Waiting for Superman

This week we watching Waiting for Superman. This movie was all about the lack of quality education in the public school system. It was geared towards the people that make up our education board. The movie explained how our education is schools wasn't advancing like it should be to keep up with the rest of the world, and it was even worse in poorer communities. Thus came about the idea of charter schools. Charter schools are independent of the government, therefore, they do not have to hire teachers under the ten year law. Charter schools made school days longer, school on saturdays and even in the summers. Charter schools like this are very vigorous and are not for kids that want to goof off in classes. The numbers from these schools show that these kids have higher test scores and are learning much better than kids in public schools. The only problem with charter schools is that no one in the public school system is going to extend hours, possibly hold schools on Saturdays or even in the summer. Kids or parents or teachers will not go for that because education is not so important to people that they are willing to work extra hard to achieve the levels of higher test scores to catch up or go above and beyond more advanced countries. I think that if we somehow fixed the problem of quality education, then we would solve the lack of unemployment among US citizens. The reasoning for this is because people would be qualified to work and we wouldn't be looking to other countries for our need to be filled in specific departments.

Education Empowerment Week 2

This week, we are continuing the education empowerment readings. We saw last week how in Anyon's  essay, that education is not a level playing field and we need people who will not go to college to do work that someone who goes to college will not do. Then, this week we read an essay by Kozol basically saying the same thing, but about inner-city schools. Kozol studied some fifth grade classes to see if the playing field was the same between the different areas of the schools, and it was not. This is really disappointing to me because I believe that everyone has a given right to learn and become very capable members of society. I plan on being a teacher, and the lack of enthusiasm for the job and for these children's education just breaks my heart. I do not understand why everyone shouldn't have a good education. I agree with the fact that if you are paying a school tax, that your money should go to your school, but I believe that less-fortunate neighborhoods should not make their children suffer as far as their education goes. I do not think that is right at all. I do not know how you would go about fixing that, maybe more government funding for that neighborhood? It is everyone's responsibility to pitch in to help people in need, so I think that it should be required for lower income schools to have more funding to make up for that missing link.

Anyon

This week in class we read a article by a lady named Jean Anyon. She wrote about how our schools today only let us excel into the neighborhood we were born into. She said that "students in different social-class backgrounds are rewarded for classroom behaviors that correspond to personality traits allegedly rewarded in the different occupational strata...." Meaning that when you are from a certain neighborhood, your curriculum is based on that neighborhood and you are already destined to a certain level of productivity in society. I do not agree with this completely. I believe that the government makes certain curriculum for certain areas of the nation to fit the needs that are in that area. I do not agree with that idea though. I think it is wrong to assume that someone that grew up there will stay there long-term and it is foolish to think that someone is only as good as their neighborhood. There are many people that rise above there neighborhood to achieve personal success. It is amazing what people can overcome when they have had someone believe in them. People should not judge children based on where they came from, because we are the writers in their brains during the most impressionable years of their lives. If we have an undercurrent of failure on them before they even come in the classroom, where will they go from there? I can tell you it wouldn't be up.

Proposal

Many people believe that if you are a boy, you must dress and act like a boy, and if you are a girl, you must dress and act like a girl. This week, we read a story about a boy named Brandon. He decided that he wanted to be a girl and started playing dress up and playing with dolls, basically doing everything that a little girl would do. His mother was confused on what to do with that. On one hand, she wanted her little boy to be happy, but on the other, it seemed strange that a little boy would think he was a girl. He was then diagnosed with “transgender.” As of right now, it is a mental illness.

A major question that has popped up is whether or not transgender should be removed from the mental disorder list. I think that the category of transgender should not be removed from the mental disorder list because in the story, we read about how Brandon’s mother thought that the Dad was being too rough, so she took him out of that situation. This could have caused Brandon to see his mother as a protective figure, versus his father, so he equated being protective with being a woman. This could have caused the imbalance within his brain.

The main reason that we shouldn’t take transgender off the mental illness list is because it would mean that they wouldn’t be able to receive treatment for it. They could need therapy for such a traumatic experience, or maybe Brandon had low testosterone levels and needed to take hormones to balance them out. Or perhaps, it could just be means to get attention?

We really don’t know what causes it, some people say that it starts in utero and some say that it could be related/linked to a traumatic experience they had as a child. 

Success

Success is a very tricky thing. It can mean many things to many different people. Not everyone will value success the same way or by the same standard. I do not believe that anyone can get whatever they'd like. Many people do not have the means, education, or money to do so. It is a sad fact, but a fact indeed. Rags to Riches is a good example of a feel-good story where a poor man rises up to be in a somewhat powerful position and out of the poverty he was facing. Many times, we do not hear these stories because they do not happen all that often. The stories we hear of are the lack of jobs in America and how much our economy is failing. How can people be successful when there is nothing to succeed in? While in Africa this summer, I saw and experienced poverty for the first time. It is hard to see kids that have nothing and eat nothing for weeks on end be so thankful for what they have and they're considered successful where they are from. You are doing well if you have a place to sleep whether that be a cardboard box or some tin siding slanted together for protection from the wind and animals. That is considered success. In America, people take things for granted that no one else in the world has, or even others in America have. No, we do not have equal opportunity to be successful to the "American Standard" which is basically having loads of money.

The Myth of a Model Family

The myth of a model family is extremely influenced by the media. The media thinks that any parent and child relationship is a model family. They tend to glorify dysfunctional families by making them super stars in reality television. Keeping Up With the Kardashians and Here Comes Honey Booboo are just two examples of how corrupt the reality television is. The producers produce the most outrageous moments from their daily lives and take out anything of goodness or redeeming value. Reality television says that it is okay to have sex out of wedlock when the Bible clearly states that “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is hold and honorable, not is passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God, and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him.” (1 Thessalonians 4: 3-6a). The media says to do what you want because it is socially acceptable as long as you use protection. The family model has been screwed up because of the pressure to be “cool” and accepted by your peers by having sex out of wedlock. This can obviously lead to children, which leads to another television show: Teen Moms. Another example of a dysfunctional family. In conclusion, we must take everything we see on television with a grain of salt. 

Intro to Me

My name is Ashley. There are a few things about me you should know. I love to sing, not just in my car, while I’m walking, and probably in my sleep. I am a country girl. I enjoy hunting but not fishing, I love the feeling of the wind in my hair and the power of a V8 engine. I have a speckled goldfish named John Deer that I call John for short. I collect pigs, but do not own one.

Two of my favorite people are my parents. I have a deep respect for them and their wisdom and knowledge. They have raised me to respect my elders and love deeply. They have taught me to always put God first, even if that means that I need to find another job to get Sundays and Wednesdays off or skip a friend's birthday party. My mom and I are now best friends and I go on dates with my Dad. I am so blessed to have two loving brothers who I enjoy spending my time with. My grandparents are very involved in my life, my Grammy has mentored me for the past three summers.

My faith is also very important to me. I told my mom when I was four, that I was going to be a missionary. I truly believe that is God’s plan for me. This summer, I had the opportunity to go to Africa and spend time loving the people there. I have always had a passion to tell people what has changed my life.

I am also going to be a Special Education teacher. My cousin is Autistic and I have had the privaledge of helping as a volunteer for the Special Olympics in Texas for about five years now. I have such a heart for Special Needs kids and I can’t wait to impact their life.

These things are what define me as a person and make me who I am today. I have the morals I have because of my parents, and I know who I am in Christ because of the foundations I have been taught.