Marginalized Teens

There are numerous ways a student can be marginalized. Some may be poor, handicapped, have memory problems, various learning disabilities, or have Tourette’s syndrome. For those of us who are going to be teachers, there is a great possibility we will have some of these students in our classroom. The book, Owning It, is a collection of short stories all about teenagers who are marginalized for various reasons. Through these stories, I gained a sense of what life would be like for them-definitely more difficult and challenging. All of these stories really impacted me, but there was one that impacted me the most. The story was about a boy who had Tourette’s Syndrom. Some classmates made fun of him, and his family was cautious about him being at school with his outbursts of tics. He decides to speak at an assembly in front of all of his classmates. He informs his classmates what is like when he has a tic, and how he cannot control it. It was an extremely powerful story, especially because he decided to talk to his school about it. I thought this was a really brave act, and I could never imagine doing that. It may not even be Tourette’s Syndrome or ADHD or a behavioral disorder, students like this and in other situations are marginalized in today’s society. I think it is extremely difficult for them because I believe the majority of students do not understand what it would be like to have whatever their classmate has; therefore, they make fun of him or her. It makes me sad that students are like this, but hopefully, we can make changes in society, especially for those of us who are going to be teachers.

Podcast

Gabcast! Podcast #1

DNA database

I found the articles about DNA testing interesting because I was unaware there was a controversy over the issue. Until recently, the government only used DNA databanks to track convicts, but now they will collect it for immigrants who are in jail. They will also use it for innocent people who have been convicted for violent crimes. Minors are obliged to give DNA when they are convicted in 35 states; some even have to give DNA when they are arrested. The DNA database is similar to taking a fingerprint. Some may believe it may be useless to include an innocent man in testing. However, Rock Harmon, a former prosecutor from California said it perfectly, “If you haven’t done anything wrong, you have nothing to fear”.
There are some pros about DNA databases that would really benefit society. First, police like it because there are more people that they can choose from when it comes to suspects. Second, it really helps solve crime. There were many examples given that prove DNA testing is important for examining crimes, especially with two examples. The first one was in Florida where numerous women had been raped. They used the DNA database from Florida but also used it through Georgia and Virginia’s database. Through this, they were able to find a man who raped women in Florida, but he had been charged with burglary in Virginia. Another good example is when Robert Flowers was the main suspect in a rape case in Indiana, but he pleaded guilty. They took his blood to compare it to DNA from the crime scene. They saw the Robert’s blood was similar to the DNA, but it was not exact. It was later they discovered it was his brother, Danny, who was convicted for the rape. Certain states obtain DNA from close family members, including Kentucky, Montana and Wyoming. Third, every single state requires DNA testing from convicted sex offenders. Finally, this could help solve crimes quicker because of the DNA testing.
Clearly, there are many pros, but there are some cons as well to DNA databases. First, many are hesitant to use DNA database because people believe it is a concern with the lack of privacy it could cause, especially with medical and financial records. Next, they may even use it for smaller crimes like “insufficient funds check, shoplifting, drug convictions”. Then, there is the argument that it goes against race, reporting “27 percent of black people and 42 percent of black males are genetically registered, compared with 6 percent of white people”. However, there is the fact that DNA does not know race. Finally, this could harm those who are completely innocent. For example, Donald Reynolds and Billy Wardell were convicted for raping a student. They were in jail for 11 years, and DNA was tested to find that they were innocent. Because their blood was taken and is in the system, they will be on the sex offender list for the rest of their lives even though they were innocent.
Obviously there are pros and cons to this controversy, but I think it is a good idea to have it. Although it may cause a lack of privacy, it could really help police officers solve the crimes quicker. Not only could they solve crimes quicker, but they could find the person who actually committed the crime. Overall, I believe the DNA database is a great thing for society to have.

Website on Cyberbullying

After looking at this website, there is so much more to cyberbullying then I ever thought there was. After hearing about the Megan Meier case, all I thought about was how people could say hurtful things to others. I never thought about sending out bad pictures to other kids, impersonating them, and even internet polling. Kids may be asking who is hot? Who is not hot? If a child was voted as "not hot", I could not even imagine what this would do to his or her self-esteem.
I liked seeing that there is the internet golden rule. This includes privacy to only one's account and no one elses. There is also the fact that if someone is upset with someone, he or she should never say it via on-line. It could only cause many problems.

St. Louis Suburban Journal

The service terms on Myspace state a user should be at least 14 years old. Even though Megan was 13, the age factor should not be examined. If she would have known what was going to happen on Myspace and that she would end up taking her life, I highly doubt that she would have registered an account.
I am dissappointed that Lori Drew was found not guilty to the felony and misdemeanor charges. Her actions made a teenage girl take her life.

Defense Asks for Dismissal in Myspace hoax case

H. Dean Steward is a defense attourney, and he believes that many internet users create fake identities and accounts. However, they have never been charged. While I agree with him, this case is extremely different. A person's fake identity led to a 13 year old girl hanging herself. It just makes me angry that a mother would create a fake identity to see what her daughter's old friend is saying about her daughter. The mother should be the mature one in this case; however, she is far from it, clearly.

Lori Drew Indicted for Misuse of Myspace...

Something that I thought was interesting in this article was when it discussed Myspace's policies. It says, "soliciting personal information from anyone under age 18 and not using information gathered from the Web site to 'harass, abuse or harm other people'". No one should ever be harassed. In this case, this should never be done with anyone younger than 18. Then there is the question of whether Lori Drew ever even read the terms of agreement. However, I believe that one should not have to read the terms of agreement to know not to harrass someone.