Donald Trump is a man of many talents and successful at it all his life. He has been is the business game for a long time and successful at it all his life. On June 16, 2015 he decided to use his business skills to try to run for president. Many people thought of him as a joke or took him very seriously. Many famous comedians would make jokes about him. However, other people praised him because of his supposed sturdiness and strong will. As a result, Donald Trump is ahead in the polls because people view him as a joke or a blessing

When Trump announced that he would run for president; many people laughed, and many people rejoiced. Some citizens believe that this country was so outplaced, destroyed & lost that Trump is the only & best answer for America. Some of his supporters were asked why do they support Trump and many of them had mixed reviews but some stood out from the crowd. One support stated, “Politicians spend no time helping them. Black lives matter more and illegal immigrants who break the law get a free pass. Evangelicals in this country no longer feel they have the right to religious freedom and have watched what they perceive as a sacred institution in marriage gutted. All the while, politicians they voted for to represent them just plain don’t.”(theatlantic.com) This supporters believed that Trump was the answer to america's problem. Another supporters stated, “Trump Has Successfully Run Large Organizations” he explained that “He(Trump) leads an enormous, diversified organization that is worth billions. This requires leadership. Leadership, by the way, is different from knowledge. When you lead a large organization you set vision, goals and expect results. You do not know every detail of every level of your organization. You can’t. The world is just too complicated. You delegate and empower. You can get information when you need it and the president has no shortage of people ready to educate him on issues.” The supporter related the country to one of Trump organizations which is completely false. While running an organization can affect not a lot of people, running the country means that he has every single person in that country’s life in his hands and every decision you make can affect someone for the rest of there life good or bad. It would not be right nor correct to compare his business skills to how he will run as president.

While many supporters were serious for him becoming president, many saw it as a joke. They mostly wanted Trump to become president because they thought it would be funny. Most of these opinions are coming from white americans because they know Trumps action will not directly affect them. In the same article, some of his supporters were asked why do they support Trump. One stated,  “I wanted to explain why I'd vote for Trump...1)His desire to be a successful president to feed his ego could paradoxically motivate him to be an extremely willing, conscientious delegate, surrounding himself with effective political operatives so he could stick to his strength of being a showman. 2) Partly I just want to watch the chaos unfold if a purely ego-driven man were to experience success with a presidential run…...”(theatlantic.com) Another supporter states, I would like to offer my reasoning for supporting Trump. I know he would do a pretty terrible job at this point, but I really am at the point of letting the whole thing burn down and explode. Trump would help us get there faster and more efficiently. Like the joker from The Dark Knight, I just want to see the world burn. I guess I am an anarchist in that respect. Once it's all burnt down maybe we can have that constitutional convention we really need to fix things and get this country back on track if it still exists. Happy Friday. If you do decide to publish please include the email signature below.” This supporter obviously didn't not care who won and just wanted a good laugh out of the situation.  

Some people ask why support a candidate they think is a joke. It is a combination of believing  that their actions will not affect them and they do not know a lot of information. A supporter of the Trump campaign was interviewed and asked why they support trump and stated, “Why trust Trump? The political system has been set up against the public for years……..The presidency is a joke! Trump is the wild card. Do I trust him? Not necessarily…”(theatlantic.com) The supporter does not even like the idea of presidency and doesn’t support it but is attending a rally for someone who wants to become the president. This shows how some people will make a decision without thinking and will not care what happens on the future.

These show that there is a wide spectrum of supporters for Donald Trump. Some are for selfish reasons and some are for outrageous reason but at the end of the day people still support him.

Work cited

Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2015.

"Donald Trump Biography." - Family, Childhood, Children, Parents, Story, Wife, School, Information, Born, College, Contract. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2015.

A grade is not objective -- it’s up to the  teacher’s standard of what is considered just okay versus what is considered excellent. By that logic, a student can do the same work but be deemed intelligent by one teacher and average to another. This will leave a student confused and take away their ability to accurately gauge their own intelligence. Grades are not a good incentive for doing good work in school because it is less about learning, but more so based upon a person's opinion.  

BBC, published  an article addressing a study done by Stanford University. The study was trying to figure out the effects of praising a child’s abilities or versus telling them that they worked really hard. According to the article, “Praising a child’s intelligence can teach them that this is a fixed trait that they can’t control. It can make them wary of trying anything new in case they don’t maintain their high standards.” If a students gets an A, it means that the student is “advanced”. All the work that a student does is going to maintain their advanced status. If for whatever reason a student was struggling with a certain subject and a received a C or B, they would just push it off because they think that they just aren’t good at the subject. They will not work as hard to get to the A they want because they have a fixed mindset.

Huffingtonpost.com posted an article about a high school student who decided to worry about learning instead of her grades. ” I would focus on actually learning about the topic rather than just doing what was required for the project. My grades on assignments actually improved from this decision and I did make straight A's in all my classes.” The author of the article was trying illustrate that learning is more than trying to pass. When students focus on trying to pass they absorb all the material in class and once the assignment is done they will no longer retain that information. Therefore, striving to get A’s and B’s hinders a person’s ability to gain new, long term knowledge. A person can cheat and find slick ways to get an A or a B and a person could hard really hard and that is not fair nor is it encouraging learning.

On edutopia.org, a website for teachers, posted an article about the effects of a bad teachers on good students. ”A painful few educators regularly appear bored with their subject material, lecture constantly instead of engaging students in intellectual conversation, or even seem to specialize in classroom put-downs.[...], since even hardworking students who face ineffective instruction can end up unhappy in school and incapable of getting much out of their relatively short time in the classroom.” A teacher’s ability to teach is another key factor in the whether or not a student, who wants to learn, will be able to grasp the content. A teacher can be unfit for teaching and the students will suffer, so giving the bad teacher the power to judge whether or not a student deserves a good grade is unfair to the kid. It is unfair to the students because they have to do a lot of work to gain some sort of content from a lesson that wasn’t the best to begin with. In the end, the grade will not reflect the student’s actual intelligence, instead it will only reflect how hard they worked.

When asked, teachers might say that grades are a good incentive for doing good work. But on close inspection, grades do more harm than good. In the end, going to school to get an education is about learning and what a student takes away from it in the long run. However, traditional grades do not support that. Grades do not reflect a person’s knowledge but their work ethic instead, and they tend to do more damage in the long run because they cause less motivated students to fall behind even though they may still be very smart. Over time a student will not

Bibliography

“Is Praising a Child Good or Bad for Them?” BBC. Web. 8 Oct. 2015. <http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140204-is-it-right-to-praise-a-child>

“Punished By Rewards?: A Conversation with Alfie Kohn - Alfie Kohn.” Alfie Kohn. N.p., Feb. 1995. Web. 8 Oct. 2015. <http://www.alfiekohn.org/article/punished-rewards-article/>

Rubino, Jen. “Grades Vs. Learning.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jen-rubino/grades-vs-learning_b_2525903.html>

“The Secret To Raising Smart Kids.” Scientific American Global RSS. Web. 8 Oct. 2015. <http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-secret-to-raising-smart-kids1>

Teens boy and girls are placed in a position where they have to take responsibilities for a lot of their own actions. This could be caused by the lack of a parental figure in the person’s life. When there isn’t any attention given towards them, there’s no other way than to have another person fill in the spot. On top of working or dealing with pregnancy, teens are also given another huge level of stress everyday due to the amount of work given to them in school. Usually, when a person is stressed, the best thing for their mind is some type of comfort or support. Who wouldn’t want to hear some kind words? In America, a proper education is the main ingredient to succeeding. However, because of the lack of moral support provided for teenagers, or high school students, many follow each other’s footsteps by dropping out of school.

Consider the story of Kenny Buchanan, who dropped out of high school in Schuylkill County, PA. After twenty six years, Kenny realized that maybe his decision of dropping out was a bad idea due to the fall of the economy. This basically meaning that people that most jobs require a high school diploma, etc. Now, Kenny is struggling to find a job, because he does not have a high school diploma. According to an interview from npr.org, Kenny talks about his decision to drop out by stating, “[In] ninth grade, I dropped out of school. I was 18. I flunked twice, I had no interest, and I told my mom 'cause I was living at home at the time, I said, 'I'm done, I'm not going back to school,'" he says.” This shows a perfect example of lack of support. Kenny failed twice and finally spoke out about dropping out of school. Instead of his mother convincing him to stay in school, she apparently agreed to it, showing the lack of support from his parents. What Kenny really needed was some motivation or support from his mother to keep him going despite the amount of times he failed. Although there isn’t a stated reason as to why he failed twice, one thing that could be said is that he wasn’t getting the help and attention that he needed.

Teen pregnancy is a huge crisis in the United States. It is the top country in the world with the highest teen pregnancy rate. According to teenpregnancystatistics.org, “The drop out rates among pregnant teens is 90 percent across the United States.” This shows that more than fifty percent of the students that drop out are female. This is a huge percentage that could possibly show how females are the ones that lack the most support and attention needed.

Consider the story about a teen mom who made the difficult decision to drop out of school. Katie Vance is a teen mom from Charleston, West Virginia and she said, "Once my baby was born, I didn't really have much help with her. My parents were divorced, and my dad was always working. I tried a day care center, but there were issues with them. The father of the baby was still here, but he also worked. I just felt hopeless. I decided I was going to drop out and get my GED, which I did.” This shows that Katie’s decision was influenced by the lack of help and support from a trusted person. Katie was too busy worrying about too many things at once alone that she was not emotionally stabled. She did not talk about her mother, meaning that her mother was not there physically and mentally. Katie may not have been close with her mother and that is the parental presence that she may have needed in order to feel more hopeful since her father and the baby’s dad were both working.

When asked, high school teens might say that they are able to be successful without finishing school. But on closer inspection, it is hard for them to even find jobs because most jobs require a high school diploma. Teens need to be able to feel supported and motivated and if they’re not getting that type of attention, then they don’t feel the need to stay in school and finish because most teens will feel that they don’t have the potential to finish.

Works Cited:

"Drop Out Rates Among Pregnant Teens." Teen Pregnancy Statistics. Teen Pregnancy Statistics, 13 Oct. 2015. Web. 13 Oct. 2015. <http://www.teenpregnancystatistics.org/content/drop-out-rates-among-pregnant-teens.html>.

"Making a Difficult Choice: High School Drop Out Tells Her Story."Charleston Gazette-Mail. Charleston Gazette-Mail, 10 Jan. 2014. Web. 9 Nov. 2015.

<http://www.wvgazettemail.com/News/201401100105>

Sanchez, Claudio. "A High School Dropout's Midlife Hardships." School's Out: America's Dropout Crisis. Npr, 28 July 2011. Web. 13 Oct. 2015. <http://www.npr.org/2011/07/28/138741367/a-high-school-dropouts-mid-life-hardships>.

 In Philadelphia there are many ways of transportation. Some citizens have their own cars, some citizens have bicycles, which is a great way of exercise and some citizens ride Septa. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. Septa has helped many citizens get to where they need to be at a certain time. But, Why is Septa's transportation systems so dirty? Passengers leave trash, passengers graffiti, and passengers even “Soils” themselves while riding on Septa. This has been a problem for a while, and Septa has tried to fix it, but these problems still occur. The reason it’s so hard for SEPTA to keep their system clean is because there’s always problems with the passengers of Septa. The reason why people feel that these things are acceptable is because, they know that Septa is a public place. So, if they leave a mess the  person behind them would have to clean up their mess. But, the truth is leaving a public place uncleanly is unacceptable.

 On, Septa passengers have seen many things, like arguments, comedy, even the homeless. One thing that is coming out to the public is that, Septa is infested with bed bugs. Yes, bed bugs. Bed bugs are a parasitic insect that feeds exclusively on blood. While searching through the web, an Article popped up, composed on Philadelphia.cbslocal.com. That shares details of one of Septa's passenger´s horrific experience. ¨I looked between the cracks of the seat and I was like ¨Oh my gosh that´s a Bed bug, says passenger Robert Roberts Jr.¨ This supports my thesis statement because it shows how nasty, disgusting, uncleanly, Septa is. With as many passengers and tourists Septa comes across daily, it would seem that they would keep their transportation systems clean.  This paragraph supports my thesis because it shows how Septa needs to improve their cleaning system on their transit lines. They have bed bugs, which can attach onto passenger, which would put a burden on their life. All Septa has to do is make a cleaning system to keep their transit lines clean.

  On a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis thousands of citizens use Septa in the Pennsylvania areas. As, this may be, Septa lets anyone on, who is eligible to pay the fare price. As long as you have $2.25 you can ride Septa´s transportation system. The thing is since, Septa lets anyone on, they should have rules. Now, they do have rules, but not the one´s that passengers would want to be put in place, like clothing, stench, & etc. And, the workers who have to enforce the rules, are the managers, ceo’s, and operators of Septa.  A recent post on PhillyMag.com shows different passengers, and their state of mind while they are riding Septa´s transportation system. There is 3 images of citizens on this post, One is a woman leaned over probably due to drugs, another is a man with his butt crack showing, and the other image shows another man sleep on the train. Some passengers do not have common decency to respect themselves and others on Septa. This maybe because they feel that the passenger that rides after them, will likely pick up the trash behind them. This shows that Septa has to clean up their policies a little, so passengers can enjoy their ride, and not have to be worried about an accident on a seat or with other passengers on the transportation vehicle.

Obviously, Septa was aware of the problems that they have been having on their transportation system. Details to show that this is true, is that they have launched a campaign in 2014. The campaign is called ¨Dude it's Rude¨. This campaign focuses on the difficulties passengers have on with following rules and being generous to other passengers. On, Septa's website (Septa.org), Septa´s representatives describe  the campaign. Included on the website is images of the posters, that Septa has made for their campaign. On the posters, the text always starts with Dude it's rude, then it shows a message to passengers. Some of the text includes, Dude it's rude: Take your Trash, Watch your language, Don't block the front aisle, etc. Septa knows it has many problems on their transportation system, and they are trying to fix it, but Septa isn´t doing everything they can to make sure that their transportation systems stays clean, and that their passengers stay happy.

   If the passengers of septa stopped to think about it, they would realize that the dirtiness of Septa is not just about the dirtiness of the transit system , but the passengers who ride the transit system as well. Septa has a very corrupt uncleanly system, that has to be kept up to date. They have to fix their bed bug problems, they have to check to see if their passengers are aware and stable enough to ride their transit lines, also they have to enforce rules, not just say it, but enforce it. And, the only people that can do that are the workers of Septa.

Work Cited:

Annotations:

1.

Link (Links to an external site.)

Laughlin, Jason. "Bedbugs on Bus? SEPTA Takes Steps vs. Pesky Pest." Philly.com. The Inquirer, 11 Sept. 2015. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. <http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20150911_Bedbugs_on_bus__SEPTA_takes_steps_vs__pesky_pest.html>.

-Yes my Source is credible, because it is an issue right now, It might be a major issue in the future.

- Yes my Source is relevant, because it speaks on my thesis of why septa buses are really dirty.

- Yes my source is timely, Because it is still occurring.

This inspired me because I always use septa and its disgusting because it has bed bugs on the transportation systems.

2.

Link (Links to an external site.)

"SEPTA | Passenger Etiquette." SEPTA | Passenger Etiquette. Septa. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. <http://www.septa.org/cs/etiquette/>.

-My source is credible because it gives information to support my thesis statement.

-My source is relevant because, this is still a problem today.

- My source is timely, because people still continue to do things addressed in my source.

This inspired me because I have done some of the things stated in my source, and because people have ate near me and left their trash on the train or bus.

3.

Link (Links to an external site.)

Mathis, Joel. "The Sad Grotesquerie of “People of SEPTA” | News | Philadelphia Magazine." Philadelphia Magazine. PhillyMag.com, 12 Mar. 2014. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. <http://www.phillymag.com/news/2014/03/12/sad-grotesquerie-people-septa/>.

-This is credible because it shows the nastiness of the septa bus or train.

- This is relevant because I just saw something like this last week while I was on septa.

- This is timely because this continues to happen.

- This influenced me to pll up my pants and wear a belt, also it inspired me to watch if people take pictures of me on septa.

4.

Link (Links to an external site.)

Hoff, Alexandria. "Photo Of Possible Bed Bugs On SEPTA Bus Goes Viral, Prompts Action." CBS Philly. CBS Philly, 6 Sept. 2015. Web. 17 Sept. 2015.

-Yes my Source is credible, because it is an issue right now, It might be a major issue in the future.

- Yes my Source is relevant, because it speaks on my thesis of why septa buses are really dirty.

- Yes my source is timely, Because it is still occurring.

This inspired me because I always use septa and its disgusting because it has bed bugs on the transportation systems.

(Links to an external site.)

What makes America's obesity rate so much higher than the rest of the world's? Maybe it is because we are lazy. Or maybe it's because people do not eat the right things on a regular basis. Whatever the answer maybe “The United States” has a 30% higher obesity rate than the rest of the country. The Obesity rate is this much higher because of cheap unhealthy foods and fast food chains and propaganda they use in multiple places in our everyday lives.

There is an extensive amount of fast food ads being shown daily on national television. So with so much exposure to these ads, speaking specifically ones directed towards young children, it's only obvious that there would be a high child obesity rate in the U.S.  On average preschoolers and young children saw approximately 2.8 fast food ads a day. Also 75% of the average ads shown are on kids websites such as: Nick, Roblox, and Cartoon Network, according to fastfoodmarketing.org.. This data shows how day after day, very young children ages 4-11, are being pumped with ads from fast food companies. These fast food companies spend 4.6 billion dollars a year on advertising for their food. This is important because without advertisements people may not be thinking about fast food as often so they need to keep our brains thinking about it constantly.

Eating healthier foods over the unhealthier fast foods will cost more over time. This obviously makes the choice for unhealthier foods more tempting and reasonable, especially because some people like the taste of fast food better. Also, people that are struggling to get by and need the cheapest food they can get to save money. Carey Polis, a writer for the Huffington Post wrote about how much an average American would be spending on healthier foods in comparison to eating fast and unhealthy foods daily. “The most comprehensive study of its kind indicates that yes, unhealthy food is about $1.50 cheaper per day, or about $550 per year, than healthy food.” This quote helps to show how much more people, on average, would be spending to eat  healthier and that is just a conservative number. There are so many people out in the U.S eating instant ramen everyday and they are sold at a dollar per pack at the most.

Fast food is an extremely unhealthy food choice, and can lead to many health problems to those who consume it regularly. Which sadly is the way it is for many Americans in the United States.  “-young adults who consumed fast food more than twice a week gained 10 more pounds than those who had fast food less than once a week.” -Ivy Morris a writer for SF gate. This quote shows how much of a big difference it makes when you eat fast food one time less per week. So imagine if the only way citizens in The United States could afford food all week long was to eat these unhealthy foods, and what this would be doing to the health conditions of everyone in the long run. This can also lead to later health problems down the road that can greatly decrease one's life span or how well it goes with minimal issues surrounding health.

Everyday people in “The United States” are being pumped with ads fast food restaurants trying hard to keep all of the countries minds occupied with the thought of eating bad foods. While spending billions of dollars a year to continuously keep the ads rolling in every part of media. People taking the cheaper route food in order to save as much money as possible in order to stay on budget due to low income. Also, people paying the consequences of eating unhealthy foods weekly with serious health problems looming down the road of weight gain and lack of proper nutrients. All of these things pile on together to make “The United States” such an obese country.

Works Cited:

-"Just Give Me the FACTS!" Fast Food FACTS — Home. Fast Food F.a.c.t.s, n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2015. <http://fastfoodmarketing.org/>.

-Polis, Carey. "Eating Healthy vs. Unhealthy Will Cost You $550 More Per Year, Study Reveals." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/05/eating-healthy-vs-unhealthy_n_4383633.html>.

-Morris, Ivy. "How Fast Food Affects You Negatively." Healthy Eating. SF Gate, n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2015. <http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/fast-food-affects-negatively-1728.html>.

Do teens just do drugs to fit in? well the answer to that question is no. Adults often assume that teens start using drugs due to the social pressure from their peers. However, teens tend to do drugs to achieve happiness. Without knowing the consequences behind doing drugs and the effect it can take on your body and mental state. Drugs might help people achieve happiness, when it’s just a short term happiness not a long term happiness.

The behavior of a parent can highly influence their child choices and lead to drug use and addiction. Exposing their child to drugs is detrimental to the child's health and mental state.  According to this article on teens.drugabuse.gov teens tend to consume drugs or abuse them when thier are feeling down. This is a quote describing the effect drugs have on the human body “Drugs take control of the system, causing large amounts of dopamine to flood the system. This flood of dopamine is what causes the “high” or intense excitement and happiness (sometimes called euphoria) linked with drug use.” When some teens use drugs or drink alcohol they try to get a buzz or a high from it. This high is usually produced by a natural hormone called dopamine. So when people take drugs is that they get this rush of dopamine into their system causing an imbalance of dopamine. This imbalance causes this short term “high”, but once this high goes away their system can never reach that happiness again. This causes people to become depressed and rely on drugs to be happy because of the imbalance in their system.           

Teens around the world are highly influenced mostly by their environment when they are feeling down, also by their parents and friends. Either influence to succeed in life or abuse drugs/alcohol it all starts when they are having a rough time in life. According to this article published by  Drugfree.org, a study shows that teens are most influenced by their surroundings when they are depress. “They see their parents and other adults drinking alcohol, smoking, and, sometimes, abusing other substances.” Since the teens are being exposed to drugs and their parents drinking alcohol there are more likely to do it. Which can lead teens into thinking that drinking alcohol or doing drugs is the key to achieving happiness. When in reality it's only going to have them happiness for a short amount of time.

There are many drugs that can make people happy, but the question is does it really make them happy? Drugs like Prozac and other antidepressants helps control levels of chemicals in your brain called serotonin,which are usually used to treat patients with depression , and other disorders. These drugs are mostly used for psychological condition like anxiety and shyness.  In this article published by nytimes.com. The President council of Bioethics states “ that while antidepressants might make some people happier, they can also substitute for what can truly bring happiness: a sense of satisfaction with one's identity, accomplishments and relationships.” While antidepressants and other drugs might help people achieve happiness, it's not a long term happiness. This happiness is only temporary, because the purpose of this drug is to overflow your system with hormones that's already produced naturally. So once that dopamine gets out of the system the body will get back where it started from or maybe even worse. Although teens abusing drugs may only seem important to parents it should in fact concern anyone who cares about the well being of teens. Doing drugs does achieve happiness for people , but it does not achieve long term happiness. People who want short term happiness are most likely to do drugs. The only different is when taking drugs it causes people to have an imbalance that's unnatural that causes people to become happy for a short period. Also people can never reach that level of happiness on their own, only when on medication or on drugs. There are many drugs that might help people achieve happiness, but that happiness doesn't last forever and that's what most teens don’t consider when abusing such substance.

Work cited -

"Brain and Addiction." NIDA for Teens. National Institute on Drug Abuse, 08 Oct. 2015. Web. 12 Oct. 2015. <https://teens.drugabuse.gov/drug-facts/brain-and-addiction>

Pollack, Andrew. "Can Drugs Make Us Happier? Smarter?" The New York Times. The New York Times, 10 Nov. 2003. Web. 9 Nov. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/11/science/can-drugs-make-us-happier-smarter.html

Chloë Epstein

8/11/15

Air

Homophobia and Masculinity

In the United States, it is acceptable and common for a woman to be very intimate around her friends. She feels comfortable enough to hug, sit close, and talk about her feelings and emotions with them. But what about men? Do men feel the same way about their male friends, or even family members? Many experts say no, because of the combination of hyper masculinity and homophobia that men learn starting at a very young age. Men’s fear of homosexuality results in an obsession with masculinity and avoidance of any type of physical or emotional behavior with other men.  

Professor and sociologist Michael S. Kimmel stated, “The great secret American manhood is: We are afraid of other men.” What he means by this statement is that men tend to be afraid of being judged by other men, specifically when it comes to their masculinity. Men will do anything to avoid being seen as feminine whether they want to be or not. A significant way men distance themselves from femininity is through homophobia. Gay men are stereotypically seen as feminine, and therefore more submissive. Therefore, straight men need to prove they are not feminine by distancing themselves from their feelings/ emotions, and even making fun of men who are more emotional. For example, a man will call another man a “sissy” when he acts in feminine ways; they will also use the word “faggot” in the same way. Another example is the phrase “no homo,” which is used after one man says or does something emotional to another man. A man can’t even express his own emotions, or he might be labeled as gay. If a man expresses his emotions, he is seen as feminine, and if he is feminine then he must be gay.

On June 28, 2000, James Dale lost his fight in the Supreme Court against the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), who had fired Dale from being a Boy Scout leader because they found out he was a homosexual. It took nearly 15 years for the Boy Scouts to change their policies on Gay Boy scout leaders. Within the Girl Scouts, a homosexual leader, or scout’s experience would be much different. The Girls Scout of the USA allow homosexual scouts, leaders, and now even transgender people can be a part of their organization. One reason that the Girl Scouts is more accepting of homosexuality is that Girl Scouts, Inc. owns the organization, while the Boy Scouts is funded by nonprofit organizations such as churches and Christian groups. Another reason why the BSA is less tolerant is that the organization is afraid its scouts will be exposed to homosexuality, which will is assumed to lower their masculinity. One reason why the Girl Scouts is much more progressive is that it’s more acceptable for girls to express themselves, including when it comes to their sexuality or others’ sexuality. According to the BSA, by having a gay leader or mentor boys are taught to be more feminine, which eventually leads to the scouts “turning” gay.

Male friends have always been known to be less intimate than females. Once a boy becomes a teenager, holding hands or hugging another man becomes taboo. Even at a young age, boys start to feel ashamed or uncomfortable for platonically touching another boy. Part of the reason for this shame is how boys are raised. Many boys are raised to be “tough” or to have little emotion. This approach leads to many boys feeling that they can’t express themselves. According to Mark Greene, editor of The Good Men Project, “By the time they are approaching puberty, many boys have learned to touch only in aggressive ways through rough housing or team sports.” For example, in sports such as football and wrestling, boys can show physical contact but only through violence instead of care. Parents teach their sons that they have to express themselves through violence or they aren’t real men. That is why being compared to a gay man is seen so negatively; gay men aren’t seen as real men.

Besides being afraid of each other, men also don’t trust each other. U.S. culture has taught men that they don’t know how to control themselves, specifically when it comes their sexual urges. Although it’s women who usually experience this behavior from men, what’s to say that a man couldn’t control his urges around another man too? A new study from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, people who are homophobic tend to also have some attraction to the same sex. Men will act reserved and homophobic to prove to themselves and others that they aren’t homosexual themselves. "Sometimes people are threatened by gays and lesbians because they are fearing their own impulses," said professor Richard Ryan, author of this experiment. Men don’t trust themselves or other men to engage in physical and emotional contact because it could result in them being sexually attracted to other men. Masculinity is so fragile that men are scared of their own sexuality, whether they are gay, or not.

Growing up, boys are taught that masculinity is their most important attribute and they use this masculinity to prove that they are worthy of being called a man. Although women are expected to be somewhat feminine, their respect doesn’t rely on it. Homosexuality is a threat to a man’s masculinity, which it why so many men in the U.S. grow up homophobic.

Work cited:

1. Kimmel, Michael. "Masculinity as Homophobia." Web. 12 Oct. 2015. <http://faculty.ucc.edu/psysoc-stokes/masculinity.pdf>.

2. Bixby, Scott. "There's One Huge Lesson the Boy Scouts Need to Learn From the Girl Scouts." Mic. 23 July 2015. Web. 12 Oct. 2015. <http://mic.com/articles/122704/the-one-huge-lesson-the-girl-scouts-can-teach-the-boy-scoutsn>.

3. Greene, Mark. "Touch Isolation: How Homophobia Has Robbed All Men Of Touch -." The Good Men Project. 11 Nov. 2013. Web. 12 Oct. 2015. <http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/megasahd-touch-isolation-how-homophobia-has-robbed-men-of-touch/>.

4. Greene, Mark. "The Lack of Gentle Platonic Touch in Men's Lives Is a Killer -." The Good Men Project. 4 Nov. 2013. Web. 12 Oct. 2015. <http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/megasahd-the-lack-of-gentle-platonic-touch-in-mens-lives-is-a-killer/>.

Freeman, David. "Homophobes Gay? Study Ties Anti-Gay Outlook To Homosexuality, Authoritarian Parenting." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com. Web. 12 Oct. 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/09/homophobia-homosexuality-gay_n_1412846.html>.

Luke Risher

9/17/15

D band

Today America is dealing with a very broken education system. Many schools are struggling for necessary resources, such as nurses, while other school maintain luxuries of wealth. Such a inequality calls citizens to look at the system and what is not working. Right now, a major determiner in how much funding schools get, how capable a student is, and how well a school in doing is standardized testing. However, many people from educators, to parents, to students themselves say this system doesn't work and they work towards alternative methods. Because standardized testing is unjust and inefficient alternative, more applicable, and constructive education methods are what society needs to draw on to better societal education.

Since 2002, when the No Child Left Behind act passed, resulting in nationwide standardized testing, the United States has dropped internationally in several subject categories including math, and science along with no change in reading. Those subjects are all on American Standardized tests. This is after 44% of school districts were forced to narrow down on social studies, and the arts to focus more on teaching to the test. Right now Finland uses no standardized testing and is ranked as the number one in education internationally. These facts prove the inefficiency and negative affect of a system set up around standardized testing. A Brookings Institution study found that 50%-80% of increases in scores were only based on yearly preparation. Standardized testing doesn’t make exceptions for non english fluent students. Standardized testing is so stress inducing that teacher booklets include teacher procedures if students vomit or pass out. Despite these issues, the U.S spends 1.7 billion on standardized testing a year. Because the inefficiency, cost, and injustice of standardized testing, the education system needs to find different models of education.

A great thinker on alternative methods is Paulo Freire. Paulo Freire was born in 1921 in Brazil. His family suffered poverty. This childhood experience gave him the critical lens on the way education worked. He lived most of his adult life as a thinker, writer, community organizer, and educator. Much of his writings were on education systems and how they did and didn’t work. An organization dedicated to Paulo Freire thinking has a quote summarizing his idea of dialogue “Each must trust the others; there must be mutual respect and love (care and commitment).  Each one must question what he or she knows and realize that through dialogue existing thoughts will change and new knowledge will be created.” These ideas and concepts make up the Freirean model. This juxtaposes the system where the primary concern is information transferred for regurgitation. The Freirean model is ultimately more memorable for all participants, and much more applicable to the real world. If people have a lasting relationship with each other, they can build on top of previous knowledge and educational experience. Because dialogue is within a relational system that standardized testing can never recreate it is more applicable to the real world, encourages engagement from all students not leaving any behind, and nurtures community through two way exchanges versus just top down. this model creates and better system of education and evaluation of students.

The Freirean model may sound difficult to pull off, but it can happen in a traditional setting. Science Leadership Academy (SLA) is a project based school that uses the scientific method of thinking across all subjects. In the “Mission and Vision” section of SLA’s website it states three questions that guide its work. “How do we learn?, What can we create?, What does it mean to lead?” These questions are key to an alternative model. “How do we learn?” Science leadership is a very diverse school (Asian-6%, African American-38%, Latino-10%, White-36%, Other-6%) this shows a more diverse group students benefits from the project based method then standardized testing. All questions in standardized test are either a one answer multiple choice question or a carefully formulated “open ended” question that also have a very basic answer with strict instructions that allow for no expression or creative thinking. In contrast, In a project there are instructions, but they also have extensive room for thinking and creating student's own thought and innovation and this allows instructors to see more clearly the thinking processes and knowledge of the students. Standardized testing is a top down system that allows for no qualities to be measured except how well students can complete a multiple choice test. If Americans want student leaders, if Americans want innovation, if Americans want a system that works for a more diverse group of students standardized testing is much worse than project based learning.

Standardized testing cost billions of dollars, takes up hours of valuable class time, and doesn’t accurately measure students ability. There are many other ways to measure and teach students beside standardized testing. Relational teaching and dialogue helps create and better learning environment and encourages higher participation of students. Project based learning uses more thinking and encourages innovation and creativity. If all affected by the education system thought about it, the system of standardized as an overall negative effect on education, therefore it should be replaced with more beneficial methods of education.

work cited

"Concepts Used by Paulo Freire." Freire Institute. Freire Institute. Web. 25 Sept. 2015.

Bentley, Leslie. "A Brief Biography of Paulo Freire." Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Inc. 29 May 2012. Web. 25 Sept. 2015.

Popham, John. "Membership." Educational Leadership:Using Standards and Assessments:Why Standardized Tests Don't Measure Educational Quality. 4 Mar. 1999. Web. 25 Sept. 2015.

"Standardized Tests - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. 3 Apr. 2015. Web. 25 Sept. 2015.

Jouriles, Greg. "Here's Why We Don't Need Standardized Tests." Education Week. Lesley University, 8 July 2014. Web. 25 Sept. 2015.

"Problem." - Standardized Education in America, and Why You Should Not Support It. Web. 25 Sept. 2015.