Category: eLearning ENG4U

What is the first thought that comes to mind when someone brings up a rodent? How about if the word “ferret” manages to wiggle its way into a conversation? If you’re first reaction is “Ew, rodent!”, you are not alone. Many people are ignorant to the true nature of ferrets or their general existence, most people don’t know how great they are as pets, how quirky they are, and how easy to take care of they are. Because of their resemblance to rodents many people will never take the time to learn these things.

When it comes to being a pet, ferrets are the best there is. They are better than dogs for a couple of reasons. The first being that they don’t bark. Other people can come over and they don’t feel the need to bark loudly or feel the need to be obnoxiously in everyones’ face. They don’t need to go for walks, they can if you want to on warm days, as they can’t go out in the cold or in the extreme heat. If you don’t want to leave your house one day you don’t need to, they don’t need to go outside, you can stay inside all day. They also can’t take up a large space on any furniture or beds. They are also better than cats, as they are not as mood swingy. They can also be litter trained, but you can get special pellet litter so it doesn’t smell like litter. They are smaller and don’t need as much attention, as they are quite happy just to run around and play with what they can find. They don’t need all the care that cats and dogs do, as long as you are willing to get down on the floor sometimes and play with them.

Ferrets are very quirky and have tons of personality. Some of them will make noises when they get really excited and they do a little dance called a “weasel war dance”. They are all unique and have different quirks. For example, Clyde, my ferret, likes to steal crusts, shoes, plungers, and a few other things that are a lot bigger than him. He loves blueberries, porridge, and Captain Crunch, but really doesn’t like strawberries or most types of pepperoni. He likes to give kisses, his favourite place to sleep is in any drawer, playing in and with plastic bags, and if he feels like it he loves to cuddle up and sleep on my lap or stomach.

All in all, ferrets are pretty easy going animals. They are so far from being rodents, they separate at class under the scientific classifications. Where rodents are “Rodentia”, ferrets are “Carnivora” and are more closes related to weasels. They are not at all viscous, are fun loving and easy to fall in love with. They make amazing pets and get along with any other animal in the house, as they just want to play. Ferrets are quite small, they can be anywhere from 17 inches and can get up to 25 inches in length when full grown. They do have a cage, but really love to run around and explore. So if you’re looking for an easy and fun loving animal, ferrets are the perfect animal for you.

 

In 2008, more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese. In fact, in the past 30 years, childhood obesity has more than tripled.¹ Nowadays, with society being focused on their high-pace, busy and fun lifestyles, home cooked meals are being replaced with fast food. Actually, kids are malnourished and under exercised. This causes high child obesity rates in countries such as, Canada and America. In addition, the media also contributes to this crisis. Obesity, which is the condition of having an excessive amount of body fat, is rapidly becoming a problem especially for children in Western society. It also poses many health risks, but fortunately there are possible ways to be able to prevent and hopefully extinguish this epidemic.

Citizens of the Western society are constantly on the go; they do not have time to make nutritional meals every day for their family and children, so they turn to fast food restaurants. Many fast foods are fried, high in fat and sodium, low in fiber, and contain some vitamins and some minerals which are unhealthy for one’s body. Many children consume excessive amounts of fast food on a regular basis which leads to obesity. In fact, every single day, one out of three young people aged four to nineteen eats fast food.² Undoubtedly, there is a lot of children eating unhealthy food daily. Although tempting, with their mouth-watering, inexpensive products, big portion sizes, and convenience; fast food restaurants are one of the main reasons for childhood obesity. The media is also at fault. Children 8-18 years of age spend an average of 7.5 hours a day using media, including: TV, computers, video games, cell phones, and movies. Of those 7.5 hours, about 4.5 hours is dedicated to viewing TV.³ This means children are exposed to many advertisements on a daily basis, especially for unhealthy food. Also, the amount of time they spend using electronics takes away from their daily physical activity which should be at least an hour a day according to the Centre of Disease Control and Prevention.⁴ Instead of enjoying the outdoors, children are fixated on electronics and exposed to the media which is another basis for childhood obesity. This constitutes many health hazards.

 

There are many health and safety risks regarding childhood obesity. For instance: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, asthma, joint problems, musculoskeletal discomfort and diabetes. Obese children could also face discrimination or have low self-esteem. While childhood obesity along with the mental, physical, emotional and health risks are unnecessary, they are preventable.

In order to prevent this problem, a parent or guardian must provide a healthy environment and encourage a healthy lifestyle for their children. This includes healthy meals and snacks, and motivation as well as equipment to exercise or play a sport. If parents cut out all the restaurants, allowed minimal junk food and educated their children about nutrition then it would be easy to avert this condition. In general, the western society needs to change their lifestyles for the sake of the next generation.

Nowadays, a healthy lifestyle is vital for the prevention of childhood obesity. It is up to parents to reduce the amount of time theirs kids are exposed to the media, to educate their children on the importance of physical activity and nutrition and to provide healthy, well balanced meals which excludes fast food restaurants. This should decrease childhood obesity rates which will benefit children and society as a whole.

Footnotes

¹ “Childhood Obesity Facts.” Cdc.gov. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, September 15, 2011. Web. November 1, 2011. <http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/facts.htm&gt;

² Stephanie Watson. “Fast Food.” Teen Health and Wellness. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. August 2010. Web. Nov. 1, 2011.

<http://teenhealthfiles.rosenpub.com/articles/fastfood.html&gt;

³ “A Growing Problem.” Cdc.gov. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, April 21, 2011. Web. November 1, 2011. <http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/problem.html&gt;

⁴ “How much physical activity do children need?” Cdc.gov. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, April 21, 2011 March 30, 2011. Web. November 1, 2011. <http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/children.html&gt;

If dogs are said to be a man’s best friend, why is the Ontario government trying to cause the extinction of a specific dog breed? Many people love pit bulls, but that did not stop the government from passing the “Pitbull Law” which states that no pit bulls are to be sold, bred, or imported into the province of Ontario. Why is it acceptable to pass judgement on one type of dog breed when the same treatment would not be tolerated for humans? How is this law fair to the loyal owners that love the breed? Did the government consider that the dog’s bad behaviour could be a result of poor training? Overall, it is unfair for a dog breed to be banned simply because of a societal stereotype.

Everything comes in different shapes, sizes, and colours and it has been instilled from a young age not to judge based on those differences. However, the pitbull does not get that type of respect, as many people jump at the chance to judge them.  Just because the pitbull has a larger body and may appear scarier than most other dog breeds people assume that they are vicious
and simply want to attack. Jumping to that conclusion is like stereotyping a man with a bigger build as someone that wants to harm other individuals. We know this is not true, as most men that have bigger builds are very friendly. This realization of an obvious stereotype could go for pit bulls too, as most of the pit bulls are friendly and just like any other dog.  Unfortunately, unlike humans they are not considered to be equals with other dogs and are treated as if they are horrible
creatures that don’t deserve to live.

The treatment of the pitbull breed is unquestionably unfair to owners and breeders alike.  Most owners have grown up with pitbulls and
have a developed an attachment to the breed, and now are being told that they are not allowed to have them any longer. While many of the breeders are finding themselves having to make the choice between leaving their family and their home to move to a province that
allows pitbulls, or staying in Ontario and living without the dog they adore and losing the income that they were making by selling the puppies.  This is a very hard decision that these individuals should not even have to consider making, and yet they are still being forced to do so.

Although some owners take excellent care of their pets, there are some that should not have a pitbull or any other dog to begin with.  Many people that own a dog do not know how to properly care for them and they do not give them the attention they need. As a result, dogs start to develop bad behaviour and it is due to this behaviour that some dogs end up attacking. Even though other dogs are known to attack, pit bulls are the only dogs that are being punished, which is truly unfair. Since other dogs do attack it shows that it is not just pitbull, but rather the owners that have role in how their dogs behave. Therefore, it is inexcusable to put all the blame on the dog, while the owners do not get any punishment. The dogs are not the ones in control, and for this reason the owner is the one who needs to be punished.

Overall, pit bulls should not be banned from Ontario simply because of a societal stereotype.  It is unfair to the dog to be judged just
because they have a bigger body type, it is unfair to the owners that love and breed them, and it is unthinkable to punish a dog for an owner’s neglect. Therefore, for these, and countless other reasons, the pit bull ban should be dropped.