12. March 2010 by student.

While doing research in choosing a topic for my social problems project I came across the issue of TWD [texting while driving]. Almost every single website and every article that I came across had something negative to say about TWD. Statistics and proof with deaths and accidents in general are everywhere all over the Internet. The pictures and the stories, even some videos are horrible and terrifying to watch. There obviously has not been an effective enough solution to this problem because people are still dying and getting hurt everyday from accidents caused by texting and driving. Proposing a solution seems to be banning the use of cell phones in all ways while driving, but somehow even in the states that have already banned TWD it still occurs.

A study done in Utah came about when the idea of making the consequences of texting while driving the same as a DUI.

“The push for harsher penalties for texting while driving comes from studies showing using a cell phone on the road is as distracting as drunk driving. According to research, scientists claim talking on a cell phone is like driving with a .08% BAC, and texting is like having a .16% BAC. (Bethany Henderson, DUIattorneys.com)

“Punishments range by state. Many states impose a ticket which will go up in fines with repeat offenses. Utah has made the offense worth up to 15 years in prison if serious injury is caused. (Bethany Henderson, DUIattorneys.com)”.

It is shown that damages done by people who are using their phones and driving are severe enough to cause repercussions of a drunk driving accident so why not make the penalties for those causing the incidents be the same as drunk drivers. I personally believe that this is a great idea and that it could possibly save lives with the fear being instilled upon drivers that they are at risk of doing up for 15 years in prison for texting while driving.

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5. March 2010 by student.

In our economy today, so many different people are afraid of loosing their job or their home. Homelessness is a well-known word and people will witness homelessness at least once in their lifetime. What many people don’t realize is that children make up a big chunk of the percentages. Just a couple days ago CNN reported that 1 in 50 children become homeless in the United States every year.According to the Stewart B. McKinney Act, a person is considered homeless who “lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence; and… has a primary night time residency that is: (A) a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations… (B) An institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized, or (C) a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.”According to National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, in 2006, children under the age of 18 accounted for 39% of the homeless population. Out of these children, 42% were under the age of five. This same study found that unaccompanied minors comprised 5% of the urban homeless population. In other cities and especially in rural areas, the numbers of children experiencing homelessness are much higher.  According to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, in 2007, 25% of homeless were ages 25 to 34; the same study found percentages of homeless persons aged 55 to 64 at 6%.”These numbers will grow as home foreclosures continue to rise,” Ellen Bassuk, president of the center, said in a statement. Homeless children have poor health, emotional problems and low graduation rates, the study found. ”The consequences to our society will play out for decades,” Bassuk said. “As we bail out the rest of our nation, it is also time to come to their aid.”

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3. March 2010 by student.

Children are our future. We must work together to protect them and make sure they grow up to be stable, mature & functioning adults.

When children are abused and/or neglected, they are denied of their childhood. They’re forced to deal with situations they shouldn’t have to be thinking about at such a young age. They can develop life long issues due to abuse and/or their parent’s failure to provide them with the appropriate care. These children grow up to lead destructive, unhealthy and dangerous lifestyles. According to <childhelp.org> “Children who experience child abuse & neglect are 59% more likely to be arrested as a juvenile, 28% more likely to be arrested as an adult, and 30% more likely to commit violent crime.” Also, “Eighty percent of young adults who had been abused met the diagnostic criteria for at least 1 psychiatric disorder at the age of 21 (including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, & post-traumatic stress disorder).”

Parents that neglect or abuse their children make a conscience decision to ignore their child’s needs. They simply allow their child to suffer and sometimes even go out of their way to hurt the child. It is very sad when there is any case of abuse or neglect because the child is innocent and did not ask for it. Their parents chose to have a child, as well as chose to not take care of them in a proper way. These parents are selfish and do not realize that it does not only affect them, but the child, the state, and the foster family the state finds for the child.

Child abuse and neglect are senseless crimes and are 100% preventable. I believe people that neglect or abuse their children should be punished to the full extent of the law (longer sentences and higher bails). I also think that it should be harder for them to get their child back. The law should do more to make sure that the parents have changed, and are without a doubt fit to be a good parent. There should also be more money put into public health so that no child will ever get turned away. As well as there needs to be more shelters open to struggling families. Also, all school employees, coaches and child care workers should be trained more thoroughly to look for signs of neglect and abuse. People need to come together to look out for the children that live in their community, and make sure that they have a normal, healthy childhood.

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2. March 2010 by student.

Teens who become pregnant have a lot to deal with. For decades our society tried hard to break the link between behaviors and consequences. The truth is, we always reap the fruits of our choices. Taking ten minutes out to think before engaging in five minutes of intercourse is always a beneficial idea.

Teen pregnancy results in a variety of consequences affecting the mother, baby, father, family members and society itself.

Statistics frame it well.

What is the future outlook for a pregnant teen? Fewer employment skills. They will be less likely to hold a job for more than six months; only a third will graduate from high school. Their children will also hold a greater chance of becoming pregnant as teenagers, dropping out of school, and living in poverty.
The U.S. has the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in the Western world. Every year around 750,000 teenagers will get pregnant. It costs us about $7 million annually. According to the National Campaign to prevent teen pregnancy, at least 75 percent of teen mothers end up on welfare after their first child.

The good news is that teen births have dropped by a third according to Teenpregnancy.org. With pregnancy prevention programs, this will drop even more in the years to come.

Parents need to be proactive in communication, education, assurance and nurturing love. Teens who feel a sense of self-worth are less likely to sleep with the first boy who says “I love you.”

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2. March 2010 by student.

As you may know Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed training in the beginning of the winter 2010 Olympic games. He was training for his luge event at the time of his death. Nodar was going around a curve and crashed into a pole. There has been much debate about how NBC handled the situation. They showed Nodar’s death during the opening ceremony of the games, without so much as even a graphic warning to viewers. They also showed his crash on their morning news. What gives NBC news the right to show this young man dying?  

The video clip of his death can now be seen even on YouTube. I think that this is a complete outrage. If Nodar was your family member or one of your loved ones, would you want the entire world to see his life come to an end? In my opinion it is extremely disrespectful to Nodar as a person. I also feel that NBC news is only showing his death to try to increase their amount of viewers. Do you feel that NBC put Nodar’s family and friends into consideration before showing this tragic video? Should they have consulted the family for permission first?

Personally I believe that Nodar would want his loved ones to remember all of the great times they shared together and cherish his life. I would not think he would want to be remembered only by his death and the gruesome video. Have you seen the video of his tragic death? How do you feel about all of my concerns?

Rest In Peace Nodar Kumaritashvili

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1. March 2010 by student.

Last Wednesday at Sea World in Orlando Florida Dawn Brancheau was killed. She was the trainer and performer who worked with Shamu, the killer whale for the performances. Dawn Brancheau was putting on one of her acts when the orca grabbed her by her ponytail and dragged her under the water. This horrible incident occurred in front of her live audience at Sea World. “Shamu”, held her under the water for over forty minutes and played with her body as if it was a toy.

When I think of all the children and adults in the audience who witnessed this I feel sick. It will be a horrible memory that many of them will never forget as long as they live. Although “Shamu” brings in a lot of revenue for Sea World I strongly feel that the whale show needs to come to an end. The whale that killed Dawn has also killed two others before her. How many people must die before this is put to an end?

I don’t feel that whales should be kept in tanks and “trained” as if they are a harmless pet. First of all, no one can guarantee safety to the people who are working with these animals. It is not worth risking the lives of individuals for mere entertainment purposes. Secondly these animals should be left alone to live their life in peace in the ocean. When you put a wild animal in a tank they loose their ability to thrive in the wild. Another concern that I feel needs to be addressed is the fact that these orcas are being taken out of their natural habitat just for entertainment. What gives us this right? Would you want to be taken from your natural habitat and put on display?

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1. March 2010 by student.

Depressed people have been around since the beginning of time. Most religious text, including the Bible, refer to individuals that went on mountain tops to pray or rest because of deep depression.

This is a real disease. It is most of the time an invisible snake. If remained untreated it often leads to suicide. It does not respect one’s color, gender or age. Just this week, a well known celebrity’s son becomes victim of this invisible serpent. Why are people so judgmental about individuals with this mental illness? Could it be ignorance? Many say things like: “get out and have some fun “or “be a man/ woman” and “snap out of it”. Well, I am not a doctor but I know from experience that it’s not so simple.
Would one expect someone with a broken leg to start running? Depression is a mental illness that needs treatment just like any other ailment.

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1. March 2010 by student.

Everyone agrees on one dominant social problem: crime. Crime can be defined as any act or omission of an act which the state can apply sanctions. This topic is very relevant to me; I’ve been a victim of crime. By following the media on a daily basis, one would admit that it is an epidemic. Most people carry guns to protect themselves.

Most sociologists would tell you that crimes exist in the four corners of the world. The results are devastating. The trends in most cities are increasingly higher than what our forefathers witnessed. Law enforcement agencies exhaust every tactic known to men to resolve this epidemic each and every day. Many ask: “What is wrong with our society?” I believe most offenders do not serve enough time in prison for their crimes. As a result of this, we have a society that is not afraid of the law or authorities.

In contrast, according to Steve Gorman (Global Good News) “U.S. law enforcement agencies are reporting a surprising drop in crime last year, with homicide rates in some major cities plunging to levels not seen in four decades, despite deep and prolonged recession, 4.4 percent decline in violent crime led by a 10 percent drop in murders.” He continued to say: “Last year turned out to be the safest on record in New York City. The lowest since 1960. Crime overall was down last year about 11 percent in New York, 12 percent in Chicago and 18 percent in Los Angeles. The number of murders in Dallas is the lowest since 1967.”

The fact is, our streets are much safer then they used to be in spite of what the media reports.
Whose report will you believe?

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22. February 2010 by student.

Texting while driving is a high risk factor to our communities.  Those who read text message or send them while they drive seem to be “cool”, they can “multitask.” But the truth is everyone time someone looks down at their phone for a brief second, their eyes and concentration are taken off the road. 

The Department for Transport states that “Driving and mobile phones don’t mix. That is why we increased the penalty for illegally using a mobile when driving.”  Texting while driving shows an increase in speed changes, mostly slowing down, and swerving within lanes.  Swerving in and out of lanes because you are too busy on your phone is a dangerous hazard to yourself and to everyone else on the road.  48% of young Americans from 12-17 say they’ve been in a car while the driver was texting. 21% of fatal car crashes involving teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were the result of cell phone usage, each year. Drivers between 18 and 24, almost 50% are texting while driving.  Over one-third of all young drivers, ages 24 and under, are texting on the road. Many teenagers admit that texting is their number one distraction while on the road.

Texting while driving needs to be reduced, and I feel the only way to perform such an action is to make it illegal to be on your phone while behind the wheel.  Most states have already started enforcing a law for this behavior.  Yet, even though it is illegal, texting while driving seems to be a big risk with car accidents.  The data of a text is recorded with the service provider, which means that connection between texting and an accident is not very difficult to prove, just as it is with cell phone conversations.  From my previous experience I have look down at phone while driving for a split second and when I look up, I have to slam hard on my brakes so I do not hit the car in front of me.  Everyone who drives know that texting while behind the wheel is very dangerous, yet we keep performing this hazardous behavior.  In order to decrease accidents that occur from cell phone use behind the wheel, another step of action has to be taken.

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18. February 2010 by student.

When my Social Problems class discussed the immigration problem in Andosciaville we covered most of the basic points. For example, immigrants are not always taking jobs from American citizens, but occupying the jobs citizens choose not to perform. On the other hand, allowing just anyone into the country will cause the U.S. to become a magnet for the world’s poor.
Something we did not touch on was the fact that immigrants will help supply workers to fill the void caused by the baby boomers retiring. In 2011 the first baby boomers will turn 65 and the number of retired Americans will grow drastically till about 2029. The economic and other burdens throughout these years will fall on the “baby-bust generation,” consisting of people born between 1965 and 1976. With the higher number of baby boomers occupying political positions, the baby-bust generation may be forced to pay higher income, healthcare, and Social Security taxes.
In this situation increasing immigration will be beneficial, because the immigrant workers can replace some of the retired baby boomers. They will pay taxes just as American citizens and this will help secure the retirees. Also with increased immigration, more businesses will open and create job opportunities, thus circulating money in our economy. I am not saying I believe this solution will solve the problem our nation is facing, but I do think it is an option worth trying.

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