KitKat :B

If you were apart of child slavery, would you run away, make a new life for yourself? Or would you stay, because the only thing you’ve ever known is how to clean windows? In India, the pro’s and con’s on each side, are unbelieving equal. This week’s article was ” Maid’s Cries Cast Light on Child Labor in India”  by Jim Yardley. By now, reading tons of articles about child slavery, you would think I get used to it. But that’s not true. Every time I read a new article about how children are treated unfairly around the world, it’s like reading it for the first time over and over again. I never get used to it, and I’m certain I never will.

I don’t mean any offense to the Indian Government, but I don’t get how after all the incidents of child slavery that have occurred in India for the past few years, this incident in 2012 is the one that shed light on child labor? What about all those children before? I feel really mad because how can they say that after all the child labor problems occurring in India. And to delve into the  article itself, I don’t know how her uncle could have sold his own niece. How could her own family member sell her. No matter how much you need the money, selling your own family away is just crazy. It’s not right. She’s apart of your family, she has the same blood as you. Imagine being sold away from all you ever knew, into a whole new world where you worked everyday to earn just enough money to survive dinner. The worst part is, she was paid nothing.

I can’t help but put myself in her situation. If I were in her position, starving, almost to the brink of death, what would I do? I can’t bear to think , what if she had no energy to scream and alert people. What do you think would have happened then? I think everyone looks normal, but until you find out who they really are, everything about them is just opinion’s , not facts. Like for example, the owners of this girl , if you had met them, I don’t think you would have known they treated this girl like they do. You may have thought they were nice people even. But once you find out how they really treat someone, all your respect for them just drops. It’s our responsibility to not just create awareness, which is important, but to make a change.  Just like Ghandi said ” Be the change you want to see in the world”

I’m sure many of you would remember the BP oil spill that occurred in 2010. Well, you would think that what happened 2 years ago would have been cleared up and done with. This week’s article of the week  ”BP Oil Spill Aftermath” by Casey Chan, really proved me wrong. The effects of the BP oil spill can still be seen and are still extremely harmful to everyone. They include mutations and destruction’s of sea life. Because of that, the seafood we eat are no longer safe and could cause serious damage to our organs.  Some of the mutations include: eyeless fishes, or crabs with holes on their shells, etc. I was incredibly shocked at first but then I came to realization  that this was actually happening to our wondrous sea life, and it was happening right in front of our eyes.

A questions that I had is; why are the FDA, EPA and NOAA refusing to comment on this destruction to sea life? Don’t they care that we’re not only killing sea life, but we’re also causing harm to our lives by eating these fish? It’s unfair because they are the establishments that are supposed to help us get through situations like this. But what are they doing? Ignoring the fact that our waters are contaminated with harmful substances that can destroy lives in and out of the sea. Which brings me to another question; why are people going about their daily lives not realizing how dangerous this situation is?  Most people won’t care that something like this is happening, but they willing to give up eating seafood? No, I don’t think so. Some of our seafood comes from the gulf or mexico, and with it’s inhabitants dying, we might not get any more.

So you may be wondering, ” This is BP’s fault, why aren’t they doing anything about it?” Good question. BP is responsible for the oil spill,  and the after effects. Why are they allowed to stand there and say that they’re not going to do anything about it. Not only are the fishes dying but we eat those deformed fishes. It pains me to think what would happen to us. Besides that, all those fishermen who work near the gulf of mexico, what would happen to their lives? Does BP not see how much that one incident is now a huge cause of so many problems. This is not the end of the after effects of the BP oil spill. I predict that the worse is yet to come. We need to make a stand to this and demand that BP do something about this. It’s their fault! It’s also our sea and we need to do anything we can to protect it and it’s inhabitants.

(Verse 1)
Is perfection describable?
Is perfection a mask?
Is perfection attainable?
Or an ideal we’ll never grasp?

(Verse 2)
Society expects us to be perfect,
But what do they know?
Truthfully it’s all just an act,
Because everyone wants more and more.
It’s a never ending cycle you see,
Perfection, hidden behind a cloak of invisibility.

(Chorus)
You’ve just got to belive,
In yourself, In yourself,
You’ve just got to trust your heart,
Because you are who you are,
And you shouldn’t change for anyone else.

(Verse 3)
Is the symbol of perfection,
That beautiful girl in the room?
Is the symbol of perfection,
The boy who gets all the drools?
I know it’s hard sometimes,
to look in the mirror and not like what you see,
But hey,

(Chorus)
You’ve just got to believe,
In yourself, In yourself,
You’ve just got to trust your heart,
Because you are who you are,
And you shouldn’t change for nobody else.

In the article, Dhaka Slum Dwellers Live Under Threat of Eviction, by Syed Zain Al-Mahmood, I learnt heaps of information that I did not really know before. I was really shocked at how the government treated their peoples in order to get more land. How would you feel, if you had everything taken away from you? No home, no education. All you’re belongings, destroyed. All that was left, was scraps of metal and rock from where your house stood and from all you owned inside of it. That was how the owners of the houses which were left in dust felt, but worse.

The government promised to only take 10 feet from each side of the road, but in the end, they took everything. They lied to their people. How could a government do something like that? Not only that, but they decided to demolish their people’s houses. That’s where these people live, their homes. How could they just walk in and in a matter of minutes, demolish where these people live? That is   so unfair to their people. The residents of these homes live in poverty. They live on what they’ve got. But how can they live now, when everything they got is destroyed? One question I have is, what are they going to do now? It’ so selfish of the government to take what these people worked for, and just destroy it. The government didn’t even help relocate these victims until they got back on their feet.

If I were in this situation, I would be lost. I would have no idea how to get back up. All my hard work to build the house, to take care of my children, just gone down the drain? How could I ever get back up. I hope these people still see the light in life, because this event that just occurred would have darkened their days forever. This completely changes my view of ruling, because I thought the government had to be fair and just. I thought they were supposed to care about their people’s feelings, but I guess not. I’m still dumbfounded that they would do such a thing. By demolishing their houses, they ruined their people’s chances at better lives. I would not know how to get back up, but I hope these people do.

This week’s article, “In South Sudan, Girls Are Given Away to Settle Family Feuds” by Tom Rhodes, was a very close to heart one. Not because any of my family members were given away because of family feuds, but because the family members that were given away were girls. Imagine if you were given away as a child, what would you do? I would be scarred for life. I mean, the thought that my family doesn’t love me enough to fight for me, is scary. If my family sold me, I would never forgive them. As much as they said they absolutely had to sell me, I still wouldn’t forgive them. Why should I? Would you? I mean, they should know that family is more important than anything in the world. Your family members come first in your life. You can’t just sell one of them like they’re a piece of  property.

South Sudan is apart of the UN which means the unalienable rights apply to those girls. Why hasn’t someone stepped in and told South Sudan’s government that what their country is doing is absolutely wrong, mean, and it takes away those poor girls right of safety, and speech, and many others. Girls aged 8 and above are being raped constantly by their owners. Can you believe that? Those men must be utterly sick in their heads if they do that to girls. We are human beings too. Just because we’re not as strong as the boys, or as tough, that doesn’t mean we deserve any less.

The girls are now resorting to suicide. They hate the life they are living, so they think that if they kill themselves, it’ll take away all the pain, and maybe it does. But that’s not the point, the point is, they shouldn’t be even feeling the pain. They’re only kids, they should be playing outside with their friends, and enjoying the summer sun. Not working from day to night, getting treated like rubbish. If people still think this is a tradition, they are sorely mistaken. But the one question I want to know is, why hasn’t anyone done anything about it?  I bet you half of the world doesn’t know this is going on. Why does almost everyone know and made such a big deal that Steve Jobs died yet, these girls are thinking of dying, and are being abused, yet no one knows, or cares?

I think it’s unfair of how the world is turning these days. Just think, you could have been born to one of those families. You could have not had the life you have now. What would you have done. I admire these girls. They strive through life no matter how much life pushes them down, but they’re breaking. They can’t take it anymore, and it’s up to us to help them.

This week’s article stirred a lot of discussions in class which is one reason why I decided to write a blog post on it. The article is called Protesters March in Fla. Town Where Trayvon Martin Was Shot by Julie Fletcher.

Imagine if you were shot and only you knew the truth about  what happened but of course, you could not say anything. Your killer was freed with no charges and you were buried with no way of gaining  justice to your murder. How would you feel? The shooter, George Zimmerman, was white while Trayvon was black. Zimmerman shot Trayvon as he was walking home from the convenience store. Why? Well, there are many reasons to that question. Reasons we are trying to find out but we’re too preoccupied with what skin color someone is and that’s clouding our judgement.

What baffles me is that, why wasn’t Zimmerman arrested? Even if Trayvon did attack him, Zimmerman still shot him and killed him. Shouldn’t there be some warning there? No, he escaped the scene without any charges at all. It’s really unfair because if it was the other way around, the outcomes would be totally different. What makes Zimmerman so much different than Trayvon? Nothing. You’re skin colour does not define who you are. It’s just a colour. I don’t get why people think that just because you’re black, you’re lower than them. People get bullied because of their skin colour these days and we say we want to stop bullying but look what’s happening around us. By not arresting Zimmerman, we’re provoking an environment where it’s okay to shoot black people for no reason. I think this is really unjust.

What I think is really unfair is how Trayvon will never be able to defend his side. All the evidence shows that Zimmerman shot him purposely, but Zimmerman says otherwise. But then again, the police have no choice but to consider what their only witness, who is Zimmerman himself, says. If only evidence could speak, then we would know the real story behind what happened. There are many ways to view what happened, and I’m not saying Zimmerman was wrong, but all the evidence points to him yet why isn’t he arrested? Because some people are more focused on what colour Treyvon was and they decide the facts on that.

Everyone is equal, and if we start thinking that way, the world would be a much more peaceful place to live in.

After reflecting on my Declaration of Independence. I have come to believe my strengths as a writer are that I deliver what I’m trying to say with as much clarity as I possibly can. I try to make my points stand out. Mainly, I try to write what I think is my opinion and I try to persuade my readers to join me in my stance and that I know what I’m talking about. Some of the problems I encountered were that I had so much ideas on what we should change at the school, I lost track of being specific in my ideas. I solved them by picking what I thought was most important, and what could we benefit most from and stuck with it.

After a certain amount of time, we as students, grow apart and change our points of view on many issues. We are independent beings and we can take care of ourselves now. We have the right to stand up and fight for what we believe in. This is why we are  creating our own Declaration of Independence, to show the rest of the world that we see and understand why we should and will be independent. As teachers, you don’t view us as equals, but as something lower than you. We feel like it is time for us to leave you, and here is why.

It is obvious that all students are equal and given by their Creator the rights or life, and whatever makes them happy. To accomplish these rights, teachers must enable students to rule their own lives and determine what they should, and need, to do. But because of the tight reins teachers are bestowing on us, we have no ability to do so.

We have been very accommodating with the teachers, but after a long period of unfairness and disrespect, we have decided that the rest of the world should know about what’s going on behind the scenes.
First of all, we feel that we are having the burden of too much homework daily. We feel that you are not taking in consideration of our other classes. We are forced to study everyday with no time to spend with our family, or to live our own teenage lives. We are being ransomed of our teenage years.

Secondly, we are expected to wear the drab old school uniform. This makes us feel compressed into a tight space where there is no room to show people who we are. We want to break free and express our feelings. You are forcing us to look alike, and blend in when all we really want is to have freedom of expression in the way we dress. But you took that away from us. Not only that, you limit the amount of time we exercise. We are teenagers and we want to be fit, and exercise more. Instead, you make us study so much, and when it comes to P.E class, we have to listen to the teacher and do what she says. We want to have freedom in picking what we want to play in P.E.

Last but not least, you are forcing us to pick between dance, art and music for the electives. We want to be recognized as an individual for what our abilities are, but by narrowing our choices of electives, we have no space to stand out. Some of us have no abilities in these areas and are just waiting for a chance to shine, but you are forcing us to take a class in which we may not enjoy.

As students, we have still shown respect and and addressed this problem in the most considerate manner. We have tried to persuade the teachers to see where we were coming from, and to understand how were were feeling about this matter, but to no avail. We have tried to persuade the administrations to follow us in our decisions, but we were met with the word “No.” It leaves us no choice but to separate ourselves from school. We have to walk away because you are denying what we deserve.

Therefore, we present you and the rest of the world this document to prove we have been treated unfairly. In the name, and by permission of the fellow student body, we hereby declare that we, as human beings, should be treated equally just like any teacher would. We ought to be free and independent. For the support of our declaration, we pledge our lives, honor and all that we have!

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My personification piece was on Beauty. My strengths during this writing piece was that I used descriptive sentences. I gave my reader the picture in their head, so that they would be thinking the exact thing I was trying to display in my writing. Coming up with ideas for my writing assignment was easy. I just imagined what someone who was beautiful in my head looked like, and explained in on my writing piece. A problem I had during this writing piece was who “Beauty’s” best friend was. You see, beauty is very kind, and she has many friend, but she needed that one friend that was always there. How I solved this problem, was I took the exact opposite of beauty and made him her best friend.

If I were to start this assignment over, I would make beauty, beautiful on the outside, but ugly on the inside. It would be a whole new twist to my writing and it would probably be cooler. If I changed that, beauty’s best friend wouldn’t be ugliness, but maybe anger, or curiosity. Altogether, if I changed that small detail, it could impact my whole story in a different way.

Beauty is often misjudged. Most people see her as a dazzling person, but no one tries to find out who she really is. Beauty has a dark secrect that she hides from the rest of the world. When she can’t sleep at night, she sneaks out. She sits in the woods, and listens to the rustling of trees and the wind singing. During the day, Beauty often wears long peach flowing gowns, and lets her long brown hair sway with the breeze. If you stare into her sky blue eyes, you may be able to see what lies deep within.

Beauty likes to daydream. She can sit on her front porch and just dream. Dreaming allows her to be transported to places she would never dare go. Beauty works as a piano teacher. When she playes the piano, she sings along. When Beauty sings, she mesmerizes you. You’re dragged into this place where you’re in a whole different world. You try to escape, but to no avail. Once you’re in, there’s no way of getting out. Beauty is very guarded. She doesn’t normally share her feelings with anyone but when she does, you better listen. Beauty is fragile, like a broken heart. She rarely opens up to anyone. Well, anyone besides Ugliness.

Beauty’s best friend is Ugliness. They are as different as black and white yet they are so close, it’s impossible to seperate them. This relationship makes, Handsome, Courage, and many others jealous. “Why?” they always wonder. Truthfully, Beauty admires Ugliness. She wants to be him for a day, and to see what his life is like. Beauty sees the beauty in Ugliness, she sees a whole side of him that no one else does. ” Ugliness is what people call him because they take a look at him, and immediately judge him. When you look deep inside Ugliness, you will see, he’s as beautiful as the rain, wind, sun, snow.” Says Beauty.

Beauty loves dandelions. She loves to blow them and watch them fly with the wind, and creating a new life for themselves. Sometimes, beauty wishes to just be free. To fly away, and start a new beginning.