blog hw

Question: How does this book help you think about social issues you care about or causes you are committed to?

                The book push helps me  think about unfairness towards children. In this book precious gets abused and taken advantage of by her parents. This is unfair to her. The money she should get from welfare for her two children go to her mother. Its also unfair she gets beaten just because her mom feel like beating. Another issue that this makes me think of is child care. One of precious child is being taken care of by her grandma and precious doesn't get to see them that often.

blog

How does this make you think about justice in the world?

          The book I am currently reading is called Pushed.  It is about a teenager girl that gets raped by her father and abused by her mother. The girls name is Precious. Her mom gets welfare for her daughter and her granddaughter but doesn’t do anything. Precious is mistreated in I find this unfair.

          Precious get abused by her mom. Her mom beats her when she isn’t pleased. She forces Precious to do as she says and if she doesn’t she  gets beat up by her mom. Her mom also doesn’t give her money and makes her cook and work for her. She does nothing for herself. I feel this is not only unfair, but injustice.

          Her mom basically takes money that should be hers. She also beats her daughter and calls her a slut for being raped and having kids. I feel like its injustice because she abuses her daughter for no reason really. She doesn’t help her daughter when she needs it the most. She is neglecting her. Her  dad rapes her and gets her pregnant. Twice. He doesn’t even see her he just sexually abuses her. Its not fair that her mom lies to the government as well to get money instead of actually working.   

essay

           Everyday the sad cruel reality of child soldiers lives on. There are more than 300,000 child soldiers in Africa. But its not just in Africa where this happens. Its on other continents like Asia and South America. These children are forced to fight in their wars. They are mistreated and abused. I believe child soldiers are victims.
             Child soldiers are victims because they are forced to fight in wars for rebel groups. Many children don't choose to join. Some are sold from their parents to get money. Others join to be in a safe area and to be protected. However, most of the children are kidnapped and forced to join the war.These rebel groups demolished new towns and they mutate young babies. "Children are the perfect weapons; they do as told, they don't complain and they don't expect pay.  These children are also often mistreated. Many of the girl soldiers are used as prostitutes and sex slaves
             Soon the war becomes their reality. They start looking at each other like the family they have lost. They see their commander as a father and their fellow soldiers as brothers. " It became our reality; we lost ourselves completely in the war' says former child soldier Ishmael Beah in an interview with Katie Couric. He also says that killing became easier with the numbness that drugs gave them. These children were forced to take drugs and soon they got addicted to them. They say that first time killing is hard but that drugs made it easier. "It became as easy as drinking water" says a child soldier in the passage "Armed and Underaged".
         Despite their horrible past, many child soldiers have overcome their problem. Beah states that he went to rehab and was no longer addicted to drugs. He says it was a difficult process to go through. "Every time i turned on the foist  i saw blood instead of water. I would wake up in the middle of the night because i had a nightmare. I woke up in the morning angry and picking fights" The process may be longer for others. One thing that he said was that something that gave the child soldiers a sense of reality was being treated like a kid no matter what happened in their life.
         Child soldiers are victims; they get kidnapped and are forced to kill.  Many people and programs such as  UNICEF are trying to help child soldiers get out of the war.  These children are taken away from their families. They are forced to kill and if they don't they get their lives taken away. They get so used to this type of life it becomes their reality. Many of the children are taken at a young age and don't know what is wrong or right. I think that child soldiers are against human rights and and one day will never be heard of again.
  

social awarness proj

I can't stand it. I hate school and everyone in it. They think they are so amazing and perfect.
" Have a fun day my love. Love you" my mom calls as i get out the car.
I ignore her. I hate my mom. I hate my life.
"Uh-oh" I think as Lisa passes by. She hates me. Why? I don't know. But one day. I'm gonna stand up to her.
" Look guys" she starts " its the little loser"
All her friends laugh. Everyone is staring at me. I run, that's all i can think of doing. Running.
" Look at the little baby. Run!"
I stop in the bathroom and bawl. I can't stop and i bawl till i hear loud foot steps
" I swear she came in the bathroom" one girl yells. I look around. The only way to escape is through the window. I know if i stay here they will pick on me and hit me. i make a bold descion and jump. Once im down, I run fast. About five blocks away i stop and gasp for breath. I jog home and cry. The next morning I shamefully walk into my school building.




  One day, as i was taking the train home a homeless man got on and asked for money. In New York City this isn't an odd thing to witness. As the homeless man walked by, another man stated mumbling under his breath. The young homeless man stop and asked if he was talking to him. The following conversation was said "I'm sorry sir were you talking to me?" the homeless man said. "No i wasn't talking to yo stupid ass" the man riding the train said
"Excuse me?"
"What?"
"You said something"
"Damn right i did"
"Well then... I just asked if you were talking to me"
"No. Was i looking at you?"
"Sir, i don"t see whats wrong"
"Look little white boy, this is my problem, You white kids run around with $50 allowances a week and spend it on weed and all different types of drugs. When yo dumb ass parents realize that they sick you they kick you out. Now you got the nerve to come on the trains and ask working people for money!'
" Well sir--"
"Shut up!"
"I don't know what the fuck your problem is but you don't know me"
"BUT I DO! I know the spoiled white boy who gets it all and when he doesn't he does some stupid thing like this"
"That's like me saying i know the negro man who eats fried chicken everyday for dinner"
By then i was already at my stop and i ran out the train.

    I think what happened here was a very racist and unfair thing. The man riding the train didn't even know the homeless man and judged. Because he was white he automaticly asmumed that he was a drugie boy who got kicked out. It wasn't fair to the boy. I don't think the man had to get deffensive either. But what was also unfair was how the homeless man was rude back. How he remarked the man was a very rascit comment as well. Just because of a persons certain race doesnt mean they are that sterotype.
 

blog #2 social awareness

Excerpt of short story:

   "You're such a loser" she started "A fat ugly loser". They laughed, all her friends laughed at me. I sat in the next three classes crying. I don't understand why she hates me. That was the nicest thing she has ever said. Imagine the worst things she say. Shes not the only one. Shes not the first person to call me that. All my sad useless life, that is what I've been called. I'm done. I'm done with everything. The world, school, family, life. Its over and I'm done.

reading response #5

 I am currently reading the book The Lovely Bones  by Alice Sebold. In the book a girl named Susie gets raped and killed. Everyone takes her death really badly. People start getting problems and everything just goes down hill. Her mother leaves while her grandma moves in. Even her school friends life changes drastically.Even though Susie is dead, she is still apart of their lives.
  One thing that i noticed is that Susie  is still very important in their lives. From heaven she watches down on them all the time. She takes everything in on what their doing. She takes note on what happens. She also has the same feeling that she would on earth as she feels on heaven. I don't feel as if she has wisen up.
   But Susie is also there physically. She goes and watches her family. Her brother tells his dad that she is in the room with him, watching him. She goes down and watches them. I think that she doesn't miss them more than they miss her. I feel like shes more mellow. I also feel like she wants to visit everyone she loved or that were important to let them know that they were important.
   This proves how close to her loved ones lives she is. All the people that she visits, don't really have a problem with it. They only loved her so much. I think even though shes not alive, shes there, with them.

reading response #4

    In the story "The Drummer  Boy of Shiloh" Joby is a young drummer boy of to war with some soldiers. However, Joby feels as if he plays an unimportant roll in the war. He is very upset by the thought. The General and Joby have a talk and they connect. The General helps Joby realize that he is important and can help the situation.
     At first Joby just thought he was a useless toy in the war. On page 51 Joby says that he is no more than a toy himself. "Me, thought the boy, I got only a drum, to sticks to sticks to beat it and no shield" I think this proves that he feels unimportant. Its basically like getting leftovers. I think Joby feels really insecure about being in the war. I feel that he feels that way because he may be intimidated by the fact that he is really at a war. I also think he feels lonely because he doesn't have his family.
     Joby started crying. That is when the General comes in. He hears Joby and talks to him. While the General is talking to him, Joby thinks that the general is how a father should smell. That also proves that Joby might be a bit lonely because hes thinking about fathers. I think the General actually sat down and talked with him because he might have felt lonesome himself; I think the general was glad that he talked with Joby. I think he needed to get it off his chest.
      The talk with the General really Joby's self esteem up. Joby thought he was merely a useless toy. Now Joby feels confident about what he is, a drummer boy. He has respect for himself. He is the heart of the troops and he keeps the rhythm that they walk to.  He turned his drum facing the sun and went back to sleep.