Marquan Jackson in the House!

There are many times I find myself feeling relieved that I live when I do.  Not only for the indulgences that are available, such as food at the tip of my fingers and information with the click of a button, but also for the fading of old rituals and traditions.  My mom constantly tells stories about how when she was a teenager she could only talk on the phone once a night, she had to make dinner for her entire family, and she had to clean the house.  Ironically, she still does all of that, which leaves me with free time to do whatever I want, a privledge I often take for granted.  Besides the evolution of family responsibilities in the household, many other things have evolved.  One of the most drastic changes over the years has occurred within the Catholic school system.

I can’t even begin to explain how many times I have heard my friends and fellow classmates complain about the strict rules and dresscode that we have to follow at a Catholic high school.  I will admit that I too at times have question the rules and complained about one or two of them.  I did not realize how lucky I am to go to a Catholic school right now over going to one about forty years ago.  I was shocked when I read in Newsweek “A wisecrack might bring a dirty look one day and a slap the next” (Newsweek, 44).  If i make a wisecrack in class I receive a detention, which is nothing compared to the physical punishment that was tolerated forty years ago.  Catholic schools four decades ago were run by nuns who used paddles to slap children on the butt or rulers to slap children on the knuckles whenever the acted out in any way, shape, or form.  The idea of an adult hitting a child in modern society is outrageous and with agencies like the CPS around, any adult found harming a child would suffer severe consequences.  This was not the case “back in the day.”  This type of punishment was not only allowed, it was encouraged.  Many parents found nothing wrong with it because they had suffered through the same thing and it taught the children good behavioral skills and strengthened them.  I still struggle with understanding why this concept was ever allowed to happen in school, especially Catholic ones that supposedly teach Christ’s message, which condones violence in any way, shape, or form.

Not only have methods of discipline evolved, so have rules and curriculum.  Children in the 50’s and 60’s had to know the mass in Latin, obeyed the no meat on Fridays rule, go to confession every week before Mass in order to receive the Eucharist, and memorize prayers and bible verses.  They also were surrounded by the ideas of Limbo, where all babies that died before they were baptized ended up forever, and were scouraged for impure thoughts where every sin was a mortal sin that forever placed you into the abyss of helplessness until you confessed and repented multiple times and were cleansed of your sins.  Nowadays, there is no requirement to memorize any prayer or bible verse, no requirement of confession before Mass and very few people follow the meatless friday rule during Lent.  Looking at how much Catholic schools have evolved into a laid-back, violence-free, stress-free environment, I find it humorous that current students complain so much.  We’ve got it lucky!  Maybe not as lucky as public schools, but way luckier than Catholic schools of the 50’s.

The drastic evolution of the Catholic school overtime has made me wonder what it will be like in the future.  What will Catholic education consist of in 2050?  Will I want my children even attending a Catholic school?  With technological advances occurring every day, it makes me wonder if a detention will turn into the suspension of internet privledges for an hour.  From smacks on the butt with a paddle and the memorization of Mass in Latin to detention for an hour after school and loose requirements to attend Mass only when it is provided by the school, what’s next?

-Marquan

To read the Newsweek article online, click HERE.

To learn more about the history of Catholic education, click HERE.

Citations

Noonan, David. “A Catholic-School Verteran Tells All.” Newsweek.com. 25 Apr. 2009. Newsweek. 28 Apr. 2009 <http://www.newsweek.com/id/195122>.

Noonan, David. “A Catholic-School Veteran Tells All.” Newsweek 25 Apr. 2009: 44-44.

When was the last time you’ve laughed at someone for being a little different.  Maybe they wore something to school that wasn’t with the newest style.  Or maybe they were playing Pokemon at lunch.  Or maybe they just looked different from everyone else.  I’m pretty sure most of you would answer today or sometime in the past week.  Although we may not always see it, bullying occurs every single day all around us.  It may be as obvious as someone getting beat up for their lunch money or it may be as small and hidden as a laugh as you walk past someone you don’t like.  Many schools are not creating special rules, consequences and regulations when it comes to bullying, especially with the introduction of  cyber bullying over the Internet.  Many schools show no tolerance for bullying and luckily these efforts help lessen the negative affects of bullying.  However, rules don’t always stop people from being intentionally cruel and evil.  Bullying affects not only the person being pushed around, but also their friends and family.  Unfortunately, many kids are embarrassed about being bullied, so they keep it to themselves and end up doing drastic and traumatic things, such as suicide or killing many people.  This is exactly what happened on April 20,1999 at Columbine High School in Colorado.

Columbine Massacre

On that afternoon, two boys, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold entered their high school with duffel bags filled with explosives that we set to go off at 11:17 a.m.  They then waited in their cars in the parking lot for the bombs to go off so they could then shoot the fleeing students.  When the bombs failed to go off, the two boys headed toward the school and shot two students sitting on a hill near the cafeteria.  They then proceeded to shoot students near the staircases and the entrance to the cafeteria.  When police arrived, they attempted to take out the officers and then headed through the hallways shooting at anything that moved and throwing pipe bombs.  They eventually made their way to the schools library where they ordered all 56 people hiding in there to stand up.  When no one did, they began walking through the tables and shooting and killing random people.  After killing, injuring, and taunting many students they lost the thrill in killing their victims and decided to leave the library.  They then walked throughout the various buildings and taunted people and shot aimlessly.  Eventually they returned to the library and shot themselves.  By 4:00 p.m. the SWAT team had evacuated all the people from the school and parents were notified.  12 students and 1 teacher were killed and 24 others were injured as a result of the massacre.

Aftermath

With the death of fifteen people (including the shooters) and the injury of twenty four, the Columbine Massacre is the fourth-deadliest school massacre in United States history and the deadliest for an American high school.  The relatives and friends of the deceased were devastated and all across the country the affects of April 20 are still felt ten years later. “The massacre provoked debate regarding gun control laws. Much discussion also centered on the nature of high school cliques, subcultures, and bullying, as well as the role of violent movies and video games in American society” (www.en.wikipedia.org).  There was an increased emphasis toward school security and a paranoia aimed toward goths, social outcasts, and the use of anti-depressants among teenagers.  A book was written about the incident by the parent of a student who was killed, Cassie Bernall.  There was a lot of controversy surrounding the circumstances of her death because some students say she was asked the question, “Do you believe in God?” and then was killed when she answered yes.  Others say that incident occurred with another student in the library who was not killed.  Regardless,  Cassie was remembered as a martyr and the book was a best seller.

A Killer’s Motivation

After the incident, there was a lot of debate and speculation over what may have caused Eric and Dylan to do such a terrible thing.  Many point it toward bullying, which was an obvious contributor as the boys were mocked daily for being social outcasts.  Dylan and Eric may have felt depressed, helpless, and insecure due to the isolation by their peers which led them to seek attention.  However there are other things to consider.  Dylan and Eric were apart of an informal school club called the “Trenchcoat Mafia” and were allegedly apart of a goth subculture and cult.  This need to form a cult was probably derived from the pain they felt from being bullied and isolated.  Another factor to consider is the boys exposure to violent video games and music.  Both boys were fans of violence heavy video games and it has been said that one of them had a mock up of Columbine High School on one of their games and proceeded to blow it up and shoot many times.  With the pressures of dark music and violent video games, it is possible that the boys became desensitized to the violence in the games and lost their abilities to empathize with other people.  In order to fully understand the concept of the terrible massacre, we must be able to look at the bigger picture and re-evaluate our society.

Long-term Results

After the massacre, the Secret Secret Service put forth an investigation of school security and found devastatingly pathetic results.  Many schools didn’t even have evacuation plans if a killer was on campus.  Many schools therefore instituted new security measures, such as metal detectors and security guards.  Schools also began to require students to wear a school id on campus at all times.  New anti-bully codes were instituted, included a no tolerance for weapons, violence, and bullies.  Some bigger affects included the changing of police tactics and new gun laws.  Many police stations developed the new tactic of entering a building in a diamond shaped wedge when an active killer is ready to kill people and not take hostages.  State legislatures also began to pass laws enforcing safety locks on guns and the ban the importation and selling of high-capacity ammunition magazines.

What Can I Do

Although there is little you can do when a killer has entered campus, there is plenty you can do to prevent the situation.  Instead of laughing at the outcast, ask how their day has been.  If you see someone who looks upset or isolated,  invite them to have lunch with you.  Most importantly, if you hear someone mentioning that they plan on shooting someone or themselves, get help right away without hesitation.  Bullying is not okay and it never will be.  We have to look at the bigger picture and hopefully save people’s lives.

-Marquan

To read the article on the Columbine Shooting in Newsweek, click HERE

To learn about the affects of bullying, click HERE

To learn more about the Columbine Massacre, click HERE and HERE.

VIDEOS

Columbine: Ten Years Later

Cafeteria Footage and 911 Call: VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED

CITATIONS

Matt is right.  A plus side to the communist government is that it allows Huang Xiaoqiang to spend more time with his family.  Being the owner of a noodle restaurant was not his original dream job, but the fact that he gets to do it with his family makes the job quite enjoyable.  It may even turn it into a dream job for him because he gets to struggle through the downs and prosper through the ups with his family right by his side.  Huang is less concerned with being the richest man in China than he is with being a good family man.  His success is pretty much meaningless as long as he gets to create his living with his family being a huge part of it.

Personally I wouldn’t want to work for a big business or corporation because it gets lonely at the top and I don’t particularly want to have a corner office in a skyscraper.  That type of job isn’t remotely appealing to me regardless of the money you make.  I’d much rather do something I enjoy doing with people I enjoy being around.  However, I do think it is very crucial to make a decent amount of money.  With the world we live in today, money is everything and only the rich tend to survive.  Yes family is important but your love for your family and your connection with them is not going to put food on the table.  Sometimes it is important to take that job that makes good money because without that money you may not have a family.  I also think it is good to spend time away from your family.  If you are spending twenty-four hours a day for seven days a week with your family, tension tends to arise and it can actually be harmful for your relationship with them.  Although it may be a great bonding experience to “carve out a good living” with your family, it may actually be better to spend a few hours away from them to make the big bucks to shelter and feed them.  Sometimes you have to sacrifice.

America is notorious around the world for being the “Land of the Free.”  Many people who come from corrupt countries envy America for the amount of freedom its citizens have which opens them to opportunities that help them achieve success and happiness.  America has had the same constitution for over 200 years and one of the most infamous lines from the Declaration of Independence is “they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”(www.ushistory.org).  We are endowed with unalienable rights and the Constitution states these as the freedom of speech, press, assembly, religion ect.  But is America truly free?

What exactly is freedom?  According to Webster’s dictionary, freedom is the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint; the exemption from external control, interference, regulation ect.  According to that definition, yes, Americans are “free” but freedom comes in different forms, especially under different circumstances.

America has a capitalist Republic government with free entertprise and free markets.  When decisions need to be made regarding our government, we elect officials who make the decisions for us.  This type of government allows individuals to control their own wealth and success instead of everything being governmentally or socially owned and distributed.  Free enterprise and free markets allow businesses to have their own rules and guidelines and to function on their own without too much government intervention.  This so far has proved mostly successful for our country despite the recent criticism due to the recession.

Rivertown by Peter Hessler takes place in an extremely communist China. “Communism is a socioeconomic and political ideology that promotes the establishment of egalitarian, classless, stateless society based on common ownership and control of the means of production and property in general” (http://en.wikipedia.org).  Basically, everything is government owned and everyone is “equal.”  In the book, the people of China are forced to think the same way and to support China regardless of what is happening.  To them, China is the motherland from which they may never stray from or turn against.  It is their pride and joy.  Unlike Americans, the Chinese do not have the liberty of free speech without consequences.  In the book, one student views things a little differnetly than the rest of the class.  He praises America for its freedom and criticizes China for its lack of it.  “I very much admire your American freedom.  The life for most people in America is very good, and the economy is very good, because there is so much freedom” (Hessler 176-177).  After I read this, I sat in my desk and pondered on this concept of freedom and whether what the student believes is entirely true or not.  Yes, the Constitution ensures our freedom but it is not always guarenteed.

Lately, with the election of a new president, America has seen a vast amount of changes in the government that have started to concern me. As we slowly inch toward becoming a socialist government, we have slowly started losing our freedoms.  In Sacramento, there is currently a bill being voted on that controls what type of color cars we can buy.  It is the goal of the bill to eliminate black cars because they contribute to global warming.  The logic is that dark cars get hotter faster and easier which requires the AC to be turned on for a longer period of time which burns more fuel which releases more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere therefore leading to global warming.  The estimated benefits are little compared to the price that will be added to car production that the consumer will be forced to pay, not to mention the restriction to choose what color car one desires.  I understand trying to help the environment but this is a reach.  It is unlikely that it will pass, but bills like these show a very slow increase in interest of a government controlled society that limits our various freedoms.

Another freedom being limited is the right to free enterprise and free markets.  Recently, President Obama presented a bailout plan to General Motors but said they would only receive it if their CEO resigned.  The CEO then resigned without a reason but it was later confirmed that it was at the Obama Administration’s behest.  I know my politics pretty well and I do not recall one of the powers of the Executive branch being the ability to fire CEOs of companies.  Of course no one is going to refuse the demand of the President, but once again, this is going a little far.  It is currently being investigated whether the President has the authority to threaten his way into control of companies, but regardless of the decision, this is simply another sign that we drifting more toward a government controlled society.

Those are only two of the many tiny occurances that lead me to question how far our freedoms actually extend.  Regardless of what is in writing, governments have the ability to push their limits and even go past theeir limits without being questioned.  Why do we as Americans not realize the jeopardy our freedoms are in every day and why do we not stand up for them?  The less people do, the more that is allowed.  Maybe in a few years, if things continue down this path, we will be jealous of China for all the freedom that they have.  Have no fear in questioning, is America truly the land of the free?

-Marquan

To read more about the resignation of the CEO of GM click HERE

To read more about the bill in Sacramento click HERE

To learn about Communist China click HERE

Citations

Allen, Mike, and Josh Gerstein. “GM CEO resigns at Obama’s behest.” Politico. 31 Mar. 2009 <http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/20625.html>.

“Communism.” Wikipedia. 31 Mar. 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism>.

“The Declaration of Independence.” 31 Mar. 2009 <http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/index.htm>.

Hessler, Peter. River Town. New York: HarperCollins, 2001.

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 31 Mar. 2009 <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/freedom>.

“What is Capitalism?” World Socialist Movement. 31 Mar. 2009 <http://www.worldsocialism.org/articles/what_is_capitalism.php>.