Cutting Classes!

There is one political issue that sticks to my mind and it even relates to this valley and it’s the cutting back of classes, so the budget would be the issue. I think it is unfair that we students have to suffer because of the government’s inability to handle money. We are in this deep hole, so what has to get punished for it, we do. It will now take us longer to graduate because there will be less classes, which means they will be even harder to get in. The government covers the problem up by using certain language and their political wordplay.

There is a secret language for everyone, and when it involves politics it is a different one. To make it seem like there is nothing wrong, they know what to say to make it seem “okay”. There are even a lot of commercials on different schools for your education. The common line is “I can do it, anybody can do it”. This line really bribes in people to want to go to school. What they do not tell you is how pricey the school can be. When you finished you can be $35,000 in debt. They advertise those schools to be so good and can change your life, but never mention how intense the course can be. There are always positive commercials about the education but they once mention how many classes there are or what the price is. Not only are they cutting classes, but they are also raising the prices of classes.

There is also political wordplay in which they are pretending to communicate to us, but they really aren’t. They are telling us things to makes us think they are telling us something important when in reality it’s probably false information. They can be misleading us with information. They could also be using jargon so we really do not know what they are talking about. Only they really know what is going on, but they are going to use words they know so we do not have a full understanding of what is going on. They could also be using words to make it seem like it’s not a big deal. They will find other words to make it seem like this budget cut isn’t so bad and only so many classes will be cut. They will try to make the situation not seem like a major panic. They want us to think nothing is wrong and keep moving forward with our daily lives. They could also overwhelm us with words to the point we are just lost. After hearing a huge explanation of why they are doing something, we will more than likely just go with it. If they can give us this big reason then it must be good right? They are cutting classes at AVC, not only is this going to affect us as students, but teachers will be laid off. Fewer classes to teach, means less money for them. This is a big mess, no matter what they try to tell us.

Extra Extra Read All About It

According to Danny Schechter, “Young people get the news from late night TV, the Comedy Channel, or The Onion.” He found this can be a problem because it’s not the real news. This can be a problem because without the teenagers knowing the real problems in society, when it comes time to vote they might not have a full understanding of what is going on in society. The late night shows focus more on “attitude” and comedy rather than listing the facts. Teenagers could find the news a little boring. Those teenagers are more focused on movies, video games, and comic books. This could be a problem in society because teens are getting less educated about the world, so how are they supposed to make future decisions for the country? When it comes time to vote, are they going to know what to vote for? I say yes they will know. Just because we like to watch comedy channels it doesn’t mean we don’t know what is going on around us.

This makes teenagers look like they don’t care what is going on in society. I am also a teenager, so this kind of hurts. He makes us seem that we are more focused on ourselves, that we are selfish. Speaking for myself, I am not interested in politics, so it is really hard for me to watch news on politics. I watch the daily news to see what is going on in our country, and the news also mentions what is happening in other countries. It’s not like I have no idea what is going on in this world, which I’m too busy downloading music, because this is not true. I even get a joy of reading the news paper because I feel I learn what is going on in our community. Once again though, not all teenagers are the same.

Some teens rather not know what is going on around us and focus on the new release of a video game. There are those children out there, but it is not all of them. For the teenagers that are interested in what is happening to our country, and you know someone who isn’t too upbeat with it. Start a conversation with your friend of what you learned on the news on the news paper. Sometimes it just takes a little push to get people interested in the news. It is fun bringing up a topic from the news, because normally there are so many different versions. So we all discuss what we learned and normally we come out as experts with the topic. It is fun having an educated conversation with your friends, and no it’s not “nerdy”. Don’t be afraid to start an educated conversation, you never know that someone might feel the same way. I think this is the main problem with teenagers. We are too focused on being “cool” that we are afraid to ruin our image. I say who cares about the image! We are educated adults, now lets express ourselves!

No Past of Hate Speech

 Hate speech is something nobody would want to wish on anybody. Some people experience hate speech more than others. Some of us, may not even experience hate speech. I think even though some people have not experienced hate speech themselves does not mean that they do not "get it". We have all heard of the idea of hate speech. If you have not heard of hate speech let me inform you. Hate speech is something that was said that can hurt someone, either physically or emotionally. When someone yells "bomb" on an airplane, people could get hurt for trying to get off the plane. There are things people should not say under certain circumstances. You never know if you mention gays, there could be someone around who may be hurt by this. Just like what Kobe Bryant recently said about gay to the referee. There are just comments that cannot be tolerated. We all know not to yell fire in a movie theater. People could be seriously injured from this made up comment. Even though some have not experienced hate speech first hand, does not mean we don't get it.

Everyone has either heard about the idea of hate speech, or have actually been through it. Either way we know how serious hate speech can be. We know exactly know what to say and what not to say. There may be some people out there who find the idea of hate speech funny, which is those people that make those comments. Those are the people "who don't get it" not the people that have not experienced it. People who don't experience hate speech stay away from those comments because they don't want that to happen to them, and they don't make the comments. Some people that haven't experienced it know people that have. So maybe they do not know it feels personally, but the still know what goes on. So people still knows what goes on. We don’t have the right to judge people because of their past. If they were one of the lucky ones that didn’t experience hate speech, be happy for those people.

            Hate speech is not something we wish on anybody. So why would we think that people who don't experience it don't get it? We should be happy that those people haven't experienced it. People that have experienced it should be telling those people how to handle a situation when hate speech occurs so they don't get hurt. There are things that we all need to learn. People should know what to expect. Hate speech is wrong and we all know that. So lets take this problem seriously and not be so judgmental. If we judge people because they don’t have a past with hate speech, was does that say about us? It makes us no better than those people who say hate speech. Both ways it’s not right and we all need to be here for each other, for the better. We are all civil human beings and should be able to help a neighbor in a time of need.

RLiT is a Great Read!

           RliT was a really good book and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a good read. This book is just amazing what these girls had to go through. They took the chance of getting killed just to learn. It’s amazing what they do in order to gain knowledge. Some people in college take advantage of their school and get lazy, and to be honest at times I feel like that. There is a point when my brain feels fried. I just keep waiting for our breaks, just like our spring break. This book makes you realize how lucky I really have it. It made me thankful I have a safe place to stay and safe place to get my education. I don’t have to worry about sneaking my school work I just get it done. Could you imagine if your life was threatening especially for just learning? Who every thought we would be killed if we were to get caught reading a book? There are so many things we are about to do without any circumstances. I think people and myself take our education for granted.

We have so many opportunities then these girls have and we don’t even realize it. I think this book would really open the eyes for a lot people especially college students. We are able to go to school, and for some of us live at home safely without paying any rent. For a lot of people this is the dream, to go to school without having to worry about our safety or money. We all have the equal opportunity to be successful unlike these girls. Yes, there may be some discrimination but not like what these girls went through. They are the girls with no past. They have no good memories to have a past. When we lose are pet or family member, we have the memories of them giving us a past. These girls dreamed of having something they never had.

This book makes me so thankful for my family and my education. I’m so glad I have the opportunity to go to school without having to worry about anything. My mom always told me, “Go to school and don’t worry.” For a lot of people it would be so nice not have to worry. Education is a huge thing in order to be a successful person. If you want that dream house, you have to work hard for it. I am thankful for giving this opportunity and this book made me realize it even more. So if you are a college student, read this book! It will touch your hearts and give you the extra push to keep going through our day. When life feels a little down this book makes you thankful for everything you have. It makes you realize how much freedom we really have. When you think you have had a rough day at work, just reading what these girls go through and by choice is incredible. They go through the days of maybe getting killed for learning and they just keep going to prove a point. It’s a really great book and you won’t be sorry!