Volume 2, Issue 4

March 2016

WILDCAT WIT & WISDOM

A publication of Locust Grove Middle School

LGMS Students Shine

at District and Region Competitions

Gianna Curra, 2nd place writing winner

at Griffin RESA Literacy Days

LGMS Reading Bowl team placed fourth in recent

county competition.

LGMS 7th grade drama team won for their grade level at Henry County Literacy
Days competition. (Karizma Munoz, Catherine Brockman, Ryleigh Mann, Cierra
Chatman, Courtney Tabacci, Courtney White, Ahava Murray, Emma Gowen)

LGMS Science Fair participants William Ward,

Tyler Maddox, and Colby Dempsey are going to
the state science fair April 1st. They also won
the Broadcom Masters Award and will have the
opportunity to compete nationally in 2017.

LGMS Spelling Bee winner

DesireGordon.

Page 2

Permission to Speak Freely?

Students on Team 802 recently competed for a pizza party and the chance to represent
LGMS in a national writing competition sponsored by Fox News and John Stossel on the
topic of threats to American first amendment rights. Below is one of the team winning
essays.
By Matthew Manley

The U.S Constitution states that there can be no law that prohibits free speech. But there are
people who are trying to do that very thing. If we didnt have free speech, we wouldnt be able to formulate our own opinions and share them with other people. Free speech is also important so that if
we need to, we can tell the truth, and it will prevail.
Religion is a very controversial topic. But one religion in particular does what others wont:
killing people for "disrespecting" their god. Im talking about the Islamic religion. Now, not all people
who are in the religion or support it are violent, but many are. One example of a violent act in this
religion is the Charlie Hebdo shooting. There had been a drawing contest about the Prophet Muhammad. Two gunmen raided the office building and killed 12 people, and injured 11. Think about
this for a second. Twelve people died over a simple drawing contest. That shows me that some
people will do anything to prevent free speech.

Students created a bulletin board in the commons with excerpts from several essays and
quotes about freedom of speech by celebrities and other famous individuals.

Page 3

Making the point during a protest rally

that it often feels like our rights to free
speech are being thrown away.

Another time free speech is limited is when people criticize the LGBT community. If you just so happen
to not like or support the LGBT community, you could be
put down as a homophobe. I have seen plenty of people
try to state their opinion about the issue, only to get
called out. Sometimes, gays or their supporters will call these opinions hate speech. In 2004, a
disabled veteran came home to find a U.S flag with the LGBT colors on it. He claimed that it was
disrespectful and went to twitter about it. After about an hour, his tweet was taken down. Now isnt
that crazy?

One other example of people who try to limit free speech are feminists. Now Im not talking
about women who simply want equality. Im talking about the ones that think women are superior to
men. I once saw a feminist claim on Twitter that all men are rapists and pigs. A respectful person
counterclaimed her argument. After a while, she reported him and blocked him for being misogynic.
And then there are many more like her, being mean and trying to stop us from saying what we want
about women, even in a respectful way. But as I said, not all feminists are like this. Just the ones
whose lights arent all on upstairs.
Now heres something youve probably heard of: censorship at schools. Its nothing new.
But some schools censor too much. Some colleges around the world condone people being able to
talk about how they feel about other controversial topics, such as homosexuality. A student at one
college was protesting why abortion is not acceptable. Then a female professor and two other students took her sign! The professor then laughed and taunted in the students face. I bet youre
guessing that the professor got in trouble. Well youd be wrong because the professor got no punishment whatsoever! To me that is just unfair to the student. She was trying to use her freedom of
speech and it got taken down! People like that professor make me sick to my stomach. It should
make you angry, too! I hope this never happens on a college campus ever again!
Everyday our free speech gets dwindled down. But we can stop this by speaking up against
people who are trying to stop it! People like ISIS, feminists who dont understand the concept of
feminism, college liberals, and rude people in the LBGT community. If we all stand together, I know
we can protect one of our most basic and important rights!

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Should Violent Video Games Be Banned?

An editorial by Jawon Dozier
Many people say violent video games are to blame for today's youth being more aggressive
and violent. I think that's only partially true because people have an option to do the right thing or
the wrong thing. But studies show that 90 percent of young people play video games and out of that
90 percent 66 percent play violent video games. When someone constantly plays violent games they
think about the things that happen in those games. So for many people violent video games cloud
their minds because that's all they play.
I think if people didn't play the games so often the violence wouldn't crowd their minds.
Maybe they could have some type of schedule or something to limit them from playing all day every
day. Lots of people that play violent video games even myself limit ourselves from playing all the
time. If people limited how often their children or themselves played it wouldn't be a concern. Because then their minds wouldn't be crowded with these graphic images and things. But since everyone won't do those things I think the companies that make thee games should make it possible for
the player to only play a certain amount of time per week. The limit could be set by parents or
guardians based on how old the child is.

However sometimes limiting the amount of time someone plays doesn't help. For example, in September 2007 a 17 year old boy named Daniel Petric killed his mother and wounded his father because they took Halo 3 from him. It all started when his dad took the copy of Halo 3 and locked it
away in a lock-box located in his closet (which incidentally was the same place he kept a 9mm
handgun tucked away). A month later, Daniel broke into the lock-box and retrieved both the Halo 3
game and the 9mm handgun. Once both items were in hand, Daniel went downstairs and approached his parents as they lounged on the couch. He asked them to close their eyes, claiming the
he had a "surprise." Mark Petric, 45, testified that he was actually expecting a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, that pleasant surprise turned out to be a shot in the head, killing the mother and
"gravely" wounding the father. Daniel immediately place the gun in his father's hand, saying "Hey
Dad, here's your gun. Take it."

Page 5

Daniel fled in the

family van, but
was captured by
police shortly
thereafter, Halo 3
sitting in the front
seat like some possessed Book of the
Dead.
Mark, still alive, blood pouring from his bullet wound, his head numb, realized that his wife was
dead. He believes that he is still alive because of his older daughter and son-in-law arriving at the
house to watch an Indians game. "You guys shouldn't come in," he heard Daniel tell the couple outside. "Mom and Dad had a big argument."
Like some cue from a horror movie, Heidi and Andrew both said that they heard moans coming from inside the house, perhaps even calling out their names. After bursting into the house and
investigating, they found the wounded father and dead mother. In response, Daniel picked up the
gun, poised to kill, however Andrew managed to seize the weapon from the boy before any additional slayings occurred. Daniel fled in the family van, but was captured by police shortly thereafter, Halo 3 sitting in the front seat like some possessed Book of the Dead.
Many events such as this have taken place because people tried to limit their children. That
shows that it depends on the person when it comes how you can limit them. For some people you
have to take it step-by-step and for others its a more forward process. So you have to know the person enough to choose the right method. Maybe for some people after a certain amount of time you
can start to give back the privilege of gaming. This should be an option only if you notice the person
becoming more responsible.
www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/family/11/03/healthmag.violent.kids/index.html?eref=rss_tech
www.videogames.procon.org
www.lifetickler.com/do-violent-games-make-people-violent/
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Halo-3-Shot-Parents,news-3153.html

Team 801 Visit to the Civil Rights Museum

and World of Coke

A beautiful day outside the Atlanta

Civil Rights Museum of living and
interactive history.

Locust Grove
Middle School
3315 South Ola Rd.
Locust Grove, GA
WILDCAT WIT
& WISDOM:
A PUBLICATION OF
LGMS TEAM 802
Sponsor: Ms. Gardner

Team 801 exploring the World of Coke