Eleven: Poverty

People who live “below the poverty line” usually don’t have the materials to recover. When people think of poverty they think of the homeless living on the streets or the commercials you watch on tv; for just a dollar a day. That’s not really it, you could have all your essential needs: a house, lighting, heating, food, but that doesn’t mean your home free. Some people live from one welfare check to the next just barely making it by. Whose fault is it? Is it theirs or their families? Or is it the governments? Or in the end is it life? Well to that question, there really is no ‘real’ answer.  Everything around us is so expensive these days all the necessities keep going up and up in price. Look at how much it is for your basic groceries, housing, transportation, and its all-becoming ridiculous. It’s different for everyone, but who can help him or her out? Maybe the government, nobody is being taught anything these days about this crisis. How is somebody supposed to escape? Looking around at the homeless people in our area you mostly see Caucasians and Aboriginals, but does somebody’s race make them live below the poverty line. No. To eliminate poverty you must be determined to make a difference and to get the government and everyone around you to help and support you. In the end I think Bill Moyers paper is my choice. Moyers tries to explain that it is our system that allows so many people to fall into the category “poverty”. They don’t have any the materials to get back up on there feet so more and more of them keep crashing down. Also the lower class people don’t really have much say but even when they do they aren’t heard. People need to stop being so arrogant and try listen, help and do something. We need to make a difference, fight for there right and help people get back up onto there feet.

Ten: United Nations

United Nations founded in 1945 is an international organization made up to maintain international peace and security. The UNs responsibility is to develop relationships between countries, prevent conflict (peacekeeping) and to create better living standards. What is the UN doing now? You hear about the wars in Afghanistan, you hear about the military being transferred over seas but you never hear about the UN helping out. You’d think at a time like this when they are needed the most, they’d come in and try to settle the situation. How are they going to make our world a safer place and bring “peace” between all countries when they’re hiding in their offices? I definitely believe they are not doing their job properly since they aren’t really making any impact on the world or helping out with this horrible situation. They may have done well in the past, but what are they doing now? Tomorrow will make today the past, and today they have done nothing. Wake up and look around.. We need your help.

Nine: Gender? Sex? Male? Female?

 

Our world is so hypocritical whatever happen to “be who you wanna be”, “be yourself”, “don’t change”, “don’t care about what other people think”. What has happened to our world? Today our world is filled with fear, guilt, anxiety, dread, insecurity, embarrassment, alienation, humiliation; emotions that nobody should have to go through. It’s hard enough having to go through this yourself, figuring out who you are as a person; then having the world laugh at you would make it one-thousand times more difficult.

Society today sees different views on males and females, different traits, of what a male (in the large scale) should act like and what a female should act like. On a large scale males are seen more as the person to get down n’ dirty, whether its cleaning out the gutters or lifting the large boxes of Christmas decorations down from the attic. Where in the large scale people see females more as the decorator at any occasion, the person who will have supper on the table and cleans the house.  As a female I do not agree with all the stereotypical traits, I do agree that men and women are built differently and it is a lot easier for a man to do the heavy work but I am quite capable to do the other dirty as a man is quite capable to make dinner and do the laundry. I don’t think anyone should ever be ‘assigned’ a job because of their sex.

If somebody’s sex does not match their gender, people comment, people talk, people make rude gestures and people are just overall mean. I think if the person believes that they do not ‘match’ and they want to change I think they should. How I see it is: you only live once, so if you don’t think you ‘match’ and you need to change it. DO IT.  Yes, you may get teased, but if it means that much to you and you don’t feel right with your sex or gender its worth it. You have to do what is right for you.

I know three females who are now males. They are happy, and wouldn’t said they would never look back. It didn’t feel right to them, they felt like they were born in the wrong body.

To those three people that went against the norm, way to go! Just because you’re a female does not mean you have to act like one, and just because you’re a male doesn’t mean  you have to act like one. Be who you want to be, not who the media wants your to be.

 

Eight: Equal Educational System?

Personally I think the Education System is pretty fair, I do not agree with all aspects of how the education system is being run. But I do think the education system is giving a pretty fair opportunity to all.

Our education system is set up so that everyone is taking the same courses and everyone is given an equal chances at becoming “successful” in their lifetime. How is receiving the same not being equal or fair?

Looking at the Provincial statistics you see that gifted students have a 97% chance of graduating, French immersion students have a 98% chance of graduating, meanwhile Aboriginal students have a 58% chance of graduating. The numbers of Aboriginals eligible to graduate is incredibly  low, and year-to-year it is just slowly decreasing.

I totally understand that environment plays a huge part in how successful a student is, but this cannot always be supported. We cannot change their school life, home life, and community life.

So is it that the French immersion students, gifted students, and all the rest of the students fault? Are these students being favoured over the Aboriginal students? Or is it because the Aboriginal students have stopped caring? I have read multiple articles stating that there is room for change, but nobody is really doing anything about it. Aboriginal students are not trying in school and parents are not supporting them.

Here is my thought, I think that the lack of caring is one of the biggest reasons the drop-out rate of Aboriginals students. I do not think it is the educational systems fault that Aboriginal students have a higher drop out rate then any other student does. People are trying to make a difference, to raise those numbers but they cannot do anything if the students are not willing to see a change. In the end yes I do believe that in the most part the educational system is fair to the majority of students, but there is always room for change and improvement!

Seven: Highway of Tears

Highway 16 also known as the Highway of Tears is a 500-mile stretch of highway that runs from Prince George to Prince Rupert. It was given the name Highway of Tears because since 1988, 32 women have gone missing. Thirty-one of the women that went missing were aboriginal status. Coincidence? I think not.

Recently the Highway of Tears case has been getting a bit more media coverage due to other similar cases; ex: Robert (Willie) Picton trial. I think for some people it’s starting to hit them, they are realizing that these women are people to. As I read this article I became more disgusted by how this case was treated. They are women who have families and friends. They may have not made some of the best choices in life but HEY were all humans here! Most of these aboriginal women were in the sex-trade or had been involved with drugs and alcohol. Yes, it may be a horrible life style and you may not agree with it, but what’s the difference? Seriously people! These women are still human beings and they deserve justice. These women’s lives should be respected, as anyone else’s life that has had it taken away from them should be. These women should be remembered, they should be respected and most of all they should be found.

I am grateful to hear that the Highway of Tears is receiving more publicity. The more the better, and the faster they find this person. I hope sometime soon, in the near future, this horrible person is caught and dealt with properly. I hope all the families that were victims to this horrible incident receive closure and are able to remember all the good times.

My condolences go out to the families who have lost a daughter, sister, mother, and/or a friend. May they be at peace. 

 

Six: Rose Parks’

Rosa Parks a 42-year-old African American woman refused to give up her seat on the front of a bus, for a white passenger. Parks’ actions sparked the Montgomery bus boycott. This boycott was intended to oppose the city’s policy of racial segregation on its public transit system. Rosa became an international icon of resistance to racial segregation. She continued to be involved in Civil Rights Movements and even collaborated with Martin Luther King Jr. Rosa’s actions weren’t fully appreciated until later in her life, she received many awards, such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Spingarn Medal along with many more. Rosa made a big difference because she stood up for what she believed was right. She knew that she needed to speak out in order to make a difference against racial discrimination, to change the way the world looked at African American’s. Look at the difference that one person made, if we all did the same, racism would no longer exist.

 

Five: Children’s Rights

Children’s Rights have been taken away for years; the right to speak, the right to work for a respectable amount of money and the right to be a child. Many of these children don’t live like a normal child does; they don’t fight for the bigger cookie or cry when they don’t get the newest electronic, they fight everyday to find a bit of food and fresh water. Many of these children in third-world countries will not go to school to get an education or receive all the nutrients they need for the day. These children need our help.

There are different organizations around the world trying to help these children; the organization and the children always appreciate donations

http://www.unicef.org/crc/

The government has tried to make a difference by setting stronger laws and creating The Rights of a Child but somehow some children don’t have the rights they deserve. I think our government has to go out of their way to protect the children that need it the most. They have to realize that these children are our future and deserve the best.

I don’t think that many people today know about these problems. They may have an idea about what is going on, but don’t have enough knowledge to try to make a difference. Children’s rights are at risk and they are the future of our community and world, be the change.