Silly Bandz

The schools have made the right decision in banning Silly Bandz from the classroom.


These bracelets, although cute and entertaining, are a distraction to the learning environment. I had never heard of these bands until about a month ago, and suddenly, they are everywhere. I have seen little kids, high school students, and even some parents wearing this new trend. I see so many kids in my classes distracted by them that I can only imagine how much of this occurs in middle schools. A few of my teachers have said that they will take them away if anyone has them off their wrists. Kids are always trading them and showing off which shapes they have. Some people want to borrow a certain shape for day, but will get upset when they have to give it back. And these are people my age! I can see how much of a distraction they are. They may be a big deal now, however, I am sure in a year or two, the fad will pass. We will all be wondering why we ever wore them in the first place. For now though, I will continue to wear my yellow duck bracelet, but I’ll be sure not to let it distract from the classroom.

Injuries

Being injured is really not fun at all. I experienced this last year when I separated my growth plate from the bottom of my fibula. My ankle was the size of a baseball and it hurt for about really bad for about three months after, while I was on crutches. It still hurts on occasion. As I started track season this year, I was hoping, that if nothing else, I wouldn’t get hurt. I also dance, and one day in class, as we were doing an exercise, I felt a pop in my leg. I knew that couldn’t be good. The top of my hamstring hurt extremely badly. I stretched it out and out ice and heat on it, and after a few days it was feeling better.

Just as I was feeling okay again, my fears came true. I am normally a high jumper, and one day, my track coach told me to try long jump, which I have done in the past. We had a low hurdle out that helps you jump higher, so you can go farther. I approached the pit and jumped, throwing my arms up as hard as I could. I landed, and my right arm didn’t come back down. When I threw my arms up, my shoulder dislocated. I was in so much pain I couldn’t take it. I needed to get it back in place, so that’s exactly what I did. I bent over and pulled my arm back into place. That hurt more than when it came out. My friend Marci called over our coach as soon as she saw my shoulder. Everyone was in shock. I walked over to the training room to see Joe, my shoulder throbbing. He wasn’t there. He had gone to take water to the baseball and softball players. A few people in the room got me ice.

I held the ice on until Joe finally arrived. He started to evaluate my injury, asking me to move my arm in all directions. I could barely move it at all. He had me lay down on one of the tables and completely relax my whole right arm. Then he tried moving it, and I went a lot further in every direction than when I tried to do it on my own. As he was getting me a fresh ice bag, he told me that I had dislocated my shoulder but he didn’t think I majorly tore anything. I guess that was good news. He wrapped the ice on, gave me a sling, and after taking to my mom and my coach, sent me home.

That was four weeks ago and my shoulder still hurts. I have been high jumping, but I have a brace to wear while doing it. I won’t be able to practice with the team for the rest of the season. I just hope that getting injured won’t become an annual occurrence.