Author's Note

In the article, For Gay Youths, Middle School can be the Toughest Time by Jocelyn Noveck from the AP National Writer tells the story of Rory Mann. Rory Mann discovered she was gay in the 7^th grade. She didn’t tell anyone because she was already bullied for her differences from anyone else. It had gotten so bad for her, instead of eating in the cafeteria with her other peers; she would eat on the bathroom floor by herself. Sometimes, Mann would feel the need to cut her wrists with a razor blade. She hid her slit wrists away from her classmates and family with long sleeve shirts.

     “Everyone's trying to figure out who they are in middle school," says Mann, now 18 and a high school senior in Newport, R.I., where she is active in a gay students group. "They turn into vicious people. They are really insecure, and they exploit someone else's differences so people won't see who THEY are."

     According to the article, from the ages 11 to 13 or 14 is the time where pre teens discover their homosexuality in themselves. It can be a difficult time because it can go from a discovery to an identity struggle, due to the fact your pre teen years are the most painful where being different is the least accepted by peers

     I have been around people who were homosexual and unaware if how to tell their parents. One of my friends who is older than me told her mother and her mother didn’t accept her for not being what she wanted. She doesn’t have the same relationship with her mother since she came out to her.

     I wrote this book to let younger kids and everyone else know that being a little different from the person standing next to you or around you is ok. With out the different or unique people in the world, the world would be boring. It’s the differences in us that make up the world.

Research Topic #2 (Child Abuse)

Kids were always meant to be "seen, not heard". Every 8 seconds, a child is born. Every 10 seconds child abuse is reported. Almost 5 children everyday die from child abuse.Child abuse is everywhere, whether it be verbal, mental physical or medical, it is an unfortunate part of society.No level of abuse is higher in any race. Isn't it interesting that rascism is still an issue in the world, yet child abuse is one thing that we all have in common?

     The most common form child abuse is neglect. 59%  of children who are abused are neglected. Over 60% of people in drug rehab have been reported being abused or neglected as a child. What kind of example is this seting for the future? Boys are always tought to be strong, but how strong are you when you can't be honest about how you feel?

    I think as a kid or teenager, we're under estimated. Our knowledge, our emotions, our EVERYTHING is looked down upon because we're young. Children who are abused are more likely to act out and do acts of violence if they are abused. Abuse is an issue that can affect someone for the rest of their life.

     Child Protective Services investigated more than three million cases of suspected child abuse in 2007, but a new study suggests that the investigations did little or nothing to improve the lives of those children. In 1974, Congress passed the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, designed to encourage more thorough and accurate reporting and record-keeping in child abuse cases....The scientists looked at several factors: social support, family functioning, poverty, caregiver education and depressive symptoms, and child anxiety, depression and aggressive behavior--all known to increase the risk for abuse or neglect....They concluded that Child Protective Services investigations had little or no effect (New York Times)

The children most at risk of attempted abduction by strangers are girls ages 10 to 14, many on their way to or from school, and they escape harm mostly through their own fast thinking or fierce resistance, according to a new national analysis. Probing a crime that is infrequent but strikes fear in the hearts of parents as little else does, analysts from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children found that children who encountered would-be abductors were usually alone, often in the late afternoon or early evening....The new analysis examines more than 4,200 cases of attempted but unsuccessful abductions, and it shows that children were their own best protectors (Washington Post)

Research: Topic #1 (homosexuality)

      To be homosexual has always been a sstruggle for society to comprehend. From 1942 to 1973, The American Psychiatric Association declared that Homosexuality as a mental disease. 37% of the members of The American Psychiatric Association  voted to RECLASSIFY homosexuality as a disease, in November of 1997, all 50 denied homosexual men and women the right to get married. This just shows how easy it is for people are afraid of simple change or differences in society.

     In school as much as its pushed in the rug, bullying is everywhere. People are bullied because of their height, weight, race, and sexual orientation. Its more likely for students in school who are homosexual or homosexual are for more likely to attempt suicide because they have been bullied to an extent that they simply cannot stand anymore. How far is too far when someone is pushed to end their own life because you cant live life being yourself anymore?

Social Awarness Project: Find a true story about someone who changes the communtiy everyday.

In New York people get injured all the time. In New York City, there are over 70 hospitals. One of the top hospitals in the city is Bellevue Hospital. On average, between 3 and 500 people get admitted to Bellevue every week. Not everyone who gets admitted at a hospital can always pay the bill. Luckily at Bellevue there are options that can help you pay your bill. Medicad is one of those options. When given Medicad, a person can help you pay off most if not all of your bill if you show proof that you are struggling with the payments. One of these people who work with Medicad are Naimah Simmons, she is the associate director of finance. When asked about her job she says:
" I love my job, I am in charge of the staff who helps people figure out a way to pay their bill. If they cannot pay we figure out a way to help."

It's people like Naimah Simmons who help make the world better and healthier

Social Awareness Project: Write a poem or song responding to a specific social problem/issue

Listen.

Listen to her,
Listen to her heart yell out for help
Listen to the screams of horror outside her window
Listen to her heart ache, just listen

She's everywhere, that girl who can't speak up
everyone should just listen to her.
Even when there is nothing to listen to,
acknowledge the silence.
She will be strong one day and get back up again,
if you just listen.

Social Awareness : Child Abuse

     Kids were always meant to be "seen, not heard". Every 8 seconds, a child is born. Every 10 seconds child abuse is reported. Almost 5 children everyday die from child abuse.Child abuse is everywhere, whether it be verbal, mental physical or medical, it is an unfortunate part of society.No level of abuse is higher in any race. Isn't it interesting that rascism is still an issue in the world, yet child abuse is one thing that we all have in common?

     The most common form child abuse is neglect. 59%  of children who are abused are neglected. Over 60% of people in drug rehab have been reported being abused or neglected as a child. What kind of example is this seting for the future? Boys are always tought to be strong, but how strong are you when you can't be honest about how you feel?

    I think as a kid or teenager, we're under estimated. Our knowledge, our emotions, our EVERYTHING is looked down upon because we're young. Children who are abused are more likely to act out and do acts of violence if they are abused. Abuse is an issue that can affect someone for the rest of their life.

Cudos to Mother to Son by Langston Hughes

The Harlem Renaissance was a movement in time where African/American people were devolping in culture. Wether its music,dance or poety there was a devolpment in the process. Some of the poineers of this movement were Duke Ellington, Billie Holliday and Langston Hughes. Langston Hughes was a poet during the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes has written many poems that will always go down in history as some of the greatest poems of all time. One of his most famous poems ae Mother to son.

     Mother to Son is an amazing poem. The poem itself sends a powerful message; keep going in life even when things are tough. The way Hughes put the poem together was really good. Instead of always referring back to life, and how imporant it is to keep going, he compares life to stairs. The first lin starts off, " Life for me ain't been no crystal stair". Throughout the poem he shows that because life for a mother is'nt always easy. I don't think he was just sending the message to mothers though, I think it was a message for everyone who has felt that going forward wasn't enough. Using a mother as the voice who is wise was a good desicion children often look to their mother as a voice of reasoning and a calm state of mind.

An Appreciation to Stuart Little (FINAL DRAFT)

In life, there are times where doing what you're told is'nt always good enough. When the brave thing to do feels like the right thing to do. From the time children turn 2, until the end of the adolescent stage, doing what your told feels boring and routined. Being brave, like Stuart can be a benefit at the end of the day. At times, everyone has wanted to be the unlikely hero like Stuart.
     In the children's book Stuart Little   Stuart is a small mouse with a big personality. Throughout the book, Stuart encounters ranging from the minor (or minor for Stuart's standards of adventure) like fishing Mrs.Little's ring out of the bath tub drain, to the major like driving through the city streets of Manhattan in search of a substitute teacher. At the end of the day, Stuart is one brave little mouse! These are the reasons that make Stuart such a loveable character. Plus his determination to help a friend is comforting, it makes you think, do you have a friend that you know will do anything poosible just to see you happy?
     
    There are times where I don't want to do what i'm told, but I do it anyways. Sometimes, defying the rules can be a good thing because it can turn into a growing expirence. There are times, (too many times to count). Where as a teenager it seems like everyone you know over the age of 18 is an expert on whats best for you and teens like you. 9 out 10 of the times, they have no clue whats going on and they don't know a thing! No one may ever comprehend what goes on in our minds unless they put in some real effort.... or jump into a time machine and go back to when they were a teen. In the book, Mrs.Little is constantly trying to protect Stuart from staying out of harms way. I'm pretty sure her intentions are good, but if you push too hard in one dierection, the fun thing to do is run the complete opposite direction. Now as you read this I'm pretty sure you've fely the same way one time or another. Everyone can relate.

     I feel that I may have connected to Stuart because someone somewhere will always try and tell kids, "Don't do this!" or " you don't know what's best for you, I do." The safe thing isn't always the best thing, but its usuallt the fun thing to do!

An Appreciation to Stuart Little

In life, there are times where doing what you're told is'nt always good enough. When the brave thing to do feels like the right thing to do. From the time children turn 2, until the end of the adolescent stage, doing what your told feels boring and routined. Being brave, like Stuart can be a benefit at the end of the day.

     In the children's book Stuart Little   Stuart is a small mouse with a big personality. Throughout the book, Stuart encounters ranging from the minor (or minor for Stuart's standards of adventure) like fishing Mrs.Little's ring out of the bath tub drain, to the major like driving through the city streets of Manhattan in search of a substitute teacher. At the end of the day, Stuart is one brave little mouse!

     There are times where I don't want to do what i'm told, but I do it anyways. Sometimes, defying the rules can be a good thing because it can turn into a growing expirence. There are times, (too many times to count). Where as a teenager it seems like everyone you know over the age of 18 is an expert on whats best for you and teens like you. 9 out 10 of the times, they have no clue whats going on and they don't know a thing! No one may ever comprehend what goes on in our minds unless they put in some real effort.... or jump into a time machine and go back to when they were a teen. In the book, Mrs.Little is constantly trying to protect Stuart from staying out of harms way. I'm pretty sure her intentions are good, but if you push too hard in one dierection, the fun thing to do is run the complete opposite direction.

     I feel that I may have connected to Stuart because someone somewhere will always try and tell kids, "Don't do this!" or " you don't know what's best for you, I do." The safe thing isn't always the best thing, but its usuallt the fun thing to do!

    

Entry #5: Theme in Charolette's Web.

     One major theme that's re accouring in the children's book , Charolette's Web is family. every character in the book seems to tie together in one aspecet or another in my opinion. Also, like in family, there are  blissful births and sadly, unfortunate deaths.

     The relationship thats Wilbur and Charolette shared was special. Although Wilbur came from a place where food was nothing but a necesity and he sort of figured eveybody had food served to them,  for Charolette life wasn't so easy. When Charolette was showing Wilbur how she got her food, he was alarmed and shocked! It made me think, ' do all of my friends life the same lifestyle as me?' the answer is evidently no. No one is exactly the same as the people they associate with. Even though at first, Wilbur was aprehensive about starting a friendship with Charolette he became her bestfriend and accepted her for the clever, witty spider she was. Once their relationship grew, Charolette began to go out of her way for Wilbur, by telling him stories and spinning words such as 'radiant' and 'terrific' describing Wilbur. My view on thier relationship didn't really change in my opinon but just grew into a sibling relationship. Thier relationship began to remind me of how me and my sister interact and it wasn't so different.

     The relationship between Fern and Wilbur was also special. Although Wilbur has a biological mother, Fern appeared to be the maternal figure in Wilbur's life. When Wilbur was a premature piglet Fern protected him from being slautered by her father. Through the stage where Wilbur was a piglet, Fern bottle-fed him and took him out to play. Even when Wilbur and Fern didn't live together since Wilbur's appetite was expanding and he had to start a new life on the Zuckerman's farm, Fern still spent all her free time watching Wilbur with his new friends adapting to his new enviorment.

     Both these example's remind me of the theme of family. It reminds me of my family and how we treat each other. It may not be as perfect as in Charolette's Web but we love each other and will go out of our way for each other.