Page 9 - March 14 issue

feature 9 THE SPOTLIGHT | BDSPOTLIGHT.COM | MARCH 14, 2014 “On Tuesday, they were showing a Godzilla mar- athon and it was the ones with baby Godzilla and space Godzilla,” Brown said. “ It was really hard not to watch it.” Baker also missed TV. PUBLICATION STUDENTS SACRIFICE THE USE OF UNNECESSARY TECHNOLOGY “Not watching TV was hardest because I have gotten myself addicted to TV series like How I met Staff report a really good day and thought I deserved to play your Mother, Greys Anatomy and Criminal Minds,” Minecraft. I also felt that my journey was becoming Baker said. “I did goof up on Tuesday night because Imagine going a week without access to your cell boring.” my mom and I watched Pretty Little Liars.” phone, social media sites or email. Baker had the most success, even giving up tele- For all three, it was a learning experience, While those older than 50 might say “welcome to vision. She went fve days totally unplugged. “I learned that it is hard to go without technol- my teenage years,” for us current teenagers, that is “Not checking Instagram and Twitter was not ogy,” Brown said. “Even though some technology is like going without food for a day. extremely diffcult, but I did feel like I needed to bad, without it, we would feel lost.” “I felt left out,” sophomore Matt Brown said. do something else on my phone when I felt bored,” “After a week of not checking social media and “While my family watched TV, I had to leave the Baker said. “After fve days, I don’t fnd the need watching TV, I don’t check it as often because I room. I also felt liberated from the struggles of to check it as often, especially before bed because know that I don’t really feel the need to check it,” waiting for something to load.” that’s when the most drama occurs I think.” Baker said. “I still like to watch my shows, but I Brown was one of three students who attempt- Without technology, what is there to do? don’t turn the TV on right when I get home either.” ed to go a week without using technology of any Parents and grandparents usually say go outside For Jones, the pull of photos was too much to source. The others were seniors Vontrez Jones and and play, but that is not what these three did. handle. Madison Baker. Jones lasted two days, Brown went “I had a lot of homework, so that kept me busy for “I went downtown with my friend on Tuesday four days and Baker went fve days. a while,” Brown said. “I also had toys that I played and I wanted to take pictures of what I was seeing,” “I was unplugged for two days and it was ter- with to keep me occupied as well as taking Jones said. “That ruined it for me.” rible,” Jones said. “I like to take pictures too much refuge in my basement where I mostly read on my phone.” books. Not to forget that I went to sleep an The idea was to see if current teeagers can stand hour earlier too.” living without access to the technology they have “Instead of technology I took naps, which grown up with. All three were asked to give up so- is also a bad habit of mine, but I LOVE LOVE cial media sites, cell phones and any computer or LOVE naps so that’s what I did,” Baker said. tablet access. “I also did more homework and played with Each of them were allowed to use cell phones if my dogs.” work-related and computers for school-related pur- “I kind of just read a book,” Jones said. “I poses only. All were asked to try this for one solid got partly done with it. Plus, I worked.” GOING WITHOUT TECHNOLOGY Senior Madison Baker, week. Television might have been the hard- sophomore Matthew Brown and Vontrez Jones participated in “I lasted until Thursday,” Brown said. “I had had est thing to do without. being unplugged. WHAT DO YOUR FOOD LABELS MEAN? LEARN WHICH NUTRITIONAL FACTS YOU CAN TRUST AND WHICH ARE GIMMICKS You would think with the easy to read health facts By Anica Gross more whole grains you want to look for the “Whole on food today, it should also be easy to stay healthy. Grain” stamp, developed by the Whole Grains Scanning grocery store shelves says opposite. Look- online editor Council. ing for groceries can be frustrating because there is The last most common claim is “all natural”. so much information on the products and it can be nutrient. The same is true if the words plus or extra Meat and poultry bearing the word natural contain hard for the average person to understand it. It is appear before the name of a nutrient on packaging. no artifcial ingredients or colors and are minimally most important to know which labels are actually This is a label you can trust, because foods that processed, as regulated by the United States De- useful and which are marketing pitches. So here are contain 10 percent of your daily value of an impor- partment of Agriculture (USDA). So, when buying a few deeper understandings of the most common tant nutrient give your diet a huge boost. It also meat you can trust the “natural” label, but on other claims you see on food: compensates for those who do not get enough of products, look for the USDA Organic Seal, which The frst common claim is “a good source of f- one nutrient in their diet. guarantees that food consists of at least 95 percent ber”. If a label bears the words good source of fol- The second claim is “made with whole grain”. organically produced ingredients. lowed by the name of a nutrient, most likely being This claim is not so trustworthy. Basically, any Refer to http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/ fber, protein and calcium, then the Food and Drug “made with...” claim is not defned by the govern- features/whats-really-in-your-food for more in- Administration (FDA) mandates that the food must ment and therefore may not necessarily indicate a formation. contain at least 10 percent of the daily value of that signifcant source of that nutrient. If you want to eat