Smells Like School Spirit (Blog 7)

This week in ESM is holiday spirit week, a time in which students are encouraged to take part in activities that show holiday spirit.  These mostly include dressing in festive attire, in addition to the door decorating contest of the previous week.  On the first day titled "white-out" I saw many students as well as teachers participating in the activity.  Many people participate or don`t participate because they don't want to stand out, instead of understanding the true purpose of school spirit.  The phrase "school spirit" often has a positive connotation and represents a variety of emotions.  Promoting school spirit leads to cooperation and a sense of unity among peers.  By having events such as homecoming pep-rallies the administration unites the students and promotes a positive sense of working together to achieve a goal, whether it be a football game or a fun holiday season.

In addition, school spirit leads to school pride.  Promoting school spirit creates a sense of pride in the accomplishments of the school and in the work of whoever was involved.  School spirit can be described as a sense of belonging for those who have trouble fitting in and may create a school setting in which kids want to be a part of.  Having events such as holiday spirit week do all of these things and more.  By uniting students and making school more 'fun' it may lead to increased self esteems and participation in classes, which of course helps to further education.  In fact, studies such as this one http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.educationalleaders.govt.nz%2Fcontent%2Fdownload%2F724%2F5982%2Ffile%2Fcowan-sabbatical-05.pdf&ei=kY6PVJ3PD8HesASpiYG4BA&usg=AFQjCNEzM3f-3qGlYsTl1nU9Hn6AifMdPA show that school spirit can have many benefits in and out of the classroom, including the effects that school spirit and pride has on sports teams.  If you take anything from this post, just think back to this in the future if you are not feeling very spirited and remember all the positive effects that school spirit has on you, whether you like it or not.

The MET pictures

Racism in America

     America is a very racist society especially in the area we live in. In the ESM school district we're not exposed to many different races besides white. Therefore, we're a slightly racist area without even realizing. White Americans have been more privileged since the colonial era. Native Americans, African Americans, Asians, Latinos, etc. were segregated from the whites. When these ethnic groups immigrated to American they were not granted the same rights as the White Americans born here.
     Many White Americans claim to not be racist. They may start off a sentence with "I don't see color but..." or "Not to be racist but.." right before they start off a sentence that is racist. Most people are racist without even realizing. For example if two people went to an interview and their names were Brendan and Jamal, the person hiring is 50% more likely to call Brendan because Jamal is a black sounding name. The person hiring may not even realize they were being racially bias.
     During the whole Michael Brown v. Ferguson incident people refused to admit they were being racially bias. Even though they were protesting because Brown was found guilty, or they were mad that he was guilty. They were either on the cop's side or Brown's side because of race.

Sources: http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/26/us/ferguson-racism-or-racial-bias/
              http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_the_United_States

Dehumanization

Marina Abramovic "Rhythm 0" 1974

Abramovic is a well known artist for her performance pieces, this piece captured my eye at first glance. It was primarily used as a trust excerise, she placed 72 objects infront of her that could be used in various ways and did not move her body for a total of 6 hours. At first the viewers used the props in peaceful and harmless ways but that quickly changed as time went on. She stated that "...I felt really violated: they cut my clothes, stuck rose thorns in my stomach, one aimed thegun at my head, and another took it away." An aggressive atmosphere was created but as soon as the 6 hours were up and she moved toward the public they fled from actual comfrontation.

This experiment displayed a horrid trait humanity has adapted. It proves how quickly and easily someone can dehumanize or harm someone else who cannot fight back. 

Blog #7

Most can agree that racism is a raging topic lately in the media. Racism is all based upon the way in which someone precieves another along with opinions and judgements on that individual due to their race or culture. In the Ferguson trial in reguards to Micheal Brown and the Eric Garner case, the police are being blamed and made out to be attacking the black race. However, just because these two cases happened to be white cops against blacks, the two did commit crimes with probable cause. In both cases, the white cops are being sterotyped as all cops are racist and dangerous. Meanwhile,  the entire occupation can not be labeled. The same sterotype goes for black people. Not all black people commit crime and violence. It all depends on the person and the situation. If someone commits a crime they should be handed the same verdict as every other criminal.  These two cases along with the Trevon Martin were blown up and examined because the excessive force used was disguisedas racism which is wrong and the two should be seperated.

This link below is a video of evidence to my point made that not all blacks are bad people. He is an African American who basically supports my statement that no matter your skin color, if you commit any type of crime you should pay for it. Along with that, he says the destruction of the city Ferguson, will be viewed as animal behavior because it is unnecessary and it is not racial profiling just because most people protesting are black. 

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152314396513715

Protesters out of control ( Blog # 7 )

                It seems as people forgot how to protest peacefully between the Ferguson case and Garner case the streets of Missouri and New York City are filled with protesters some peaceful but most are violent. The protesters are rioting about these two events which they believe had to do with racism. In Ferguson, Missouri in August an 18 year old boy with dark skin was shot 8 times by a white police officer because he was threatening the cop and resisting arrest.. In NYC in July a 43 year old dark skin man by the name of Eric Garner was put in a chokehold and slammed onto the sidewalk by a white cop for resisting arrest as he was selling cigarettes separately on the streets, he had said " i cant breathe" but police officer would not let go and the man had died. The grand juries for the two cases had announced the cops non guilty and that's when the protesting had gotten out of control. People were lighting buildings, shops, apartments, cars and even the american flag on fire. The protesters were so out of control in Missouri the cops had to come with tanks and begin to pepper spray, tear gas, and arrest the rioters before anything worse had happened. The protesting in Missouri is much worse then NYC and is continuing to happen each day. Everybody has their own opinions on the incidednts but i don't believe it had to do with race, i feel the cops had felt threatened and the protection of themselves and the people around them comes first. But i strongly do believe that racism exists all over the country and sadly it will most likely be that way forever.


                                                                   David Sherlock

Disconnected youths (blog #7)

      Poverty is a growing problem which is often more prominent in cities and urban areas. Especially in New York City, many children and young adults are living in poverty. The group of children or young adults between the ages of 16 and 24 has been under government and city attention recently. This group is called "disconnected youths" who are neither in school nor working. A report by the Community Service Society in 2005 estimated that nearly 170,000 youths in NYC fit this description. Many of these children do not have high school diplomas and it is very difficult for them to find jobs.
     A 2012 study by a criminologist a the University of Pennsylvania shows that helping these young people find jobs can be beneficial in decreasing crime in the community.  In the Summer of 2012, 1,634 students from a high crime and low income area in Chicago participated in this study. Half of the students were given a part time job for the summer, while the other half went about their lives normally. After the summer ended, there were 5.1 arrests for every 100 students who had summer jobs, and 9.1 for every 100 students who did not have summer jobs. The largest decreases in crime were long after the summer had ended. This shows that students learned skills like responsibility and increased their sense of positive contribution to the community. If we can work to increase opportunities for disconnected youths to find jobs, we can show these young people what they are capable of and increase their positive impact on the community.