Author’s Note

First Draft

There are millions of kids getting bullied in schools all across America, and other countries, too. Severe bullying can lead to depression, decrease in grades and concentration, self isolation, self harm, anxiety, suicide, and more. Lots of kids are bullied due to differences from other students, such as race, religion, or different disabilities. Some children get harassed because of disabilities, meaning they get threats, physically and verbally assaulted. This is a really big problem thats still goes on daily, and something needs to be done about it.

Banned Books Essay

“To Kill a Mockingbird” is no doubt a classic. British librarians compared it to The Bible, saying “every adult should read [it] before they die.” Despite all this, parents have continuously been upset and have wanted to ban this book from school libraries and classrooms. Lots of books have been challenged or banned due to parents wanting to protect their children from reading these “inappropriate” texts. “To Kill a Mockingbird” is no exception. The story is about two young siblings, Jem and Scout, whose father, Atticus, is defending an African American, Tom Robinson, in court. Tom was falsely accused of rape, but him and Atticus loose the trial because he is black. Parents complain that “To Kill a Mockingbird” is racist, is inappropriate because of rape, and has too many curse words.

Many parents complain that “To Kill a Mockingbird” promotes racism, but the opposite is true. The author, Harper Lee, is trying to teach people not to be racist by putting in racist characters and have them be the “villain” of the story. When Atticus defended Tom in court and lost, Scout and Jem were really upset. Specifically, a line that shows this is, “His [Jem] face was streaked with angry tears . . . “‘it ain’t right,’” he muttered.” Furthermore, Harper Lee is just being historically accurate with racism in this book. The article “Banned Books Awareness: To Kill a Mockingbird” the author states, “unless you’ve never read even a basic history book, you’re well aware the social status and public treatment of most blacks was dismal at best.” This shows that Harper Lee is not trying to promote racism, she is just accurately portraying a Southern town in the 1930s. If you are going to ban this book because of racism you might as well ban any history textbooks, too.

Another thing parents were upset about in the book is the theme of rape. Parents are trying to protect their children, but its better for teens to be aware of topics such as rape. Rape is a real world issue. In the article, “Banned Book: To Kill a Mockingbird” by Brian M, he states, “ . . .it doesn’t prepare our children for facing these dangers when they arrive.” This illustrates that isolating kids from topics such as rape will have a more negative than positive effect. While some might argue that rape is inappropriate for young kids, anyone who is reading this book is most likely not so young that rape would  be something to know about. When asked if banning books because of rape is something she would ever do, a school librarian said, “No, because once you ban a book on one particular subject matter, you open the door to banning books on all other subject matters. The library has an obligation to provide access to information regardless of its subject matter.” If one parent is upset by a book, the school shouldn’t be able to ban it for the whole school. No one is forcing anyone to read something they don’t want to read. Moreover, Harper Lee is not trying to promote rape in the book, she is just raising awareness.

The last thing that upsets parents and teachers about “To Kill a Mockingbird” is the profanity. Parents and teachers think that the language used in “To Kill a Mockingbird” is inappropriate for kids. The school librarian at PS 15 said, “As a librarian, I must provide access to all information to everyone and that includes not censoring books because of curse words or upsetting topics.” The school/teachers should not be able to regulate what every student in the school is reading. If one student/parent feels uncomfortable about a certain book, that does not mean it should be banned for the whole school.

In conclusion, schools and teachers should not have the authority to censor what students are reading. If a student’s parent doesn’t want them reading a certain book, they can choose to not let their child read it. Just because a book is not okay for one student, doesn’t mean that all students shouldn’t read it. Everyone is different and books can be right for one person but not the other.

Social Awareness Project

Overview

Ask.fm Response - Description of the social media ask.fm, why its a problem, and how                                                      we can solve it.

Smoking Reading Response - Response to an article desricibing why smoking was popular, why it went out of style, and how the tobacco companies responded to all of it.

Words poem - An original poem about someone getting harshly bullied

Ask.fm Response

There is a social media called ask.fm that a lot of people at MS 51 have. How it works is people ask you questions, and you answer them. When you ask people questions, you have a choice if you want the person to be able to see who asked, or you can ask anonymously. The fact that you can set it so people don’t see who you are has causes a lot of hate and bullying. A lot of people hear rumors at school and then accuse people of them on ask anonymously. Lots of people get questions saying stuff like ‘It’s funny how you like someone one day and the next day you forget about them, no wonder no one likes you’.

Teenagers can get really hurt by this cyberbullying. When people spread rumors about you, its never a good feeling, but its even worse when someone asks you about it. Especially when you don’t know who it is. Theres just some random person out there who knows these lies about you and you have no idea who it is. When teens get cyber bullied like this, often times people say the same mean things to you. After hearing it so much, they could start to believe it themselves.

Some solutions to this problem would be if people stopped spreading rumors and saying hurtful things about others, but that most likely won’t happen. People could stop using ask, but for some reason a lot of people love it. The last thing is that ask could take away the option of asking things anonymously. As a result, people would stop saying mean things that they would never say face to face.

Smoking Reading Response

Smoking has been around for a long time, and in the 1950s, it was extremely popular to always have a cigarette dangling from your mouth. The article “Kicking The Habit” by Robert K. Elder explains when it went out of style, why, and how tobacco companies responded. Based on the information the author gives in this article, I think that he’s against smoking.

Smoking became popular in the 17th century, and by World War Ⅰ, cigarettes were even in soldiers’ rations. In the 1960s, 42% of American adults were addicted. Tobacco companies used television to advertise with jingles and slogans, and they used celebrities to make smoking seem cool. There had been a few studies of a connection between smoking and some diseases, so many tobacco companies dressed up actors as doctors for their commercials to try to contro\adict this information. As soon as it was official that smoking can kill you, tobacco companies were instructed by Congress that they needed to put “warning labels” on cigarette packs, saying things such as, “Caution: Cigarette Smoking May Be Hazardous To Your Health”. As more knowledge about the dangers of smoking was obtained, these warnings turned into thing like this: “Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, and May Complicate Pregnancy.” Tobacco companies knew they were losing their adult customers, so they started to target children. They did things like create logos that were directed towards kids. Camel made Joe Camel, a cartoon camel mascot from their company.

Now that people know smoking cigarettes is unhealthy, companies have made a new product to solve this problem: electronic cigarettes. Even though e-cigarettes are not a bad as real ones, they still contain nicotine, which is what make cigarettes addictive. Companies are targeting children again with this new product, by developing different flavors.

Overall, the author is giving mostly negative information about smoking, which is making me think his views on it are negative as well. After reading this article, I understand the history of cigarettes and smoking. I knew that people smoked a lot more in the 1950s and 60s, but I didn’t know why until now.  They had no idea how bad it was for them. I also think that its very unethical for companies to target children when they’re advertising cigarettes and e-cigarettes.

WORDS

their words cut through me

right past the bone

into my heart

my insecurities’ home

why do I even try

they say those words and

it kills me inside

their words spoken with rage

fill me up and shut me

inside a cage

i scream for someone, anyone

but no one comes

their words make me feel

like im being held down

with a gun

they just say more words

i can’t listen anymore

it hurts, it burns

i shut myself out

but their words cling on

i open my eyes, and see a finger on the trigger

“do it” i dare them

theres no reason to go on

their words just keep pushing

i see the trigger, pulled

and then

they’re gone

Nonfiction Reading Response

Kicking The Bad Habit

By Robert K. Elder

Smoking has been around for a long time, and in the 1950s, it was extremely popular to always have a cigarette dangling from your mouth. The article “Kicking The Habit” by Robert K. Elder explains when it went out of style, why, and how tobacco companies responded. Based on the information the author gives in this article, I think that he’s against smoking.

Smoking became popular in the 17th century, and by World War Ⅰ, cigarettes were even in soldiers’ rations. In the 1960s, 42% of American adults were addicted. Tobacco companies used television to advertise with jingles and slogans, and they used celebrities to make smoking seem cool. There had been a few studies of a connection between smoking and some diseases, so many tobacco companies dressed up actors as doctors for their commercials to try to contro\adict this information. As soon as it was official that smoking can kill you, tobacco companies were instructed by Congress that they needed to put “warning labels” on cigarette packs, saying things such as, “Caution: Cigarette Smoking May Be Hazardous To Your Health”. As more knowledge about the dangers of smokng was obtained, these warnings turned into thing like this: “Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, and May Complicate Pregnancy.” Tobacco companies knew they were losing their adult customers, so they started to target children. They did things like create logos that were directed towards kids. The company Camel made Joe Camel, a cartoon camel mascot that they used to advertise.

Now that people know smoking cigarettes is unhealthy, companies have made a new product to solve this problem: electronic cigarettes. Even though e-cigarettes are not a bad as real ones, they still contain nicotine, which is what makes regular cigarettes addictive. Companies are targeting children again with this new product, by developing different fun flavors, such as cotton candy and banana cream pie.

Overall, the author is giving mostly negative information about smoking, which is making me think his views on it are negative as well. After reading this article, I understand the history of cigarettes and smoking. I knew that people smoked a lot more in the 1950s and 60s, but I didn’t know why until now. They had no idea how bad it was for them. I also think that its very unethical for companies to target children when they’re advertising cigarettes and e-cigarettes.

On this trip I learned many things about activists all throughout different times in New York. One of the most interesting things was how they used humor as a form of activism. The activists for bicycle safety used humor by dressing up as clowns and falling over on their bikes. I thought it was interesting how they would think of using humor to protest, but it got the attention they wanted.

I also thought it was interesting how the gay rights activists used violence against the police. I would’ve thought they would do something more peaceful, like give a speech like Martin Luther KIng Jr. They did get some results, but I was just surprised.

Reading Response

To Kill A Mockingbird

“Boy’s don’t cook.” Phrases like this and many others are loosely tossed around, especially in the 30s. The main character of Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird”, Scout, is a girl, (a bit of a tomboy), and often gets told by various people that she can’t wear pants or be tough. Sexism is one of the main themes in this book. Even though she gets told these things, she still believes some gender roles, as did most people back when the book was written.

Every Christmas, Scout and her family go to visit Aunt Alexandra and her grandson, Francis. Aunt Alexandra forces Scout to wear a dress instead of pants every year. When Scout argues that it is difficult for her to play wearing a dress, Aunt Alexandra says that the kind of playing she should be doing should not have need for pants. She thinks that Scout should be playing with tea sets and dolls, instead of outside, with her brother. Aunt Alexandra believed that girls and boys each have specific clothes they need to wear and games they need to play. She says that Scout “could not possibly hope to be a lady if [she] wore breeches” Aunt Alexandra doesn’t respect Scout’s tomboyish personality, she judges people based on gender.

Also during Christmas, Francis told Scout that Aunt Alexandra was going to teach him how to cook. To this she replied, “Boy’s don’t cook.” This shows that back in the 30s there were defined gender roles for people. Everyone might not have believed in all of them, but everyone believed in some, whether they realized it or not. Scout didn’t agree with Aunt Alexandra saying that girls have to wear dresses and play with tea sets, but she still thinks that girls should be doing the cooking.

Before Scout and her family go to visit Aunt Alexandra and Francis, Scout’s Uncle Jack comes to visit them. Around this time, Scout begins to curse, saying things like damn and hell. Uncle Jack noticed this, and told Scout to stop. “You want to grow up to be a lady, don’t you?” he asked her. Uncle Jack thinks thinks that Scout should stop cursing because she’s a girl, and is supposed to be a ‘lady’ and have perfect manners. this shows that Uncle Jack doesn’t think she should be allowed to be tough, just because she’s a girl.

All of these unfair stereotypes prove that its important to respect everyone and their personality. Don’t just assume they are one way because they are a boy or a girl. Aunt Alexandra told Scout what type of games she was supposed to be playing and what she should be wearing, all based on her gender. Uncle Jack told Scout that she had to have nice manners because she was a girl. Scout told Francis he couldn’t cook because he was a boy. A lot of these stereotypes are part of the time period of the book and not modern day. We have made so much progress in terms of stereotypes and sexism from the 30s, and hopefully we can make more until there are no more left.