Is it Really Our Call?

 I believe that the death penalty is an out dated form of punishment and should be abolished. It is costly and unjust and should be abolished.

The thing with the death penalty is we spend millions on this program to kill people and yet this penalty is very rarely imposed. Scott Burns the executive director of the National District Attorney's Association says "that people are being given another- perhaps less complicated- option: life without parole"(http://www.npr.org/2011/12/15/143736447/death-sentences-drop-to-historic-lows?ps=cprs). It's not just the cost thought that has me opposed to the death penalty it's the fact that people think that when we kill murders legal that it's justice. It is NOT just or right no matter how you look at it. If we put murder's to death are we not saying that we are not better than they are. The old saying "an eye for an eye," really means nothing more than lowering yourself to the others level to get revenge. The death penalty is an old world form of punishment that we need to get rid of to grow. In an article by Deborah White she states that "Most democratic countries in Europe and Latin America have abolished the death penalty... but the United states, most democracies in Asia and almost all totalitarian governments retain it" (http://usliberals.about.com/od/deathpenalty/i/DeathPenalty.htm). I don't see how we can justify making ourselves just like the men and women we are putting to death. Let them live in prison knowing that they will never see freedom again than give then the satisfaction of knowing that we are no better than them. 

Homeschooling- Good or Bad?

There are three main issues to explore when considering homeschooling, and those issues are the social growth and experiences of the child, are parents really qualified to teach their children, and what they are being taught. These issues must be considered and explored in depth when thinking about homeschooling.

Now the social growth and development of a child determines how they will interact with people when they become older. Children who are homeschooled can miss out on important social growth that other children will have. Rachel Gathercole wrote in an article that children who are home schooled are happier and that "Homeschooling affords children with plenty of time and opportunity for social interaction"(homeschooling's TRUE COLORS, Rachel Gathercole). This can be true for some cases where there the child is living in a place where there are a lot of people like a city or large town where they can participate in many group activities and sports. Though the same cannot be said for a child who lives in a smaller community or a more rural town. There is also the child's ability to deal with strangers when they get older. This ability is developed early in life along with other socializing skills that we use in every day life when interacting with people. If these habits and understandings of social cues are not developed early in life then most interactions with others can be strained and difficult. Though this is not the only factor that must be considered, one must also look at whether parents are capable of teaching their children.

The next factor that must be considered is if parents are qualified to teach their children. Now their are very few teachers that are qualified to teach their children themselves but know their are online resources, tutors, and other ways to teach a child at home that doesn't involve that parents. Yet a child that is taught by their parents can still not get as far another child. After all one of the cons of homeschooling is "family crisis, illness, and lax supervision by parents can interfere with learning"(http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/homeschooling-pros-and-cons.html). This shows that homeschooling can impede a child's ability to learn and understand concepts that a child in a public school would not deal with. Though the child's learning can be impeded when one parent is against homeschooling. It's hard to homeschool a child and have them learn when their parents are fighting over the proper way to educate their child. This can effect what the child is learning from their parents.

The final factor that must be considered is what is a homeschooled child being taught. Many homeschoolers are taught the same subjects as a child in a public school. In an article published in The Journal of College Admissions it talks about how "research and probability show that the home-educated college applicant is very likely to succeed in college"(Dr. Brain D. Ray). This shows that a child that has been homeschooled can have the same education as a child in a public school. They have the same abilities and understanding of basic concepts of school subjects. So homeschooling a child isn't going to set them back but it does have it's down sides that must be taken into account. There is no real answer to if homeschooling is right or wrong. It's all up to the parents and child to figure out whats best for them in the end.

Is Testing Welfare Recipients for Drug use a Good Thing?

Many states are now considering giving welfare recipients drug tests. There are many that say this is stereotyping those on welfare as as lazy, drug users. There are also those that believe this is a good thing. I believe drug testing welfare recipients is a good thing it can be found that a welfare recipient is using drugs they can be taken off and save the state money. It also makes sure that the money is going to the children if there are any.

The first real reason for having welfare recipients drug tested is to see if the money is really going to help them make ends meet or to their drug use. Now anti activists of this policy are saying that it is just stereotyping welfare recipients as lazy, drug abusers. This is untrue. Many don't see welfare users as this description. They are just people that are down on their luck. While many may not due drugs and as an article by Robin Marty says "the percentage of welfare recipients using drugs was actually lower than that of the regular population" (http://www.care2.com/causes/drug-testing-welfare-recipients-is-compassionate.html). This proves that this the amount of drug users n welfare is very low. Though it is still enough to require a drug test. After all is the money being given to these people is being spent on drugs instead of what they need then it is just a waste of tax payer money.   Just think if these drug abusers are parents how can they support their children will spending money on their addiction.

Now as previously stated not all welfare recipients use drugs but those that due need to be weeded out. After all what if they are parents. They cannot provide for their children. They would leave their children unfed just to get high. After all if you can't make ends meet in the first place while being drug users how can you do it while being a parent. In Florida if the parents are taken off welfare then the payments will still continue to the children though another family member (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/us/states-adding-drug-test-as-hurdle-for-welfare.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2&hp&adxnnlx=1318348709-n%20qDLowhd0sUnSL9VNLgHw). This is a good policy because the parents can't abuse the money their given and the children aren't left out in the cold with their parents. After all why condemn the child for the crimes of the parent. The children nee to be thought of and taken care off.

So while some people are going against this policy with vigor and hate, there are those like myself that find it a good plan. We need to make sure that the money we are giving these people is not being abused and used for the wrong things. We need to use this policy to help those that deserve this money are getting it and those that don't aren't. 

Offshore Drilling: Do the Benefits Outway the Costs?

There is a big debt right now over offshore drilling. Many environmentalists are very opposed to it, where as the oil companies and their supporters in Congress wish to support it. I think that we should learn form our mistakes and just let the oil in the ocean be left undisturbed. After all didn't we fill most of the Gulf of Mexico with five million barrels of oil, endanger hundreds of species of sea life, pollute our water and spend millions of dollars and months cleaning up the spill. This is the point that the environmentalists are arguing. They believe we should leave the oil to sit and use alternative fuel sources. I fully see their side of the story, they don't want another B.P. oil spill polluting our waters and killing hundreds of species of sea life. I also see the oil companies' side. They what to get more oil make profits, and give us a little more time to make our cars usable. I don't, however see the point in taking the chance of another oil spill. In a New York Times article stated that "Ken Salazar, the interior secretary, "acknowledged that "drilling 5,000 feet beneath the gulf or in the unforgiving conditions of the Arctic would never be free of risk."(http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/science/earth/us-to-open-new-areas-to-offshore-drilling.html?_r=1). This show that no one believes that nothing will happen, that there will always be a chance of having a catastrophic failure and that we will have another terrible oil spill. The oil companies may think that they have a noble endeavor, which in a way they do after all most of our methods of transportation run off oil and gasoline. This maybe true but destroying our earth even more than we have is only going to hurt us in the long run. In a 2008 USA Today article a Greenpeace activist named Melanie Duchin says "Oil smothers wildlife"( http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2008-07-13-offshore-drilling_N.htm). Truer words were never said. Offshore drilling upsets natural ecosystems and causes massive damage to the surrounding area. We cannot allow this to go on. The end does not justify the means.

Are Drop Outs Going to Save our Economy?

Many highly successful, multimillion dollar companies have been started by college dropouts. These are men and women without degrees, without the completion of their formal education. Yet these men and women have made millions on an idea. They took a huge risk jumping from the beaten path to make their own through a thicket of challenges. They little money, support and resources, yet they made it big. These men and women made it big by relying on themselves and not their degree to become a success. Steve Jobs started Apple out of his garage with Stephen Woznaik. A Daily times article said that Steve Jobs dropped out of Reed College. He dropped out of college but made so many revolutionary creation such as the iPad, iPhone, and iPod. Another man who made it big and drop out of college was Bill Gates the man who helped started Microsoft, one of the most widely used computer softwares. Bill Gates went to Harvard University, one of the hardest schools to get into to, and "dropped out of Harvard in his junior year to concentrate his efforts on a company he called Microsoft" (http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\08\15\story_15-8-2011_pg9_3). Both these men have accomplished great things and neither had any degree of diploma from a college. An article of the New York Times website said "American academia is good at producing writers, literary critics and historians. It is also good at producing professionals with degrees. But we don’t have a shortage of lawyers and professors. America has a shortage of job creators" (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/opinion/sunday/will-dropouts-save-america.html?_r=1&ref=opinion). This quote gives a very good assessment of the author's point of view. He views the American education system as flawed and personally I would have to agree with him. The American education system is more focused on good test scores than on any real world application of skills. We are being taught how to take tests and how to become more desirable, but not how to create more jobs. We are being told failure is not an option, that any mistakes will haunt us, if we don't do good on a test it might affect our lives outside of school. The school system needs to push children to become people that are not afraid to fail, that know that failing is a part of life and you need it to learn. While I do see the point in being someone of a higher education can be beneficial. Having a degree can get you more money on a job, it can get us a second look for a job over someone else. Yeah okay I get it with the degree being a good thing but having a degree isn't all that great. Some people will not give you a job because they will have to pay you more over someone else is you have a a higher degree. So what if you spent the last four years in college getting a m]Masters or Bachelors degree if you have no real world experience. So yes will having a degree makes you smart your not creating jobs or boosting the economy like some of the college dropouts that are out there.  

Bullying, Can it Really be Stopped?

Everyone is going on about bullying in and out of schools. People believe that it needs to be stopped, but how can this really happen? Can we really stop bullying? How can we do this when bullying occurres when people have no self confidence and take out their insecurities on those that are weaker than them. The only way to stop bullying would be to destroy perdijustes, insecurities, and weaknesses.These are the causes but they cannot ever truly be removed. How can you remove a personal weakness or a hatred that was harbored towards another race since birth by the parent. Some of our pains are caused by those around us. Some one who is bullied may find someone or something weaker to take out their frustration at their own weakness on. This chain continues until there is nothing smaller to or weaker for the last in the chain to become frustrated at. Bullied children will also probably become depressed and maybe even suicidal. There is also the other end of the spectrum where they become extremely violent and will fight back and even try to kill their bully. These are all painful and terrible aftereffects of bullying that hurt many people. I will admit that it is possible to stop bullying, I just don't believe it's possible within our lifetimes. Things like I described earlier are extremely hard to remove from society. People have long memories and will not easily forget someone that has wronged them. Pain is long lasting and will not be forgotten easily. I was bullied when I was younger and it pushed me to a dark place, so dark I thought that there was no way out, but I found my way back with help. So I believe it is possible to stop bullying, it will just take awhile.

Why Should We Make Ourselves Appeasing to Society?

Why should we make ourselves appeasing to those around us?  For what reason is there for me to be any different than I am. I have no reason to care what others think of who I am. I am me, that's all i can be but everyone is always saying that I need to look acceptable , I can't wear baggy, comfortable clothes because that will cause people to judge me. I don't care how I look, but I'm always told that I need to look better. i don't care what other people say, they don't know me, they don't have any right to say that I need to build up this facade of being different from myself just because they don't like it. I tried that, it didn't work for me. I will be myself and that won't change. You can try to tell me that if I don't look great that people will treat me differently. Well know what let people judge me. those that do are just proving my point even more. I will not make another me, another false me that only faces the world while the real me is locked away only to be shown while no one else is around. That doesn't work for me. You cannot live within a facade you have to be free to be you. Why can others not see this? Telling others to be different, to conform, to be just like everyone else. Well you know what? I gave up caring what people thought of me a long time ago because while you say what you want about me, you have no knowledge of me as a person, you know not me, you know not the true person I am if all you do is say that I have to appear acceptable to those that don't even know me. How can I trust someone that tells me to conform to what others what? This is unacceptable we need freedom to be us for if we are not us, if we are not allowed to be our true selves, then who are we really?