Senior Project Entry 1

Today in class I took on the task to do some more research and compose my publicity campaign. Homelessness is a huge issue, Walk down a street in any metropolitan area and I can guarantee you, you'll at least run into 3 homeless people. These are our war veterans who cant find jobs, ex-criminals who cant get back on their feet and LGBT community members that been kicked out of the house. There are dangerous shelters but no good solution. In the past the assisted living complexes or the projects have been buildings full of sex, and drug trafficking its a huge problem. Through out my journey with this topic im determined to fine a more viable solution to fix these problems. 

Homelessness is an epidemic; there are 21 homeless people for every 10,000 in the general public. That’s over 12 million in the entire world...

Gangs- Outside Reading 1

Book: Gangs
Author: Linda M. Schmidt

I'm not going to lie, this is a lengthy book. Last semester I touched on the issues of childhood obesity and how the schools are not helping the epidemic, so this semester I picked a book that deals with another large issue effecting kids as well. Gangs. Whether you live in the city, suburbs or rural America all of you have most likely know people that partake in gangs. From the first 50 pages my book it talks about the issue of children in gangs, how it taking over america. In Chicago we hear of countless drive by shooting that kill. Gangs Kill. Just recently a 6 month old baby's life was taken due to a drive by shooting of a rival gang, they had the wrong person. Schmidt talks about the system of how they enter the gang and how its very family oriented. For example if you dad was in the gang growing up, sold drugs and most likely ended up being locked you would have a 78% better chance of following in his footsteps. Its an old system that fuels on hate. Everywhere law makers and police are trying to implement plans to stop the gang violence but they have yet to come up with a sufficient plan. "Its not seen as breaking the system, it what their friends do, its as normal to most as an extracurricular activity"-gangs. Its a huge issue, people in these gangs don't see what they are doing and how wrong it is. Something must be done, I cant wait to read more on this controversial topic! Thoughts?? 

Bully Weekly Blog Post

All across america bullying is a huge problem, whether it takes place at school, in the house or online its happening. Recently in my Issues in America class we watched the film Bully, a touching sad documentary that take the viewer through the life of a child who has been bullied or is subjected to being picked on.  It shows that bullying happens due to race, lack of social skills, metal or physical disability and a bunch of other things. Its an issue and we are letting it happen day by day, for example I personally think a lot of this happens on the school buss. A typical school buss holds 72 students (two to each seat) with one staff member or adult on board whom would be the driver. The buss drivers main goal is to escort kids safely to and from school not to make sure that kids are behaving and no one is getting picked on. This is leaving a big gap, their are kids in with close proximity with one another with no supervision  Bullying is not secretive, it not and unknown problem. Schools say they are trying to stop it so.... why dont they put a staff member on the buss to prevent it. When I was younger and went to camp their was always a buss driver and 2-4 counselor on the buss keeping the kids engaged and making sure no one was being picked on. I know this is a big problem and I am not impressed on how the schools in my area are handling it. People are all different thats what makes the world so great, those who are a little different do not deserve to be picked on!

Henry J. Dobs

"We are experienced by our mistakes and motivated by our failures to achieve greatness"

Boston Weekly Post

News Update: 
Monday afternoon two explosives went off at the Boston marathon, 3 died and 180 were injured. Two brothers were responsible for the incident, the first that was killed by FBI personal in a shootout and the other who is still on the run. Currently the Mayor of Boston has the city and suburbs locked down. The 19 year old on the run is also responsible for the killing of a police officer at MIT. Their names are currently undisclosed.



Reaction:

Wow, we all need to go home and hug our family members and loved ones. In the world there are many people, people with different opinions and backgrounds. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion that's whats so great about the states, when those people act on the rational opinions .. that is when justice needs to be served. Monday when president Obama addressed the nation he said that they had picked the wrong city to mess with, he could not have been more correct. I grew up in Long Island NY, I have traveled to Boston many times and am confident in saying that that state is very strong. In class we are touching on the issue of admissions race bias, when something like this happens it makes you think "do I really care". These are real people who died and real people whom many of will never walk again. Its been quite the journey this week. After each incident like this it makes us think how strong America really is. Their are thousands of people out there searching for the man and they all have one thing on their mind... justice. We learn from experiences like these and I can assure you nothing like this will hopefully happen again. We are nation built buy the people for the people and we will protect our people. Ill keep you posted one the matter. Please comment and let me know your thoughts are so far.

Admissions Weekly Post

What would your school look like if you had the ability to choose who got in....????? 

This week in issues the class has been put in the shoes of an admissions office employee. It has been a very interesting experience. The class was broken into groups and given 8 students, with diverse backgrounds and scores. We were asked to put the kids in order from "most admissible" to "least admissible". This was a very interesting process, some gave kids a better chance due to past experience or ethnicity. So I ask myself the question... is that fair? If there were two kids with the same scores that did the same things and were equally involved but one was African and the other white, would the African kid have a better chance? Should race even play into admitting a student? I have many questions and will update this post along the unit as my views change. I am excited to dig deeper. 

Recent Deaths on North Shore

"As we have seen on a first hand basis this week, life is a gift. Spend time with those who make you happy and live life to the fullest. Every day is a new start, a book where you have the ability to alter the ending. Make sound choices and stay strong"-Henry J.Dobs

-My Condolences to anyone who has lost a loved one this week. 

Issues Blog Post
In-Class Post
Brad Martin

After taking the test the results did show a bit of hidden bias, it stated that I had a slight preference towards European Americans then African Americans. I had no idea, I was very shocked it pulled that up. So I thought about it and I think the only reason it came up with that response is due to the number of "missed pictures" I had. This was a simple mistake and does not me I prefer one over the other rather that I was not paying that close of attention to each picture. One question I have about the results is how they can come to such a conclusion with such a short test. I don't think a short test like this can determine a racial preference. I think its a complex process that takes time and a personal connection...!  This test still does not change my views on the movie "I sit where I want", I think that kids should have a racially diverse group of friends and everyone should be accepting to different races and backgrounds. It not just to have a segregated school this day in age. Students should reach out of there comfort zones and try to make friends with others who are different from them, its beneficial in the long run. Overall I really enjoyed the movie  I thought it shared the truth about schools even where there is a mixed population. Often times in my school people complain that there is no diversity... if there was do you think we would embrace it? Meaning extend our already close friend groups to include people diff rent from yourself? I personally don't think so.

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