"One of the elders stood up and added to what my father had said: "I pray to the gods and ancestors that your family will always be together, even when one of you crosses into the spirit world. To family and community." The old man raised his open hands in the air. My father came over and stood by my mother and motioned for Junior and me to come closer. We did, and my father put his arms around us. The gathering clapped and a photographer took a few snapshots."
This touched me and was so powerful, because everything about it said, "family." My family means more to me than anything in the world, I so related to this passage because I have one brother and a mom and dad that I am very close to. I could just see the connection going on for Ishmael, how powerful to love that strong and to have such a delight in your life, as a loving family. How awful to have it pulled away from you, it must have took his heart and his soul. I thought of how Ishmal must have to believe what the elder said about the family always being together even when they, "cross into the spirit world." This is so important because Ishmal no longer has his family in the flesh, but no one can take his memories and their love away. When the elder prayed this over his family, it came to be true, for I think his family in the spirital world saved him many times over from death and knew there was something more powerful for him on this earth. Just to picture his whole family with their arms around each other makes one almost want to cry. It would be one of his last sweet memories of family. He had a very strong father and Ismal takes after him by being strong and going on with his life. It just made me think harder about my own family and that fear of ever losing any of them. I just can't comprehend his pain of a loss of all of his family. That passage really touched me.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
1st draft of essay School Bullying Causes and Effects
School Bullying
Causes and Effects
When people hear news, about a school shooter or that a child was bullied, they often ask the question, why? How did it get so far and what caused a person to become a bully or even to resort to killing others or taking their own life? When children are sent to school, society wants them to feel safe and be in an environment to learn, not to be afraid of their peers. There are many theories as to why someone would resort to killing and what can be done about it. There are people who think in black and white and want to blame the school shootings/bullying on the media, the parents, drugs, the schools themselves, gun laws, or the idea that these students were bullied themselves. It is an issue to be explored, especially since research is now being developed about what can be done to prevent a school shootings and bullying. One also has to look at the victims of bullying and how their lives are changed forever.
Children from stable families with both parents raising them would never become school shooters, correct? That is really what a lot of society thinks, just have great parenting and the rest will fall into place; this subject is way more complicated than that. Peter Langman, PH.D., who is a clinical director of KidsPeace. (A web site) At his inpatient hospital he helps adolescents in crisis and wrote the book, Why Kids Kill, Inside the Minds of School Shooters. He states that a mental health issue is the focus to prevent bullying and school shooters, and should be looked at by researchers (Langman, 17). He separates school shooters into various categories. He believes
Lavin 2
that there are three types of school shooters, “psychopathic, psychotic, and traumatized” (Langman, 18). If this is so, the exploration of these types of personalities might help professionals, especially those in the school systems, mental health areas and law enforcement to look for these signs and prevent school shootings/bullying.
To understand just how bullying gets started, one needs a definition of bullying. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, it simply means to treat someone with abuse and to get what you want through force or coercion. (Merriam-Webster, web). If you have power over someone, or the victim even perceives that you do, this is a form of bullying. It can be through cyber bullying, cell phones, notes, leaving someone out, telling lies and rumors, making fun of their looks or race/religion. Yet, it can also mean outright threats, with violence; such as hitting or beating someone up. Also, just the bullying without it going to the extent of a shooting is harmful to the victim and the bystanders. There can be long lasting effects that remain with the victims into adulthood. It is a fear for your safety. This last statement is the one to remember, because if you are being bullied, you are afraid.(Merriam-Webster,web).
Some of the myths of why kids kill can be explored because there is some truth to parts of the theories. One that stands out is the myth that school shooters were bullied and went out to seek revenge. This is easy to believe because if one if mad enough and has had to take abuse for many years, they could easily “go off the deep end”. If this is so, Langman refers to the school shooters that he researched and if they were being bullied, they did not shoot the victims who
Lavin 3
had bullied them. Shooters, such as Kip Kinkel and Andrew Golden were the bullies, not the victims and Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold from Columbine threatened others and were violent. (Langman, 13). Some students are daily victims of bullies and of these students, they all do not resort to school shootings. Indentifying signs of potential school shooters can prevent future violence and reduce long term effects of bullying. To understand the signs of potential school shooters, one has to look into the past and study those students who have resorted to killing others in a school setting. Also, the long term damage to the victims can also be prevented if one looks at the various bullying programs and if they work or not.
Causes and Effects
When people hear news, about a school shooter or that a child was bullied, they often ask the question, why? How did it get so far and what caused a person to become a bully or even to resort to killing others or taking their own life? When children are sent to school, society wants them to feel safe and be in an environment to learn, not to be afraid of their peers. There are many theories as to why someone would resort to killing and what can be done about it. There are people who think in black and white and want to blame the school shootings/bullying on the media, the parents, drugs, the schools themselves, gun laws, or the idea that these students were bullied themselves. It is an issue to be explored, especially since research is now being developed about what can be done to prevent a school shootings and bullying. One also has to look at the victims of bullying and how their lives are changed forever.
Children from stable families with both parents raising them would never become school shooters, correct? That is really what a lot of society thinks, just have great parenting and the rest will fall into place; this subject is way more complicated than that. Peter Langman, PH.D., who is a clinical director of KidsPeace. (A web site) At his inpatient hospital he helps adolescents in crisis and wrote the book, Why Kids Kill, Inside the Minds of School Shooters. He states that a mental health issue is the focus to prevent bullying and school shooters, and should be looked at by researchers (Langman, 17). He separates school shooters into various categories. He believes
Lavin 2
that there are three types of school shooters, “psychopathic, psychotic, and traumatized” (Langman, 18). If this is so, the exploration of these types of personalities might help professionals, especially those in the school systems, mental health areas and law enforcement to look for these signs and prevent school shootings/bullying.
To understand just how bullying gets started, one needs a definition of bullying. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, it simply means to treat someone with abuse and to get what you want through force or coercion. (Merriam-Webster, web). If you have power over someone, or the victim even perceives that you do, this is a form of bullying. It can be through cyber bullying, cell phones, notes, leaving someone out, telling lies and rumors, making fun of their looks or race/religion. Yet, it can also mean outright threats, with violence; such as hitting or beating someone up. Also, just the bullying without it going to the extent of a shooting is harmful to the victim and the bystanders. There can be long lasting effects that remain with the victims into adulthood. It is a fear for your safety. This last statement is the one to remember, because if you are being bullied, you are afraid.(Merriam-Webster,web).
Some of the myths of why kids kill can be explored because there is some truth to parts of the theories. One that stands out is the myth that school shooters were bullied and went out to seek revenge. This is easy to believe because if one if mad enough and has had to take abuse for many years, they could easily “go off the deep end”. If this is so, Langman refers to the school shooters that he researched and if they were being bullied, they did not shoot the victims who
Lavin 3
had bullied them. Shooters, such as Kip Kinkel and Andrew Golden were the bullies, not the victims and Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold from Columbine threatened others and were violent. (Langman, 13). Some students are daily victims of bullies and of these students, they all do not resort to school shootings. Indentifying signs of potential school shooters can prevent future violence and reduce long term effects of bullying. To understand the signs of potential school shooters, one has to look into the past and study those students who have resorted to killing others in a school setting. Also, the long term damage to the victims can also be prevented if one looks at the various bullying programs and if they work or not.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
A quick list of issues that have provoked disagreements.
1. Issues that provoke disagreements in my hometown or community: Should children be sent to the charter school or to the public school? Will flood mitagation help with future flooding? Should there be a middle school? Why haven't local school districts met AYP?
2. Is Normandale an "easy" college? Should teachers get merit pay? Why does tuition continue to go up? How useful is an AA degree?
3. Should we allow gays to marry? Will there be social security left for my generation of people in their 20's? What do we do with our elderly population? Should people have a right to die of their own choice? Is organized crime that much different from some of the ways our government is run? Is it moral or ethical to have a large number of children? Are DWI laws too tough? Why can't we smoke in a bar? Should you spank or not spank your children? Why does America seem to jump into war as a solution for our problems? How safe are nuclear plants? Is organic food better for the nation or the world as a whole? What causes grades to slip or students to fail to graduate? Why are public employees having to carry the economic hardships of our nation's debt on their shoulders? (Wisconsin) What about private business taking a cut too? Should female drug users be allowed to be steralized? Does being bullied lead to the victim turning into a school shooter?
Biology: Many issues about abortion, HIV and AID, also stem cell use and contraceptives.
MN History: Issues with the rights of American Indians in the past and to this day. Issues of manifest destiny and taking of land, breaking of treaties.
English Class: We have explored many issues through our papers including simple things like reviews about what we like best in this world. More serious issues of our families or personal lives have been looked at. Reading of a book about boy soldiers and the child sex industry in India.
Logic: Logic is logic, can't say what issues have been explored!
2. Is Normandale an "easy" college? Should teachers get merit pay? Why does tuition continue to go up? How useful is an AA degree?
3. Should we allow gays to marry? Will there be social security left for my generation of people in their 20's? What do we do with our elderly population? Should people have a right to die of their own choice? Is organized crime that much different from some of the ways our government is run? Is it moral or ethical to have a large number of children? Are DWI laws too tough? Why can't we smoke in a bar? Should you spank or not spank your children? Why does America seem to jump into war as a solution for our problems? How safe are nuclear plants? Is organic food better for the nation or the world as a whole? What causes grades to slip or students to fail to graduate? Why are public employees having to carry the economic hardships of our nation's debt on their shoulders? (Wisconsin) What about private business taking a cut too? Should female drug users be allowed to be steralized? Does being bullied lead to the victim turning into a school shooter?
Biology: Many issues about abortion, HIV and AID, also stem cell use and contraceptives.
MN History: Issues with the rights of American Indians in the past and to this day. Issues of manifest destiny and taking of land, breaking of treaties.
English Class: We have explored many issues through our papers including simple things like reviews about what we like best in this world. More serious issues of our families or personal lives have been looked at. Reading of a book about boy soldiers and the child sex industry in India.
Logic: Logic is logic, can't say what issues have been explored!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Revising the Review Essay
I just dropped my final review essay and I have to say, it was easier to add to the essay. I wrote about the subject of ice fishing and I experienced it, that's what made it easier to write about because I was there. Everyone who looked at my review thought it needed more details .
So I went back into the review and really thought about this. I narrowed down and explained more about the fish house itself and that experience. I tried to use a narrative form, telling a story added to my review and I think kept people interested.
I think I like my draft a lot more now because I gave it a much more interesting lead, but I am not so sure about my ending, I liked it, but don't know if others will. Sure hope some of you try ice fishing in the future, I know I had a great time and will go again.
So I went back into the review and really thought about this. I narrowed down and explained more about the fish house itself and that experience. I tried to use a narrative form, telling a story added to my review and I think kept people interested.
I think I like my draft a lot more now because I gave it a much more interesting lead, but I am not so sure about my ending, I liked it, but don't know if others will. Sure hope some of you try ice fishing in the future, I know I had a great time and will go again.
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