Racism

 Do you think a teacher/parent/guardian should be permitted within their freedom of expression to convey discriminatory thoughts to their child(ren) against a certain race, religion, belief, etc?


Teacher: No
Parents: Yes


I am not trying to seem like a crude person but if a family has certain beliefs it is well within their rights to say and think what they believe on those of others. It is the duty of a teacher to display all the various perspectives so that when the child comes of age (ie: an adult) they can begin to make their own decisions in terms of their beliefs. Generally, the families beliefs are passed on to the child and carried on but now a days we may begin to see a shift in that pattern. Since teachers are becoming increasingly more open about different events children are getting more of a broader picture and are able to make better, informed choices.

World Issues

(1) Which presentation thus far (not your own) has impacted you the most? Why?

I believe that Robyn and Elida's presentations had the most impact on me because that issue is very sensitive for myself. I have very strong views on prostitution and sex slavery that when they presented the girls being affected it truly hit home. I know of people who have resorted to those means as an income and it isn't right that they should have to degrade themselves to that level. There should be other options for them and no one is doing enough to help. Since the presentation I have taken the initiative to learn more about human trafficking and how I may help those abroad.

(2) Why do you think the "Cover the Night" event was not as successful as initially expected?

At the time of the event I was in down town Toronto with the Rugby team and we did not see many people participating in the event. I think the lack of people added to the even being as unsuccessful as it was. As well, the idea of spreading the awareness of the issue wasn't executed in a way that would have any effect on people.
Personally, when it comes to issues which are on such a large scale, it isn't always necessary for citizens to get involved instead higher officials should make it there issue.

(3) Watch this [ http://www.ted.com/talks/garth_lenz_images_of_beauty_and_devastation.html ]TED talks video on the Alberta's tar sands. After watching, what is your impression of this project in terms of its impact on the environment?

I believe the project will have serious negative impacts for the environment. At the end of the day the actual extraction of the oil will be more damaging then actually using the oil produced. Everything, from the land to the air will be infected with powerful chemicals. This can cause a brutal environmental impacts that may never be reversed.  However, the world does need oil because we are not supplying ourselves with enough eco-friendly energy substitutions.

Kony 2012

"Should HSC participate in Invisible Children's 'Paint the Night' initiative on April 20th to spread awareness about Kony 2012?"

I believe that awareness can be a good thing as well as a deterrent. Now a days we are becoming far more aware of so many issues that it is becoming increasingly harder for any one to prioritize what is important to them. As for the Kony 2012 issue, it is not necessary for us as citizens to come up with solutions to these problems since it is more of an issue of government. The US has taken proactive steps in order to rid the nation of the problem and for me that is sufficient.  

Disease, is anybody listening?

What do people think when they are first asked a question such as "Why do diseases like HIV-AIDS seem to hit the world's poorest people?"

"lack of education, funding, and rights" - Rogers
"no independence, no freedom!" - Anonymous
"Environment; because of drought less access to money, less access to health care"- Peer
"Good Government should be able to finance minimal care!"- Peer

People are becoming increasingly enraged with the lack of basic human rights that each citizen of the global community should be given at birth and throughout life. It is not by choice that people are being born into areas where they are stripped of their last thing they can call their own: their humanity. When people are not provided with things such as education, clean drinking water and access to health care we will always see a rise in disease, such as HIV-AIDS. Through out history humanity has been faced with wide-spread epidemic as we see now but in the past together we have been able to overcome it. Now a days, the western world is comfortable with where we stand and do not feel it to be our issue to go in and eradicate disease in other areas such as the third world where disease hits the hardest.

The Psychology of Violence

After watching "Invisible Children," what have you learned about the "psychology of violence"? What are the root causes of the abductions and youth violence in Uganda and the surrounding region? How has this affected the mental health of these children?

Since the inauguration of gun powder, modern warfare has since evolved in ways that have awed and shocked humanity. From medieval organized warfare, to all out warfare such as seen on the grounds of WWI humanity has been able to relentlessly kill each other with the use of weapons and arms. It wasn’t until WWII where the use of physiological warfare came into play. Increasing the violent noise of fighter jets, toxic gas and the size of bombs have all had their effects on the men fighting; but what really started to antagonize the people was the first deliberate attacks on the civilians. This is why Kpny's attacks on children and different groups in Uganda have left such deep trauma on the citizens. He goes into these villages with the objective targets of the weak and frail, the children. The reason I call children weak and frail is not completely due to their size, strength and agility but more so to their psychological standpoint. The mind of a young child is equivalent to a sponge in the way it absorbs information. At the same time children are also very impressionable and with the use of abuse and bribery can be made into what ever the informer may wish. This is why Kony has targeted this demographic of civilians. These children are being raised thinking that violence and warfare is normal and are exposed to events that no matter what age you are, no one should have to see.

Violent Peacekeeping- the oxymoron of the century

Which is a more effective strategy in terms of social action - non-violent peacekeeping and activism (MLK, Gandhi) or aggressive peacemaking (Malcom X)? Consider both sides in your answer.

History has been witness to both peace and war. It has also been witness to their beginnings and resolution. From what it has seen, people respond most readily to action and a forth coming approach. Personally, I tend to side with history and agree that people need to be shaken up to see any change or any response. I am not saying that we need to go forth and kill everyone who society deems "bad" or whomever may be the oppressor but please consider this scenario before you judge what I am about to put forth. Try and go back to when you were a child, let's say for arguments sake you are 6 years old. Now, it is almost Christmas time and you really want a brand-new shiny red bicycle. Assuming you still believed in Santa or were just experiencing his non-existence you felt the threat that if you were bad you wouldn't be getting that new bicycle! Consequently, as you got older you were still threatened with other potentially life altering demands. One example being when you were a teen: If you do not clean your room you will NOT be allowed to go to Jimmy's party on Saturday. At that age, if you didn't go to Jimmy's party your life would actually be over. So if now-a-days you threaten people with some sort of consequence (and assuming you follow through if they do not do what your asking) they will listen and all will be good.

The world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it. --Helen Keller


We can teach the blind to see, the deaf to hear and make the immovable move but we can't seem to remove the pain that many of our own suffer. We want to make the grass more green, the skies more blue, make the animal kingdom stronger yet we enjoy the suffering of our own. I have recently read something I never knew existed before, FGM- Female Genitalia Mutilation and for some reason I am growing attached to this issue, as though I can help find a way to stop it. I would go into the details of what FGM is, but just thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach. Basically, in certain cultures they find it okay to remove the outer portions of female genitalia including but not limited to the labia and clitoris. The ways they do it make the process even more gruesome; all of it an attempt to stop young women from having sexual intercourse before marriage. In my opinion, there are much better ways! 

WIC- How to make the Grade 12's more involved?

The WIC was a very enjoyable experience and I was able to take a lot from the presentations as I go on to finish High School and move on to the University Level. In terms of making the conference better for future Grade 12 students I would suggest making the conference not only mandatory but also making it worth a fraction of their grade for the year. Those not in attendance should have to do an equivalent assignment that will be worth the same as though they were in attendance. I personally was rather offended that although I did attend the conference I had to in addition to that, write two framing the issue papers and I'll probably only be marked on those papers rather then my attendance. Those who did not attend got to take the day off to work on other things or begin a three day weekend of relaxing. I would have greatly benefited from having an extra day added to my weekend. Also, if their is a formal attendance made and students that are marked absent are phoned home as if it were a class setting that would have made more parents involved which would have forced more students there. Unfortunately, most students will need an incentive to go or else no one will go at all.

on life

Life is a series of events that each person experiences. That is what makes us different from what we call animals. Human, being, man each of which represents life. Animals may be classified as female or male but are never classified as of soul. What is debated is that do humans even have souls, what is a soul and do animals also have a soul that is not represented in the human mind. I would like to begin with the idea that is a soul. Let us picture it as a cup.

A cup is cylindrical, has a smooth surface and generally will not have cricks and cracks. When you fill it with screws you will see that the cup can never be one-hundred percent full. But, if you fill it with water, you will see that it is completely one-hundred percent full. So as the body to the soul is full. We can feel an array of feelings held separate to touch. These can include anger, happiness, sorrow, depression and arguably love.  When we experience these emotions all of a sudden we are full; we can feel them on every inch of our body. That is the soul’s reaction to a series of events; a human experience. The idea that we experience so much only through one linear idea cannot be found in anything that is not of being.