thus far.

Favorite Lesson

My favorite lesson/moment of my World History 2 class thus far would have to be the Age of Discovery unit. I just found it pretty interesting that there were a good amount of explorers from various countries sailing to the New World. I learned of more explorers like Jacques Cartier, Francis Drake, etc.