29. November 2009 by Mr. Andoscia.

Again, all blogs and comments up to this point have been graded.

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29. November 2009 by student.

Claim:  The community needs to work together to create a continuing force against bullying in our country’s schools. 

Suggested Reading: ERIC Clearinghouse on Counseling and Student Services Greensboro NC. Coy, Doris Rhea, 2001.Bullying in schools has been a persistent social problem that needs immediate focus. It is the community’s job to address and improve upon this problem; parents have the responsibility of teaching their children values and monitoring their behavior and schools have the responsibility of creating a safe environment for their students. “American homes and schools do not provide negative consequences for bullies and society sees bullying as transient or inconsequential” (Coy). The reading goes on to explore why children become bullies. Child rearing influences, such as not receiving enough love and attention from one’s parents, or the parents’ failure to set reasonable limits for their kids; characteristics of the child, like aggression and hyperactivity, difficulty adapting to new situations, irregular eating and sleeping habits, or negative moods; and factors of the environment, how bullying is regarded in homes and schools, as well as the amount of violence kids are exposed to through video games, television, and movies. Schools must establish a “whole-school approach” to bullying.  This means establishing an awareness of the bullying problem and evaluating how the school’s teachers and staff are enabling it by turning a blind eye or not being consistent or severe  enough with their punishments. Just being aware of the problem of bullying as it occurs both within and outside of the school can help reduce the act. Increasing school safety features, such as video monitoring, can provide more protection to students, suggests Coy.

A 2009 study found that one-third of America’s school students report being bullied at least once a month and six out of 10 say they witness someone being bullied daily. 3.2 million kids in grades 6-10 say they’re a victim of bullying each day.

 -FGCU, Katie Afflerback

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29. November 2009 by student.

Claim: Public Schools Need to Teach a Broader Sex Education Curriculum

Suggested Reading: Support for Comprehensive Sexuality Education: Perspectives from Parents of School-Age Youth by Eisenbergh, Marla E.; Bernat, Debra H.; Bearinger, Linda H.; Resnick, Michael D.

There has long been controversy surrounding sex education in our country’s public schools. Despite mounting evidence over the past decade that shows comprehensive sexuality education effectively promotes sexual health, there still exists the argument for Abstinence-only sex education. Further research show that in spite of such arguments, more parents support the comprehensive programs in public schools.

Teaching the ideologically-based Abstinence-Only approach to sex education as the sole approach is both ineffective and unrealistic. It perpetuates dated gender and sexual stereotypes and has failed to decrease the number of unintended pregnancies. Providing students with the information regarding anatomy, reproduction, reproductive health including contraception, reproductive rights and responsibilities allows them to make informed decisions. That’s not to say that students shouldn’t be made aware that abstinence is the only method of birth control that is 100 percent effective.   

The According to Support for Comprehensive Sexuality Education: Perspectives from Parents of School-Age Youth, “[t]he large majority of parents supported teaching about both abstinence and contraception (comprehensive sexuality education [CSE]; 89.3%), and support was high across all demographic categories of parents. All specific sexuality education topics received majority support (63.4%-98.6%), even those often viewed as controversial” (Eisenbergh, et al.)  It is thought that employing multiple strategies for prevention of pregnancy and STIs, including abstinence,  is the most effective, because it gives students an overview of their options, and informs them of the facts associated with each. Teachers, administration, the school boards, and parents agree on the importance of including a variety of topics and beginning instruction during the junior high years or earlier. 

In closing, teaching an Abstinence-Only curriculum is ineffective. Public schools should offer comprehensive sex ed programs in effort to prevent teen pregnancies and STIs.

Support for Comprehensive Sexuality Education: Perspectives from Parents of School-Age Youth by Eisenbergh, Marla E.; Bernat, Debra H.; Bearinger, Linda H.; Resnick, Michael D.

As seen in the Journal of Adolescent Health, vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 352-359, Apr. 2008

-FGCU, Katie Afflerback

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29. November 2009 by student.

There was always the smart Asian-American student in our class that some of us still remember. If we kept in contact with that person from high-school, we probably would not be surprised to find that he or she is in medical school or getting a masters in engineering. Ever wonder why Asian-Americans are generally successful people? In Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers, he discusses the many factors that contribute to success. One factor is cultural background. Traditional Asian agricultural society is based on the rice paddy which is one of the most difficult and time consuming crops to harvest. Therefore, the work ethic of Asians was very different from the rest of the world, and this work ethic has been infused into each subsequent generation. In fact, it has been shown that Asian- Americans do not inherently have increased IQs; therefore, their success is due to their inherent hardworking natures.

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29. November 2009 by student.

Certain diseases are terminal. Pancreatic cancer, for example, which took the life of the Carnegie Mellon professor who wrote The Last Lecture, has the lowest survival rate of any cancer with only 5% of patients living 5 years past diagnosis. There is a surgery for pancreatic cancer called the Whipple which is named after a famous surgeon. This surgery is expensive (on average $31, 659), risky, and doesn’t significantly improve outcome. Some surgeons refer to this surgery as palliative surgery. This means that there is not much medical benefit except for comfort the patient receives from trying all possibilities. We should be more realistic about prognostic outcomes and stop wasting medical resources. It would be best if people with terminal diseases were placed in palliative care programs rather than having surgeries and prolonged hospital stays. We should be more open to the idea of preparing patients with the fact that death is a reasonable outcome and provide support not needless medical intervention.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100294751

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/19/60minutes/main5711689.shtml?tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel

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29. November 2009 by student.

Marrying one’s first cousin is illegal in 25 states. The thought of marrying one’s first cousin is socially repugnant to most people, but has been widely practiced in society for generations. The European royal families such as the Hapsburgs, purposely married within their family tree. One of the main reason people feel that marrying between cousins is unacceptable is because of the potential of genetic defects. However the risk of genetic defects is only 2-3% higher among first cousin couples than unrelated couples. People in our society with known inheritable genetic defects like dwarfism, Huntington’s, and Down’s syndrome are allowed to marry; therefore, this can not be considered a reason to inhibit first cousin marriage. Romantic relationships among cousins are viewed as similar to incestuous sibling relationships. However, many first cousins are not raised together and do not necessarily view their first cousin as an immediate family member. If two consenting adults happen to fall in love with their first cousin why should they be denied marrying their true love just because its socially not acceptable? Twenty years ago would anyone have thought that same sex marriage would be allowed in some states? Maybe first cousin marriage is next.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/garden/26cousins.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

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29. November 2009 by student.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the president of the United States issued an executive order to relocate and intern Japanese-Americans.  The Japanese government had established an underground espionage network within the United States.  After 9/11, many Americans were angry and many violent acts were carried out against Muslim-Americans. Since the 9/11 attacks several conspiracies have been uncovered where extremist Muslim-Americans have been planning or supporting anti-American efforts.  The recent Fort Hood attacks were extremely concerning to the American public, and the Taliban has threatened further similar attacks.  The use of internment camps and deportation in our political climate could be of use.  Internment camps could prevent anti-American plotting in our country, and also protect Muslim-Americans against attacks.  Some may argue that this tactic is too aggressive as many innocent Muslim-Americans will be interned as well.  However, the safety of many Americans is at stake.  Isn’t this worth the sacrifice of the few?  A Cornell University study showed that 44% of Americans polled believed that certain civil liberties should be curtailed for Muslim-Americans.  If Muslim-Americans were in closely monitored internment camps, the government would have a higher chance of identifying extremist networks within the United States.  http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Dec04/Muslim.Poll.bpf.html

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29. November 2009 by student.

In an agitated world in which with every year is more difficult to live a peaceful life, people have to take precipitated decisions about life and death, and Euthanasia has become one of the controversial issues about death. Euthanasia means good death and there are two types of euthanasia, the active and passive one and these two have subtypes which are voluntary and involuntary. This essay will be focus in the right of the people to choose the active-voluntary euthanasia, which is known as the physician-assisted suicide, and can be described as the use of drugs to put an end to the life of an ill person whose life is going to end in a determined period of time so they decide to have a doctor end their life voluntary before they have a natural dead (Rebman 7).

The physician-assisted suicide has started one of the most incredible questions about the right  to end one’s life in a different way than natural: Should we have the right to decide when to put an end to our lives when we already know that we are going to die from a incurable disease (Yount 37) or should we wait for a natural death? In a study that was conducted, about 32% of the adults that were interviewed said that/if they knew that they were going to die from a terminal disease, they could consider suicide (Yount 38), but even if they could consider it, trying to use the assisted-suicide as a solution to their suffering in their final stage is illegal in many countries, as is in the United States.

Why should the decision of terminal patients to use the assisted suicide be illegal?

Those who are against the physician-assisted suicide use the Hippocratic Oath and the slippery slope as arguments (Rebman 8). They say that with the physician-assisted suicide the

Hippocratic Oath could be broken, given that doctors are administrating a poison in the body of the patient and the Hippocratic Oath clearly states that they will never administrate a poison in a patient. The slippery slope is one of their arguments; the idea behind this argument is that if we make a wrong decision, then this one can led us to another and so on. Legalizing the physician‑ assisted suicide could be the beginning of the distortion of something that was legalized to be voluntary to something involuntary. An example of this is what happened in the Netherlands, after canceling the legalization of the physician-assisted suicide, “a privately financed survey in 1989 showed that 40 percent of Dutch physician had performed euthanasia without patient’s consent” (Yount 42).

The only state in the Unite States in which the physician-assisted suicide is legal is in

Oregon, and according to their laws, the physician-assisted suicide should be requested by the patient and only by themselves, also the patient must be in a healthy mental state to sign a paper confirming his/her petition (Rebman 20). As we can see in the case of Helen (Yount 43), she was an old woman with breast cancer living in Oregon, who was afraid to become a burden, to lose her mental ability before dying, and to have a painful death. Therefore she decided that the better way to end her life would be using the physician-assisted suicide, given that with this she could end her life in a conscious way, knowing that she was not going to be a burden and wouldn’t suffer a painful death.

Those who are against the physician-assisted suicide could argue that the reason Helen decided to commit the physician-assisted was because she was depressed, lonely and afraid, and that the solution is not death (Haley 53) but besides depression, could we really use this excuse to give our backs to those who are going to have a painful death (Haley 40). For example, someone with HIV or Alzheimer could we really be against physician-assisted suicide? To say to a patient that they don’t have to feel lonely or that they are not going to be a burden wouldn’t be a lie, because for their they are a member and a beloved being, but by saying this would we really be thinking of them? Can we really say that their death is going to be a peaceful one? No, because we already know how painful is the end for those with HIV and Alzheimer.

In these cases, could we really disagree to legalize the physician-assisted suicide? Certainly we couldn’t. But if the physician-assisted suicide is legalized then many patients who don’t suffer from these illnesses could easily give up on living, showing us that fighting in this life is not worth of time, and that giving up is a better solution to our problems. Could we let this happen? Can we give this example to future generations?

The physician-assisted suicide is a controversial issue, and because of it we cannot give a right answer to whether it is good or bad, or if it should be legalized or not. Because we don’t have the right to judge the action of others and we cannot find a better answer to this that, that giving up and not fighting is losing our hope in what we believe, and that this type of euthanasia should considered only in some cases.

Rebman, Renee C. Euthanasia and “The Right to Die.” New Jersey: Enslow Publishers, Inc, 2002.

Haley, James, ed. Death and Dying: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2003.

Yount, Lisa. Euthanasia (Contemporary Issues Companion). San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2002.

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29. November 2009 by student.

It is no surprise to see eating disorders as a big problem in society . Wouman are given a message by the media that states in order to be happy and successful one must be thin. The models that are seen in the media weigh 23% less than the average wouman and 15%  below your expexted body weight is considerd anorexia to most docotors, making most models anorexic to a doctors perspective. In away its almost like the media encourages the disease of anorexia! Also many girls, especially in their teenage years are looking at magizines and seeing all these beautiful wouman who they want to look like, not knowing that they have been through multiple touch ups and other editing processes. So in a way they compare their natural selves to something that is fake, making their self esteem low. With this low self esteem about your weight, anorexia can become an illness that is developed because of this.

Weight loss commercials are another thing adding to the problem, even though they are relitively new. Hydroxycut, Xenadrine, and Hoodia are prime examples of the media enforcing the message of not even being thin but almost having a perfect body being necessary. The people who model for these name brand weight loss supplements obviously do other stuff than just the product, including hours at the gym, some may take steroids,and other forms of conditioning. What the media doesnt tell you is that to get where they are you will need alot of time on your hands. Alot more than just popping a diet pill before every meal.

The problem is alot of us may not like this but it is us who is allowing them to continue this! we are the ones who continue to buy their magizines, diet plans, weight loss pills, their clothes,and bassically their everything! We must understand the seriousness of anorexia. Anorexia is a psychiatric illness that is described by a very low body weight by the means of  chosen starvation. The majority who are effected are woman  ( 90%) but even though its only 10 percent ,men are affected as well.  They get to this low and disturbing body weight by starving their selves, taking excessive amounts of laxitives, use of appetite supressants, induced vommiting, and excessive dieting or exercizing. As you can see this is a very intense and seriouse disease and the media should not be encouraging this. The media is only increasing the percentage of people with  eating disorders.

worksited

http://www.mirror-mirror.org/society.htm

http://www.enotes.com/anorexia-article/society-does-take-anorexia-seriously-other

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29. November 2009 by student.

This is an essay I wrote in January 2008:

In the article “Do YOU have a right to bear arms?” Linda Greenhouse writes about how the Second Amendment, which cites: “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed,” is having a different interpretation for gun-rights group and states, gun-rights groups interpret the amendment to be a right that applies to individuals, but rather some states, such as D.C, and Chicago think that this should be understood only as the right of the state to maintain militias and they create gun-control laws to prevent the rise of gun crimes. Gun-control laws are affecting law-abiding Americans who are appealing these laws as “unconstitutional” given that most of the criminals obtain their firearms on the black market.

The major discussion in the article is focused on the D.C.’s appealing the case of District of Columbia v. Heller . In this case Heller, a security guard, wanted to be able to keep his gun at home for self-defense, but D.C laws, the strictest with gun regulation, banned or made it very difficult to legally own handguns, therefore it didn’t allow it. After the case was presented, the Supreme Court struck down the D.C law. Now the District of Columbia, which has one of the highest murder rates in the country, is appealing the decision of the Supreme Court. The case is very likely to produce the most significant Supreme Court decision on the Second Amendment in our history given that it will have a huge act on federal, state, and local gun-control. “But even if the Supreme Court finds the D.C. law unconstitutional, that would not necessarily invalidate other, more modest gun restrictions, like those that permit handgun ownership for those who pass a background check and obtain a license,” Linda Greenhouse emphasizes in one of her last paragraph.

What Linda Greenhouse says is certainly true. The interpretation of the Second Amendment will have a great impact in the District of Columbia and it could change some of the gun-control laws but not all of them, like the checking of the background. I also agree when they say that “any restrictions on ownership infringe upon the rights of the citizens” given that most of the gun crimes happen with guns that are bought in the black market. Then the interpretation of the Second Amendment wouldn’t have an effect on the rate of crime but instead it could provide more security to its law-abiding citizens who ask for security in their homes. But if the Second Amendment is interpreted as the right of the people to bear arms I think that a background check is not enough.

Many people can have an impeccable background but that doesn’t mean that they have the mental capacity to own a gun. We can see a good example in Cho Seung-Hui, the guy who caused the Virgins Massacre, a boy with no criminal history. His background said that was a person without problems but this just deceived everybody of his true self. Background checks are not save enough to own a gun. I think that we would be more comfortable if we knew that the person who is purchasing a gun took a psychological test, so that we can be sure that that person won’t use the gun against others. The background check doesn’t guarantee you that the person is really capable to own a firearm, but it just gives you general information about their criminal history and problems with the law. Instead a psychological test could give us the mental capacity of how good is a person prepared to own a gun.

Also some of the gun-control laws, even if for some people are stupid and doesn’t see them necessary, are really important, such as to keeping the gun under a trigger lock or keeping them disassembled, these could prevent accidents. In 2003 a teenager killed his half brother in an accident, the gun with which they were playing was loaded and it didn’t have a trigger lock. If that gun had had a trigger lock I think that the little boy wouldn’t have died.

That’s why I think that they shouldn’t deny the right to bear arms because bearing arms is the decision and the will of the people. It is up to the person and family whether they are going to own a gun or not. But however they interpret the Second Amendment they should have some laws requiring protection like the trigger lock and not only background checks, but if not also a psychological test.

Work Cited:

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