POPCORN NEWS

Dear Editor,

     While reading your news, as usual, I noticed an interesting opinion article entitled “Capital Punishment- by SM”.  It brought a lot of thoughts to my head and I started to debate about the issue myself.

      I agree that it’s not fair that murderers go to jail and then come out only to live a life (second chance) while the family of the person they have killed (or even hurt) will be scarred for life.  Well, I have a few points that might go against this statement (and a few others in the article) as well.  Firstly, if a man or woman commits a crime such as murder and is let out of jail, they will not be able to live normal lives (as the article says) because everyone will think of them as monsters and will probably be too scared to go near them, fearing the loss of their loved ones.  They will have no respect in the community and the thought of the hatred from the victim’s family will always haunt them.  Secondly, people always deserve a second chance to redeem their lives and whether they take that chance is their decision and they know that they will have to face the law if they make a drastic mistake.  Not all people stay as criminals and those people would want people to see them differently and maybe once they are out of jail they’ll try to help their own community and prove they are worthy of some respect.  Finally, in the article it is written that criminals go to jail for a “couple of years” and are released on bail.  In some cases, I admit that is true but not in most.  When proven of their crime, the criminals are sent to jail for a period of time, that is usually deserving, according to the crime (how they had commit it, how many people died, etc).    

     I liked reading this article a lot because it was both factual and the writer gave a lot of description on why they made their choice.  Now, I see another side of this “debate” and I am starting to have second thoughts about both sides (ex. even I would be scared to have a murderer roaming around alive so I would think there should be capital punishment but I would also think that this person may need another chance at life).  Thank you to Popcorn News for putting great opinion articles like this one that helps people think more and I hope to read a lot of them.  It would be nice if you replied to this letter.

Sincerely,

Meghan

Dear Editor,

     I believe that Popcorn News is a great news source for everyone.  It has great up to date news, which are easy to read and is laid out very nicely.  A few articles I read really affected the way I think about the world and how my actions could affect it. 

     After reading articles such as “‘Another Crisis’ and ‘Poverty’ by TI”, I started to consider how a lot of kids are taking things for granted and don’t appreciate what they have.  Also, the statistics from those articles really opened my eyes to what a horrible stage the world is in and how we should try to give back to the community.  I mean 26 500- 30 000 children die each day because of poverty.  Well, I know the feeling of changing someone’s life would completely change mine and I would feel so much better about myself.  It’s sad though, that other kids don’t feel this way and find these kinds of articles and announcements  annoying and very repetitive. 

     Since Popcorn News speaks to the people about how sad people’s lives are and about how we should help, I think that it would be great for Popcorn News to start something like an awareness program or website.  Maybe you could have fundraisers and give the money to various charities.  The reason why I am suggesting this is because I think that Popcorn News is fairly popular and all my friends like reading it (even though we usually hate it when our parents are watching the news on television) and my friends are the ones who introduced it to me.  If the editors start giving good ideas that will help others then we would be a lot more interested in the subject since you are all kids like us. 

     Thank you for taking the time to read my letter and for inspiring me to be more interested in news and what’s going around in our world.  Popcorn News is amazing!               

Sincerely,

Marissa Jane

Dear Editor,

    In regards to the article you ran on Thursday December 4, 2008 (The Dangers of Having Celebrity Role Models), I agree that celebrities make horrible role models. Thousands of kids watch TV shows, movies and music videos and are very conscious of all the celebrities that star in them. Not all, but most youth want to be like one of these celebrities. The sad thing is, is that, like you said in your article, people just want to be known among the rich and famous. Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., they are role models who were inspiring people with dreams that would change the world. Nowadays, there are celebrities who, both intentionally and unintentionally, promote drugs, violence and drinking alcohol. Since kids look up to these celebrities, when they get older they may start copying the celebrities and do all these things just because the want to be cool like them.

     In conclusion, I just wanted to say that I do not think all celebrities are horrible (As proof, Caring Celebrities- by CD.. 01/12/08) . There are celebrities who try to help make this world a better place.

                                                          Sincerely,

Candice

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