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World Atrocities are Reflected in Student Behavior!
FIGHT! An eye for an eye. Right or wrong it doesn't matter. This is the message we send to the children of the world.
Is talking about difference now totally out of the question?
Should we stop and ponder what motivates violence?
What part does each individual play in allowing violent acts to occur in the world?
Questions, questions, questions! Are we ready for answers/alternatives? I would argue that alternatives are within each of us and we have an obligation to the children of the world and ourselves to constantly strive for alternatives.
The current "answers/alternatives", connected to world atrocities, arouse murky thought processing in constantly changing times as well as myriad controversial diverse life experiences. But this cloudy backdrop of life should not be a deterrent in the search for alternative viewpoints and ways of living. In contrast, it should be a constant motivator to move forward through hard times.
FIGHTING, as a feasible tool for problem solving, is not the answer and perhaps, as citizens of the world, we should have a better legacy to pass on to our children.
How does a strong sense of criticality serve us if we do not take a stand in the face of repetitive acts of atrocities and at some point decide to ACT?
- Pam Joyce's blog
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Racism (blog10)
R.Sweeney
July 30th/2008
Films, and other types of media can be such a powerful instrument when it comes to influencing the minds of society. Everyone has their favourites, and how they empower their decisions is solely based on the individual. I may watch Beauty and the Beast and think wow, what a selfless daughter, giving up her freedom to save that of her father, what a brave thing to do. Or, I could possibly think, what a stupid girl, she should have left, got help, and then saved her father. No one knows how anyone will react to a film or other media because everyone is different. I could take the above film and store the message in my brain for later use. If I am ever in a situation where I have to save my father from a horrible beast I will know what to do, which will result in me turning a mean, abusive beast into a handsome prince. It may sound completely ridiculous to some, but if it worked for Belle than it will work for everyone else, right? As stupid as this sounds, so too does having people believe that just simply watching the tv series “24” will create or re-affirm their hatred or insecurities toward Muslims and Arabs. However, in some cases this would be perfectly true. It is a scary fact how easily some can be influenced by media. A point worth mentioning in chapter 26th of the text mentioned how our society attributes blame of a crime on a culture, not a person, when it comes to Muslims and Arabs is really discouraging. You never hear the news stations reporting that, Caucasians strike again in Surrey stealing 15 cars from a local shopping center. It sounds completely ridiculous and we should be ashamed to put Muslims and Arabs in this position.
Protection (blog11)
R.Sweeney
July 31st/2008
Anger and frustration are the feelings felt after reading chapter 56 in the text. We as a society have given these corporations their power. Maybe not intentionally but if it were not for our reactions as to their actions there would be no demand for advertising to children. We are feeding right into their plans. They advertise to children while they are watching their favourite shows on television, the children then ask mom and dad, or “Santa” for them, and then the toys are bought. We are not buying all the toys, all the time, but enough that we are supporting the behaviours of the big conglomerates. It becomes a vicious cycle where the result is that the big corporations believe they have some type of privilege or freedom to air whatever they want to, because we have not stood up to them in the past. I came from a family of five girls, whose parents at that point in their careers were not able to buy us all the toys from television. We got the odd Barbie here and there but the majority of our time was spent outside playing made up games and exploring. I do not feel I missed out on anything, by not having the latest cool toy. I fully support the idea of British Columbia following Quebec’s lead when it comes to forbidding advertising to children under 13. As a parent, if I believe my child should have a certain type of toy I will go out and purchase it. I do not need some corporation telling my children what they need and don’t need. That is the job of the parent, NOT money hungry corporations!
What text are you referring to?
"harmonious thought-in process"
Pam
Pam,
I guess the questions are, what are we as a society doing to cause these problems and what is being done about them?
What is being done, is very frightening, first of all. I just received my newsletter from Dr. Mercola (a reputable physician who I have been reading for quite a few years now). Anyway, this article “Calm Down….or Else” speaks to what is happening in some schools – in some cases, children are dying. It always brings me back to my own daughter, because first, her educational needs were not met and her IEP was totally ignored and then when behavior problems resulted, she was horribly mistreated. This is not a solution. I like the comments that follow the article Dr. Mercola article, too; they are very informative. I thought you might find this interesting.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/08/09/calm-down-or-else.aspx?source=nl
And then there is another question: why do we have all of these problems with our youth in the schools? It seems that the parents are always to blame, but this is bigger problem than that, by far. Steven Strauss, a nerurologist, put on a presentation last March, 15, 2008 that brings some insight into what is happening in our society and why we have so many emotional and psychological issues. The field of neurology has made some very interesting findings, and Strauss states,
Neuroscience has uncovered mechanisms of brain function that give a material basis for understanding the psychology of freedom. Newly emerging concepts are directly challenging 100 years of psychological theory which tells us that we are controlled either by the stimuli of our environment, as the classical behaviorists argued, or by bits and pieces of information in the environment that our cognitive brains automatically and unconsciously process, as cognitive psychologists argue. In neither of these conceptions are we truly free in the sense of being the subjects of our own actions.
According to Strauss, as society being controlled by a capitalist system with its paradigm of behaviorism and cognitive information processing theory, we are not free agents; we are basically disembodied from our own actions. Strauss explains, convincingly, in my view, how our lack of freedom and this alienation causes psychological manifestations and dysfunctional relationships.
We are not free. According to Strauss, we do not have freedom. He states, “Freedom in capitalistAmerica
The actions needed relate to emancipation and empowerment (and getting rid of the deficit labels). We are created to be free and it is against our nature to be anything but free. Too many of us are struggling for the wrong things that lead to unhealthy and unnatural competition and conflict (and war). We need to continue the struggle for freedom through emancipatory efforts, not through fighting, and somehow we need to get this message to the children. Now, how do we do this, especially as they are embroiled in fighting/competition?
In Solidarity,
Vanessa
Refernces
Mercola, Dr. (2008). Calm down…or else. Retrieved August 9, 2008, from
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/08/09/calm-down-or-else.aspx?source=nl
Strauss, S. L. (2008). Psychology, Capitalism, and Liberation: With Lessons from Emerging Concepts in Neuroscience. Presented at the Rouge Forum,Louisville , Kentucky