Use phones respectfully

You probably spend more time with your smart phone than any other possession. You take it everywhere --- to school, to meals, and even to the bathroom. 【小题1】 . But we have to learn to use our phones respectfully or at least without offending others around us. Here are some tips for smart phone usage. Take a look.

Use “do not disturb” instead of “vibrate（振动）”

Loud vibrations in your pants are disturbing. People can hear your phone vibrate, depending on how severely it vibrates. 【小题2】 .

Tell others what you are doing

Sometimes, you will be in a situation in which you need to use your smart phone. Just tell people what you are doing and why you are doing it. If you don’t, people will think that you are either interacting with someone else or just getting bored.

【小题3】

Respect others’ privacy as text and e-mail senders by not letting what they type appear on the home screen of your phone when you receive a new message. While you are at it, use a password to make sure the information you share with others stays between you.

Ask permission to swipe（滑动）

When someone hands you their phone to look at a photo, this doesn’t mean you can swipe through all of their photo albums. 【小题4】 .

More time spent indoors during the COVID-19 pandemic may have caused a significant rise in childhood short-sightedness, according to a new Hong Kong study. The findings were based on the current Hong Kong Children Eye Study, which continually researches the eye conditions of children aged six to eight.

The study found that 19.5 per cent of the 709 six-year-old pupils admitted at the start of the pandemic（between December 2019 to January 2020）developed short-sightedness over the course of eight months.

The overall estimated one-year incidence of short-sightedness for them was 28 per cent — much higher than the 17 per cent found in children studied pre-pandemic.

The researchers note that these changes corresponded with a reduction in the time the children spent outdoors — from around 75 minutes a day pre-pandemic to 24 minutes during the pandemic.

Screen time among the children also dramatically increased during this period, from two and a half hours a day, to seven hours.

The authors highlight that this data relied on questionnaires, which could impact the accuracy of the research. Also, as it was a local study to Hong Kong, the researchers couldn't say whether the same results would be seen in children in other provinces of China.

“Despite all these unavoidable study limitations, our initial results still show an alarming short-sightedness progression that requires appropriate correctional action,” the researchers concluded.

James Huang, professor of optometry (视光学) at Hong Kong University, who did not take part in the research, told CGTN “During the pandemic, lifestyles have changed, such as the amount of time spent viewing digital screens, homeschooling and the duration of time spent outdoors. At least nine peer-reviewed published studies—not including this new Hong Kong study-have identified an increase in short-sightedness progression during the pandemic.”

Fortunately, though, the effect may not be permanent. “One study found this short-sightedness progression was turned back partially after lockdown, suggesting that both eye focus spasm (痉挛) and structural changes contributed to this accelerated rate,” explained Huang.

Five American teenagers were officially named the 2018 National Student Poets on Thursday at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. The award is the highest honor for young poets in the United States and the students represent states from all over the country. The teenagers were first chosen in August from among thousands of award-winning young poets in the United States

Virginia McEnery leads the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, which plays a part in choosing the national student poets. She says poetry is powerful because it is open to everyone. “It’s so democratic, you don’t need more than a pencil and piece of paper and everyone likes it.” McEnery says she hopes the national student poet program will support the winners not only as writers, but as activists

Many of the student poets have already held literary leadership positions, McEnery said. “For many of them, they are working for their library or they’ re running the literary magazine for their school or one of them is actually in the scholastic awards program for her state.”

As national student poets, the five young people will give presentations, performances and training on poetry and literature. They will also improve the services of libraries and museums, and volunteer in their communities. In addition, each poet will receive an award of ＄5,000 and the opportunity to learn from poet and teacher Glenis Redmond. And, they will meet with Tracy K. Smith, the current poet laureate(桂冠诗人) for the United States.

McEenery says she has seen for herself how programs to support students’ creative expression can change young people’s lives. “It’s such a hard time to be a teenager, social movements are happening in real time as they are growing up. What better, smarter, wiser thing can a young person do than try to write about it?”