Halloween Spending

Many Americans are unaware of just how much money we all spend as a whole each year on Halloween: 7 billion. Considering our countries financial state, Businesstime.com is wondering what the logic is behind spending extra money on costumes, candy, and decorations when many Americans are watching their spending so closely. Seven billion dollars for one night is a lot for a minor holiday, if you even consider Halloween a holiday. MSN reports that simply because of the major amount of money spent on Halloween it is turning into a major holiday. This is good for businesses and novelty shops because their revenue is seeing an increase as Halloween spending rises. The National Retail Federation says that the average person celebrating the holiday will spend about $75 on decor, treats, and costumes. In my opinion, that seems like a lot of money to spend on a rather pointless holiday. Maybe most Americans have a more emotional connection to Halloween than myself, but 7 billion dollars is a scary number!

Ken Ross Electronics Response

I disagree with the pediatricians group who recommend parents hold their kids to a two hour limit every day, except for homework, because setting a limit on something makes it even more appealing. If a limit is set, teenagers and kids will feel more inclined to use up their max time and have them thinking about it even more. Technology is a huge part of this young generation, something that pediatricians cannot relate to. Our generation was raised up around technology and is something that we all have a huge interest towards. If we were encouraged to use electronics a little less rather than have specific limitations I think it could go a long way. 

Magazine Analysis

Seventeen Magazine

• The average reading age for this magazine is about 11 years old
• For every page, there is an advertisement page to go with it. The advertisements center around fashion, music, and TV shows that young girls would find interesting.
• Two other students at my table had magazines that catered to people of ages from 20 - 30 years old. The magazines were ESPN and Atlantic, clearly for people of an older age. Another student had an Atlantic magazine and his reading level was 13, so I guess it depends on the subject content. My magazine is clearly geared towards a younger audience.
• Seventeen magazine target audience- 11 to 18 years old (ages most interested in pop culture of this genre), female, elementary/middle school reading level, however older ages still are interested in the content, interested in current fashions and famous people, materialistic and of the middle or upper class.

Qualitative Data

Qualitative

School fees were unheard of in public schools across America until recently when the economy was suffering. Focusing on Norton High, fees for parking, buses, and extracurricular activities such as sports are still in existence, even after the economy has gained stability. I feel that as a public school, fees should not be required for students, especially regarding transportation. Students who drive to school should not have to pay to park because that is basically paying to go to school, something that does not normally correlate to a public school. I asked six other Norton High School students to see if their opinions matched up to mine.  Out of the six students I interviewed, all agreed that fees should not be required of public school students. Only two out of the six felt sports should have a user fee because they are extracurricular.  Other than that, everyone else agree that sports should be free in a public school. Students who played and did not play sports both had responses such as, “if the school is offering it, they should pay for it,” and “public school should have money to put into these things so students do not have to pay them.” Regarding parking and bus fees, one student said, “user fees and parking do not exist in other towns and did not exist here until recently. Extra fees should not be required of public school students.” All six of the students said that they (or their parents) pay for either the buses or a parking spot. Another student reasoned, “we all have to go to school, so why should we be forced to pay when we park here, the school does not pay for our gas to get here.” Half of the students play sports and the other half do not, however those who did not play sports were still against sport user fees. Norton High should look into revising its school fees, identifying alternative resources to raise funds, and listen to the student body for their opinions.

Research Question

Should school fees be something that all student are required to pay? Qualitative: interview students for their responses. Quantitative: find out what percent of students pay school fees and if they think they should or should not exist.