Current Connection 2:1

Recently at my school, Batesville High School, we had a speaker visit campus to talk the the student body about a young girl named Rachel Joy Scott. Rachel, along with many other students and one teacher, died on April 20, 1999 during the shooting at Columbine High School. Rachel left a legacy that we can learn about in an article entitled "About Rachel's Challenge." This article explains to readers the importance of decisions you make in your life and challenges readers to stand out among their peers.

Everyday in our American Schools, kids just like us, are contemplating taking there own lives. " Each day 160,000 students do not go to school because they are bullied, teased, and harassed." This is a staggering statistic; explaining to readers that kids are breaking under social pressure at school. Schools need students to start a reaction, a challenge, to help extinguish bullying from schools, a common social torture students now must endure.

Rachel's Challenge encourages students across the nation to "start a chain reaction" throughout their school. This program challenges student to "create a culture of kindness and compassion." We must make decisions everyday to reach out to others, creating an atmosphere of kindness and acceptance. Many students feel like nobody cares or they feel isolated from the rest of their peers. How could someone not be hurting living day by day feeling this way? Looking around me, I pray that students will step out into the light of day and realize that there are people in need of kindness.

Shortly before Rachel's tragic death she wrote this statement in her journal, "I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion, then it will start a chain reaction of the same. People will never know how far a little kindness can go." Reaching out to others that are hurting is a light the diminishes the shadows in the hearts of all who witness or experience kindness. Smiling at another student in the hallway as you pass them, this very small act of kindness could change their entire day. Students must make the decision to reach out to others on a daily basis.


"More than 19 million people have been touched by Rachel's message, and they continue the legacy of making a difference in their communities." The chain reaction has begun and now the decision is up to us to help this chain reaction to continue. Reach out to those around you and see just how much it will mean to them. It is not a hard task to accomplish. We can impact the lives of our peers and make the school environment better for all.




. N.p.. Web. 12 Nov 2013. <http://www.rachelschallenge.org/big-picture/about-rachels-challenge/>.



















    

Current Connection 1:2

      A current article posted on New York Times online entitled "Boston School-Bus Drivers Return To Work Amid Uncertainty" allows Katharine Q. Seelye to explain to her readers the crisis of Boston school-bus drivers going on strike and leaving numerous children stuck at home, absent from school, due to having no transportation. This was a huge deal to the city of Boston concerning the education of the youth; children need reliable and adequate transportation to and from school to be able to pursue their education.
 
     Stated in this article, readers learn that "about 18% of students missed school Tuesday...about three times the average absentee rate." These drivers made immature decisions based on there feelings towards recent changes made to their salary administrations as well as health care changes. While people do have the right to go on strike, doing so should not effect the means of education to the students that rely on school/state provided education.

     Readers also learn that the drivers decided to go on strike based on "a new GPS system that allows parents to track the location of their children's buses in real time through a smartphone app." These Boston school-bus drivers did not necessarily have adequate reasons for going on strike. In an economy like the one of today's, changes will have to be made to salaries and health care. These changes sometimes become necessary whether or not the bus drivers like said changes or not. These drivers were wrong to effect the education of the students based on there unreasonable emotions.

      The Mayor of Boston stated that these school-bus drivers "agreed to a contract, a very good contract, and now they don't want to live up to that contract." This is a ridiculous and outrageous way for these drivers to protest. They are effecting not only students, but the parents of the students as well. Many parents, relying on their children to be able to attend school, had to skip going to work in order to stay with their kids. Adults should act responsibly toward situations like these and not make decisions that will hinder students; situations become hard but adults should not handle these situations like children.

     This protest also inconvenienced parents that were unaware the the strike was even taking place. Myisha Johniken stated to reporters that she "waited with her autistic son for a half hour at the special bus stop in front of her home...unaware of the strike." She was upset by the fact that she had to resort to using public bus transportation to take her son to school; which in turn, highly distressed her autistic son. Situations like these should not be happening and it has outraged many people despite the fact that the drivers did reluctantly return back to work.

     What are we to do when the public school bus-drivers do not even show concern about the education of our youth in America? Bus drivers play a very important part in our nation's education system, and should be responsible enough to understand the importance of their job! Hopefully, these drivers can find other, more responsible means, to work through the problems they have with the system they work for.

Current Connection 1:1

     In a recently updated article by Kathleen Osborn on NBCNEWS.com entitled, "In Some Southern Districts, Segregation Lives On"; Osborn informs her readers on the matter of southern schools slowly becoming more and more segregated. Osborn clearly talks about two very important aspects of her article: 1) Some southern schools are more racially segregated than that of the the civil rights era and 2) why this has slowly and in more recent times come about in the southern districts.
    
     Stated in this article "parts of the American south are are undergoing an area of perpetuated segregation." Perpetuated segregation basically means that southern school districts not only tend to not be integrated but that southern districts stably remain segregated. The United states made a Supreme Court decision to end public segregation for a reason. Reasons include it remains ethically and morally right in the aspect of "all men are created equal", it serves students and other people active in the education system a wide range of social learning abilities, and the United States of America has been and was founded by a melting pot of many different races and different groups of ethnicity. America has always been a land of opportunities for all walks of life.

     Also stated in this article we read that, "our schools are more racially segregated than that of the civil rights era." Osborn seems to imply that many communities have found ways around integration by establishing "segregation academics." Segregation academics were established by finding a loop-hole in the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court appeal. This movement was an easy way for white families to abandon their local schools and leave investment in public schools to dwindle. Doing so, families have found ways to resist integration. Why is this so and why is this still accepted in American culture?

     Let us not be too quick to adopt the idea that segregation remains strictly in the South. Osborn reports that "sustained segregation is an issue across the country. In fact, a recent study showed that in the way northern Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis racial segregation is increasing." It is pure ignorance to allow segregation to creep back into our society. While the South has seemed, in the past, to be more prone to the ideas of segregation, segregation increases throughout the entirety of the United States. This can highly affect our nations fundamentals and education negatively.

     This "New Age Segregation" can highly effect the lives of our students in America. Being an active student in the public school system I accept the opportunities to learn from others despite race. I firmly support the idea that all people are created equal. By accepting these ideas of segregation and allowing it back into society we are teaching students ignorance and keeping from them the important aspects of social, mental, and educational growth. There may always be something to learn from every person around you and school should be all about learning. By being taught a good education, students are being trained to be successful in their life after school. These ideas highly affect students across the country, including myself.

     In conclusion, we can clearly see a growing problem in our nations education system. I lack the understanding as to why we can so easily sit back, watch segregation take place, and not care to do anything about it, some even not even form opinions on the topic at all. Americans need to again stand up for the values our nation was founded on. We need to find ways to unite and help our county grow and prosper. Segregation does not support prosperity.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/50694523/t/some-southern-districts-segregation-schools-lives/
    
    

     In a recent article posted by Fox News titled "Justin Bieber fan runs on stage, tries to grab star during show", I read about how sometimes music fans can go too far. It was stated in this article that the man "interrupted the concert." This man literally made a scene big enough to completely interrupt an ongoing concert. He made such a scene that the entire concert had to stop to control him. It also stated that the man "stormed the stage and tried to grab the pop star." Fans like this get too way out of hand when it comes to their music idols. Actions like these are too extreme and happen too often. 
     In my opinion fans get way to obsessed with music artists. It is one thing to to enjoy their music and another to go to extremes to get their attention. In other stories I have heard about fans and paparazzi, people have literally lost their lives trying to take pictures of celebs or trying to follow them. This is ridiculous. While I do have many music artists that I favor, I realize that they are not idols, they are regular human beings. I would never go so far to jump on stage and try to "kidnap" a musician. That is just insane. While it can be fun to keep up with the lives of celebs, many people just take it too far.

     In a recent article posted By CNN. I read about how a 4-year old boy, shot and killed a lady. This event happened because the boy "picked up the loaded gun off of the bed." The young boy's father was a police officer and left a loaded gun on the bed in reach of his young son. You would think that a trained officer would know better then to do something so careless. Also te article states that "no charges have been set" and that the gun was the officers "personal weapon." This officer should have some kind of punishment for leaving the gun out. The child did not know what he was doing and it's up to the parents to handle and store guns safely around their family.
     I disagree with this article because it tends to describe this incident as being not much of a big deal. Yes, accidents happen, but this was caused by carelessness of the child's parent. It is a very serious issue when a 4-year old has access to a gun that is loaded, possibly thinking it is just like another one of his toys, picks it up and shoots somebody with it. All of this could have been prevented if the officer would have properly and safely put his gun up. It is sad to me how his act of carelessness led to an incident so tragic.

Bullying

     Bullying is one subject that we all know about and have heard many stories about. Bullying has led people to commit suicide and other types of self-harm and it can really affect the lives of a person. I was saddened to read the article about a 12 year old boy named Bailey O'Neil who was killed in a bullying incident reported by a CNN article titled "Parents Say Bullying Led To 12-year old's Death." Bailey O'Neil was allegedly "pushed and punched" in the face by another boy on the playground. Bailey suffered from a "fractured nose, concussion, and seizures" after the attack had taken place. The article reports that the parents of Bailey have no doubt that his death was caused by the injuries sustained from his attack and are working hard to receive the justice that they deserve. Bailey's father said to CNN news reporters that after the incident Bailey just "was not the same". This scuffle on the playground at school led to the death of an innocent little boy and it should have never even happened in the first place.
     I agree with the parents of Bailey. I definitely think that his injuries led to his death. Incidents like this one happen all too often and people do not seem to take notice or care solely because it is not happening to them. Bullying is something that should be taken seriously, just as the value of a person's life should be taken seriously. Baileys father also stated that his son "wanted to walk away and he couldn't." A fight like this should not have happened and the staff at the school should have been paying enough attention to stop it before things turned out the way that they did. These parents lives have been devastated by this incident and deserve help and support in there fight to prevent bullying. It is hard to put yourself in somebody elses shoes sometimes, but my heart goes out the Bailey O'Neil and his family.

Family "Vanishes"

     CNN reported in a recently article titled "Coast Guard searching for 4 people missing off coast of San Fransico" that Monday a family of 4 went missing after there saild boat began "taking on water" of the coast of San Fransico. It was 4:20 P.M. when the family contacted the coast guard to tell them that their boat was sinking. It was not reported that the coast guard sent any help for the family at this time. It was also reported that an hour after the first call to the coast guard the family contacted the coast guard once again and said " the electronics are failing...we are abandoning the vessel." Why would the coast guard not have sent help at the first time that they were contacted. They waited an hour before they did anything and by then it was too late. Now after its too late they are beginning their search for the family.
     I disagree with AnneClaire Stapleton, the author of this post from CNN. She reported that the family "has vanished" but I think that by now they should have been found. The family probably got lost at sea and drown because of the lack of help offered by the coast guard. I do no see how the could have made it that long out on their own or how it is taking so long to find them. AnneClaire also reported that the family "might have boarded a life raft." The key word here is 'might'. The job of the coast guard is to help people like this family. Not only did the coast guard wait till it was too late they also did not even have all the information that they needed to efficiently search for them. Because of all of this information I do not think that the family is going to be found.

Being Pepared

     With all the mishaps that present themselves in today's world, you would think that people would be prepared for bad situations more often. Recently, a Carnival Cruise Ship was reportedly "about 150 miles off the coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula...when a fire broke out in an engine room." This fire was contained yet it halted its trip back to port. This cruise line should have had been prepared for this incident. The passengers were stuck stationary for 3days while waiting on another ship to tow the cruise line back to port. One passenger reported,  "they had no power, no running water, there was sewage running down the walls and floors." One would think that a multi-milion dollar cruise line would have been more prepared for such an incident. This cruise line should have food available for the passengers in case of crisis. 

     This article reminded me of a day it snowed at school. Though my situation is not as major as this one I was still unprepared. I woke up for school one cold winter morning in a huge rush. While, rushing out the door, scrambling to get my books together, I cold not find my jacket. I knew it was cold outside and that I probably needed a coat, but I thought to myself "I will be inside for most of the day anyway." Since I was already running late I did not take the time to look for my jacket. I froze to death walking to get inside the building but when I walked in it was warm inside and I did not think much of it. In my first period class, however, I received some bad news. One of my friends proceeded to tell me that there was a "60% chance for snow" on that day and after my second period class it started snowing just like she had said. I had not brought a jacket or warm shoes to school and walking out in the snow to my car, I wished that I had taken the time to be prepared for a cold day. It is always a good idea to be prepared.

Odd Animal Cruelty

     While I do not value the life of an animal equal to or above that of a human being's life, I still am strongly against being cruel to animals. There are many fairly common cases of animal abuse that I am sure we have all heard about. Situations where the animal was not feed adequately, was not taken care of properly, and was beaten out of anger or for "disciplinary methods."
     In an article that I came across earlier this week, reported by CNN, I read about how 20 year old Kevin Dean Parrish allegedly  "put his grandmother's dog into a heated oven after it nipped at him." He reported to the police that he had a past of having "anger issues" and he was actually planning on leaving the 9 pound Chihuahua-Pincher in the oven, until his brother walked into the room. Although the dog is recovering fine from the burns it acquired, this is still a very cruel thing to do to an animal and I also find it very strange as well. In thinking about how odd it was I was reminded of a situation I had been in that was also very strange.
     When I was younger our family had a gorgeous Sheltie puppy. For any of you that do not know what a Sheltie looks like, it is characterized by its beautiful long, thick coat of fur. At the same time we owned this animal we also had a lady living next to us named Wanda Russell. This woman had a weird obsession with our Sheltie dog. We would often find our dog missing and later discover that she had taken it to her property while we were unaware. This went on for awhile, but we never really thought anything of it, because she never tried to keep our dog or injure it. However, one day in the middle of winter our dog was again missing. When it returned back home later we, to much surprise and shock, discovered that this woman had completely shaved all of our Sheltie's fur off. This was very cruel of her to do considering it was winter and our Sheltie was mainly an outside dog. This lady was not intentionally trying to be cruel to our animal like the guy in the article was, but it was very strange that she decided to shave our dog. These two situations are not entirely the same, but equally bizarre.