Would you give money to a hobo?

In this project I will be focusing on the issue of Homelessness. I’ve experienced being asked for help by homeless people in the streets of philly multiple times. As a kid my mother always told me to not give money to homeless unless that you see that their are really in need of money. As i started to grow up I starting to form own opinions and control my own actions. Im interested in this topic because I believe not all homeless are bad and everyone deserves a big push to start a new life.There has been an enormous amount of people that are homeless in the country of The United States. Main factors why most people are homeless is because of economic problems such as low incomes and lack of afordtable housing. Knowing that, I hope I could see people who are in somewhat good conditions wealthwise, helping the homeless get back on their feet.

This issue has been around for years. Its a problem today because according to the adamplimton website it shows that over 133,000 people sleep on the streets or in a shelter on any given night. January 2014, on any given night there was at least 578,424 experiencing homelessness in the U.S. Knowing this gives me the motivation to help out the homeless. I also find it very interesting how 23% of the 3.5 million who are homeless each year are U.S Military Veterans. Serving the military and then coming back home to find yourself homeless is devastating. Although the rate has been decreasing. In addition, 25% of the 3.5 million homeless each year are children under the age of 18 years. Imagine trying to survive in this world homeless. As humans we take advantage of what we got. Imagine on a 20 degree cold day outside and you finally coming home to some warm comfort. Think of the homeless who are outside suffering and have no hope of heat. Also i feel like homeless people are shunned by people. I feel like everyones thought of a homeless person is a older man, over grown beard, smelly and is a drug/alcohol addict.Known as a stereotypical hobo. Thats a bad stereotype to have in so many ways. Anyone can become  homeless. Bee talks about this in a video about the homeless.

Im wondering what kind of stereotypes other people have againist the homeless. Im also wondering if they know what kind of people are homeless and how would they react. I also wonder reason why people decided not to give a homeless person money. I also would find it interesting to try asking the homeless people some questions also.

Homeless person sleeping on the streets.

http://www.adamplimpton.com/homelessness/

Data on homeless people sheltered and unsheltered in 2014

https://projecthome.org/how-to-help/advocate/facts-homelessness

Annotated bibliography

Autism. A mental condition that 1 in every 65 people have. Children with Autism are separated from society. They are outcasts because they think differently. They act differently because they process the world in a way that we ¨normal¨ people cannot comprehend. Yes, Autistic children do things that the general public perceives as ¨weird¨, but they are truly intelligent. There have been numerous cases when Autistic kids have excelled in a subject. For example: I myself have seen Autistic kids that are amazing at math. This means that they aren’t different if anything they are a advancement in the human brain. But then why do we fear them? Why do we fear people that have shown the capability to have more efficient brains than us? Because we humans fear what we don’t understand. We fear what has been labeled different.

Source for image: https://learningneverstops.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/communication-difficulties-in-autism-my-personal-view/

By conducting this project I plan on showing the public that kids with Autism are simply just normal kids. Every single person in the world has a different way of processing info and so do autistic children. I myself have an autistic sibling. My younger brother was diagnosed with autism at a very young age. Living with an autistic child has taught me a great deal. Yes at times my brother can go crazy, but when he puts his mind to something he accomplishes it. You see up until the age of 5 my little brother did not talk in any place outside our house. This led people to believing that he is a mute. In school he simply sat down and stared blankly into the darkness. This led the teachers to not believe us in any way when we said that he does talk. But one day it changed. One day he went to school and said good morning to his teacher. He sat in his seat and did every task the teacher gave him. When home he brought up memories of things that had happened years ago as if they were yesterday. He wrote the whole alphabet a though he knew how to and successfully counted to 50. This was amazing. A child that did not utter a single word in public was now having full conversations with strangers and proving that he had an outstanding memory. After this day I researched autism and learned that kids with autism do not understand the world in the same way we do. They are completely normal but they see the world differently. Sometimes this is good while other times this is bad. A child having autism can be a serious problem if the autism is not detected at an early age. Some signs that a child has autism are no babbling or pointing by age 1, no response to name, and excessive lining up of toys or objects. Kids with Autism are extremely intelligent human beings that perceive the world in a different manner.

Source for image:https://mcb.berkeley.edu/courses/mcb61/

Sources for info:

"Autism Fact Sheet." : National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2015.  http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm

"Learn the Signs of Autism." Autism Speaks. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/learn-signs

1. For my project, I would like to research the relevance of women’s rights in our society. Throughout the decades, women have made great strides trying to maintain the same social and economic status as men but have failed due to the society we live in. Even today, women are paid 70 cents to every dollar a man makes for the same job, and if you’re a female of a minority the pay is even less. As a female growing up in this time and am very interested in joining the workforce as a young adult, I would like to spread awareness on the topic of unfair pay amongst genders. Another issue that affects women today is education. Women make up ⅔ of illiterate people in the world and it’s because the lack of being given formal schooling. Because of this, there are still a multitude of male-dominated fields within the workforce such as engineering, science, math, and even literature.

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   There are still people that believe the only title a woman needs is “Mrs.” Because of this mentality, young girls are afraid to unlock their potential because they only trust in their ability to walk down the aisle. In certain cultures, marriage is the most important aspect of a woman’s life, and because of this we need to stress the relevance of education especially today. Even in the U.S., over 1200 schools provide single-sex studies. Since this is the case in our society and even the media, the a lot of the misogyny and sexism sprouts from these sources. Because of this gap of females in certain fields, most of the homeless population across the globe contains women and children. It is incredibly important for people to know about this issue because there are still a significant amount of people that believe that women are given all the basic rights that are required. Thoguh I’ve labeled prominent issues that affect women in our country, there’s an immensely greater amount of issues that women face around the world, even some that aren’t socially visible. Sexual abuse, dehumanization, and sexism on a much larger scale just to name a few. What can we do to combat these problems and give women the equality we deserve? I often wonder if this issue will even be relevant in the future and if women will ever be considered equals, socially and economically. I plan on interviewing women on their experiences with inequality whether in the workforce, as a mother, in school, or any other possible situation. I also hope to observe in certain fields how women are treated and if they are being treated visibly different than their male counterparts.
   

Most of us deal and interact with different people everyday. But not all of us feel comfortable. Especially people with social anxiety or social phobia. These people feel the discomfort in certain situations. Comfort levels in social situations vary, depending on personal traits or life experiences. Some people are naturally born shy while some people are more outgoing. People with social anxiety get nervous on occasion, like when giving a speech or when they present themselves in front of different people. These people fear being the center of the attention.

Not wanting to be involved in an activity which involves interacting with other people is also a fear of the people with social phobia. Let’s switch this around. Wanting to be involved in an activity or wanting to do something so bad but… nervousness, anxiety, and the fear of being judged by others strikes? Yes, people with social anxiety experience this.

I know this topic so well that I can relate to the description of social anxiety. It is so much easier for me to understand this topic because I live in it. What I mean by “I live in it” is that I experience social anxiety but I am not saying that I have a social anxiety disorder because I feel like my personality is just taking over my thoughts and actions.

According to socialphobia.org, Social Anxiety is the third largest mental health problem in the world today and approximately 7% of the population suffers from some form of social anxiety disorder.

"Social Anxiety Association | A Nonprofit Organization That Promotes Understanding and Treatment of Social Anxiety Disorder." Social Anxiety Association | A Nonprofit Organization That Promotes Understanding and Treatment of Social Anxiety Disorder. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. <http://socialphobia.org/>.

This issue is very significant because a good amount of people from all over the world have social anxiety. Millions of people all over the world suffer anxiety every day. Social anxiety cannot be avoided because it is an issue that mostly involves your mental health. Social anxiety destroys lives. How? Well, it is taking over peoples lives. It prevents people from leading the life they want; it prevents them from doing what they are good at doing; it prevents them from having friends and relationships, even though people want them.

This issue is important for other people to know about because the world is very judgemental and so we all need to be aware that people do what they do because they have an acceptable reason behind it. They cannot avoid it because it is not an easy thing to be avoided and ignored.

Fortunately, social anxiety disorder can be overcome. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is an effective social anxiety therapy for people with social anxiety. Everyone with social anxiety can be cured if they use the appropriate type of cognitive-behavioral therapy.

According to this graph, most of the 13 to 18 year old women experience social phobia than men.

Going crazy and you don’t know what to do? Talk to someone you trust, whether it is a friend, a family member, or just someone you can rely on. Do not be scared of telling someone about what you are going through. You are not telling the whole crowd but that one person. They might have a great effect in your life. Don’t worry, take one step at a time. You can get through it… STRONG.

As of now, I am wondering if the information I provided in this essay would change other people’s perspective about people with this type of disorder. I am hoping that I will dig deeper and learn more about this issue so that I could have a better insight in this topic.

Here is my annotated bibliography.

Domestic Violence is an everpresent crime infecting our communities one victim at a time. Silence falls over those who are in danger’s way, far too fearful to speak out about the dangers of not knowing what abuse lies in their futures. By educating myself of the heinous acts of abuse cast upon one third of American women, I am able to give a voice to those silenced by the bruises left by the ones who supposedly loved them most. Since this issue effects so many people around me, I refuse to be apart of the thirty six thousand abuse accounts reported annually. I am desirous to contribute to the efforts of many to stop domestic violence and create a more positive society with brighter futures for all.

Bruises are just one of the numerous marks domestic abuse leaves on its victims  

http://growingupchaotic.com/2014/08/05/podcast-national-domestic-violence-hotline/

Domestic violence is heavily silenced. It isn’t taken as seriously as other misconducts even though it accounts for fifteen percent of all crimes committed. It is right under our noses, yet we are blind to it. We may not notice the signs of those in harms way like the wearing of long sleeves in the summertime to hide the imprints of struggle, or those who wear sunglasses inside to cover the bruises layering their skin. It isn’t solely about the beatings, though; it can be taken as far as resulting in murder which is the fate of five hundred women annually. The effects can be fatal, and the forms can be mental and sexual as well as physical. After realizing that someone who claims they love you can bear to beat you day after day, it can cause many psychological issues such as depression or anxiety. Domestic abuse takes many forms and tactics are used to effectively violate the victims such as dominance, humiliation, isolation, threats, intimidation, denial, and blame. The general public seems to believe that this issue is easily solvable, all the victim has to do is leave the relationship to end the torture. What the majority of people are unaware of is that more than 70% of deaths from abuse happen after the relationship has already ended. The abuser does not like to lose and likes to control the situation at all times, hence the abuse in the first place.

  Domestic Violence effects almost everyone, whether it be directly of someone

                we know is effected by it, domestic violence is hard to escape in American societies.

        http://www.wstudies.pitt.edu/blogs/eyd3/poverty-battered-women-and-work-us-public-policy

One may never know everything about Domestic violence unless it is experienced first hand, and this means I am left with numerous questions. I am wondering why this issue it is not taken more seriously, and I wonder if it could be because not many people are informed of how much violence is taking place in the United States. I am also wondering if people who have been abused are more likely to then become abusers themselves or to stay as far away from domestic abuse as possible. I would be interested in hearing personal stories of domestic violence victims and how it has changed them as a human being. I am looking forward to seeing what answers I uncover in my future research and am most interested in finding a way in which I can help to end domestic violence once and for all.

Also, here’s my Annotated Bibliography!

PIC: Syria and Refugees

The specific issue in the world that I chose is refugees, most notably Syrian Refugees. There are over 11 million Syrians displaced from their homes, with almost 4 million displaced outside of Syria. So many people are being forcibly removed from their homes because of war, conflict, and persecution. This is a real issue, a serious issue. I’m not interested in this topic because it’s interesting, I’m interested in helping to solve this issue because it’s an issue that needs to be solved.

A refugee cares for his grandson, who was born on a refugee camp in Lebanon. Image from World Vision, on the 4th image of the slideshow.

This is a significant issue in our world, because it’s hurting millions upon millions of people everyday. People are being forced out of their homes, their country, people are being attacked, injured, and murdered. Homes are being destroyed all throughout Syria. Lebanon, a country on the west border of Syria with a population of only 4 million people, has over 1 million Syrian refugees displaced in it. There are also about 1.6 million Syrian refugees in Turkey. There are less than 1 million but at least 100,000 refugees in Iraq and Egypt, and over 600,000 in Jordan (Statistics from the  UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.) The reason this is an important topic to know about is because it’s a topic that needs things to be done about it. These refugees need food, reliable clean water, hygiene supplies, blankets, and more. There are over 2 million Syrian refugees that are children, most of which are receiving no educational support (Numbers from the World Vision Website.) These people are being forced into terrible situations, and unhealthy locations. Some of these people will be their for the rest of their life. The average time for a refugee to be exiled for upwards of 17 years (information from TED Talks.) This is something that is important to know because people are dying, and will continue to die unless we do something about it, and we can only do something about it if people know things about it.

Raijab’s camp settlement in Lebanon, just miles from the border of Syria. Image from World Vision, on the 5th image of the slide show.

At this point in the project, I’m still planning on finding more out. I still have questions, such as: What is the rate of illness in these refugee camps? Approximately how many people are being forced out of their home per day? These questions and anymore will hopefully be answered from my Original Research, which leads me to the last thing that I’m wondering: I’m not exactly sure what to do for my Original Research. I could do some sort of survey, which could tell me something like how much people know about the topic, but this wouldn’t tell me much more information on the topic itself. I could instead to an interview, although I’m not exactly sure who I could interview. I’m still working on it, but I’ll figure it out. Anyway, that about wraps up my first blog post, but before I end this, here is my Annotated Bibliography.

Jevon Price

Ms.Giknis

English 1

24 April 2015

                                            I’m poor, I’m black, Yay I go to Harvard!

The project that will be focused on is the concept of whether Affirmative Action, an act that is committed throughout the United States, should be used in the selection process of higher level education. For those that are unaware of the issue, it’s the process in which people are selected predominantly based on both their race and geographical background, and in many cases the sum of yearly income that enters their household. It’s basically what allows the higher power to choose which of those can live their lifetime goals of achieving the dream college, but putting a huge racial stamp on the envelope. I know that at the ripe old age of fourteen that this has nothing to do with me, but in just a few short years myself as well as my fellow peers may fall victim to this flamboyant secret that is meant to be a figure of imagination that has since grown to national recognition. This matter that is often swept under the rug, should in fact be brought to the light as it does not clearly benefit the masses.

Perhaps one of the most principal problems facing young men and women every year is that of where they will go after they receive their high school education. For many that have made a clear choice to reach for the colleges of their dream thinking that it would be the most ideal place to nurture them through the beginning stages of adulthood, while constructing the foundation of an illustrious career in the making. But it is the broken spirits of those who are more than qualified that can’t draw their bulging eyes from the big REJECTION on the top of their letter simply because their not a poor black child from the mean streets of Compton, or a talented hispanic singer who’s mother worked hard to support multiple kids. What might seem to be ridiculous on paper is true for many all across the country. Something that is absent from many people minds is continuously being brought into the life due to working a modern use of racism. By striving for a look of diversity amongst its students, many campuses are using race to forge an image that does not deal with the quality of education that is being offered. Studies have shown that over the past twenty years, while trying to make a supposedly diverse campus many colleges are accepting more and more black and hispanics while limiting the amount of white and asians.

http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21576658-first-three-pieces-race-based-preferences-around-world-we-look-americas

( This image illustrates the averaged enrollment of African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians in college.)

It is seen that despite your abilities, if your color is not what they want in their crayon boxed your don’t become a member. People have the right to know that their futures are depending on if they’re either black or poor enough. Darker or can be spared more pity. Minority is what can get you to a major. The dangerous part of this is that many who are accepted into these high level institutions are not at all ready for what comes with the acceptance letter. Law school as proven to be a case in which this is evident as African Americans have shown to generally do poorer both in school and on the LSAT exam.

http://www.newsbatch.com/race.htm

( The image illustrates the performance of African Americans, Whites, Asians, and Hispanics on the LSAT exam, percentage of getting into the law school, and grade point average. )

It should also be noted that African Americans students generally make up the bottom twenty percent of for those in law school. Probably the most shocking is that this idea is being approved by some of the public. A recent study showed that there are those who believe that Blacks and Hispanics deserve a little extra help compared to that of their Asian and Whites peers. Others also believed that they deserve special treatment as a result of inequalities faced in the path. Neither having to deal with whether an applicant is qualified enough. Interesting. For college the work doesn’t matter.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/05/americans-oppose-affirmative-action-for-race-if-you-only-ask-white-americans/276426/

( Study of Whether black and hispanics should have special preference when it comes to applying for college)

Affirmative Action was used to give African Americans equal opportunities, and in many ways it has, but on the other hand it is setting up many young black students for failure as their futures are being tampered with to make the cover of a brochure more...colorful. If the idea was to make blacks more apart of the grand scheme of things, it has worked but at the expense of many white and asians students who now seem to be thought of as to privileged for college, or not struggling to the capacity of gaining a quality education. I don’t understand why colleges continue to use the idea of affirmative action to only benefit themselves, when the whole point of college is to mold the new generation to be the best that they can be. I also want to know how can something that has severe origin in a dark time in history that was used to help those in need, do almost the same exact thing as those from its original time period but to a different set of people. More importantly why is this still being allowed to happen. As I continue, I want to center more on the individual effects that affirmative action has had on people. Affirmative Action is the secret that both makes and breaks dreams without a logical purpose, and from what I’ve come across is not needed in the modern society.

Annotated Bibliography

Open Your Eyes

My project is based on events that has been happening since the Jim Crow era and is sadly still relevant in 2014 and today. My topic is police brutality. I am interested in this topic because I want to express how wrong and inhumane a lot of these crimes are and I want to show people how horribly this affects black people as well as other races.

The picture on the left, demonstrates a group of children learning in a classroom.

For this quarter benchmark I would like to do on tutor kids English, as a second language. I'm more comfortable with doing this topic because I know a lot of languages, and I want to help others who don't know at least the English language. What I am hoping to do is to help tutor kids with their homework, who speak another foreign language. They are a lot of immigrants children that come live here in America. When some of them do, they may not know or understand how to speak English. My goal is to make kids comfortable learning how to speak English to get a better communication with whomever may encounter with.

This photo on the right, shows an example of how children in a classroom loses their confidence.

In terms of participating with the class, students who seem to have trouble with the English language are often shy and extremely nervous I would want to help them with finding their confidence and having a better communication with everyone in school. Some students faced teachers making their learning environment more difficult by their way of teaching. Some cases where teachers wouldn’t explain/go over the work appropriately, for the student to comprehend it and get it done the right way. Therefore, I want to assist not just teaching them English but, with finding their confidence any order to participate in school.

This image on the left, shows kids exploring a globe in a classroom.

What I am wondering at this point of process is, finding specific creative ways to tutor children their second language. Will I learn a couple of new languages as I tutor kids? It would be great if I do! I hope that through this process I not only teach a second language to others, but help them gain confidence in school. It would help a lot communicating with people who speak English.

Bibliography

Consent is a funny word. Everyone has a different idea about what it means, and many sides to the same face causes problems.

In my opinion, consent is safety. Consent is being able to trust that your sixteen year old child can go to a highly populated convention for cosplaying geeks and not be sexually assaulted and harassed. Do you know how difficult it is to have to convince your parents you can protect yourself from a community you're supposed to be a part of? Or maybe, the worrying you do when trying to figure out which costume to wear; “Will this give people the idea that it’s okay to touch me?”

I am a cosplayer, I am not an object.

Cosplay is “the practice of dressing up as a character from a movie, book, or video game, especially one from the Japanese genres of manga and anime.”

Cosplay is not “Lets wear this to get everyone’s attention!” or “I just love it when random strangers come up to me and grope me!”

Consent is “permission for something to happen or agreement to do something.”

Consent is not “Their clothes are so revealing! They were asking for it!” or “If you act like a slut, you'll be treated like one!”

So, basically what I'm trying to get across with this project: COSPLAY DOES NOT EQUAL CONSENT!

A sign from Geeks for CONsent. (SOURCE)

At this point, you're probably thinking about passing this off as just another passive-aggressive rant you can ignore, but this is important.

Last year, a young female cosplayer was found badly beaten, sexually assaulted, and unconscious after being taken from San Diego Comic-Con by a 29 year old male. (Source) This is only the most recent that’s been recorded publically. Sometimes, people get lucky and they don't end up drugged, and half dead- At that same convention, Adrianne Curry (America's Next Top Model) defended one of her friends after their pants were yanked down by a man trying to grope them. (Source) What I’m trying to say here is that this happens a lot more than you'd think. It might not be important to you, and I don't mean to pull this card but, what if this happened to someone you cared about? What if it happened to you? Would you know what to do?

More importantly, do you want to? Would you want to have to worry about protecting yourself every second you're trying to enjoy something important to you? Would you want to be bound to your phone in fear? Not just yours, but your parents’? Do you want to have fun, or be safe?

As one source said, a cosplayer themself, “The groping, the stalking, the upskirting, the unwanted attention and photographs are all part of the misbehavior and women want it stopped.” (AATTP)

A spandex cat woman suit is not consent.

A short-skirted Harley Quinn is not consent.

A big-breasted anime character is not consent.

COSPLAY IS NOT CONSENT.

Because yes! This happens every single day to people on the streets and in public areas. This is something that happens. And the same excuses are used- Clothes, attitude, alcohol; but people don't even listen to cosplayers- to us. We're a joke. And yes, I understand that that’s the case for a lot of people, but there’s a lot more people fighting with them because more times than not people think cosplayers allow it.